Over ten thousand years ago a young warrior left on a solo hunting trip into the eastern woods. He had been hunting for a week but had seen no prey, not even the smallest squirrel. So determined to bring something back, he swore to himself that he would not return until he had caught something for the fire. Another week passed, then, as he was about to give up, he saw a white stag and he let chase after it. For days it led him farther and farther away from lands he knew, until one morning he found himself on the other side of the eastern mountains in a strange forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man was on the other side of the mountains and for a year he lived on that side. But as time went on, he began to miss his tribe and family and so he sought to cross the mountains again. But days passed and he couldn\u2019t find the trail he\u2019d come on. In desperation he cried out to the mountains, cursing them for standing in his way. And as he fell to his knees and felt despair well up, he heard something approaching. Looking up he saw the white stag which he had followed over the mountains and lost in the forest. The stag stopped before him and spoke, \u2018Why do you curse the mountains so?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I curse the mountains because they stand in my way,\u2019 the man replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And what way would that be?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The way to my home and hearth.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Is not the forest here your home and hearth now? You\u2019ve lived here for a year.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It is where I have lived but I wish now to return to my tribe.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Ah, it is not the place but the people you wish to see,\u2019 the stag said wistfully, \u2018but I fear that it is too late for you to return now.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018What do you mean?\u2019 the man asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018This forest, these mountains, this land, and the animals here, we are all blessed by the Land, herself. And no mortal man may step foot here without accepting the consequences.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And what would those be?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You would not believe them if I told you. But I will show you the way over the mountains so that you may see for yourself,\u2019 and with that the stag took off, up the mountain. He showed the man a hidden path over them. Once on the other side, the man thanked the stag for helping him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I fear I have not helped you. If you chose to return to the forest beyond the mountains, I will wait for you here for three days and three nights,\u2019 said the stag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I thank you for your offer, but I doubt I will take it up.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We shall see,\u2019 and with that it turned and paced away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man returned to his tribe, but he soon discovered what the stag had meant. Though it had been only a year for him, ten had passed for his tribe. His parents had passed away, his brother had two children, and his sweetheart had married into another tribe and had a son now. The man felt like a stranger in his own home and, as the third day drew to a close, he made up his mind to return to the forest beyond the mountains. Before he left, he shared his story with the village elder so that others would be warned to never cross the mountains without knowing what they faced. And he left, never to come back again. Thought, whether he is still alive or not is a matter of debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over ten thousand years ago a young warrior left on a solo hunting trip into the eastern woods. He had been hunting for a week but had seen no prey, not even the smallest squirrel. So determined to bring something back, he swore to himself that he would not return until he had caught something… Read more Na Ru\u00e6rda D\u00e1v (The Immortal Man)<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1168,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-738","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2186,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/738\/revisions\/2186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/eastedinose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}