Parabola

A young man was walking down the road one day when he came to a fork in the road. One way was evidently well travelled, the other much less so. Our young man, let's call him our Hero, took the one less travelled. At first the way was pleasant, but after a time the road became steep and narrow. At last he came to a precipice and it seemed he could go no further. He attempted to turn back and retrace his steps, but a sudden, extremely strong wind made that impossible. Finally, with little alternative, he steeled himself for whatever fate had in store, and jumped. Surprisingly, our Hero landed safely and found himself in a lush valley. At some distance, he saw a group of men talking. As he approached, they were discussing philosophy. He joined in the conversation and found them to be very interesting and knowledgeable. After some time, he inquired as to whether he could join their association. They responded affirmatively but with one condition. He must first slay their lion. Our Hero accepted the challenge and sought out the lion. He found him and after some effort on his part was able to kill him and dissect him. When he did so, he found only white bones and red blood. He returned to the philosophers whereupon he was given a bouquet of red and white roses. As he continued on his way, he was passed by the beautiful maiden, dressed in white satin. Soon, he was passed by a noble youth, dressed all in scarlet or red. The two had just been wed and were on their way to consummate the marriage. They entered into a crystal room, shaped like an egg. It was water tight or "Hermetically sealed." Our Hero was placed in charge of guarding them. Soon after the couple entered into the crystal room, they began to consummate their marriage. Their activity was so passionate that a great deal of heat was generated with nowhere to dissipate. The heat continued to increase until the groom was finally melted from his intense passion. The bride began to cry uncontrollably and her tears soon covered them both in water so that she was drowned. Our Hero was dismayed by this bizarre sequence of events. But, before he could decide what to do, he noticed a cloud beginning to fill the vessel. The cloud proceeded to rain down on the blackened bodies of the couple below. As he watched, the rain washed the bodies and they gradually lightened to gray and finally they were turned to white. Right before his eyes, the couple became animated, opened their eyes and arose. It seems that even their souls could not escape the "Hermetically sealed" vessel, and were able to re-enter their bodies. They donned raiment of gold with purple cloaks and each was wearing a golden crown. Our Hero opened the vessel, on their request, and they embraced and thanked him and told him that he would be rewarded with anything he could ever want.