Farewell speech and prayer to the imperial turtle
All of this is really very simple, it is enough to have a little common sense to understand it.
If something has been moving slowly but continuously for a long time, first of all, necessarily, something is needed that has always been pushing it for a long time.
And if it is the ENTIRE world that is moving, it must be something stronger than the wind, and greater than the greatest mountain range, since even the sea and the desert are moving slowly from summer to winter and back again, long ago.
And since EVERYTHING is moving continuously but very SLOW, and for a LONG time, it necessarily has to be something very STRONG, that can grow very BIG and become very OLD, and also move SLOW.
So obviously those who have a little knowledge and common sense will agree that only a gigantic and very old turtle can be what has been moving the world for a long time. An elephant cannot be, because although it grows a lot, it is strong and becomes very old, it does not move slowly and continuously like turtles. Easy. You don't need to be an expert to understand it.
Once this is understood, what follows is easier.
Where are we moving to?
Towards happiness. We all know.
How?
Through progress.
What is the only thing in the whole world that guarantees the continuous growth and improvement of well-being, arts, knowledge, sports, entertainment, industry, mining, breeding, agriculture, fishing and commerce?
Obviously we are all going to agree that only the emperor and his empire. Easy. You don't need to be an expert to understand it.
This then leads us to the first conclusion: there MUST be a turtle that is moving the empire in the right direction and faster than the other countries. Easy. You don't need to be an expert to understand it.
Now, to push something one cannot be inside of it, you must be outside pushing it. So what we see dead in the secret garden of the emperor's private summer palace is not the turtle that moves the empire. I'm sure it doesn't.
Although they must surely be related, we don't know for sure. So we shouldn't take risks. The same happens with cats, we should not mistreat them, because we know of the love for cats of the emperor of heaven.
Of course, the predictions are that something big and unusual is going to happen, not necessarily bad or good, just spectacular, gigantic.
Something that has stopped living attracted to our minds the idea of the benignity of time, which allows us to ignore that death is the only thing that guarantees us the disease of time, and suppose it as a benefit that brings us progress.
Something that is so big, old and strong must necessarily be wise and beautiful, and although it never came down to our level to play with us, as the unicorn and some dragons do, more than once it accepted food from our hands, we will miss its presence, its absence will bother us for a long time.
The biggest and oldest tortoise in the empire has died, the one that was already old and big when the empire was still a loose conglomerate of kingdoms.
Something big is going to happen, it's a fact. It doesn't scare us. We are surprised. An eclipse is less scary.
We got so used to its disappearances and unexpected returns that we took its existence for granted despite not seeing it.
The same thing that happens to us with ideas happened to us with this turtle, we got used to intuiting them, to feeling their effects in our routines, without having to feel them.
We all know that ideas cannot be seen, heard, weighed, smelled, taste like nothing, etc. But they do not die, they are old, they become fashionable and move to the minds, where and when they wish. There is no way to push them, they move to the minds they want.
Thus, fellow workers of the secret garden of the private summer palace, it is my wish that the feeling of rootedness, affection and appreciation for our empire, its customs and laws that occupies my mind, also dwell in yours. Since it would allow you to wait for the future without pessimism, and to assume as an inevitable fact that another tortoise that belongs to this garden must be somewhere and that we must take care of it because it is a reflection accessible to our senses of the true imperial tortoise, and for that we use it to direct towards the true one, which is beyond the reach of our minds, our prayers and thanks.
If the same ideas that inhabit my mind reside in yours, I am sure that we will agree that we only have to wait for the authorities of the gardens to delegate to the authorities of the castle the task of informing the authorities of the province , which will inform the authorities of the central court, which will delegate to the central council of advisers the mission of helping the emperor in the appropriate rites for the interpretation of the remains, the elaboration of forecasts, and the farewell of the turtle's corpse that we have here, as well as the selection of the next turtle that we will take care of here.
It is prudent to expect instructions within a year, so I suggest we keep the shell and purify the rest of the flesh and bones with fire.
I also believe that we should measure, weigh, and write down all the measurements and weights that we take in order to be able to answer the questions that the experts, that the court counselors can send us, can ask us.
If there is someone among us who can with brushes and ink preserve the truth of the facts with figures and signs, I am sure that this is a good opportunity to demonstrate his talent to the experts who could come here looking for the memory of the facts of the turtle that we had in our care, I am sure that everything that helps us preserve facts from oblivion will be beneficial for him and for the rest of us.
Before being in charge of the central lagoon, I was a gardener, and I was a poet before that, surely the authorities that can visit us will demand a poem from me that I must attach to the transcription of this farewell speech to the tortoise of the empire, which should serve also of gratitude chant and prayer to the true one, of which this one is only a reflection.
During my long career in the imperial bureaucracy I have learned that in addition to seeking the truth of the facts and only because of the duty to demonstrate authority, it is the custom of experts to punish randomly only to avoid having to punish guilty ones that are difficult to find, for which I allow myself to suggest to my co-workers to make their wills and do not leave to their heirs issues unclear in order to avoid unnecessary disputes, regarding the credits they may have, I dare not advise anything and I promise not to inform to the lenders I know.
If there is anyone among us who has knowledge of the art of navigating the currents and tides of time and who knows how to guess the direction in which they will flow, by making forecasts based on observations of current events, here in the shell of this turtle there is accumulated a long sequence of traces of facts from which one will surely be able to draw a representative trend that is difficult to deviate from, but all the analyzes that could be made must preserve the evidences that the experts, who will visit us when the imperial authorities deem it necessary, will require.
I like working here, I thank the emperor and the head of the secret garden of the private summer palace for the opportunity they have given me. I have always done my best to achieve the goals that have been assigned to me as a demonstration of my appreciation.
Everything dies
even the turtles
that are so strong
The heavenly turtle
moves us to progress
From the imperial archive
Translation:
Li Tao Po
VABM 7/Dec/2022
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