Anti-Clockwise

"Once upon a time, in Jambudvipa, there was a King, who had a daughter, when he was old," the Moon began her story when her shape was fully rounded and her light was glowing, after saying Basmalah and Salaam. She then said, "She was the fairest King’s daughter between two seas; her hair was like spun gold and her eyes like pools in a river; and the King gave her a castle upon the sea beach, with a terrace, and a court of the hewn stone, and four towers at the four comers. Here, she dwelt and grew up, and had no care for the morrow and no power upon the hour, after the manner of simple men. It befell that she walked one day by the beach of the sea, when it was autumn, and the wind blew from the place of rains; and upon the one hand of her the sea beat, and upon the other the dead leaves ran. This was the loneliest beach between two seas, and strange things had been done there in the ancient ages. Now the King’s daughter was aware of a crone—an old woman who is thin and ugly—that sat upon the beach. The sea foam ran to her feet, and the dead leaves swarmed about her back, and the rags blew about her face in the blowing of the wind.

'Now,' said the King’s daughter, and she named a holy name, 'this is the most unhappy old crone between two seas.’

'Daughter of a King,' said the crone, 'you dwell in a stone house, and your hair is like the gold, but what is your profit ? Life is not long, nor lives strong ; and you live after the way of simple men, and have no thought for the morrow and no power upon the hour.'

'Thought for the morrow, that I have,' said the King’s daughter; 'but power upon the hour, that have I not.' And she mused with herself.

Then the crone smote her lean hands one within the other, and laughed like a seagull. 'Home,' cried she, 'O daughter of a King, home to your stone house, for the longing is come upon you now, nor can you live any more after the manner of simple men. Home, and toil and suffer, till the gift come that will make you bare.'

The King’s daughter made no more ado, but she turned about and went home to her house in silence. And she came into her chamber, thought the thought. However, throughout the night, he didn't find the answer.

The next day, the King's daughter walked along the beach, in search of the crone. There came a sound in the wind like a sound of piping. At that, she lifted up her finger in the vaulted house. 'I hear a sound in the wind, like the sound of piping. It is but a little sound, but yet is it sound enough for me.'

So she went down in the dusk to the doors of the house, and along the beach of the sea. The waves beat upon the one hand, and upon the other the dead leaves ran; and the clouds raced in the sky, and the gulls flew widdershins—to go counter-clockwise. And when she came to that part of the beach where strange things had been done in the ancient ages, lo, there was the crone, and she was dancing widdershins.

'What makes you dance widdershins, old crone?' said the King’s daughter, 'here upon the bleak beach between the waves and the dead leaves?'

'I hear a sound in the wind that is like a sound of piping,' quoth the crone. 'And it is for that that I dance widdershins. For the gift comes that will make you bare. But for me, the morrow is come that I have thought upon, and the hour of my power.'

'How comes it, crone,' said the King’s daughter, 'that you waver like a rag, and pale like a dead leaf before my eyes?'

'Listen, daughter of a King,' said the crone,

Heretofore, two merchants of the new trade, sir Present and sir Future, opened shop in this world. They lived close by each other, only Present lived in a narrow passage, but Future in the open Air. One was plain and simple, the other very adroit.

They cried their goods to all that passed by. 'Stop here, observe me well, my is Present , come to me. I’ve all what you want, the true Good is with me. My neighbour indeed, calls to you, but, alas! What will you do with him ? He'll promise much, but give you nothing. But he might bawl as long as he would, he was not much minded.'

In the mean time, Future was got upon a large stage, shining with much address and pomp. 'Here, Gentlemen,' says he, 'tis I who have disintangled the Thread of your Days. I foretell every thing that must be, and more. I have all things, desire what you will. What would you have? You have no more to do than to name it. Tell me, I comfort people in trouble. I do more, I give people good fortune before hand. It is I alone who fell hopes : What do I say? Sell them, I give them for nothing. Here, take them, Gentlemen, see, here are Treasures, Honours, Pleasures, pure and unmixed; have you ever tasted the like? No. Have patience, you must believe every word I say. They’ll come to you better prepar’d. But will you have a better Proof or my Ability and absolute Power? Present there deafens you with his superfluous Cant, you’ll see him disappear inftantly. There you see him, and now you don’t see him at all.'

And thus, Futurity, which is a meer Pitfall, amuses all Mankind.'

Then the crone smote her lean hands one within the other, and laughed like a seagull. 'Home,' cried she, 'O daughter of a King, home to your stone house, for the longing is come upon you now, nor can you live any more after the manner of simple men. Home, and toil and suffer, till the gift come that will make you bare.'

The King’s daughter made no more ado, but she turned about and went home to her house, not in silence, but singing,

तुम को बुलाऊँ, ये पलकें बिछाऊँ

Tumko bulaaoon, yeh palkein bichhaaoon

[I will call out to you, I will lay out my eyelashes]

क़दम तुम जहाँ-जहाँ रखो

Kadam tum jahan jahan rakho

[Wherever you leave your footsteps]

ज़मीं को आसमाँ बनाऊँ,

Zameen ko aasmaan banaaoon

[I will turn the ground into the sky]

सितारों से सजाऊँ, अगर तुम कहो

Sitaaron se sajaaoon, agar tum kaho

[I will adorn it with stars, if you say so]

मैं कोई ऐसा गीत गाऊँ

Main koi aisa geet gaaoon

[I will sing such a song]

कि आरज़ू जगाऊँ, अगर तुम कहो,

Ke aarzoo jagaaoon, agar tum kaho

[That I will awaken desires, if you say so]

Before her light dimmed and her shape became crescent, the Moon said, "Only today we have, while the future, surely, is approaching. Sir Future will bring two choices, change for the better, or for the worse. Therefore, we must collect provisions as much as possible, to explore, to observe, and even test, so as not to be trapped by repeated mistakes. And Allah knows best."

Citations & References:
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Fables, Charles Scribner's Sons
- Sieur De La Motte, One Hundred New Court Fables, Peter-Nofter-Row
*) "Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaoon" written by Javed Akhtar

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