The Man Who Wanted To Know The Universe

A very short story The man who wanted to be divine There was once a man who lived in acient china. His name was Ji Sung. He was one of the court officials in the emperor of San in the Ming dynasty. This man was more like a philosopher and often wondered at the existence and meaning of things. He had a wife and 5 children but he could not really attend to them as he was often lost in his thoughts. He lived not far from the emperors palace in the city of Shang-wa. When he woke up in the morning, he always read the books of Confucius and meditated deeply in thoughts. He was always in the courts of the emperor and one day when he was in the courts of the emperor making his official reports, the emperor had a visitor. The name of the visitor was Jeji Khan from the land of the Mongols. He was a tall, thin man with a mustache and beared with hair all over his body. The man bowed in front of the emperor and told him that he had a special message from Emperor Genghis Khan of the Mongols. The emperor asked him what the message was and the man said that he had a magic mirror that could make people travel to the land of the gods and back in time. Now in acient China, people believed in spirits, hexes and divination. Everybody at court doubted him until be brought out a large mirror. “This is the mirror”, he said while everybody looked at him. “So how does it work?” the emperor asked. The man explainded that all you have to do is touch the mirror and you will be transported to the spirit world or the land of the gods. He further stated the fact that in the spirit world there is nothing like time and 20 minutes could look like 20 years and vice vrsa. When everybody was still asking him questions, he put his hand into the mirror and simply disappeared inside for sometime and after what seemed like 30 minutes, he was out of the mirror again. Everybody was surprised and he challenged anybody to try and get into the mirror. Nobody wanted to but Ji Sung stood up and said he wanted to try. Now Ji Sung was somebody that wanted to know everything about the world and the Universe and he was ready to take any

risks. Everybody was scared and even the emperor told him not to go bu Jusing was adamant. Slowly, he walked towards the mirror and touched it. At first nothing happened and then after sometime he felt a strong force seize him and then he saw himself going into a deep hole. Soon, he had disappeared inside the mirror and no one in the court could see him. Everybody was stunned and surprised and the king even arrested this strange magician who had made his official disappear. Now that is beside the point as the most interesting thing was what happened to Ju Sing when he went inside the mirror. He felt himself falling inside a deep hole that seemed as if he was bottomless but it was not so as he fell out of the hole and landed in a big garden full of trees and all sorts of beautiful flowers. He lay on the floor for sometime until he heard a voice say “You are welcome Ji Sung, we have been waiting for you”. When he got up and opened his eyes, he saw himself surrounded by all sorts of mythical creatures and spirits with various body shapes and sizes that he could not even describe. He was scared but they all reassured him and told him he did not need to fear. He asked them who they were and they told him they were the gods of the riversides of eternity. He wanted to ask questions but before he could ask any questions, they put him on a horse and drove him to a place at the side of the garden. The journey was long and tedious and he thought it will be forever when he at last got to a place where there was a long and flowing river that seemed so crystal clear and white. There were also little children walking all over the place with some queer angel looking creatures tending to them. The creatures had wings and floated in the air as they liked. In the middle of all of them, a very beautiful young lady was sitting down. She seemed to glow like the moon in all it’s strength and her smile was charming and captivating. The mythical creatures he met brought him in front of this beautiful lady in the middle of them and dropped him in front of her. The woman told him he was welcome and introduced herself as Shiva the daughter of the dragon god, head of all the spirits in the rivers of eternity. Ji Sung did not even know what to say as he felt stupefied and nodded in

