Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet

So saying he made a signal to the seamen, and straightway they weighed anchor and cast the ship loose from its moorings, and they moved eastward. And a cry came from the people as from a single heart, and it rose into the dusk and was carried out over the sea like a great trumpeting. Only Almitra was silent, gazing after the ship until it had vanished into the mist. And when all the people were dispersed she still stood alone upon the sea-wall, remembering in her heart his saying, “A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me.” [[Who is The Prophet, the one who leads us?]] [[Where is his ship headed?]] [[What land is this we have left behind?]] [[Focus on the here and now.->The Waxing Crescent]]

Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day... [[I must ask another question:->A Full Circle]] [[Focus on the here and now.->The Waxing Crescent]]

his ship... was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. [[I must ask another question:->A Full Circle]] [[Focus on the here and now.->The Waxing Crescent]]

the city of Orphalese... [[I must ask another question:->A Full Circle]] [[Focus on the here and now.->The Waxing Crescent]]

//Your mind returned to the ship, it being a wanderer returning to their rightful home. Several days into the journey, The Prophet asked the captain about the island on the horizon. The captain said that Death lay in that direction, but insisted that The Prophet was the master of their ship and their crew. The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [[Go to the island of Death.]] [[Stay on the course with Reason and Passion.]]

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. [[I know this lesson well enough.->Arrival: The Island]]

//So, the ship arrived at the island before dusk. No-one appeared as the party approached the docks on a stormy sea. No-one ran to the beach as the skiff was tied down with the knots taught for generations. Clearly, no-one lived in the village any more. The crew were muttering concerns to themselves, and The Prophet turned to them. You spoke to quiet them:// [["We will stay here tonight, in the abandoned town, for The Prophet has said Self-Knowledge will come to us in quiet places."-->Town of Self-Knowledge]] [["It would be a Crime to stay in houses that do not belong to us. We will build huts closer to the beach."-->Huts of Crime and Punishment]]

And he said: You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light. If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour. Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling? [[Focus on the here and now.->Tell us more about Death.]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Arrival: The Island]]

And he answered, saying: Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite. Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements? Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes. [[Focus on the here and now.->Reason Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Reason Conclusion]]

//You stood with The Prophet, and listened to him so that you may be able to pass on his teachings. As his advisor, he trusted you to guide him home, as his time abroad on this remote island has been a long twelve years.// This day has ended. It is closing upon us even as the water-lily upon its own tomorrow. //His final address to the people of the island was a long and heartfelt speech covering many topics, and it's arguments left you disoriented by their fresh, yet warranted, perspective. Your mind felt as if it were brimming over. The flow of your thoughts often took a form you could not put a finger on. Perhaps the echo of a story, first told some 95 years ago.// [[I know this lesson well enough.->Prelude II]]

And Almitra the seeress said, Blessed be this day and this place and your spirit that has spoken. And he answered, Was it I who spoke? Was I not also a listener? //The echo is a clear voice in your head - resonating through all things. You remembered then you must depart this island with The Prophet at noon, and the thought brought you nearly to tears. // These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he himself could not speak his deeper secret. //Only vaguely, at that time, were you able to remember arriving on the island that same morning.// [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->A Full Circle]]

And he answered, saying: Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge. You would know in words that which you have always known in thought. You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams. And it is well you should. The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea; And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes. But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure; And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line. For self is a sea boundless and measureless. [[Focus on the here and now.->Town Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Town Conclusion]]

And he answered, saying: It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind, That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself. And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed. Like the ocean is your god-self; It remains for ever undefiled. And like the ether it lifts but the winged. Even like the sun is your god-self; It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent. But your god-self dwells not alone in your being. Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man, But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening. And of the man in you would I now speak. For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime. [[Focus on the here and now.->Huts Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Huts Ctd 4]]

Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world. But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also. And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all. Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self. [[Focus on the here and now.->Huts Ctd 2]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Huts Ctd 4]]

And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds? Is not remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you would fain serve? Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty. Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves. 50And you who would understand justice, how shall you unless you look upon all deeds in the fullness of light? Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self, And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation. [["Now, to the beach. We must build our huts from only what the sea and forest provide us."->Hut Sleep]]

You are the way and the wayfarers. And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone. And this also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts: The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder, And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed. The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked, And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon. Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured, And still more often the condemned is the burden bearer for the guiltless and unblamed. You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked; For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together. And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also. [[Focus on the here and now.->Huts Ctd 3]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Huts Ctd 4]]

If any of you would bring to judgment the unfaithful wife, Let him also weigh the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul with measurements. And let him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended. And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots; And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth. And you judges who would be just, What judgment pronounce you upon him who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit? What penalty lay you upon him who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit? And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor, Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged? [[Focus on the here and now.-> Huts Conclusion]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Huts Ctd 4]]

//A revelation came to you as the prophet speaks, and you shared it with the others: [["I see now that I was wrong. Our intentions are honorable if we were to stay in the abandoned town and it seems wiser to do so."->Town Conclusion]] [["I see that The Prophet supports my decision to leave this fallen town alone, as who among us could bear becoming as low as these people have?"->Huts Ctd 4]]

//The Prophet continued to give lessons during dinner in the town hall. The discussion went into the night, and the crew both stayed at the table out of respect, although they would clearly rather have kept their own company. The Prophet decided he would head to the beach to meditate on the crashing of the waves, and refused your offer to escort him there to ensure his safety. It was so dark that you had each of the crew stand at your side and tap the ground in front of them with large sticks to avoid misplacing their feet on the uneven ground. And in this manner, you followed the crew to the neighboring houses they'd claimed, and proceed to walk a bit further down the path after taking one of their sticks. Suddenly, you saw another figure looking back at you in the dark night. They were sitting on a large stone next to the communal storage shed. You'd think he was one of the villagers, except that they struck a familiar posture - as if deep in thought. In fact, they reminded you of yourself, not just in posture; but in build, and especially with their face half-lit by moonlight. Who is this, if not a doppelganger of your own true self?// [[Brandish your stick to guard against Pain, as you approach the mysterious figure.->Pain]] [[Yell out in the night to alert the others because, in this dim light, you cannot judge between Good and Evil.->Good and Evil]] [[Continue on your path to bed, and ask The Prophet in the morning if Religion can explain this odd occurence.->Religion]]

//And you all toiled to build huts by firelight. The noises in the jungle seemed like human voices, and startled the crew. But you quieted their complaints, for the noises added a pleasant harmony to the maddening choir singing only in your mind. These song-like echoes spoke of docks with no more ships to board. A storm marking the end of our hero's journey. At the moon's culmination, the huts were finished and your fingers raw from cutting and tying leaves and branches. One of the crew claimed first watch, and you slumped your weary bones into a makeshift bed of dirt. You passed into a fitful sleep, but your dreams felt as real as if you were awake..."// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]] [[Keep dreaming.]]

//You dreamed you are back on the island, in the city of Orphalese. It was the morning that The Prophet left, and you have been reduced to a non-corporeal spirit: merely a voice in his ear.// Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he climbed the hill without the city walls and looked seaward; and he beheld his ship coming with the mist. Then the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul. //The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["Stay here, oh wise Almustafa."->Dream Diversion]] [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->Dream Ctd 1]]

//The Prophet turned his gaze towards the only city he has known for these last 12 years. He stood on the hill and in that moment it seemed a mountain. The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["Find your place among this scenery, that is where you belong." ->Lake among the mountains]] [["Meditate on the people as they leave their houses in the morning." ->Above the mountain]]

But as he descended the hill, a sadness came upon him, and he thought in his heart: How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city. 8Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret? Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache. It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands. Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst. [["Stay here, oh wise Almustafa."->Eating and Drinking]] [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->Dream Ctd 2]]

...oftentimes I was among you a lake among the mountains. I mirrored the summits in you and the bending slopes, and even the passing flocks of your thoughts and your desires. And to my silence came the laughter of your children in streams, and the longing of your youths in rivers. And when they reached my depth the streams and the rivers ceased not yet to sing. //The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["Stay here, oh wise Almustafa."->Diversion Ctd 1]] [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->Dream Ctd 2]]

And some of you have called me aloof, and drunk with my own aloneness, And you have said, “He holds council with the trees of the forest, but not with men. He sits alone on hill-tops and looks down upon our city.” True it is that I have climbed the hills and walked in remote places. How could I have seen you save from a great height or a great distance? How can one be indeed near unless he be tar? And others among you called unto me, not in words, and they said, “Stranger, stranger, lover of unreachable heights, why dwell you among the summits where eagles build their nests? Why seek you the unattainable? [[Focus on the here and now.-> Above Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Dream Ctd 2]]

The mist that drifts away at dawn, leaving but dew in the fields, shall rise and gather into a cloud and then fall down in rain. And not unlike the mist have I been. In the stillness of the night I have walked in your streets, and my spirit has entered your houses, And your heart-beats were in my heart, and your breath was upon my face, and I knew you all. Ay, I knew your joy and your pain, and in your sleep your dreams were my dreams. //The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["Stay here, oh wise Almustafa."->Diversion Ctd 2]] [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->Dream Ctd 2]]

Yet I cannot tarry longer. The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark. For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould. Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I? A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings. Alone must it seek the ether. And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun. //The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["Stay here, oh wise Almustafa."->Diversion Ctd 2]] [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->Dream Ctd 3]] [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]]

Now when he reached the foot of the hill, he turned again towards the sea, and he saw his ship approaching the harbour, and upon her prow the mariners, the men of his own land. And his soul cried out to them, and he said: Sons of my ancient mother, you riders of the tides, How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening, which is my deeper dream. Ready am I to go, and my eagerness with sails full set awaits the wind. Only another breath will I breathe in this still air, only another loving look cast backward, And then I shall stand among you, a seafarer among seafarers. And you, vast sea, sleepless mother, Who alone are peace and freedom to the river and the stream, Only another winding will this stream make, only another murmur in this glade, And then shall I come to you, a boundless drop to a boundless ocean. [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->Boundless Drop]] [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]]

//You felt the power of your influence on The Prophet ebb. Perhaps you have been guiding him all along, and it was your knowledge he shared with the people!// And as he walked he saw from afar men and women leaving their fields and their vineyards and hastening towards the city gates. And he heard their voices calling his name, and shouting from field to field telling one another of the coming of his ship. And he said to himself: Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering? And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn? And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress? 11Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them? And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups? Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me? A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence? If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons? If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein. Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern, And the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also. [["Stay here, oh wise Almustafa."->Giant Oak Tree]] [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->The Waning Crescent]]

What storms would you trap in your net, And what vaporous birds do you hunt in the sky? Come and be one of us. Descend and appease your hunger with our bread and quench your thirst with our wine.” In the solitude of their souls they said these things; But were their solitude deeper they would have known that I sought but the secret of your joy and your pain, And I hunted only your larger selves that walk the sky. But the hunter was also the hunted; For many of my arrows left my bow only to seek my own breast. And the flier was also the creeper; For when my wings were spread in the sun their shadow upon the earth was a turtle. And I the believer was also the doubter; For often have I put my finger in my own wound that I might have the greater belief in you and the greater knowledge of you. [[Focus on the here and now.-> Above Ctd 2]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Dream Ctd 2]]

And it is with this belief and this knowledge that I say, You are not enclosed within your bodies, nor confined to houses or fields. That which is you dwells above the mountain and roves with the wind. It is not a thing that crawls into the sun for warmth or digs holes into darkness for safety, But a thing free, a spirit that envelops the earth and moves in the ether. If these be vague words, then seek not to clear them. Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end, And I fain would have you remember me as a beginning. Life, and all that lives, is conceived in the mist and not in the crystal. And who knows but a crystal is mist in decay? [["Then aren't you to be free still, dear Almustafa, if you were to stay here indefinitely?"->Dream Ctd 2]]

Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light. But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother’s milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship, And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man. [[Focus on the here and now.-> Eat Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Dream Ctd 2]]

When you kill a beast say to him in your heart, “By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed. For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand. Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven.” And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart, “Your seeds shall live in my body, And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart, And your fragrance shall be my breath, And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons.” [[Focus on the here and now.-> Eat Ctd 2]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Dream Ctd 2]]

And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyards for the winepress, say in your heart, “I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress, And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels.” And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each cup; And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress. [[""Perhaps the wine will be flowing in the city today."->Dream Ctd 2]]

//You have now learned that you are a mere drop in the ocean of The Prophet's mind. When he awakes, these events will come to pass. Yet you will not be there to witness them. This is the Dream ending, one of three possible endings. Congratulations, but there is still more to be learned by experiencing Kahlil Gibran's ''The Prophet'' again.//

But sweeter still than laughter and greater than longing came to me. It was the boundless in you; The vast man in whom you are all but cells and sinews; He in whose chant all your singing is but a soundless throbbing. It is in the vast man that you are vast, And in beholding him that I beheld you and loved you. For what distances can love reach that are not in that vast sphere? What visions, what expectations and what presumptions can outsoar that flight? Like a giant oak tree covered with apple blossoms is the vast man in you. His might binds you to the earth, his fragrance lifts you into space, and in his durability you are deathless. //The Prophet was rooted to the ground by psychic energies no longer under your control. Now, you are trapped in this dream forever; there is no ending here:// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]]

Fare you well, people of Orphalese. This day has ended. It is closing upon us even as the water-lily upon its own tomorrow. What was given us here we shall keep, And if it suffices not, then again must we come together and together stretch our hands unto the giver. Forget not that I shall come back to you. A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body. A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me. Farewell to you and the youth I have spent with you. It was but yesterday we met in a dream. You have sung to me in my aloneness, and I of your longings have built a tower in the sky. But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over, and it is no longer dawn. The noontide is upon us and our half waking has turned to fuller day, and we must part. If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song. And if our hands should meet in another dream we shall build another tower in the sky. [[Begin another dream.->A Full Circle]]

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.” Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.” For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals. //The prophet asks you to tell the others what this means to you." [["There are many paths I can take, and all lead to the same ending which is my soul's destiny."->Not paying attention]] [["You may recognize your soul as a fellow traveller on the path you take in life, but I am not certain yet of what this could mean."->Town Conclusion]]

//The Prophet did his best to hide his disappointment, After a short meal, he suggested that each person retire to different houses and reflect and meditate on the lessons from earlier today... You were unable to focus, and thought about the glories of returning home safely after a long and perilous journey with The Prophet. Meanwhile, the crew found drinkable wine in the communal storage shed. They knocked on your door to offer you some. You decided that any path you take will lead to the same answer, so why not aid your focus by drinking in some of the fantasies you could not help but permit yourself earlier. You sent them on your way and returned to meditation with a slight buzz. And it worked very well... and you unlocked secret truths much faster than anyone expected! So well, in fact, you feel you should shake yourself out of this heightened state of mindfulness and write them down immediately.// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]]

//As you moved, so did they. Their back now turned to you, they seemed more like a mimic or shade leading you along a path rather than a true flesh and blood being. With the stick raised, you trip over the small rock that lies immediately next to the one they sat on. Thereby hitting your head against the hard door of the shed. You awoke in the morning, having spent the night outside. The Prophet was tending your wounds, and ready with words of wisdom for as soon he noticed you stirring.// And he said: Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears. //The crew made several trips back top the boat for supplies before you felt better enough to continue the journey. Your head swelled from infection, but the time spent in bed rest gave you time to comtemplate The Prophet's teachings. You never saw another soul in that town, and neither did the others.// [[Return to the ship.]]

//Upon yelling about seeing one person in the town, three more people appeared from behind the shed before the crew answered in reply. You stumbled backwards in the dark, back towards the crew - never letting the person sitting on the rock out of your sight. You called for the crew by name, and shortly thereafter heard them noisily scrambling towards you. The person on the rock shouted a foreign dialect at you over the crashing of the waves. You lower your stick and shout "Peace" in various languages, until they visibly respond. Then you quickly tell the crew to stand down in your own language before continuing the conversation with the mysterious figure. Eventually, they describe their predicament. They can offer better hospitality and lodging a few miles inland, and will guide your party there. However, they desperately need aid as all of their dried fish and most of their safe drinking water was taken by ferocious raiders just a few days ago. You promised them a large portion of your ship's cargo, and go to find The Prophet. He is pleased with your generosity to others, and all of you sleep well in the islanders' inland lodges.// [[Sleep comfortably.->Good Ctd 1]]

//Walking on towards the house, it did not appear that the mysterious figure noticed you at all. However, many more questions entered your thoughts once you have secured the door with your stick and laid in the bed. Why does a being with such a similar contenance as yours exist? Are you not unique in this world? Or is it some metaphysical apparition? You worried until the moment when sleep hit you, yet it was restful and rejuvenating despite your anxiety. In the morning, you ask The Prophet about Religion and ask for a metaphysical explanation of what you saw. He responds:// Is not religion all deeds and all reflection, And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom? Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations? Who can spread his hours before him, saving, “This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?” All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked. The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin. And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage. The freest song comes not through bars and wires. And he to whom worshipping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn. [["I don't understand."]]

//There were barely enough supplies to return home after the adventures on the island. You lowered your head in contemplation in your stateroom while preparing to address the crew on the ship. You heard a knock on your door, and then opened it to reveal The Prophet. He spoke of his trust in you, and felt it was your willful and inspiring spirit which must guide the next step of this journey. The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["We go back to Orphalese, to purchase supplies for safe travel."->Return to Orphalese]] [["We push onwards, and limit our rations to survive the long voyage to our homeland."->Reason Conclusion]]

//In the morning, while the crew were unloaded cargo, The Prophet shared his wisdom with the islanders. The person who looked like you in the night-time was revealed to be a rather poor comparison in the light of day.// And one of the elders of the city said, Speak to us of Good and Evil. And he answered: Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil. For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst? Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters. You are good when you are one with yourself. Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil. For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house. And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom. You are good when you strive to give of yourself. Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself. For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast. Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, “Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance.” For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root. [[Focus on the here and now.->Good Ctd 2]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Good Conclusion]]

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech, Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose. And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue. You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps. Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping. Even those who limp go not backward. But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness. [[Focus on the here and now.->Good Ctd 3]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Good Conclusion]]

//These villagers were impressed by The Prophet's words, and by your generosity. You bring him back one final time after making preparations to embark.// And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, and they were crying out to him as with one voice. And the elders of the city stood forth and said: Go not yet away from us. A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream. No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearly beloved. Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face. //They send you to continue your journey in the finest of garments they had available, although The Prophet returned to his simple garb immediately once on the ship.// [[Follow his example in wearing modest Clothing.]] [[Keep wearing the fine clothes.-->Return to the ship.]]

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good, You are only loitering and sluggard. Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles. In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you. But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest. And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore. But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, “Wherefore are you slow and halting?” For the truly good ask not the naked, “Where is your garment?” nor the houseless, “What has befallen your house?” [[I know this lesson well enough.->Good Conclusion]]

//The Prophet notices you have changed your clothes, and contemplates for a moment before sharing more wisdom with you.// Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful. And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain. Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and less of your raiment, For the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind. Some of you say, “It is the north wind who has woven the clothes we wear.” And I say, Ay, it was the north wind, But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread. And when his work was done he laughed in the forest. Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean. And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind? And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. [[Take it as a compliment.->Return to the ship.]]

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Whenever you enter into it take with you your all. Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute, The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight. For in revery you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures. And take with you all men: For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair. And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles. Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children. And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain. You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees. //Despite The Prophet's occasionaly urges to continue on the journey, he steadfastly supports your quest to discover the mystery of the mysterious seated figure. Coordinated exploration of the island does not reveal anything new, and no further apparitions are seen. Having consumed a significant amount of rations during those next few weeks, no further resources can be invested into discovering what you encountered late that first night. The seated figure remains a eery and unexplained phenomenon. Consequently, this experience is the type that will likely haunt you for the rest of your life.// [[Return to the ship.->HAUNTED: Return to the ship.]]

//There were barely enough supplies to return home now, after the prolonged stay on the island. Once back on board, you noticed the captain had been replaced by your doppleganger. No-one else seems to notice any difference. You hide in fear in your chambers, trying to collect yourself before addressing the crew on the ship. You heard a knock on your door, and opened it to reveal The Prophet. He spoke of his trust in you, and he felt it is your spirit which must guide the next step of the journey - wherever that may take the ship. The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["We go back to Orphalese, to purchase supplies first."->HAUNTED Return to Orphalese]] [["We push onwards, and limit our rations to survive the long voyage to our homeland."->Reason Conclusion]]

I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house. Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both. Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows—then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.” And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky,—then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.” And since you are a breath in God’s sphere, and a leaf in God’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion. [["So let us be leaves in the wind, and sail on towards our home."->Reason Conclusion]]

//All things were as they should be. The rations grew scarce during the trip, but with proper planning no-one died during the journey home. A welcoming party from the royal family came to greet The Prophet, but also to reward you for your expedience in this challenging assignment. The spymaster pulled you aside before the ship disembarked, and asked you to describe what made your voyage successful. Her ceremonial garb had many pockets, and, in keeping with tradition, was filled with sensitive documents guarded only by her ceremonial dagger - which could be concealed in any of those pockets. You knew her to be of ambitious and protean character, so she is likely testing you for your political alignment. Therefore, you were necessarily eloquent with your words, and chose then wisely:// [[Attribute your success to the Prophet.->Loyalist]] [[Attribute your success to Prayer to a higher power.->Royalist]] [[Attribute your success to your own mastery of Time.->Egotist]]

//You made a great speech to the crew, explaining the lessons learned on the island and commending them for their bravery in the face of death. They cheered about returning to Orphalese, as many of them were dreading the extending trip home with reduced rations. The Prophet stood beside you, and quietly asked for permission to motivate them further.// [["Now I ask our Prophet, what is the value of Work?"]] [[Conclude and embark.]]

//You stopped The Prophet from providing his lesson to the crew, and demand they set sail at once.// [["Onward to Orphalese!"]]

//The ship arrived in Orphalese and a small crowd gathered, as some had recognized the ship as it pulled in to the docks. The Prophet asked you to escort him, and to keep the people some distance away from him so more may have a chance to see him as he spoke. You led him off the docks and towards the Temple, to allow the crew to disembark safely. The crowd followed behind, but a poet and a hermit had run ahead to ask him questions.// [[Allow the poet to push on to the stage.]] [[Allow the hermit to push on to the stage.]] [[Wait for the crowd to gather, and let neither approach The Prophet.]]

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth. For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite. When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison? Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune. But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life, And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret. [[Focus on the here and now.->Work Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Conclude and embark.]]

But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written. You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary. And I say that life is indeed darkness ‘save when there is urge, And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge, And all knowledge is vain save when there is work, And all work is empty save when there is love; And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. [[Focus on the here and now.->Work Ctd 2]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Conclude and embark.]]

And what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house. It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit. It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit, And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching. Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, “He who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil. And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet.” But I say, not in sleep but in the overwakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass; And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving. [[Focus on the here and now.->Work Ctd 3]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Conclude and embark.]]

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger. And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night. [[Focus on the here and now.->Work Conclusion]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->"Onward to Orphalese!"]]

[["And so, as The Prophet said we shall make this journey with love, and with love we return to Orphalese."->"Onward to Orphalese!"]] [["And though we may struggle through this life, remember there is reward enough in drink and food when we stop in Orphalese. And only responsibility waiting for us at home!"]]

//You make a great speech to the crew, explaining the lessons learned on the island and commending them for their bravery in the face of death. They cheer about returning to Orphalese, as many of them were dreading the extending trip home with reduced rations. While scanning the crowd you see the captain among them, and they look at you with your own eyes and a deadpan face identical to your own. The Prophet stands beside you, and quietly asks for persmission to motivate the crew further.// [["Now I ask our Prophet, what is the value of Work?"]-><Aside>"Oh Prophet, do you also see the man in the captain's clothing who looks exactly like me?"]] [[Conclude and embark.]] [[<Aside>"Oh Prophet, do you also see the man in the captain's clothing who looks exactly like me?"]]

//The Prophet stepped down and turns away quickly, then headed to his chambers. He seems tired of ship travel, or possibly he is tired of you. You will have to check up with him when you arrive in Orphalese. You say to the crew:// [["Onward to Orphalese!"->Dream-like Orphalese]]

//On your arrival that night, the dockworkers in Orphalese were overjoyed to see The Prophet return and gifted you with many casks of wine. Word of his second coming spread as if by fire on drunken rags.// And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, and they were crying out to him as with one voice. And the elders of the city stood forth and said: Go not yet away from us. A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream. No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearly beloved. Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face. //You shook off an odd feeling of deja vu, and riled up the already excited crowd.// [["Let The Prophet speak!"]]

//In the excitement, it seemed The Prophet's words echoed as if through a light and airy medium - the impact continually transferring, but none of it's contents left behind.// You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link. This is but half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link. To measure you by your smallest deed is to reckon the power of ocean by the frailty of its foam. To judge you by your failures is to cast blame upon the seasons for their inconstancy. [["Ay!!!"->Drinks Ctd 1]] [[Focus on the here and now.->Drinks Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Drinks Conclusion]]

Ay, you are like an ocean, And though heavy-grounded ships await the tide upon your shores, yet, even like an ocean, you cannot hasten your tides. And like the seasons you are also, And though in your winter you deny your spring, Yet spring, reposing within you, smiles in her drowsiness and is not offended. Think not I say these things in order that you may say the one to the other, “He praised us well. He saw but the good in us.” I only speak to you in words of that which you yourselves know in thought. And what is word knowledge but a shadow of wordless knowledge? Your thoughts and my words are waves from a sealed memory that keeps records of our yesterdays, And of the ancient days when the earth knew not us nor herself, And of nights when earth was up-wrought with confusion. [["Ay!!!"->Drinks Conclusion]] [[Focus on the here and now.->Drinks Ctd 2]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Drinks Conclusion]]

//The Prophet's words are drowned out by the crowd cheering. You enjoy a night of carousal, and then a brief dawn of spinning as you stumble on to the boat. Someone wrestles you into your chambers, and you fall asleep at the food of your bed with one shoe on. You passed into a fitful sleep, but your dreams felt as real as if you were awake..."// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]] [[Keep dreaming.]]

