Chapter 9:
The Silence of the Magical World
In honor of this significant event, grandfather Basil proposed to arrange a holiday: an evening by the campfire, a night under the starry sky, and a morning sunrise at dawn! The weather was expected to be just wonderful — both warm and calm.
The water in the lake had already cooled down a little. But, after bathing, it was especially pleasant to warm up around the campfire and have dinner sandwiches with cheese warmed up on the fire and juicy tomatoes grown by their own efforts.
It was so wonderful because you didn’t have to rush into the house and you could enjoy the sunset and see how the golden, orange, and purple colors in the sky gradually changed into a deep blue… And how the first stars appeared…
Everyone liked the special silence that surrounded the campfire at dusk. Sparks flew up to the sky. The soft crackling of the fire only emphasized the magic of the great silence of the night. The starry sky seemed so close…
Even Buddy fell silent and blissfully stretched out on the ground, spreading his paws, ears, and tail.
* * *
And then Purr also tried to tell his tale of silence and bliss. He settled on a small bump a little further from the campfire so that the smoke and sparks could not fall on his body. And the huge fluffy red cat — in the dark with the dancing lights of the campfire — looked fabulous!
His quiet purring resembled the whisper of sea waves touching the sand… With each measured purr, he told something beautiful about silence and bliss… He looked with his green eyes into the Magical World — and saw what he purred…
“I wish I knew what he was saying” — Victor said thoughtfully.
… Grandfather Basil with a smile looked at Asya:
“Well, will you try to translate from cat language to human language for us?”
… Asya agreed — and it turned out to be very interesting, although, to be honest, she did add a little from herself. Well, after all, folk tales are formed when they are retold by many-many people — each in their own way.
Asya retold this:
“Every inhabitant of the Magical World knows how to listen to the silence. Joy, strength, and beauty can hide in this silence… They conceal themselves in the silence in the same way as a leaf or flower hides itself in an unopened bud or like how the power of the waves conceals itself in this lake, which is now completely calm…
“Trees listen to this silence. They are able to listen so deeply that they themselves become filled with the peace and strength of the Magical World. This force rises in them from the roots and goes to even the smallest leaf on each branch!
“Birds can listen to this silence, but they cannot contain it for a long time — so they begin to sing to tell everyone how beautiful the silence is!
“And here we, cats, also know the bliss of silence!
“Such bliss comes when the silence dissolves you — and when you, too, become this silence!
“If you give the silence a little purr, then it responds — like an echo… Then the gentle silence vibrates from all sides…
“The silence as if strokes you from all sides gently…
“The silence penetrates to the very center of you — and here you disappear in bliss and peace! And — you become all the silence of the Magical World… This silence no longer purrs, but has become a perfect quiet SILENCE!”
Purr became silent and slightly closed his eyes… Each of his red hairs shone with the bliss of the silence…
Grandfather Basil, Asya, Victor, and Buddy dissolved themselves in this bliss for a long time…
And then, when everyone had already settled down to rest on rugs and were covered by blankets, grandfather Basil suggested that they all fly in space, lying on the planet named Earth…
The starry sky was huge and so mysteriously hugged from all sides both Asya, and Victor, and Purr, and Buddy, and grandfather Basil, and the trees on the shore, and the lake…
And, in fact, the whole Earth from all sides was also surrounded by this endless starry silence!
And their bodies were tiny, like sparks of a fire… And they lay on the surface of the planet and flew on it in the vastness of the space. And all this magic was filled with the Bliss of the Divine Love and Beauty!