An Index to Greatness

There was once upon a time a very beautiful young maiden. Suitors far and wide came to kiss her hand, to wait upon her, to bow at her feet; still she was not pleased and sought to become something greater than a pretty face. Disgusted by her lack of decorum, the men left to find a woman that would willingly clean the house, make the meals, and sire their sons.

And so the maiden set forth to do great things.

But before this tale is told, a few things must be known. The maiden was not lucky; she did not have luxuriously long hair, a star upon her forehead, beauty that surpassed all, the title of ‘princess,’ or a wit that challenged that of the most learned scholars. In fact, the maiden’s only advantages were her mild intelligence and the money and respect of a well-to-do family. She had neither an extraordinary gift or curse nor a prince to overcome or encourage these magics. What the maiden had was determination, perseverance, and aspirations to be known across the world. With this sort of will one cannot help but achieve monumental things.

At the first village she reached they found a group of vagabonds had laid siege to it and all the people were trapped or dead. The maiden, after assessing the situation, ran with the speed of five thousand horses to the king’s castle; when it had been told to him what had occurred, he gathered five thousand men and vowed to terminate the vagabonds. As the army began to travel to the town, the maiden was left behind, and so with the combined speed of five thousand horses she raced to the king’s side. The king, angered by the behavior not befit for a lady, struck out with his sword at the crown of her head. Rather than meeting a gruesome end, the maiden simply put her hand into the sword’s path and when it struck her the weapon crumbled into dust. Before the king could respond befittingly the maiden surged forwards, past all the soldiers – for the king was a fearful man and needed the protection of his army on all sides – to the front line. With a hard stomp of her right foot, the very terrain of the village jumped up and dislodged the enemy from the houses, behind corners, in the taverns; no stone was left unturned. For a single second the men lay still in the air, looks of surprise painted on their faces, and then that second passed and the men fell to the ground, dead upon impact. The king was awed by this young girl’s power but was also afraid of it; though he rewarded her greatly he wanted her far from himself.

He needed not have worried this for no more than five days later the maiden grew restless and went to him, biding he let her go off into the world and make a name for herself. The king let her go, and he bade her to go deep inside the earth and fetch him many precious stones, a notion born from his clever greed. The maiden readily agreed to the task; with a map, human necessities, and a shovel, she traveled to the edge of the earth as the king had directed. With the shovel she began to dig deep into the core of the planet, never perspiring or tiring, fueled by her sense of purpose. The maiden did not cease for five days and when the fifth layer of rock was peeled away she was repaid with jewels galore. Summoning the same speed and dexterity that first brought her to the king she ran back to this palace, the molten gems cooling as the wind went past her. The king was satisfied with this and gave the maiden five days rest. At the passing of these five days the king had found he wanted something else; a view of the sea at his window.

Now, one must know that the kingdom was very far inland, too far for even the gulls to travel. But the maiden was intent upon completing the task; so she took a very long rope made of the strongest twine and tied it around the boundaries of the kingdom. With the might of five thousand oxen she pulled, and with five great heaves the cities and their people were adjacent to the shoreline. At the passage of the customary five days rest the maiden found she did not want to follow the king’s orders any longer. Afraid of her strength, the king let her go peacefully, performing a deed that was unheard of – knighting this noble lady. The maiden was honored and so with a sunny disposition she went into the wilderness again.

After a while she happened upon a quiet wood and decided to settle there. Following the next five years of her life, the maiden found she was rather bored with her quiet life but did not know how to fill it. The thought startled her one night whilst hunting; and with that the maiden set her sights upon the moon. At the passage of another five days the moon was ripe in the center of the sky and so with the want of five million dreams, she reached up and plucked it from the stars.

THE END