Luan, part 2

Luan parts / Сказка / Читателей: 4

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14.
“I’m still not sure I’m ready to go back to the scent of chaos.“ - Luan thought during her usual walk in the company of a Buddha, who served as the mouth with which the Yellow God spoke with his phoenix. - “Moreover, I assume that this aroma in its entirety is available only to the Demiurges.”
“Chaos is indeed hazy,” she found a thought with the damp smell among hers. Deciding that it was the conformation from the Emperor, Jinji decided not to waste any more of her time on learning that scent, but just to sniff it from time to time. Everything unknown is so attractive.
After some time of strode importantly, the phoenix added:
“The second fragrance that Silex gave me turned out to be more understandable after my visit to Lo Shen. The ocean and the river are definitely different waters,” she smiled at the pun, “but I was ready to deal with the variety of water smells and the uniqueness of the Ocean’s images!”
“I’m sure you will continue to explore it. Do you have enough images?” – The Foggy God asked the bird.
“On her last visit, the goddess made sure that I would not be short of them any time soon.” - The bird answered with gratitude in her voice. Having bowed respectfully, a Buddha returned to his business.

15.
- I was and have being everything. Moreover, I was everything at the same time. Then desires arose, all at once and in equal measure. - the elderly face of Janus told the story of the beginning in a tone of being tired of its numerous repetitions to all his countless grandchildren, but not without warmth in his voice, which made it possible to classify the tone as more ironic than truly grumpy. - With all the boundlessness of infinity, I was more... There was more of me. More than anything else, I wanted to create!
- We both know the loneliness of absolute ruler, but I do not know the feeling of absolute power. - Jupiter noted.
- Oh, it is paradoxical, in the literal sense! – In chorus, Janus laughed in response. - I encountered the Paradox of the stone.
- “Can an almighty god create a stone that he cannot lift?” - The young god smiled. - Funny paradigm!
- Do you savor my contradictions and the impossibilities of the limitless? - The young face asked with a smile.
- This problem prompted me to action, - the elderly face continued in the same tone. - I quickly realized that the problem was not in the stone or its creation, but in my omnipotence. Only by getting rid of it could I solve the problem. When I wanted to create the world, I no longer wanted to influence it and therefore released all the elements from myself, freeing myself from power over them. Only in freedom does opportunity exist.
- Having gotten rid of power, you rose above it. What is greater than supremacy? - Jupiter often forgot in the company of a young face of Janus that even Saturn, whose time counted itself in eons, felt like a teenager in the company of the Good Creator. The god with two visible faces joyfully accepted Saturn who had fled from Olympus, and first shared power with him, and then completely voluntarily gave it up completely to him, completely giving his attention to the times, beginnings and ends, entrances and exits, doors, paths and other things that interested him, looking after his world rather than watching over it.
After a pleasant walk, the gods sat comfortably on the top of Ararat and, tasting something local, enjoyed watching the sunrise and the play of Aeternitas’ phoenix with the local simurgh.

16.
“It was a very interesting scent! So familiar, almost mine, but from completely different smells and dreams.” - thought Jinji during a traditional walk in the redwoods. - “I hope that Silex can clarify some aspects for me during her next visit.”
“She knows a lot about that universe, but her knowledge will be very vague.” - Jinji was sure not only that individual features began to appear in the faces of her usual company on her walks, or, more objectively, she began to distinguish these features in the previously faceless creatures, but also in the fact that the Buddha flying next to her was smiling, being very pleased with his foggy pun. - “You should visit your parents. The Red Emperor knows as much about phoenixes and dragons as a parent can know about his children. Please, give him and Si Wang-mu my invitation to visit.” - added the Buddha who voiced the words of the Yellow Emperor and, with a bow, returned to his business.
“What an interesting way to send me home.” - She thought after breakfast. - “It’s like going to visit parents, but with an Imperial message. I wonder how they will react to this duality.”

17.
From the downy island, which gradually grew to the size of a small continent, the waves swapped a large amount of eggshells into the ocean, from which the bottom began to form.
At first, it was light and fragile, but over time, it became so hard that the Ocean could no longer ignore the fact of its limitations, and now in multiple ways. However, he was so immeasurable that small infringements did not agitate him.
Over time, the fished and other creatures appeared at the bottom of the ocean, seamounts began to form from the falling shells and first corals began to grow.

18.
“It turns out that there are phoenixes in all the universes known to my father, which he could not say about dragons.” - Jinji thought with subtle pleasure as she walked with a Buddha between the redwoods.
“I’m glad that the visit to your parents was pleasant and educational for you.” - The Buddha said the words of the Yellow God.
“I always enjoy visiting my family,” said the bird respectfully, “but this time, as the emperor’s envoy, I took advantage of my ambiguous position and received from my parents much more direct answers than I should have been entitled to as a daughter. Qing Long was very pleased by that! Unfortunately, he quickly left us, but asked me to visit him after the hunt. We can make up time.“
“Is it worth running after the infinite?” – The Emperor asked by a Buddha’s mouth with an ironic smile. Bowing respectfully, Buddha returned to his business.

19.
- The balance was in exchange with Saturn, - answered the trio of Janus’ voices. - It may seem to you, my dear Jupiter that ruling the gods and helping mortals brings power from their faith.
(“But mortals come and go. By exchanging my temporal power, I received the power of time. The son of Caelus turned out to be generous with wisdom.” - said the elder face)
- And the phoenix? - asked Jupiter.
- From Saturn, among other things, I received the knowledge that everything is finite except time. - Said the female voice of Janus.
(“And that it is finite, cyclical and inexorable. A carrier of destruction.” - added the elder face.)
- Was this knowledge the reason why you chose the position of Deus Otiosus? - Asked Jupiter.
- Judging by your tone, one might think that it was a demotion! - The young face of the Idle God laughed.
(“Being the channel of Time is very educational.” - added his female voice.)

20.
The mother continent gradually expanded out with more and more independent islands.
Coral reefs continued to grow from the eggshells, the tallest of which began to break through the fluffy flooring.
Those corals that made their way between the nests eventually grew into the first crags, remaining bare.
Some sprouted through duck nests, from which grew mountains covered with forests, like duck feathers.

21.
“From my father’s answers, I learned a lot about other universes, but I received an understanding of the nature of the phoenixes from my mother’s figurative comparison. As she explained, all phoenixes in all universes are almost the same - immortal or close to it, burning and being reborn from the ashes, we are everywhere a symbol, an avatar or belonging to a higher or divine power, but not the power.” - Jinji shared her new knowledge with the moving on a cushion of fog Buddha, while proudly striding along her favorite route among giant trees.
During this walk, she have made a couple of observations. The first of those was a barely noticeable thread that began to outline her most frequently used path through the woods. After thinking about why, out of the entire vast forest, she chose this particular part, she came to the second observation. To confirm her conclusion, she respectfully bowed to her interlocutor and asked a question that could not be considered acceptable from the point of view of the etiquette of communicating with the emperor, but on this walk it was the Buddha who accompanied her, and not vice versa.
“For some time now, I have begun to notice slight differences in the faces with which the emperor speaks to me.” - After a short pause, Luan expected her correspondent to point out to her the inappropriateness of the question, but without getting a rebuke, she continued. - “Is there a reason why this particular Buddha has been accompanying me on my walks since I returned from my parents? All of their faces are almost identical, but they have subtle individual differences, like the pattern of a killer whale’s spots.“
“You are very observant!” - noted Huang Di, through the mouth of Buddha. - “But finish your story, I’m interested in the thoughts of the great Xi Wang-mu. Maybe you will find the answers to your questions yourself.”
Bowing back, Jinji continued.
“She compared phoenixes to dumplings. Manti, ravioli, and gyoza - they exist in all worlds. The filling, spices and sauce they are served with is the only difference. We are a mixture of fire, which is our commonality, and ashes, which distinguishes us, but does not change our commonality.” - the bird finished and, after thinking, added, “Each of the local Buddhas is a dumpling, the spots of which differ depending on the universe in which they are molded. We are not very different, only in nature.”
Respectfully bowed to the bird, the Tathagata returned to his business.

22.
- Among others, there is a myth where the phoenix is the penis of Uranus, which Saturn cut off him with the sickle, thereby depriving the father of eternal possibility or the possibility of eternity, depending on how you look at it,” said the female voice of Janus.
(“This is one of the favorite stories of one of the Dioscuri, Phusis, about herself!” - the male voices of Janus laughed in unison.)
- Aeternitas is not interested in the past, she knows that it has already happened and that is enough for her. She knows that everything that was will be. - explained the young face of Janus.
“Fire - ashes - fire and so on until the end of infinity,” Jupiter responded with a smile.
- Being the past, the time of Saturn is exits without entrances. Aeternitas sees the future in time - these are entrances without exits. - said the young face.
(“And only in the present there are doors in both directions, which bind time together.” - added a female voice)
- There are phoenixes in every reborn world. Maybe they are the ones who give birth to it again. - The Demiurge added thoughtfully.

23.
One day, while finishing hatching the last egg from the clutch, the mother duck felt something pushing her out of the nest. Quickly collecting the already hatched ducklings, she took them to the nearest pond and hurried back to check on the last egg. To her chagrin, the peak of the coral reef pierced through the egg, and the duckling died before it could hatch.
From the sprouted coral grew the tallest mountain, under which the mother duck built a new nest for herself near a small tree that began to grow at the site of the duckling’s death.

24.
“From my visions through the eyes of that phoenix I am beginning to see many similarities between the Janus and the Emperor himself. Are my analyses wrong or are demiurges, like phoenixes, dumplings?” - Bowing respectfully, Jinji asked the no longer faceless Buddha, who, as usual, was sitting on a cushion of fog.
“Your conclusions are not wrong, but I wonder how you came to them?” - The interlocutor asked.
“The Emperor, having subjugated the elements, freed himself from their control by passing it on to others, if I correctly understood Lao Tzu’s interpretation, but remained above them as the Yellow God. Having released from himself the four basic elements from which he created his universe, Janus left himself the fifth - time, like the Emperor did the earth.“ - explained the bird.
“If you follow your logic, all creators differ only in the filling, spices and sauces.” - Huang Di said with the smiling lips of Buddha.
“Does Janus control time? Does time control Janus?” - Taking advantage of the pause, the phoenix asked and added a little thought, - “Does the Emperor controls the time?”
“Can the microcosm know the macrocosm? Can the macrocosm know the microcosm? Can one of them become another?” - Having bowed respectfully, Buddha returned to his business.

25.
The downy continents multiplied and at first looked like giant archipelagos, but gradually attached to each other’s borders, forming a huge blanket on the surface of the ocean.
The corals that grew under the fluff made the continents immovable, and the parts that turned into the cliffs and mountains made them very heavy.

26.
“Following the Emperor’s advice, I visited the world of Simurgh. They call it the Great Armenian Empire. Very interesting place, I will definitely return there for a closer acquaintance with local flavors. Even dreams there smell like henna,” Luan thought with a dreamy smile in her voice during a traditional walk, in traditional company. - “A very musical universe, different rhythm.” - She added and sang several melodies that were new to her.
“Thank you, your magnificent performance gave me great pleasure!” - The Yellow God said through the mouth of Buddha.
Bowing politely, the bird watched as the Buddha went about his business.

27.
The ocean was warming up. The quilt covering the ocean made it too warm, first for fishes, and then for other living creatures. To save the Worlds he loved, the Ocean placed all the aquatic creatures in a huge shell, which he placed in the deepest place of the ocean where warm water could not reach.

28.
The tree under which the mother duck built her second nest has grown into a giant larch. One day, a couple of drops of juice sled off it and rolled into the duck’s nest in the shape of eggs.
When the ducklings hatched from her eggs and the other hatched as well, but they did not howl chicks alike her children - they were without feathers or wings, and were not birds at all, but the duck was a mother and therefore all the children were hers. This is how the first humans appeared.

29.
The Ocean felt its limitations more and more. Now it was on all sides, but what worried him more than anything else was the constant rise in temperature.
Since the downy continents covered its entire surface, it no longer had any opportunity to cool down.
If the Ocean was worried before, now it began to storm.
Under the thick covering of down, the ducks did not notice the fever below.
Unable to find a way out for the storms, the Ocean encased the shell in ice and placed it inside himself.

30.
- No one knows exactly at what point in time the world passes from a state of self-creation to a process of self-destruction,” Janus said in the voice of an elderly person. – But this always happens; any cycle, for revival, needs ashes.
- Even you cannot see everything in the time? – Jupiter was surprised.
- I observe time, not omniscience! – Satisfied with his joke, Janus laughed in unison.

31.
“What an interesting dreams I had this time while I was sitting on the eggs!” - thought the mother duck, stretching in her favorite pond after long hours spent in the nest. - “Phoenixes rising from the ashes, smart conversations and Buddhas will be something to dream about for my new wingless ducklings.”

32.
The ocean was boiling!
Increased amount of steam multiplied pressure on the duvet that tightly covered the waters. The hotter the steam became, the stormier the Ocean was, but could not find a way out, since it could not break through the continents tightly connected to each other.
The Ocean took out from its depths the first of three eggs that had sunk in it before the creation of the first nest, and raised it to the very surface, in the place where the mother’s nest used to be.
The layer of fluff in that place turned out to be too thick and the steam cooked the egg.
Then Ocean repeated this with a second egg further away from the first nest, where the steam was cooler. However, this was not enough. The hatched duckling could not break through the thick fluff.
Left with the last egg, the Ocean spent a long time looking for a place where the steam was not hot and the fluff was thin, until he found it. The hatched duckling was able to break through the layer of fluff, and into the resulting hole, the Ocean escaped from the down captivity.
From the vapor that filled the universe, clouds were first born, which merged into clouds. From those clouds, the first rain fell onto the down carpet, nailing the down to the bottom of the ocean. This is how the earth was formed.

33.
Having risen very high above the formed land, the Ocean, made sure that there was not a single duck around, and released all the ocean creatures from the shell.
This is how the universe was formed.
Later the gods came there, but that is a completely different tale.