The Dimension of Fantasy or What Foken Slinnet lost
Excerpt from the Book
In the third bright month of the greenyear summer, on the first sunny day of the Sunshine week, in the Green Land of Kramelet, in the fjord city of Nesoftsev, a very strange person arrived in a small, snug passenger carriage.
It was Issed, the Stranger from the Rose Land. He wore patterned, slightly faded clothes and a small backpack on his back. He was coming to Kramelet to seek and see exactly what Happiness was and to find out how people lived in the Main City of Ladorve.
He had been told that it was a great city with an interesting life and that its people were intelligent and well-rounded. He looked around with eyes wide open — he was leaving his home for the first time and now he was looking around with interest and curiosity.
But after a few steps, he stopped, confused. He had imagined the Green Land of Kramelet teeming with life, with smiling people and merriment, and what he saw frightened him. There was no joy, no music, no smiling faces.
Instead, the Greenlanders walked, each lost in their own thoughts. Tehidravs stood proudly on their heads, but the light coming out of them was dimmed. They all looked very different.
Issed wondered. What were those things on the heads of passers-by? He looked amazed and the smile, together with the happy expression, disappeared from his face. The city was beautiful, but it lacked life, it lacked joy. He suddenly felt like crying. Is that why he left his cozy little home in the Rose Land?!
He wondered where to go. He saw unfriendly faces everywhere, and no one paid any attention to him. They just glared at him — he didn't have a Tehidrav, they frowned and thought he was some madman from the far end of the Far-off Land.
He started to cry. He knew he would meet the Different People here, but he didn't expect them to be so distant and inhospitable.
He suddenly felt the urge to turn around and get back on the carriage, but just then, a cart pulled by magloves (draft animals with the body of a lion and the head of a donkey) passed by.
A short, ragged old man was sitting on the cart. His Tehidrav was clean and sat well on his head. The old man smiled at Issed:
– Where to, young man? – he showed white, nice teeth.
– I don't even know – replied Issed, looking at the old man. – I am going to Ladorve to see Happiness. They say that's where I can find it.
He looked around and his expression turned sad.
– I must have the wrong place. I'm not sure I'll find Happiness here. But anyway, I am here now — I will continue forward, whatever happens, happens – he said decisively.
The old man smiled again. There was something mysterious and cheerful about this old man.
– Get on! – he invited Issed – That's where I'm headed. I'll take you. Who knows, you might find what you came for. Wait, take your time, meet other Greenlanders – and if Srevinu, the Supreme Shadow, has said so, you will find what you came looking for.
Issed climbed onto the cart, sat down, and clutched his backpack tightly in his hands. He thought that since he was already here, he had better try and get to know the life of the inhabitants of the Green Land Kramelet after all.
The old man started talking cheerfully.
– What are these things on your heads? – Issed asked innocently.
– Oh, these, young man, are our Tehidravs. It is the thing that no Greenlander can live without.
– What, do you die if you lose it? – Issed wondered.
– No, no, we don't die, but if we lose it, we lose everything. In one who has lost their Tehidrav, people see a dead man walking, a soulless, faceless man. That's why we are really protective of our Tehidravs. No matter how unscrupulous and valueless a Greenlander is, they always guard their Tehidrav.
Issed looked at the old man's Tehidrav and smiled. The cart was rattling gently on the stony road and Issed soon dozed off.