Wise men have come to you to give you of their wisdom. I came to take of your wisdom: And behold I have found that which is greater than wisdom. It is a flame spirit in you ever gathering more of itself, While you, heedless of its expansion, bewail the withering of your days. It is life in quest of life in bodies that fear the grave. [["Ay!!! Flaaaame Spirit!"->Drinks Conclusion]] [[Focus on the beer and chow.->Drinks Conclusion]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Drinks Conclusion]] [[Focus on the here and now.->Drinks Ctd 3]]

There are no graves here. These mountains and plains are a cradle and a stepping-stone. Whenever you pass by the field where you have laid your ancestors look well thereupon, and you shall see yourselves and your children dancing hand in hand. Verily you often make merry without knowing. Others have come to you to whom for golden promises made unto your faith you have given but riches and power and glory. Less than a promise have I given, and yet more generous have you been to me. You have given me my deeper thirsting after life. Surely there is no greater gift to a man than that which turns all his aims into parching lips and all life into a fountain. [["Drink from the fountain!"->Drinks Conclusion]] [["Let's move this party to the boat!"->Drinks Conclusion]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Drinks Conclusion]] [[Focus on the here and now.->Drinks Ctd 4]]

And in this lies my honour and my reward,— That whenever I come to the fountain to drink I find the living water itself thirsty; And it drinks me while I drink it. //The crowd had thinned out, and those that remained are unruly in their fervor. It is inevitable that the people of Orphalese will hold a celebration tonight, whether or not The Prophet intends to keep speaking.// [["Drink! Drink! Drink!"->Drinks Conclusion]] [["To the town square to celebrate The Prophet's return!"->Drinks Conclusion]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Drinks Conclusion]] [[Focus on the here and now.->Chaperone]]

//You spent the night protecting your ship from drunken people of Orphalese; and minding your own people who were drunk aboard the vessel. The festivities went late into the night, and there were many of your own who had to be wrestled into their chambers to protect themselves and others. Finally collapsing in your room, just before dawn, you welcomed your bed like an old friend. You passed into a fitful sleep, but your dreams felt as real as if you were awake..."// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]] [[Keep dreaming.]]

//The Prophet did not seem to hear your question, and proceeded to address the crowd as if you had not spoken. So you walked down to join the crowd, but then noticed the captain, your doppelganger, walk up to stand at the side of The Prophet. Before the captain turned to stand facing the crowd, you noticed an ornate knife sticking out of their back! Then it occured to you that you had previously missed one difference between your face and theirs... it has been locked in a deathly grimace. You continued watching in disbelief, as The Prophet starts to speak.// [[Try to focus on the here and now.-> HAUNTED Gifts]]

Some of you have deemed me proud and over-shy to receive gifts. Too proud indeed am I to receive wages, but not gifts. And though I have eaten berries among the hills when you would have had me sit at your board, And slept in the portico of the temple when you would gladly have sheltered me, Yet was it not your loving mindfulness of my days and my nights that made food sweet to my mouth and girdled my sleep with visions? For this I bless you most: You give much and know not that you give at all. Verily the kindness that gazes upon itself in a mirror turns to stone, And a good deed that calls itself by tender names becomes the parent to a curse. [[Try to focus on the here and now.->HAUNTED Hunted]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->Conclude and embark.]]

//The doppelganger had been standing motionless, but now turned to gaze at you. You heard the next words of the speech while locking eyes with them.// But the hunter was also the hunted; For many of my arrows left my bow only to seek my own breast. And the flier was also the creeper; For when my wings were spread in the sun their shadow upon the earth was a turtle. And I the believer was also the doubter; For often have I put my finger in my own wound that I might have the greater belief in you and the greater knowledge of you. //The doppelganger reached behind their back, and drew out the dagger, pointing to the sigil of your homeland on the pommel. They disappeared and The Prophet continued speaking, as no-one else appeared to have seen the apparition.// [[Try to focus on the here and now.->HAUNTED Vague]] [[I know this lesson well enough.->HAUNTED Choice]]

[["To break out of this confusion in our journey we must go immediately to the beginning, to Orphalese. I have seen a sign that directs us away from our homeland."->"Onward to Orphalese!"]] [["Our beginnings are vague and nebulous, therefore to the end we must go... where our fates are bound. Back to our homeland with no further distractions. Captain, spin this ship around!"->HAUNTED Home]]

And it is with this belief and this knowledge that I say, You are not enclosed within your bodies, nor confined to houses or fields. That which is you dwells above the mountain and roves with the wind. It is not a thing that crawls into the sun for warmth or digs holes into darkness for safety, But a thing free, a spirit that envelops the earth and moves in the ether. If these be vague words, then seek not to clear them. Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end, And I fain would have you remember me as a beginning. Life, and all that lives, is conceived in the mist and not in the crystal. And who knows but a crystal is mist in decay? [["Therefore my people, we must choose a crystal path or a part of mist."->HAUNTED Choice]]

//All things are as they should be. The rations grew scarce during the trip, but with proper planning no-one dies during the journey home. And you do not see the doppleganger again. A welcoming party from the royal family come to greet The Prophet, but also to reward you for your expedience in this challenging assignment. The spymaster pulls you aside before the ship is dimembarked, and asks you to describe what made your voyage successful. Her ceremonial garb has many pockets, and is traditionally filled with sensitive documents guarded only by her ceremonial dagger - which could be concealed in any of the pockets. You know her to be a shrewd and manipulative official, and she is likely testing you for your political alignment. You must be eloquent, and choose wisely:// [[Attribute your success to the Prophet.->Loyalist]] [[Attribute your success to Prayer to a higher power.->Royalist]] [[Attribute your success to your own mastery of Time.->Egotist]] [[Attribute your success to your own corpse warning you of your fate.]]

//You answered: "The wise Prophet has said:// Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.” And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed. When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. 67And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught. [[Continue reciting The Prophet's lesson.->Friendship Ctd 1]] [[The spymaster knows this lesson well enough.->Friendship Conclusion]]

//You answered: "The humble Prophet has said:// You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance. For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether? And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart. And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing. When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet. Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion. For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive: And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted: Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard. It is enough that you enter the temple invisible. [[Continue reciting The Prophet's lesson.->Royalist 2]] [[The spymaster knows this lesson well enough.->CLOUDY Royalist Conclusion]]

//You answered: "Even The Prophet has said:// You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable. You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons. Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing. Yet the timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness, And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream. And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space. Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless? And yet who does not feel that very love, though boundless, encompassed within the centre of his being, and moving not from love thought to love thought, nor from love deeds to other love deeds? And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless? [[Continue reciting The Prophet's lesson.]] [[The spymaster knows this lesson well enough.]]

But if in your thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons, And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing. //You continue by saying you have mastered efficient use of time, and the coersion of people to do your bidding. This is how you were able to achieve your previous successes, and The Prophet's lessons have only improved on your already prodigous talents. The spymaster then pauses, and she asks if your lessons are complete or if you wish to continue serving under The Prophet.// [["My lessons are complete, and my services are available to a new master."->Egotist 2]] [["I serve this land and its' rightful rulers."->Royalist]] [["I will continue to follow The Prophet."->Loyalist]]

//You continue by saying you have mastered efficient use of time, and the coersion of people to do your bidding. This is how you were able to achieve your previous successes, and The Prophet's lessons have only improved on your already prodigous talents. The spymaster then pauses, and she tells you your lessons are complete and your services are needed elsewhere.// [["My talents are available to a new master, especially if you are offering an apprenticeship in your craft most honorable spymaster."->Egotist 2]] [["I will serve this land and its' rightful rulers to the end."->Royalist]]

//The spymaster looks sternly at you, as if making your measure. Then she say, "Bring The Prophet to me at the edge of the market, and do not let him speak to anyone." You do as you are bid, knowing that you are turning The Prophet into a political pawn for your own person gain. A man stopped The Prophet in the Market, and The Prophet began to give lesson to the people gathered there. Potentially, his last - depending on the alignment of the people you are giving him over to.// [[Allow the lesson to continue.->Giving 1]] [[Silence him before he begins.->Egotist Conclusion]]

I cannot teach you how to pray in words. God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips. And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains. But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart, And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence, “Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth. It is thy desire in us that desireth. It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also. We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us: Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all.” //You continue by saying you have prayed, and that God has desired your safe return with The Prophet: The spymaster ensures that no-one is eavesdropping and whispers to you: "And if God now desireth the death of The Prophet, for the good of this land by will of the royal family?" You look at her incredulously. [[Demand to see the death warrant from the royal family.]] [["I keep my own counsel, and let my discussion with the higher powers guide my choices in life."]]