agreement. She told the other creatures to show him round the garden and they did. The creatures that surrounded him after sometime introduced themselves to him. The name of the first was “Amadioha” and he said African people worshiped him while the name of another was Nefertiti. The name of one of them was Liu Kang, the god of wisdom whom the Chinese people of that time worshiped. He shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with all of them. He had a long walk by the bank of the river with the other creatures. After sometime, they took him to a small house that was shaped like one of the pyramids of Egypt. The house looked lonely and deserted but when Nefertiti knocked the door, an old man opened it for them. Nefertiti explained to Ji Sung that he brought him inside the room to show him a crystal ball that belonged to the old man. The name of the old man was Metuselah. His hair was as white as snow but he was full of energy like a young man. The man took them to a cupboard where he brought out a crystal ball. The crystal ball was big but light. He put it on the table in front of Ji Sung and told him to look at it. Ji Sung stared at the crystal ball for sometime and then he realized why it was special. It was like he could see his whole life in the crystal ball. I mean, everything went like a movie, he saw where he was born, his school, his upbringing and even when he used to steal his mother’s money when he was small. This surprised him as he could even see the future in the crstall ball. The old man also taught him many things about magic and mysticism and he learnt with eargerness as all the other creatures stood looking at him. When the man finished teaching him, he heared a knock on the door and the old man said he should anser the knock. When he got to the door, what he saw surprised him, he saw the beautifull woman Shiva, daughter of the dragon god. She did not say anything at first. She held him by the hand and dragged him along while the other creatures could only look from behind. She told him she had to follow her somewhere immediately as she needed to see him. Ji Sung at first hesitated but then he agreed and followed her. They journeyed beyond the river where she met him and took him to a mountain that was high and mighty. On top of the mountain there was a very big mansion

where she lived with her father the dragon god. They went inside the house and took him to her room. The room had an aquarium where they kept all sorts of water mermaids that were half human and half fish. When they got inside the room, Shiva told him that she had fallen in love with him. She told him she could give him all sorts of mystical powers if only he could accept her as a wife. She was the goddess of the land of the gods, the daughter of the dragon god and he will be in control of everybody. Ji Sung resisted her but he later succumbed and became her husband. They stayed in the castle and Ji Sung had no choice but to make love to this spirit woman in the spirit world. He started living in the palace of the king of the gods, the dragon god but the dragon was not happy with this. He tried to stop her but it was to no avail. This affair went on for sometime and the 2 of them became inseperable, walking throughtout the spirit world unchallenged. Now there was no secret Shiva hid from him. Shiva gave him a lot of magical powers. He could bend light and een over power spirits and men. He knew the future and could also paralyze anybody with the magical powers Shiva gave him. Shiva even showed him a magic stone which could make a man live forever.The stone was located in the bedroom of Shiva and only Shiva and him knew where it was. It was a taboo to show this to amy human being as human beigs were supposed to be mortal and not live for ever but love makes you do stupid things and so Shiva showed him. Shiva also made him promise never to live for the world of men again and Ji Sung gave him her word and promised her. However, the Dragon god was not happy with this and he hated Ji Sung for marrying his daughter. He thought it an insult for a mere mortal or man made from dust to marry a high ranking goddess like her. So he decided to teach him a lesson. He finally told Shiva it is either she divorces him or he will kill Ji Sung and turn Shiva to a worm. Shiva did not listen to his father and so the dragon god carried out his threat and turned Shiva to a worm. He then kept Ji Sung in a prison so that he will kill him or destroy him in anyway. However, when he was in the prison, he used the mystical powers Shiva gave him to escape. When he escaped from prison, he managed to get to shivers room

and then rook the crystal stone of life which can make men live forever. By now all the mystical creatures were following him in order to capture him as the Dragon god had ordered them and he had to find a way to go back to the world of human-beings. He thought for sometime and then he remembered some magic lines Shiva thought him. He recited them and hoped it will work. It went “Now let the universe here my words Let the earth be opened Stare at me in the mirror I will see my fellow men again Let the paths of life be opened………………………………………………and so on. As he said this, he put his hand in the hair and suddenly, he was transported and found himself in front of the mirror with all the court officials looking at him. When he came out of the mirrot, he thougt he had spent 3 years in the spirit world but the court officials told him he was gone for only 30 minutes. This surprised him but then the magician from Mongol told him that there is nothing like time in the spirit world. They were shocked when they saw him and asked him what happened. Anyway, he narrated the whole story to them and when he told them about the stone that could make men live forever, they did not believe him until he brought it out of his palm and showed them. This was remarkable. Nobody in china knew such a stone existed or believed it. He had found the secret of everlasting life and the emperor had to collect the stone from him and ask his councilors if it was true. Nobody was sure but one thing was for sure, Ji Sung was a national hero as he now had mystical powers which made everybody to respect him. He could defy gravity and float in the air and he could bring out fire from his mouth. And what more he promised ever lasting life. Ji Sung indeed now had discovered the mysteries of the Universe.