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I present to you:
Once there was a girl, who lived with her parents in a small village at the foot of a mountain. This girl was not exceptionally beautiful or smart, but she knew that she wanted to be happy and successful in life.
One day, her father took her aside and, pointing to the top of the mountain far above them, told her that if she could reach the top of that mountain, she would go far in life, and be happy and successful. “You see,” he told her, “when you reach the top, you will be able to see just how beautiful the world and your life is, and how great and wonderful your future will be.”
Now, in the village where they lived, it was customary that each boy and girl, upon reaching that point in life where they are no longer a child but not quite an adult, should climb the mountain, and this girl was at the time where she was ready to start climbing.
So she announced to her father and mother that same day that she was going to start the climb. As they watched her begin to hike into the woods at the foot of the mountain, they felt a sense of pride, for they knew that she was determined enough to reach the top.
Not all of the boys and girls who climbed the mountain made it. Some got bored and stopped; others just gave up because it was too hard for them. But not this girl, she was determined to reach the top of the mountain, to see the beauty in life.
So she began to climb, and was so focused on what she was doing, that she never really looked around her. She just kept looking at the peak of the mountain, imagining how beautiful and spectacular the view would be, and then back at her hands to make sure that she had a good grip on the rocks.
For days she went on like this. She never bothered paying attention to the forest that grew up the side of the mountain and its inhabitants, she just kept climbing. Day after day she climbed, until she was almost halfway up the mountain.
But then one day, as she was looking up to the top of the mountain, a bit of rock that she had grabbed on to broke off, and she slid back. Fortunately, the ground wasn’t too steep and she soon stopped tumbling, but she had scraped up her knee and her palms rather badly, so she had to stop.
As she wiped the dirt from her wounds, she looked up in frustration, expecting to see the peak and be encouraged by the sight of it. But instead, she found her view was blocked by the boughs of a great beech tree, and sitting in the branch directly above her was a male robin, preening his feathers as he prepared to woo a female.
The girl tilted her head, looking in wonder and amazement at the beautiful bird. Her eyes traveled down, and her breath caught in her chest. What she saw was beautiful, like she’d never seen before. The forest was filled with pine, beech, birch, maple, so many old and majestic trees. In the deep shade, spots of green and gold light filtered through the leaves; moss and ferns grew everywhere. She could hear the voices of many birds. A squirrel scurried up a tree not far away. She had no idea how she’d been able to climb so far, through all of this without seeing it. She couldn’t imagine how anything could possibly be more beautiful.
The robin above her chirped, and fluttered down to the ground in front of her. She sat still, watching it, hoping it wouldn’t leave. It was just too beautiful. Another robin, a female, swooped down from somewhere, and the first one began hopping after it, until it was almost out of sight. The girl felt kind of sad that it was leaving, watching it as it hopped in circles with its potential mate. The female flew into a tree, and the male followed it. Gradually, they made their way back over to where the girl was. The female robin seemed to grow bored, and left the male. He did not try to follow.
Then the robin began hopping in front of the girl, watching her, before sticking his head into a hole, and pulling out a worm. He ate it up, and began hopping up the mountain. The girl followed, wishing that she too could hop and fly like this wonderful bird.
As she walked up, she looked around her. She saw streams, flowers, birds, squirrels, all as the robin led her up the mountain. And she saw the beauty in the world, in the journey. But all the time she never lost sight of the robin. It fascinated her, and she felt that if it left, she would no longer be able to see her surroundings. She was afraid that if he was gone, she would become too worried with reaching the top to see the wonders around her.
And so she went on for weeks like this, never going fast, always following the robin and enjoying the mountain forest around her. They spiraled around the mountain, the robin not seeming to take notice of her. Sometimes he flew, sometimes he hopped along the ground, and sometimes he stopped to flirt with a lady bird, but always he went up, as if he, too, had to reach the top to fulfill his duty.
Meanwhile, down in the village, her parents became worried. What was taking their precious daughter so long? Had she been hurt? Had she given up? Gotten lost? Their oldest daughter had failed to climb the mountain because she met a boy who was too lazy to continue his climb, and had moved away with him, not caring to try to succeed, shaming the family. And now the girl’s parents were worried that the same thing had happened to their youngest.
After a month, the girl finally reached the top. The robin had reached the peak before her, and as she clambered out of the trees, she saw that the robin had disappeared. She sighed, wishing it was there, and turned to look at the world around her, the sight that her father had promised to be wonderful and fulfilling.
What she saw, I do not know, for I have not reached the top of the mountain yet. I am still following the robin, enjoying that which, up until now, I have missed.