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//You continue by saying you have prayed, and that silent prayer alone has been enough to deliver God's will to fruition: The spymaster looks confused, but discretely gestures to a roll of parchment in her pocket, then poses a riddle to you: "But if it is enough to quietly worship, then what place has the royal family in guiding others in their prayers, and hopes, and actions?" You look at her and ponder her meaning. Then, after asking about the roll of parchment, she refuses to tell you more until you give a clear answer.// [["I follow the royal family's instructions as the will of God."->Demand to see the death warrant from the royal family.]] [["I keep my own counsel, and let my discussion with the higher powers guide my choices in life."]]

//The death warrant declared in the parchment was undoubtedly from the royal family, and the details of your task were made clear by the spymaster. She departed after giving you your instructions and a pen with a poison barb. This, she ordered you to thrust into your friend and mentor - making sure to leave the symbolic pen clenched in his right hand as death locks his grip. Until that time, it was nervously clenched in your sweaty hand as you walked up to The Prophet for the last time. You chatted about trivial matters while guiding him back to his room on the ship, then asked him for advice on following the law.// And he answered: You delight in laying down laws, Yet you delight more in breaking them. Like children playing by the ocean who build sand-towers with constancy and then destroy them with laughter. But while you build your sand-towers the ocean brings more sand to the shore, And when you destroy them the ocean laughs with you. Verily the ocean laughs always with the innocent. [[Focus on the here and now.-> Law Ctd 1]] [[I know this lesson well enough.-> Law Conclusion]]

//The spymaster silently and quickly walks a few brisk paces into the shade, so you follow behind her. You notice the roll of parchment has fallen on to the ship's deck a few paces into the shade, and you start to comment but the spymaster interrupts. As she speaks, you reach down to return the important document to her immediately. "The Prophet has been exiled for many years based on his refusal to acknowledge the royal family's connection to God. You have returned him to us, and for this they are grateful. Do you love him, though? For his return is meant only to establish their own power, once and for all. She holds the point of her blade to your back, which you exposed to her while reaching down. // [["I will follow my own path where it leads."->Martyr]] [["I have no choice to save my life, this is my bloody fate."->Martyr]] [["Anything you ask, I will do it. Just let me live!"->Weak-willed]]

//You grabbed the scroll and threw it towards The Prophet, before feeling the blood rush out through the stab wound in your back. It felt as though your spirit was thrown to the wind with that fateful toss, and you became one with the wind - guiding it into the sails of your ship. The spymaster fled, and The Prophet and his ship sailed out from the homeland and never returned. The Prophet glorified your sacrifice as a supreme act of Love, and often he turned to his memory of you for guidance. Whenever your name is mentioned, he is known to jump into this oft repeated lesson, as he does now on the second anniversary of your death while visiting once again in Orphalese.// And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said: When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. [[Ask them to focus on the here and now.-> Love Ctd 1]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Love Conclusion]]

//She demanded that you unroll the parchment and read it. [[Do as she says.->Demand to see the death warrant from the royal family.]] [[Throw the thick roll of parchment towards The Prophet.->Martyr]]

But what of those to whom life is not an ocean, and man-made laws are not sand-towers, But to whom life is a rock, and the law a chisel with which they would carve it in their own likeness? 52What of the cripple who hates dancers? What of the ox who loves his yoke and deems the elk and deer of the forest stray and vagrant things? What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless? And of him who comes early to the wedding-feast, and when over-fed and tired goes his way saying that all feasts are violation and all feasters lawbreakers? [[Focus on the here and now.-> Law Ctd 2]] [[I know this lesson well enough.-> Law Conclusion]]

//The Prophet reached for your hand. He said, "I know this wil be my last lesson." The pen still clenched in your hand thenpierced the skin of his palm, either from your impetus or his own. "But there will be many hard lessons yet ahead for you." You placed the pen in his hand, it's function fulfilled, and tenderly closed his fingers around it. "Be sure to choose wisely, as there is no end in sight from here on." Those words were laboured, and he shuddered as the poison took effect. And so, he whispered his delirious final utterance:// People of Orphalese, you can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre, but who shall command the skylark not to sing? [[Leave him.]]

What shall I say of these save that they too stand in the sunlight, but with their backs to the sun? They see only their shadows, and their shadows are their laws. And what is the sun to them but a caster of shadows? And what is it to acknowledge the laws but to stoop down and trace their shadows upon the earth? But you who walk facing the sun, what images drawn on the earth can hold you? You who travel with the wind, what weather-vane shall direct your course? What man’s law shall bind you if you break your yoke but upon no man’s prison door? What laws shall you fear if you dance but stumble against no man’s iron chains? And who is he that shall bring you to judgment if you tear off your garment yet leave it in no man’s path? [[Pull your hand away, and turn to leave.-> Law Conclusion]] [[Push the knife in your clenched first towards him.-> Law Conclusion]]

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. He threshes you to make you naked. He sifts you to free you from your husks. He grinds you to whiteness. He kneads you until you are pliant; And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast. All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart. But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure, Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor, Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. [[Ask them to focus on the here and now.-> Love Ctd 2]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Love Conclusion]]

And the priests and the priestesses said unto him: Let not the waves of the sea separate us now, and the years you have spent in our midst become a memory. You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a light upon our faces. Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veils has it been veiled. Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and would stand revealed before you. And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. //The Prophet Almustafa beckoned you to guide him:// [["Stay here, oh wise Almustafa."->Moving Souls]] [["Let us say our goodbyes, and get on the ship, my friend."->The Waning Crescent]]

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.” And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstacy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips. [[Let them speak.->Love Conclusion]]

And others came also and entreated him. But he answered them not. He only bent his head; and those who stood near saw his tears falling upon his breast. And he and the people proceeded towards the great square before the temple. And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra. And she was a seeress. And he looked upon her with exceeding tenderness, for it was she who had first sought and believed in him when he had been but a day in their city. 14And she hailed him, saying: Prophet of God, in quest of the uttermost, long have you searched the distances for your ship. And now your ship has come, and you must needs go. Deep is your longing for the land of your memories and the dwelling place of your greater desires; and our love would not bind you nor our needs hold you. Yet this we ask ere you leave us, that you speak to us and give us of your truth. And we will give it unto our children, and they unto their children, and it shall not perish. In your aloneness you have watched with our days, and in your wakefulness you have listened to the weeping and the laughter of our sleep. Now therefore disclose us to ourselves, and tell us all that has been shown you of that which is between birth and death. [[Tell them my secret, my legacy.->Legacy]]

And he answered, People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving within your souls? //You have now learned that your legacy moves within the souls of the people of Ophalese. When The Prophet dies, his spirit will join yours in communion with them - until one of you is born again. This is the Legacy ending, one of three possible endings. Congratulations, but there is still more to be learned by experiencing Kahlil Gibran's ''The Prophet'' again.//

And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. [["And I consider The Prophet among my friends, and hope to be counted among his when my final day draws near."->Friendship Conclusion]]

//You continued by saying The Prophet will be the redemption of the homeland, and the knowledge gained on his journey will allow your brothers and sisters to share in his enlightment. So far you have but glimpsed a sliver of it, but it has beem enough to be assured of its' power. The spymaster smiled uncharacteristically wide, and she tells you to hide your true emotions to what she is about to say - as you both are being watched. "The Prophet's life is in danger," she said. Then she shows you the full contents of a warrant for his death, while pretending to get your signature on another document. "Allow us to load more provisions onto the ship, and turn around immediately! Let no-one from your ship leave, or there death is certain in this place." You ask if you will ever be allowed to return here. "As long as this royal banner flies on the docks, it is not safe for him here. There are higher powers at work, and they bid him to move onwards."// [["Yes, we trust you and will leave as soon as we have your provisions."]] [["I keep my own counsel, and let my discussion with the higher powers guide my choices in life."]]

//The provisions were loaded secretly in broad daylight, by fisherman's skiffs traded for our own on the ship's starboard side, facing away from the docks. The Prophet trusted your concern and you both decided to set off towards a friendly nation. They have heard his words and sent frequent requests for his help, not knowing of his prolonged stay in Orphalese. The crew were bewildered at first, but you promised to hold a feast first and then explain everything. This sated their curiosity. The promise of this feast came on your condition that you reach the barren coast just north of the homeland. The crew agreed it was an easily achieved destination in this wind, and one they could reach before nightfall. With the first half of the provisions laid out, you provided those present with their next destination; just two days of hard sailing away. They cheer as you beckon them to begin the feast, and The Prophet tucks into his modest meal. You promised to explain the situation to all once they are gathered together and do not have empty stomachs.// [[Gather everyone on board at the dining hall, so they may feast and be told of the royal family's treachery towards The Prophet.]]

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.” But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy. Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced. When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall. //You believe The Prophet continued to speak, but your attention became hazy as you continue to feast. You feel unreasonably tired, and several of the crew seem to have passed out into their food. You laugh along with the others, who all seem to share in the joke. Eventually, even The Prophet lay sleeping on the floor... with you only dimly aware of the rest of the people present. It seemed some new guests began arriving at that point, but they did not touch any of the food. You passed into a fitful sleep, but your dreams felt as real as if you were awake..."// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]] [[Keep dreaming.]]

//Finally you sat down not half an hour later, and at The Prophet's request you quieted the room so he could speak to the crew again. He said:// Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. [[Eat, drink, and listen to The Prophet's lesson.]]

You shoved the spymaster overboard, but not before some of her documents and her ceremonial dagger dropped on to the decks in your scuffle. The crew politely but forcibly escorted the welcoming party off the ship, as if reading your mind and purpose. The captain stepped out on the deck, once again appearing with the same face as yours, and called in your own booming voice for the ship to move from the docks to set anchor the open ocean just outside the harbor. The Prophet went below decks with a concerned look on his face, after asking you gingerly to speak with him when the ship next came to rest. You grew wild and angry once he left, how could you be betrayed by the spymaster? And why had the doppleganger captain appeared once again? The captain walks over to relieve the helmsperson and you check for the knife in his back, but find it is now gone. Returning your gaze to the ceremonial dagger on the deck, you recognize it as the one formerly attached to the captain! You asked yourself what horrors you had committed by unfettering this monster, your evil twin, by removing the blade. The captain must be stopped, and perhaps this dagger is meant to be their undoing. [[Reach for the spymaster's dagger.]] [[Reach for the spymaster's documents.]] [[Use the dagger to open the spymaster's documents.]]

[[Find the captain at the helm.]] [[Use the dagger to open the spymaster's documents.]]

[[Bring the documents to The Prophet.]] [[Use the dagger to open the spymaster's documents.]]

//One of the documents is a death warrant asking for the execution of The Prophet before his foot touches the soil of the homeland. It is signed by a member of the royal family. The Prophet needs to know about this.// [[Bring the documents to The Prophet.]]

//You approached the helm holding the dagger. But the fiend was not there! The helmsperson steered the ship instead.// [[Return to the deck.]] [[Go to the lower level.]]

//The Prophet examined the documents, and then asked for some time alone. He seemed thankful for your actions that are now justified, but was noticeably wary of your presence.// [[Step out in to the hallway.->Go to the lower level.]]

[[Guide the crew to anchor the ship first.]] [[Go to the lower level.]] [[Use the dagger to open the spymaster's documents.]]

//While standing just outside The Prophet's chambers, you noticed the captain slipping in to their large stateroom at the end of the hall. You exclaimed loudly, raising your dagger, and chased them in to the chambers. The Prophet, hearing the commotion, followed more than a few steps behind. Finally! You cornered the captain. You told The Prophet to leave for his own safety, and keep the door locked until only one of you is left standing. He agreed this is the best way to resolve the situation and then left your stateroom. [[Fight the captain.]]

//Once the ship was anchored, you remembered The Prophet's request to meet him at his chambers.// [[Talk with The Prophet.->Go to the lower level.]]

//The ship arrived in Orphalese and a small crowd gathered, as some had recognize the ship. The Prophet asked you to escort him, and keep the people some distance away from him because the crowd will only get larger. You led him off the docks and towards the Temple, to allow the crew to disembark safely. The crowd followed behind, but a poet and a hermit had run ahead to ask him questions. The poet is on the stage already.// [[Allow the hermit to push on to the stage.->Full Intro 1]] [[Let The Prophet answer only this one question for now.->Poet Intro]]

//The ship arrived in Orphalese and a small crowd gathered, as some had recognize the ship. The Prophet asked you to escort him, and keep the people some distance away from him because the crowd will only get larger. You led him off the docks and towards the Temple, to allow the crew to disembark safely. The crowd followed behind, but a poet and a hermit had run ahead to ask him questions. The hermit is on the stage already.// [[Allow the poet to push on to the stage.->Full Intro 1]] [[Let The Prophet answer only this one question for now.->Hermit Intro]]

//The Prophet greeted the People of Orphalese joyfully, and explained that his return would be a short one. But he would answer their questions, and the more questions they asked the more likely someone would replace him to share his vision of the world.// [[Stand at the edge of the stage, and choose who may ask questions.->Part 1]]

Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, Speak to us of Pleasure. And he answered, saying: Pleasure is a freedom-song, But it is not freedom. It is the blossoming of your desires, But it is not their fruit. It is a depth calling unto a height, But it is not the deep nor the high. It is the caged taking wing, But it is not space encompassed. Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song. And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing. Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked. I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek. For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone; Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure. Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure? [[Focus on the here and now.->Pleasure Ctd 1]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Full Intro 2]]

And a poet said, Speak to us of Beauty. And he answered: Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide? And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech? The aggrieved and the injured say, “Beauty is kind and gentle. Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us.” And the passionate say, “Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread. Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us.” The tired and the weary say, “Beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit. Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow.” But the restless say, “We have heard her shouting among the mountains, And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions.” At night the watchmen of the city say, “Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east.” And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, “We have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset.” [[Focus on the here and now.->Beauty Ctd 1]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Intro Conclusion]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage:// [[Allow the seeress Almitra to push on to the stage.->Marriage 1a]] [[Allow a woman and a child to push on to the stage.->Children 1a]] [[Allow a scholar to push on to the stage.->Talking 1a]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage master? And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. [[Focus on the here and now.->Marriage 2a]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Skip Warning 1a]]

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children. And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. 22For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. [[They know this lesson well enough.->Children 1a Conclusion]]

And then a scholar said, Speak of Talking. And he answered, saying: You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime. And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered. For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly. There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone. The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape. And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand. And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words. In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence. When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue. Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear of his ear; For his soul will keep the truth of your heart as the taste of the wine is remembered When the colour is forgotten and the vessel is no more. [[They know this lesson well enough.->Talking 1a Conclusion]]

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow? And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city? And what is fear of need but need itself? Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable? There are those who give little of the much which they have—and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty. There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space. Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth. [["That's enough for now, old man."->Egotist Conclusion]] [["Wrap it up, I have people to see!"-> Giving 2]]

//A large crowd gathered while The Prophet spoke, and he now addressed them all. He would answer all their questions, and the more questions they asked the more likely someone would replace him to share his vision of the world.// [[Stand at the edge of the stage, and choose who may ask questions.->Part 1]]

Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, Speak to us of Pleasure. And he answered, saying: Pleasure is a freedom-song, But it is not freedom. It is the blossoming of your desires, But it is not their fruit. It is a depth calling unto a height, But it is not the deep nor the high. It is the caged taking wing, But it is not space encompassed. Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song. And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing. Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked. I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek. For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone; Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure. Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure? [[Focus on the here and now.->Hermit Ctd 1]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Intro Conclusion]]

In winter say the snow-bound, “She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills.” And in the summer heat the reapers say, “We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair.” All these things have you said of beauty, Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied, And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy. It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted. It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear, But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears. It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw, But rather a garden for ever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight. People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face. But you are life and you are the veil. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror. [[They know this lesson well enough.->Intro Conclusion]]

And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness. But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement. They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer. Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted. And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember; And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it. But even in their foregoing is their pleasure. And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands. But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit? Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars? And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind? Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff? [[Focus on the here and now.->Pleasure Ctd 2]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Full Intro 2]]

Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being. Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow? Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived. And your body is the harp of your soul, And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds. And now you ask in your heart, “How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?” Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower, But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee. For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life, And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love, And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy. People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees. [[They know this lesson well enough.->Full Intro 2]]

And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness. But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement. They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer. Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted. And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember; And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it. But even in their foregoing is their pleasure. And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands. But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit? Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars? And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind? Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff? [[Focus on the here and now.->Hermit Ctd 2]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Intro Conclusion]]

//You addressed the crowd at that time: "The Prophet is too weary to continue his lessons tonight. Come to me with your questions and I will make sure they are answered before we leave tomorrow at noon." The Prophet moved with a very real tiredness as he retired to the ship, but did not speak to you when questioned. People came to you with questions until the early hours of the morning. When the line ended, you took the stack of papers, dropped them outside The Prophet's door, and went to your bed. You were unable to sleep, despite being extremely weary from talking with the People of Orphalese. You sat up and it occured to you, that all the provisions had been made for your departure. Surely, you had the energy to set this journey in motion, and many of the crew would be stirring now and would obey your commands.// [[Find a flagon of rum and drink yourself to sleep.->Sleep.]] [[Depart from Orphalese without letting The Prophet say goodbye.->Mutiny]]

Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow. [[They know this lesson well enough.->Marriage 1a Conclusion]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: Almitra has already asked her question.// [[Allow a woman and a child to push on to the stage.->Children 1ba]] [[Allow a scholar to push on to the stage.->Talking 1ba]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: The woman with the child has already asked her question.// [[Allow a woman and a child to push on to the stage.->Marriage 1bb]] [[Allow a scholar to push on to the stage.->Talking 1bb]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage master? And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. [[Focus on the here and now.->Marriage 2bb]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Skip Warning 1bb]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: The scholar has already asked her question.// [[Allow the seeress Almitra to push on to the stage.->Marriage 1bc]] [[Allow a woman and a child to push on to the stage.->Children 1bc]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: The woman with the child has already asked her question. The scholar has already asked her question.// [[Allow a woman and a child to push on to the stage.->Marriage 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: Almitra has already asked her question. The scholar has already asked her question.// [[Allow a woman and a child to push on to the stage.->Children 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage master? And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. [[Focus on the here and now.->Marriage 2bc]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Skip Warning 1bc]]

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage master? And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. [[Focus on the here and now.->Marriage 2c]] [[They know this lesson well enough.->Skip Warning 1c]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: The woman with the child has already asked her question. Almitra has already asked her question.// [[Allow a scholar to push on to the stage.->Talking 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: The scholar has already asked her question.// [[Allow a woman and a child to push on to the stage.->Children 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: Almitra has already asked her question. The woman with the child has already asked her question.// [[Allow a scholar to push on to the stage.->Talking 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//Four people at the side of the stage started to step on the stage: The scholar has already asked her question. The woman with the child has already asked her question.// [[Allow the seeress Almitra to push on to the stage.->Marriage 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//The Prophet gives you a glance as you move Almitra off the stage to allow the next question, and it tells you that you have done something wrong. You know he will converse with Almitra again after these lessons, but perhaps you should avoid cutting his lessons short tonight.// [[Allow The Prophet to continue his lessons for the people.->Marriage 1a Conclusion]]

//It was better not to upset The Prophet, though his health did not seem up to addressing the crowds again today. You fell asleep in your clothes, taking large swigs from your flagon. The Prophet woke you up in a few hours to escort him to the city once again, but you did not feel entirely yourself. You were glad when the dockworkers gave you many casks of wine for your journey onward.// And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, and they were crying out to him as with one voice. And the elders of the city stood forth and said: Go not yet away from us. A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream. No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearly beloved. Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face. //You riled up the already excited crowd.// [["Let The Prophet speak!"]]

//The Prophet has spoken for some time, and you can see the tiredness growing in him, although each sentence is spoken as vigorously as the last. The last responses have drained him of all colour. He staggers when there is a lull, and the crowd gasps and goes silent. But they continue chattering, as soon as he is on his feet again. Their appetite and hunger for his knowledge has not abated. You bring him water, but he refuses all else. His health has not been great, and it is as if each question he answers is killing him a little more. After a time, he urges you silently to allow the lessons to continue.// //A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage:// [[Allow the orator to push on to the stage.->Freedom 1a]] [[Allow a merchant to push on to the stage.->Buying 1a]] [[Allow a mason to push on to the stage.->Houses 1a]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//The Prophet followed you to the edge of the market, where several men in the spymasters employ grab him and escort him away. The Prophet would not meet your eyes, but you have to consider the possibility that this outcome was better for both of you. You walked swiftly away, meeting the spymaster's agent at the agreed location. He made you wait in silence while your claims were verified. Some hours later, an associate of his returned. They adjourned to another chambers, but gestured their servant to lead you to the dining area. You ate a meal in silence and drank heavily of the wine and your own thoughts, until at last the associate returned. He commended you on your service to the country, and assured you they would discuss your promotion with you in the morning. "For now," he said "enjoy the feast that life has to offer." Your body is content, but you indulge it more and more; as there is no company to distract your questioning mind. Late in the night, you ask the servant for a bed and they lead you up the stairs into the finest bed you have ever laid in. You passed into a fitful sleep, but your dreams felt as real as if you were awake..."// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]] [[Keep dreaming.]]

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving. And is there aught you would withhold? All you have shall some day be given; Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’. You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.” The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture. They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish. Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you. And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving? And who are you that men should rend 26their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed? See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving. For in truth it is life that gives unto life—while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness. And you receivers—and you are all receivers—assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives. Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings; For to be overmindful of your debt, is ito doubt his generosity who has the freehearted earth for mother, and God for father. [[They know this lesson well enough.->Egotist Conclusion]]

And an orator said, Speak to us of Freedom. And he answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them. Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff. And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment. You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound. //The Prophet undoes the rope on his simple cloth robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 2a]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And a merchant said, Speak to us of Buying and Selling. And he answered and said: To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands. It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger. When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices,— Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value. And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour. To such men you should say, “Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net; For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us.” //The Prophet went and drew his changepurse from his robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Buying 2a]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses. And he answered and said: Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls. For even as you have home-comings in your twilight, so has the wanderer in you, the ever distant and alone. Your house is your larger body. It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless. Does not your house dream? and dreaming, leave the city for grove or hilltop? Would that I could gather your houses into my hand, and like a sower scatter them in forest and meadow. Would the valleys were your streets, and the green paths your alleys, that you might seek one another through vineyards, and come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments. But these things are not yet to be. In their fear your forefathers gathered you too near together. And that fear shall endure a little longer. A little longer shall your city walls separate your hearths from your fields. //The Prophet slowly and agonizingly lowered his body, so that his legs were dangling off the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 2a]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour? In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes. And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed. For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, that cart has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you. And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared. //The Prophet removes his robes, without any shame in his nakedness.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 3a]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape. These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling. And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light. And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom. //The Prophet kicks off his sandals, and drapes his robes over the front of the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 1a Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet is naked on the stage. The orator has already asked her question.// [[Allow a merchant to push on to the stage.->Buying 1ba]] [[Allow a mason to push on to the stage.->Houses 1ba]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And a merchant said, Speak to us of Buying and Selling. And he answered and said: To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands. It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger. When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices,— Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value. And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour. To such men you should say, “Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net; For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us.” //The Prophet went and drew his changepurse from his robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Buying 2ba]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses. And he answered and said: Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls. For even as you have home-comings in your twilight, so has the wanderer in you, the ever distant and alone. Your house is your larger body. It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless. Does not your house dream? and dreaming, leave the city for grove or hilltop? Would that I could gather your houses into my hand, and like a sower scatter them in forest and meadow. Would the valleys were your streets, and the green paths your alleys, that you might seek one another through vineyards, and come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments. But these things are not yet to be. In their fear your forefathers gathered you too near together. And that fear shall endure a little longer. A little longer shall your city walls separate your hearths from your fields. //The Prophet slowly and agonizingly lowered his body, so that his legs were dangling off the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 2ba]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players,—buy of their gifts also. For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul. And before you leave the market place, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands. For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied. //The Prophet cast the coins one at a time into the crowd, and drop the empty purse.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Buying 1a Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet has cast all his money away. The merchant has already asked his question.// [[Allow the orator to push on to the stage.->Freedom 1bb]] [[Allow a mason to push on to the stage.->Houses 1bb]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And an orator said, Speak to us of Freedom. And he answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them. Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff. And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment. You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound. //The Prophet undoes the rope on his simple cloth robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 2bb]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses. And he answered and said: Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls. For even as you have home-comings in your twilight, so has the wanderer in you, the ever distant and alone. Your house is your larger body. It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless. Does not your house dream? and dreaming, leave the city for grove or hilltop? Would that I could gather your houses into my hand, and like a sower scatter them in forest and meadow. Would the valleys were your streets, and the green paths your alleys, that you might seek one another through vineyards, and come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments. But these things are not yet to be. In their fear your forefathers gathered you too near together. And that fear shall endure a little longer. A little longer shall your city walls separate your hearths from your fields. //The Prophet slowly and agonizingly lowered his body, so that his legs were dangling off the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 2bb]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And tell me, people of Orphalese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors? Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power? Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind? Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain? Tell me, have you these in your houses? Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master? //The Prophet pauses as he slides off the stage, and must catch his breath again.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 3a]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron. It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh. It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile vessels. Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral. But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped nor tamed. Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast. It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye. You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down. You shall not dwell in tombs made by the dead for the living. And though of magnificence and splendour, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing. For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night. [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 1a Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet is standing on the ground, among the crowd. The mason has already asked her question.// [[Allow the orator to push on to the stage.->Freedom 1bc]] [[Allow a merchant to push on to the stage.->Buying 1bc]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And an orator said, Speak to us of Freedom. And he answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them. Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff. And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment. You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound. //The Prophet undoes the rope on his simple cloth robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 2bc]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And a merchant said, Speak to us of Buying and Selling. And he answered and said: To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands. It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger. When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices,— Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value. And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour. To such men you should say, “Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net; For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us.” //The Prophet went and drew his changepurse from his robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Buying 2bc]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour? In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes. And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed. For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, that cart has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you. And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared. //The Prophet removes his robes, without any shame in his nakedness.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 3bc]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour? In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes. And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed. For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, that cart has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you. And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared. //The Prophet removes his robes, without any shame in his nakedness.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 3bb]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape. These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling. And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light. And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom. //The Prophet kicks off his sandals, and drapes his robes over the front of the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 1bb Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape. These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling. And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light. And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom. //The Prophet kicks off his sandals, and drapes his robes over the front of the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 1bc Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet has cast all his money and clothing away. The merchant has already asked his question. The orator has already asked her question.// [[Allow a mason to push on to the stage.->Houses 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet is standing naked, among the crowd. The mason has already asked her question. The orator has already asked her question.// [[Allow a merchant to push on to the stage.->Buying 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And a merchant said, Speak to us of Buying and Selling. And he answered and said: To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands. It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger. When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices,— Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value. And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour. To such men you should say, “Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net; For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us.” //The Prophet went and drew his changepurse from his robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Buying 2c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses. And he answered and said: Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls. For even as you have home-comings in your twilight, so has the wanderer in you, the ever distant and alone. Your house is your larger body. It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless. Does not your house dream? and dreaming, leave the city for grove or hilltop? Would that I could gather your houses into my hand, and like a sower scatter them in forest and meadow. Would the valleys were your streets, and the green paths your alleys, that you might seek one another through vineyards, and come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments. But these things are not yet to be. In their fear your forefathers gathered you too near together. And that fear shall endure a little longer. A little longer shall your city walls separate your hearths from your fields. //The Prophet slowly and agonizingly lowered his body, so that his legs were dangling off the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 2c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players,—buy of their gifts also. For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul. And before you leave the market place, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands. For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied. //The Prophet cast the coins one at a time into the crowd, and drop the empty purse.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Buying 1ba Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet has cast all his money and clothing away. The orator has already asked her question. The merchant has already asked his question.// [[Allow a mason to push on to the stage.->Houses 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players,—buy of their gifts also. For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul. And before you leave the market place, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands. For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied. //The Prophet cast the coins one at a time into the crowd, and drop the empty purse.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Buying 1bc Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet is standing on the ground, among the crowd; having given all his money away. The mason has already asked her question. The merchant has already asked his question.// [[Allow the orator to push on to the stage.->Freedom 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And an orator said, Speak to us of Freedom. And he answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them. Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff. And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment. You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound. //The Prophet undoes the rope on his simple cloth robes.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 2c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And tell me, people of Orphalese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors? Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power? Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind? Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain? Tell me, have you these in your houses? Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master? //The Prophet pauses as he slides off the stage, and must catch his breath again.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 3bb]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron. It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh. It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile vessels. Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral. But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped nor tamed. Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast. It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye. You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down. You shall not dwell in tombs made by the dead for the living. And though of magnificence and splendour, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing. For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night. [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 1bb Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//A group of three workers at the side of the stage each started to step on the stage: The Prophet is standing on the ground, among the crowd; having given all his money away. The merchant has already asked his question. The orator has already asked her question.// [[Allow the orator to push on to the stage.->Freedom 1c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And tell me, people of Orphalese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors? Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power? Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind? Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain? Tell me, have you these in your houses? Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master? //The Prophet pauses as he slides off the stage, and must catch his breath again.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 3ba]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron. It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh. It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile vessels. Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral. But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped nor tamed. Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast. It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye. You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down. You shall not dwell in tombs made by the dead for the living. And though of magnificence and splendour, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing. For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night. [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 1ba Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour? In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes. And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed. For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, that cart has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you. And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared. //The Prophet removes his robes, without any shame in his nakedness.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Freedom 3c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape. These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling. And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light. And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom. //The Prophet kicks off his sandals, and drapes his robes over the front of the stage.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//The Prophet walked naked through the crowd towards the docks, and you followed at a respectable distance - lost in your own thoughts.// Then he descended the steps of the Temple and all the people followed him. And he reached his ship and stood upon the deck. And facing the people again, he raised his voice and said: People of Orphalese, the wind bids me leave you. Less hasty am I than the wind, yet I must go. We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us. Even while the earth sleeps we travel. We are the seeds of the tenacious plant, and it is in our ripeness and our fullness of heart that we are given to the wind and are scattered. //He looked to you on the ground below, and gestured grandly towards the heart of the city. The crowd began cheering but slowly look towards you, as you have not made any motions to follow him on to the ship. [["People of Orphalese, the mountains bid me stay among you."->Transference]]

//And The Prophet smiled, and turned away as you began to speak.// For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. And now it was evening. And Almitra the seeress said, Blessed be this day and this place and your spirit that has spoken. And //YOU// answered, Was it I who spoke? Was I not also a listener? [[Focus on the here and now.->Listener]]

And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players,—buy of their gifts also. For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul. And before you leave the market place, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands. For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied. //The Prophet cast the coins one at a time into the crowd, and drop the empty purse.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

And tell me, people of Orphalese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors? Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power? Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind? Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain? Tell me, have you these in your houses? Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master? //The Prophet pauses as he slides off the stage, and must catch his breath again.// [[Focus on the here and now.->Houses 3c]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron. It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh. It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile vessels. Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral. But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped nor tamed. Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast. It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye. You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down. You shall not dwell in tombs made by the dead for the living. And though of magnificence and splendour, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing. For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night. [[Focus on the here and now.->Conclusion]] [[Let The Prophet rest, no more questions today.]]

//You have stayed behind with the people of Ophalese, while The Prophet continues his journey towards the homeland. Slowly and painfully, you will earn their love; however, soon you learn that Almustafa did not survive his trip. This is the Listener ending, one of three possible endings. Congratulations, but there is still more to be learned by experiencing Kahlil Gibran's ''The Prophet'' again.//

//You thought perhaps the captain would not like you taking control of their ship. But you had not seen them taking charge lately, probably off in a drunken stupor somewhere, and perhaps this was the time to take their place. You readied the crew for sailing, and set out before the city awoke. Your eyes were starting to lose the ability to stay open, so you decided to tell The Prophet your plan before retiring. There was still the matter of the captain, but you should not face them in this condition. You stumbled into the armory first, and grabbed a small and easily concealable dagger - in case they came to make you answer for your mutiny while you slept.// [[Go to the lower level.]]

The battle lasted long into the night, and you wrestled the captain to the ground many times but your dagger was never able to find it's mark. You started to remember that you are the captain of this ship, and its' crew have long since accepted your occasional dissociations - although increasingly alarming in the past few years. "But why, why do the accept me?" you asked into the empty chambers. "You are fair, and treat them well - is that not what a good leader does?" The captain answered, before collapsing on their bed from exhaustion. You passed into a fitful sleep, but your dreams felt as real as if you were awake..."// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]] [[Keep dreaming.]]

//You walked swiftly away, meeting the spymaster's agent at the agreed location. He made you wait in silence while your claims were verified. Some hours later, an associate of his returned. They adjourned to another chambers, but gestured their servant to lead you to the dining area. You ate a meal in silence and drank heavily of the wine and your own thoughts, until at last the associate returned. He commended you on your service to the country, and assured you they would discuss your promotion with you in the morning. "For now," he said "enjoy the feast that life has to offer." Your body is content, but you indulge it more and more; as there is no company to distract your questioning mind. Late in the night, you ask the servant for a bed and they lead you up the stairs into the finest bed you have ever laid in. You passed into a fitful sleep, but your dreams felt as real as if you were awake..."// [[Pinch yourself awake.->A Full Circle]] [[Keep dreaming.]]