On a far away shore, in a far away land, a young man built a castle in which to live, and from which to protect, and provide refuge to those who lived around him.

The people of the nearby village were good and hard working. The man loved the people, and his estates provided for their physical needs. The man was certain that the people loved him as well. They came around, spent time with him, listened to his words, and appreciated those things he provided.

The castle was exactly as the man desired. The rooms were well-proportioned and comfortable. Decorated according to the man’s preferences, and the inside of the castle was dark and cool and comfortable. At intervals throughout the halls hung mirrors by which the man could check his appearance. It was important to the man that his appearance be pleasing to those to whom he might address from the parapets of his castle. Though it was comfortable, the man realized that it wasn’t perfect. Deep in the foundations of the structure the man had excavated some ‘personal/private’ rooms. The things that went on in those rooms were kept hidden by the man. He knew that what went on in those rooms was contrary to the values of the people who lived close to him. And, on those occasions when he was honest with himself, he admitted that what went on in those rooms was contrary to his own, personal values. But he rationalized, since he was the only person who entered those rooms, what went on there would only hurt himself, and could have no affect on the people he loved. However, as time went on, those hidden rooms became more and more central to the mans life.

One day, a boy from the nearby village came to visit the man. The boy was one  the man knew well, and loved deeply. the boy loved to spend time with the man in his castle, and the man cherished the boy’s visits. Perhaps it was due to the amount of time the man had been spending in those rooms down in the roots of his castle, or perhaps the man believed that he could protect the trusting youth, or, as is most likely, perhaps the man didn’t consider the welfare of the boy at all. Whatever the circumstances, the man exposed the little boy to the affects of one of his hidden rooms. The results of this exposure shattered the little boy, breaking, and hurting him deeply. The man, engrossed as he was in the effects of the room, paid little attention to the damage he had caused.

The people of the village noticed the harm the man had caused the boy. Soon his castle was besieged by the enraged people. The man, still ensconced within the walls of his castle wondered at the ingratitude and anger of the people. After all, didn’t they realize that he loved the little boy, and would never harm him. Sure, he had shown the youth one of his hidden rooms, but that could never have harmed him. Hadn’t the man himself spend much time in those very rooms and remained unaffected?

Soon the villagers began breaking the walls of his beloved castle. He became angry at first. Especially when they exposed those hidden rooms to the world. Forced as he was to leave the castle because of its impending demolition, the man viewed the castle from the outside for the first time in many years. What he saw shocked him. From the outside, the castle was ugly. The dark-stained walls, brittle in some places, and rotted in others were an eyesore. He also discovered that his reflections when cast from mirrors outside of his castle had little similarity with those he had become accustomed to seeing inside. Gone was the pleasing countenance and concerned expression of the loving man. Instead, he saw, (as he now realized other must have always seen) the furtive glances, and calculating demeanor of a completely self-absorbed man. At first, he thought that the problem was with the lighting but he soon realized that wasn’t it at all. Indeed the light from the outside was revealing, and allowed him to see things much more clearly than he could from within the walls of his castle. From outside his castle, he was finally able to understand the harm he had caused to the little boy who had trusted and loved him.

Before long, he found himself trying to help pull down the walls of the ugly structure. He wished, at time, that the sea would rise up and cleanse the countryside of his eyesore, and him along with it. The people, understandably, looked with distrust at his efforts to help pull down his former residence. He understood their distrust, and couldn’t find it within himself to blame them for their anger and hatred. In fact, he often felt the same way, for he truly did love the little boy, and couldn’t help but despise himself for having caused the boy harm.

The man wanted nothing more than to raze the castle to the bedrock, destroying forever the place in which he had caused so much pain to those he loved. More, he wanted to replace it with a beautiful mansion with lots of windows … lots of light, and no hidden rooms.

While designing the reconstruction of his new home in his mind, he would occasionally catch glimpses of his reflection in a mirror. he realized that more important than a new home, is a new countenance. He also realized that no matter how beautiful a hime he constructs, it won’t lessen the anger and resentment of the people he loves.

Image by Paleontour

Story by Anonymous