Tea Cups and Mountain Tops

Afternoon tea in the large house by the lake and the two gentlemen sat down with their papers and books. The first took a sip of his cup and commented upon the weather and the season and the view from his room. The other smiled cordially, sipped too of the tea, and spoke of the house and the gardens and the village by the lake. As they spoke and they ate and they sipped of their cups, said one to the other:

“My good fellow. This morning was terrible. The air was so cold, the clouds rolled in and painted the sky a rather sickly grey.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Then it began to rain and I was awoken rudely by the unceasing twitter of birds outside my window as they sought shelter from it. It took the servants forever to get the firewood for my room’s fire and then it was soaked so that they could not light it until it had dried.”

“I am sorry to hear of your ill morning, friend.”

“And how did yours go, pray tell. Hopefully not entirely as horrible as mine?”

“Oh, no. Quite the contrary. I arose early this morning, while the sky was still black and was privileged to see Orion’s belt came into perfect alignment with Sirius. A most infrequent occurrence.”

“Hmm. But still, to rise so early must truly have been vexing, was it not?”

“Not by any means. For after watching the glorious ballet of the stars, I had one of the servants take me upon the route to the very top of the mountain behind the old house.”

“Well I pity you friend. It must have been a horrid climb in this weather.”

“No, indeed. It was for sure a challenge, but the magnificent view of the other mountain tops was worth the climb to be sure. And not just that, but then the clouds rolled in before sunrise, the same ones that were the cause of your consternation, and formed a pure white blanket beneath us, which caught the light of the morning sunrise in its many pockets and folds.”

“I see. But what of the rains? Surely that was not entirely pleasing to you?”

“As we descended the rains began, but only slightly, and we chanced upon a grove of trees in which we could take shelter. It was some wild and free dryadic orchard, with apples and plums and wild grape vines all about. We ate our fill and then drank from a nearby stream of pure water from the snowy mountain’s veil.”

By now the first gentleman had grown silent while the other had become more and more passionate about his adventure that morning. One tea cup lay forgotten, the other was filled continuously by it’s sullen user.

“But I must apologies for the fire wood my friend, for that was my fault entirely. You see as we were coming down the path, by way of the small dyke that holds back the lake, we came upon a hole. I stopped it up as best as I could while the servant ran and took the first sturdy wood he could lay hands on. Unfortunately it was the firewood next to our abode. We held it in place until the stonemason could come and repair the gap, and that’s why your logs this morning were soaked. I hope it wasn’t too much of a bother.”

“Hmm. No. None whatsoever.”

Just then a servant of the lodge came up and spoke regally, “Excuse me sir, but the owner of the house and the major of the small village below are in the main parlor. They wish to speak to you about your heroic deed this morning. I believe they mentioned something of a statue in your honor.”

“Well friend, I enjoyed the tea. Mayhap I will see you again. Farewell.”

“Farewell.” Said the other gentleman as he rung for his servant.

A small fat man appeared, out of breath and with a slight rosy hue to his nose.

“Ah. Felix. I think tomorrow morning I will take a stroll up the mountain. Awaken me before sunrise.”

“Um. Yes sir. Pardon me sir, but you do know that it’ll still be dark?”

The gentleman simple sat his tea cup down and walked out of the tea room. Outside, the clouds had parted and a rainbow could be seen in the heavens over the white veiled mountain. Birds sang lustily at the beauty of the afternoon sky as the blue of the lake reflected the clear blueness of the alpine sky.