The End
The time had come. I returned once more to my favorite tree, to rest and prepare. As I drifted into the world of dreams, it came back to me all at once.
It had only been a year since the Great Exodus of Eden. I was sent to stop a great giant destroying one of the many new cities. The giant, born of a particularly bad episode of wrath, was now my problem to fix lest he take any more before their time. As the giant traveled between cities, I jumped in front of him on the road shouting,
“Stop at once, foul beast! Your time has come!”
“What?” asked the giant. “You, a creature that I could crush between my fingers, you want to block my way? Who are you to speak so boldly?”
“I am Death. None can resist me and you too must obey my orders.”
The giant became enraged and we began to wrestle. It was a long, gruesome, violent battle, but in the end, he knocked me into a heap on the side of the road with a swing of his massive fist. The giant went on and I lay there, unable to stand.
“What is to come of this?” I wondered. If I stayed, no one in the world would die. The world would fill up so quickly that I could only imagine the chaos.
A young fox came down the road and I called to him.
“Fox, what is your name?”
“I am Reynard the Fox, greatest Trickster of them all.”
And I laughed.
“Fear not, young fox, but you must know that you are speaking to Death. I am the Greatest Trickster of all, but this is beside the point. As you can see, I am a bit impaired at the moment. If you could find it in your heart to help Death, I may be able to help you.”
“Go on,” said the fox.
“If you can help me return to strength, I will extend your life significantly. There will come a day when you will die. This I cannot prevent. Since you claim to be the Greatest Trickster, I will also give you a chance to prove it. Go and train, and when your time is near I will send two Tricksters to test your skills before allowing you to challenge me. For in reality …
I, Death, am the greatest Trickster of all.”
And he laughed.
I explained that if he could trick me, then I would grant him another lifetime. The Fox accepted and helped me find a place to heal before continuing on his way.
At once I awoke. How could I have forgotten? Reynard and I had grown ancient together, and it seems that the sands of time had washed this memory from our heads. But I had formulated this plan anyway? Of course, it was my favorite tree. The Tree of Knowledge is an even older being than I that works in mysterious ways. Each time I slept beneath it, the tree left me with enough of a plan to bring my promise to fruition. Now, it had revealed to me the truth of the matter. I decided I could wait no longer. I whispered to the Winds of Change and they brought Reynard before me. Confusion painted his face until at once, just as it had with me, his memory returned to him.
“Hello, old friend,” said the fox. “I cannot believe that the time has already come. Fear not, for I am ready to go. There will be no contest. I know now that you are truly the Greatest Trickster. I have had a lifetime to prepare, and I would not even come close to fooling you.”
I was surprised.
“May we sit beneath The Tree and talk for a while?” asked the fox. “I may not have trained enough to best you, but I have gathered many stories in my time.”
And so I capitulated. He knew that I was better and so I took pity on the dying soul. But as Reynard spun his tales, it seemed his story would never end. As his words lulled me to sleep, Reynard began to change form. The Tanuki had indeed taught the fox well. He became slowly an ephemeral mist that clouded my mind and my senses. I was in a dream. It was the same dream, but in this memory our talk was different.
“I cannot thank you enough, young fox. You may not know this, but you have in fact helped Death off the side of the road. Fear not, I am not so evil a spirit as you may believe. Your kindness and selflessness have no match, Reynard. For your assistance, I grant you eternal life,” I said. At least that’s what the version of myself in the vision said. I had never made this promise, but when I awoke I believed it. Reynard realized his trick had worked after I woke up. He said he had enjoyed reuniting but that he had some dinner plans he was late for and asked me to send him back to Europe. I obliged and sent him on The Winds. By the time I realized what had happened, Reynard was long gone. I certainly could have summoned him back but, alas, I am a man of my word. And so I will not see him again until the end of his next lifetime.
I reflect on this unfortunate series of events often. I cannot believe that I, Death, was duped by a fox. But every time I think of him, I can’t help but smile. Though he was not nearly so bold as to say so before his escape, I imagine that as soon as he was nestled underneath his tree at home he proclaimed,
“I, Reynard the Fox, am the greatest Trickster of all.”
And I laugh.
Author’s note: This was the final story of the Project and I needed a way to reveal the narrator as Death. I found the story Brother’s Grimm: Death’s Messengers and it fit my needs perfectly. In the original story, a young man happens upon death, who has just been beaten by a giant. The young man helps death and as reward death promises to send messengers before he comes for the man. I felt like this would be a good place to interject Reynard and I adapted their deal to reflect that it occurred between Tricksters and to drive the final confrontation. I needed a way to explain how they had forgotten, yet still executed this deal in another form, so I used the Tree of Knowledge as a bit of a deus ex machina. Ultimately I felt like the best way to end the story was to have Reynard best Death, using the skills he learned from the Tanuki. Most of the rest of the story is my own original creation. I thought the shapeshifting into a memory would nicely tie in the original agreement while serving as an extravagant enough method for Reynard to best someone as powerful as death. I thought about writing an ending where death is still upset about it, but I think the story has more positive feel to the ending this way.
Image Information:
The Fall of Man by Pieter de la Court van der Voort (Wikimedia)
Grendel (Wikimedia)
Tree of Knowledge in Eden (Wikimedia)
Bibliography
Story: Brothers Grimm: Death's Messengers
The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman