[Steppes] Once upon a time.............A myth revisited

[Jay Rudin]

Padric,

I'm very sorry if I offended you.  That was certainly not my intention.  I
was trying to make it easier for you to accept the rightful praise that
people are offering you.

Please do not let my awkward phrases push you off the list.

> Because I find my tale to have no glory except the one of duty.

That's right.  "Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in
all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less." (Robert
E. Lee)  The tale is great BECAUSE you weren't out to do great deeds, but
simply to do your duty.  As a bard, I may tell this tale.  If I do, I will
tell a version about a stable boy who didn't know who he was saving.  I
think that's a better story.  I certainly agree that the story is about the
glory of duty.

Most great tales have no glory except the one of duty.  All knightly tales
are rooted in the glory of duty.  The Little Dutch Boy saved his town, and
became a legend of the virtue of duty, by standing with his finger in the
dyke.  Little Red Riding Hood grows out of a little girl taking food to her
grandmother.  The tale of Sir Hugh starts after he is captured.  It's not
about a knight winning battles, but about a knight doing his duty as a
knight. The Alamo is less than 200 people doing their duty when they *know*
they cannot win.

"Everything that is called duty, the prerequisite for all genuine law, and
the substance of every noble custom can be traced back to honor. If one has
to think about it, one is already without honor."
     -- Thoughts, OSWALD SPENGLER

You received your AoA for doing your duty.  What greater praise could there
be?

> There are
> far more intresting tales about fighters, riders, competitons and other
> subjects than a miserable tale about some stable boy with a big mouth,
that
> no one really noticed before the fact that " he saved the king ".

In that, you are in good company, with the Brave Little Tailor, Jack the
Giant Killer, St. Christopher, the Steadfast Tin Soldier, Sam Gamgee, and
many other humble men who were never noticed until they did an action that
was greater than they knew.

You are being humble, which is good.  Others are praising a praiseworthy
act, which is also good.  The act is growing in the telling, which is where
many great tales come from.  (The real King Arthur had no knights, for
instance.)

> I think I was off this list for a reason.. I think I just rediscovered
it...
> sorry for the intrusion I wil return to the darkness I came from...

I'm very sorry if I offended you or chased you off.  I was intending to be
supportive and appreciative.  Certainly I agree with the king that keeping
people off the archery range is about saving lives, and hence far more
important than a lot of the "glorious deeds" we do -- and praise.

Thank you for doing your duty.  Thank you for trying to keep people safe.
It's important no matter who it is.  It becomes a tale the one time the
person is a king.

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin