The Friendly Hermin And The Violinist Wolf [NOV2013]

Once upon a time in an alternate universe called Earth 1002100-D, there was an hermin. An hermin with a cinnamon-color fur and a white belly. His personal "signature", if you could call it that way, was a single black line running from his lower back to the tip of his tail. What his parents loved most of all were his sweet black eyes, to which the hermin would always dismiss as "parents talk". Since winter never came in the hermin's country, his fur stayed cinnamon all year-long, which blended very beautifully with the forest covering his country.

But the hermin's most prominent and loved feature was just... him.
He was born fearless. But not the kind of fearless that makes an animal become a jerk. Neither the kind of fearless that makes an animal try dangerous things and puts himself into mortal perils. No. That, he feared, like any good hermin. He feared also the jerk part, which is of course, what all animals should fear most of all.
The fearless quality that peculiar hermin possessed, was his reactions toward strangers. He never feared other animals, which made him quite a legend throughout his childhood. When other hermins would scream in terror and climb a tree upon seeing a bear, our hermin would sing a lullaby and help the bear sleep. When our hermin would meet a stranger, he would greet him with full smile and kindness, whereas the others would run away and hide.
But most of all, whereas all hermins would do weekly bird-hunts and follow with a mighty feast of birds, our hermin never did such things. He couldn't have the heart to trap a poor helpless bird, snap its neck, and eat it just to sustain his small body. Instead, he turned vegetarian, allowing spent eggs in his diets, and most of all, protected with all his might the birds from his fellow carnivorous hermins. The rest of his day was spent to educate hermins and other animals in vegetarianism.

As for the beautiful forest covering the hermin's country, it was probably the last majestic forest left untouched by beavers. There was not one single tree younger than 50 years; and with the absence of autumns and winters, no single dead leaf touched the forest's ground. Moss and grass was all one could see at the feet of the trees; some animals, daring to adventure in this sacred forest, likened sitting upon the forest's ground as sitting upon the softest pillow ever.
Scattered troops of ferns would caught your eye for precious seconds, while bushes of lupines added that missing color touch to this evergreen forest.
And the sun! Who could describe the majestic forest without writing about the sun's rays falling through the canopy's openings, hitting the green ground like golden showers. Where a soft golden glow would meet you 'round an old tree, or where you could lie down upon the plush ground, look up, and witness the graceful dance between the wind, the green leaves, and the sun's rays. And fall asleep till sunset.

But, as with all majestic and beautiful forests, it was surrounded with mystery and possibly magic. And although there was enormous open spaces and passages in the forest, few animals ever dared enter it. The only few that did never came back.
And the reason for this behaviour, was both very simple, and very mysterious: distant music. For five decades, day after day, the forest would ring with distant music. One day it would be a jolly tune, while another day, it would be a lamenting solo. No one ever knew where it came from, or how it was made. The truth is, no animals ever played music in all the forest's existence. You can imagine their surprise and fear when they heard those sounds, sounds they couldn't associate with the wind.
The country's folk finally settled on claiming that the music came from the forest's spirits, one for each of its moods, and that entering it would bring bad luck on the adventurer.

That is the mystery surrounding our hermin's country. That goes without saying that the spirits's music filled him with marvel and happiness. It was in fact the music that changed his fearful and carnivorous nature to a sweeter and tender one. For long days would he sit at the forest's entrance and listen to the distant music, dreaming of old and legendary times, of enchanted countries and lands, of fair beings with angelic voices. And never did he stopped dreaming of entering the enchanted forest and live under the golden rays, a life of peace and beauty. He felt like it was his destiny; he couldn't explain otherwise his different nature. And all he ever wished was to leave his normal life and join the forest's spirits; and with his voice, enchant future generations into leading a peaceful life, free of hate and fear.
But as his childhood passed without any incidents, our hermin realised that his dream may never happen, and the only way to belong with the spirits was to act like them. And thus came his tenderness and care for other animals; but as a result, he never had any friend who could truly understand him. Although the music always enchanted the animals and was admired, the forest's spirits were feared by animals, never revered; and the hermin's desire to join them in the golden forest was regarded as more than unusual.

So, the hermin lived on his own (his parents having died after long years of happiness seven years ago), always day-dreaming, always caring and kind, until that fateful day, in mid-November. The day his wish came true.

(continued...)

Our hermin was having a drink in a bar by his own, as usual, when a hooded figure sat right beside him. That made the hermin look sharply, for it was a very unusual sight; no animals ever walked clothed.
"Good afternoon, sir," greeted our hermin. "May I buy you a drink?"
"I would love one," agreed the hooded stranger. "I would like a bowl of milk, please."
"A bowl of milk for this gentleman, and another for me, please," the hermin asked a passing waiter, a ferret.
"Right away".
The hooded stranger turned on his seat, and faced the hermin. It was a shiny black cat, with shining gold eyes, gold as the sun's rays. His gray coat covered all his body, and his hood only revealed his eyes and mouth/nose/whiskers. Yet, he wasn't menacing-looking. On the contrary, he looked very wise, and very old spiritually. Our hermin couldn't help but stare at him in wonder. Black cats were of course very common, but there was something about the stranger that made you inclined to respect and listen to him more closely.
"I heard that you were a good singer, my friend," the strange cat told our hermin, in a soft voice.
"Indeed", acknowledged the hermin. "A very rare gift, or so my parents told me".
"It is a rare gift. Only five animals in the last century could do so. Can I hear a song?"
"Ummm..." our hermin hesitated, casting glances around the bar.
"It will do them good", encouraged the cat, speaking of the other customers. "Please. It's been a long time since any song was sung."
Now, although songs were rare, poetry, fables, and legends was very common in our hermin's country; and those were what our hermin always sung about.
"Very well", accepted our hermin.
He spun on his chair, facing a window over-looking the enchanted forest, sipped from the bowl of milk that the ferret-waiter placed before him, and began singing in a soft yet crystal-like voice.
It was a tale about the powerful love between two humans (creatures from the animals's fairy tales), both lamenting yet full of hope, both sad yet happy at the end. So poignant was the song and the hermin's voice, that even the tiger, sitting five tables away from him, cried at the end of it, when the female human can finally live forever with her mate.
Cheers and claps resonated in the bar, while the hermin bowed, his eyes wet.
"Thank you, thank you!" he repeated to the moved public.
"That was extremely beautiful", the hooded black cat told the hermin, after the latter sat back. "But there was one thing lacking".
"Really?!" said the hermin with surprise and, a bit understandable, a little offended.
"I know what you're looking for", answered the stranger, looking straight into the hermin's eyes. "I know what you long for, what you've passed all your life preparing for."
Our hermin gulped in apprehension; nobody ever talked about his wish for years, and he never told anybody since the last five years, knowing what the reply would be. Yet, for the first time since his childhood, he felt as if he was nearing the end of the tunnel, and reaching the light.
"Who told you?" he asked anyway; he still had to figure out if the strange cat was making fun of him, or really serious.
"It is my job to know about everything", the black cat answered, simply. "I look over everything and everyone since a very long time. And your time has come. You are still young, but you are the wisest and kindest of everyone I've watched over in the last five decades."
"Thank you... I think", our hermin answered, more and more hopeful.
"You're welcome; you deserve it", the cat kindly replied, a soft smile beneath his silver whiskers. "However, you will have to face one last test. Pass it, and your wish will be granted."
The hermin thought about it really quickly, and already decided to go for it. After all, who would really care about his absence?
"I'm all in", he replied happily. "What do I do?"
The strange cat finally pulled down his hood, revealing more black fur, and whispered in the hermin's ears:
"Enter the forest and follow the trail leading to its heart. There, you will see a golden arch made of oaks; your last test will be at the end of it."
Those whispered words would have made any animals shrink in fear. All but our hermin. His eyes welled up again with water, but this time, of gratitude towards the mysterious black cat.
"Thank you, my friend. I will not fail the test" he replied happily.
"As I am confident you will" the cat replied with a soft and joyous laugh. "Good luck, my friendly hermin, and may you be forever happy!"
He finished his bowl of milk, put back on his grey hood, and left the bar.
"Who was he?" asked the ferret-waiter to the hermin, taking back the empty bowl.
"I don't know; but he sure made my day!" replied excitedly the hermin, hurrying to empty his own bowl of milk.
"Yeah, well, be careful of strangers", replied bitterly the ferret, moving fearfully his whiskers. "You never know when they're gonna eat you".
He walked away before our hermin could answer, and the latter decided to drop arguing, and left the bar. He inhaled profoundly, remembering for the last time the smell of his native village, and went to the cemetery say one last good-bye to his parents.

(continued...)

It was still three hours before sunset, and the sun's rays were more pronounced in the enchanted forest; our hermin could spot very easily the trail going through the grass. It wasn't per say a trail, but rather a way where trees weren't clogged up, but spaced rather evenly. With a big smile and a light heart, the hermin put his front feet for the first time on the mossy ground. Then, his rear feet joined in, and our hermin finally passed through the dreaded treshold. And great was his joy when he finally inhaled the sweet smell of the lupines, and felt the plush softness of the ground under his feet. He ran around for awhile, dancing under the golden falls of the sun, brushing delicately the ferns, admiring the shades of the lupines flowers. He then laid down on a round stone, and gaze upon the spectacle that was the graceful dance between the green leaves, the soft wind, and the golden sun.
After awhile, he finally put himself back on his feet, and ventured on the trail, seeking the golden arch. And after a long walk, he finally found it: an arch created by multiple birches and maples arching towards one and another, with the sun shining diagonally through it, creating a soft gold fog on the passage. Our hermin was mesmerized by the sight, and realised a bit too lately that he was drooling. He re-composed himself and entered the arch, walking in the glow and under the majestic trees.
And at the end of the tunnel, he saw a clearing, and at the centre of it, the biggest tree he ever set eyes upon. Lupines and ferns were surrounding it, and a single spot of the sun's rays passed through the canopy, landing upon a smooth depression at the tree's feet.
The hermin was walking toward the spot of light, when suddenly he heard a voice from behind the tree:
"Who is there?"
Immediately, our hermin froze in horror; the voice of a wolf was well-known in the villages. Even our poor hermin feared more than anything wolves; their ruthless and cunning personality made them terrifying creatures to oppose, and none escaped their encounters with one.
The hermin backed up from the tree, while the wolf emerged slowly from behind. He was medium-sized, lean, with a shining silvery fur; the type that you can't outrun.
The hermin was frantically trying to find an escape route, backing even more under the stare of the wolf, who had stopped advancing and was studying our scared protagonist. But that was what stopped our hermin of running away forever from the enchanted forest and his future: the wolf's eyes. They were emerald green, unlike blue or yellow, and their expression was... kind. Compassionate. For the first time, the hermin didn't looked at a wolf and saw ruthlessness and disguised friendliness; in this peculiar wolf, he saw genuine curiosity and open-friendship. So, he took the risk:
"Ummm, hey! I'm sorry if I barged into your territory; that wasn't intentional. I'm Hermin!"
He extended his left front paw and posed it upon a stone facing the tree. The wolf hesitated for a short second, and resumed walking toward the hermin. He stopped before the stone, sat down, kindly smiled, and posed his left front paw upon the hermin's.
"I'm Wolf. Pleased to meet you!"
He released the hermin's paw, and sat back straight. The hermin hesitated too for a small second, but walked closer to the wolf and sat down.
"Okay, just tell me up straight: Are you gonna eat me?" the hermin asked the wolf.
The wolf frowned, but then he relaxed and laughed softly.
"No, no. Don't worry, I get that all the time". He calmed himself, and added: "No, see, I'm... well, don't laugh, please, but umm... I'm vegetarian."
He looked sheepishly at the hermin, waiting for his reaction. Which came about thirty seconds later, where laughter replaced shock on the hermin's face.
"Told you would laugh!" the wolf replied, a bit ashamed, turning back to the tree and sitting back in the depression.
"No, no!" reassured the hermin, joining the wolf and unsuccessfully trying to control his laughter. "You just gave me a big scare, and then, you reveal you're vegetarian!"
"Yeah, I know. Not very wolfish, right?"
"Who said that? I'm vegetarian too, you know?" revealed the hermin.
"No! Come on, sit" the wolf replied, astonished, and indicating the stone facing his tree, bathed in golden rays.
"Thanks. Yeah, I've switched to vegetarianism when I've watched another hermin kill a bird's babies. I couldn't save them, and their mother was gone. All I eat now is greens, fruits, nuts, and un-fertilized eggs".
"The same, but without the eggs. I can't stand them", replied the wolf, reaching behind the tree to grab something.
Which revealed to be a mystical instrument, only mentioned in the animals legends and fairy tales, a violin. The hermin sat straight, staring at the carved wooden body, the curved neck, and the delicate bow, amazed at the sight of a such mystical object.
"What is that?" he whispered, in awe. "Legends speaks of it, but never what it does".
"Of course they said what it does. 'The violin permitted animals, plants, creatures, and humans to hear the thoughts of the violinist's soul; and thus, to hear the thoughts of the soul of everyone'. That was what the legends and fairy tales said, right?"
"Yes, but how?" the hermin asked, peering closely at the instrument. "How does it connect to the soul?"
The wolf smiled and laid back comfortably against the majestic tree. He held in his left hand the end of the violin's neck, and stuck the body between his left shoulder and his neck. Then, with a graceful pose, he held delicately the bow in his right hand, and in a fluid yet graceful motion, laid it across the violin's body. A lamenting tune came out from the wooden instrument, and resonated throughout the forest. The same tune that the hermin sang to the strange black cat; a tune that the hermin heard two weeks ago coming from the enchanted forest. And it all clicked.
"You... you are the forest's spirit!" the hermin realised, staring in awe at the violinist wolf, when the latter ended the song.
The wolf chuckled while reposing his instrument on the plush ground.

(continued...)

"Well, perhaps. But I am no spirit. I was only gifted with the blessing of conveying the soul's emotions.
" It's a long story, but I'll try to make it short. Sixty-eight years ago, I was born in a pack of thirty wolves. But unlike them, I could never take a life. I watched with horror my father smile to a doe, and the next instant, tear her apart while she was still alive. When the pack found out, they kicked me out, but not before beating me up for being weak.
" But I hold on. No matter what everyone would think of me, I wouldn't kill or deceive anyone, and I lived all by my own. Until that day, fifty years ago, when I was in a bar in the village at the other side of this forest; that day, a strange hooded, clad of grey, black cat sat beside me and gave me this violin. He told me that I was the first animal since millennia who succeeded to overcome his nature and become someone tenfold better. Under his request, I played for the first time my violin; it was the tune I just played. The tale of two humans who would do anything to be together forever always moved me, so I adapted it to make it into a music. And you can imagine my happiness when I looked around me after my performance, and saw a bear cry! From then, I decided to live in this beautiful forest and play everyday my violin, and gift the village with the notion of love, peace and kindness. But years passed, and no animals seemed to have taken heed of my songs; right until this very afternoon, when I heard from the village the most beautiful voice sing the very song I played fifty years ago."
The hermin blushed under the compliment.
"Well, the black cat asked me to sing, and that tale has always been my favorite, so..."
"You were the one that sung this afternoon?!" the wolf cut, astonished.
"Umm.. yes..."
The violinist wolf stared at the hermin for long seconds, visibly shocked, and then, a kind smile broke up, he stood up and bowed to his new friend.
"Well, my kind friend, I am in awe. Never did I played "Love" that beautifully."
"On the contrary, Wolf. I would live the rest of my life happily would I hear "Love" from your violin every day", replied the hermin, touched.
The violinist wolf smiled, and on an impulse, hugged the hermin, the only friend who finally understood him, and the only one who would always will. The hermin hugged back just as hard, grateful that he didn't ran away from the wolf upon his encounter, like all hermins would have done; for he would have never had any best friends had he done so.
The wolf broke the hug and looked fondly at the friendly hermin, and told him:
"Well, my friend, it seems that both our talents are indispensable. I couldn't anymore live without hearing your singing, and you wouldn't live without hearing my violin. Why not live with me in this forest, and sing with me every day? There are more surprises in this forest that you could imagine and adventure is not lacking; but we could have the chance of changing more animals's nature, and that is worth everything."
"I agree", replied happily the hermin, jumping in the wolf's arms and hugging him. "My life changed when I heard your songs; if only one animal becomes kind because of our song, then I'll die a happy hermin!"
The wolf smiled with joy and placed gently the hermin on the stone. He turned to pick up his violin, when he suddenly went still, and turned back facing the hermin with curious eyes.
"Did you just say that a black cat asked you to sing?"
"Yes. He was clad in a grey coat. I know, just like the cat who asked you to play the violin. Weird, right?"
"Maybe not", the violinist wolf thought out loud, resuming picking up his violin. "Maybe he is the true spirit of the forest."
He winked at the hermin, then stood up.
"Ready for a tour, a dinner, and then sleep?"
Our hermin, whose friendly nature made his dream come true, jumped on his feet and joyfully followed the wolf deeper in the enchanted forest, both practicing together, both the best of best friends till the end of the world.

****

It is said that the friendly hermin and the violinist wolf sang and played together everyday in the secrecy and beauty of the forest, and every animals in the village were moved by the tales and legends. Slowly but irresistibly, most animals started evolving beyond their basic nature, and began too to dream about better lives. And almost all got their wishes.
And though it has been two hundred years since the meeting between the fearless hermin and the kind wolf, it is still said that whoever ventures beyond the forest's threshold and under the golden arch, can see the violinist wolf playing vigorously, laid back against the majestic tree, and the hermin curled up on the stone before him and singing with a crystal voice under the green canopy and the gold rays of the sun.



THE END

It's really cute! Good job!

Ummm... Did anyone read it?
If yes, would you care comment about it, tell me what it lacks or anything?

reply to post by starheart


Yours was an incredibly engaging story; I really enjoyed it. "Enjoyed it" falls short of what I felt when reading it. I didn't want it to end, and was gratified to see it continued for three posts. You have the gift, creating visual fabric and are a true storyteller.

Excellent tale, and one I would tell to my children, had I any (not to imply that it's merely a child's tale, because it's not, but it could also be a child's tale. Very well written.

reply to post by argentus


Thank you very much!
It was an immense pleasure to write it, and I admit I started to be sad that no one seemed to have read it except my friend; started to think something was wrong about it.
So, I'm very happy that you enjoyed it, and even more happy to know that it would've been a story that you could've told your children about; it was exactly my intention. I wanted to create a sort of a fable, a story that could enchant as much the adults and the children; and I wanted it to convey not only the beauty of the mysterious enchanting music and of the magical forest, but more importantly, that anyone can change their nature and become someone better, or at least, thrive for it (hence the carnivorous and suspicious hermin becoming vegetarian and friendly, and the devious and heartless wolf becoming kind and soulful).
And I'm happy that it was enjoyed very much, especially considering that it was my very first story in all my life!

So again, thank you very much for the review, and I'm very gratified that you enjoyed it!

Starheart

P.S.: If you're interested, I post my second story, Right & Wrong, either tomorrow or Monday.