The Birth of the Star Strings Lyre - How time disappeared and came back again
/by Thomas Pedroli
Once upon a time there was a country with very happy people. The people had plenty of work, and still, they found enough time to care about each other, to sit still for a while and do nothing, or to play with their children. This started to change after a trader came into the country. The trader persuaded the people to buy a special kind of telephone, a fancy one you could put in your pocket wherever you go. He never got tired of praising the benefits of this little miracle. "You can save lots of time.” he said, "Most things you can do much faster with it. With your old phone, you are only able to call someone, but this one can do many different things. In the past, you needed several devices for writing notes, taking photos, listening to music, sending letters, buying things, looking on the map, paying, playing, learning, and so on." The trader named the new phone, ‘Time-Saver’.
It was hard to resist, so most of the people bought one, and were immediately very fond of it. But in addition to the many advantages, soon some ugly side-effects emerged. Yes, on one hand, they saved a lot of time, but on the other hand, they lost far more time by using more and more apps, social networks, games and other things. Soon most people started to complain of having no time, and said, "We have too many things to do, we are constantly available for everybody, and we have no breaks anymore!" But instead of slowing down, they started to run even faster to save some more time. Instead of talking with each other they started to send messages, instead of visiting they met in ‘chatrooms’, and instead of playing with their children they gave their children a phone to play with. Most children also liked the Time-Saver and began to wear headphones to hear their favorite music and watch videos. This way, they lost more and more of their capacity to listen, and with that, their capacity to understand. It became very cold and unfriendly in the country; people became lonely and did not smile anymore. The trader was very glad about that, for simply out of this unhappiness, people more frequently wanted to buy newer, faster and fancier Time-Savers.
But one person was not glad about all this - The Princess of the Silent Islands. She had a beautiful heart and was able to feel all the stress and the loneliness of her people. She desperately wanted to help them but just did not know how. Over time, she grew pale and did not eat properly anymore. One night she had a dream. When she awoke, she knew she had dreamed the answer but could not remember any details. She tried and tried but the only thing she could remember were a few heavenly, soft tones. She decided to travel to a far away country and visit a wise man there, to ask if he would help her remember. She traveled over seas, mountains and through forests - and finally met the wise man.
He was not a person of many words. After a cup of tea, he showed her a resting place for the night. Strangely enough, he recommended that she not sleep, but instead to stay awake… so she did. In the middle of the night, she heard soft music coming from outside. She looked out of the window and saw the wise man standing under the stars. He held a piece of beautiful wood in his hands. Seven shooting stars fell down, each one leaving a beam of light on the wood in his hands. A new instrument was born. The wise man started to play a simple melody, and sang a song with his soft, warm voice. The heavenly music moved her to tears, and in a split second, she remembered all of her dream. She had to bring this instrument, the Star Strings Lyre, to her country. The wise man handed the lyre over to the Princess of the Silent Islands, and wished her good luck and safe travels.
After she came home, she commissioned the best instrument makers of the country to build a series of these instruments, and gave Star Strings Lyres to young and old all over the country. The people marveled at the wonderful tones; they were like magic. Whenever a Star String Lyre sounded, stillness spread around and everyone forgot to look at his Time-Saver for a while. In this way, people started to take breaks, play with their children, and began to remember their inspirational night dreams again. The Time-Saver was still used, but now in a more reasonable way. And at certain times they simply switched it off. The laughter and joy returned to the country, and with the Star String Lyre, the listening and understanding also came back into their hearts. The Princess of the Silent Islands was honored for bringing the Star Strings Lyre, but she didn't make a big fuss about it. She simply preferred to play the lyre. And young and old alike, loved to sit at her feet and listen to the wonderful music of the stars.