16 June 20XX +1
My Dear Lucilius,
An odd combination of days. On the one hand, it was a quiet and productive day: garden weeded and watered, quail checked up on (they are laying – have I mentioned this? Odd how the addition of even one or two small quail eggs can really brighten a morning), bees up and in full swing, blue sky and sun. I was even able to find some time to fish across the road for a trout (I try to limit myself for nearby fishing so as to not exhaust the stock, but sometimes even I cannot resist a little extra easy protein).
On the other hand, Young Xerxes arrived with a paper sack which he wordlessly handed to me before heading off again.
It has been a long time since I have seen this many shells in this caliber.
I still have the cardboard boxes these shells originally came in and so I sat by the window, carefully placing them inside.
I have no meaningful idea why I did this. It is not as if them being in the boxes or not impacts their actual use. It was as much an act of respect as it was for any particularly useful purpose.
The whole thing left me disturbed.
As a palate cleanser – I can call it nothing else – I cleaned my shinken.
This makes no sense to my mind, Lucilius. Both of these items – the shells and the sword – are designed for one ultimate purpose: to kill. In one, I find a sort of miasma lingering as I put them one by one in their box, in the other I find a certain simplicity and even coolness as I wipe the blade down with alcohol, then a paper towel, then choji oil, and then replace it into its sheath.
By far, of course, the bullets and what they represent are far more efficient – the age of sword gave way to the age of the gun for a reason. And in the day, undoubtedly the sword was seen exactly as the gun is now: an efficient tool for the ultimate purpose of ending a life. But perhaps never quite as efficient as a firearm.
I wonder if this is my problem with the world of modern technology: one efficiency without soul, the other soul without the sort of efficiency one needs in this current world.
It flows into so many things, even as it did in the former days: writing with an actual fountain pen instead of on a computer, repairing instead of replacing at the first sign of issues, even training with a sword. These things seemed to have meaning in a way their modern equivalent did not, even if they were less efficient.
My shinken has gone back onto its rack and the bullets have found their way into their own correct locations. Even I am not so foolish as to believe that in the current environment the two methods they represent are equal.
Your Obedient Servant, Seneca
The realization that One may be called to do potential permanent harm to others has to be scary if you were never in that situation. Especially with those who have children counting on us to help them grow up.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Exactly, and that is becoming an interesting leitmotif in this.
DeleteAs a swordsman, I am aware that I have the potential to cause harm. We train very hard, in fact, to not cause harm. The concept that one would be in a position where causing harm is required is an uncomfortable one - both for Seneca and myself.
One parental obligation is to provide for the safety of your spouse and offspring. Good for Young Xerxes for helping with that.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, I do not have a full sense of why Young Xerxes chose to do this thing at this time, except that he perceives it has some relative importance in the not too distant future. We will see how Seneca responds.
DeleteYoung Xerxes did this because he knows what bullets are and what they do, and defense of the group is in the male DNA... The youngest boy will pick up a stick and think of it as a sword, a gun, or a spear. It's just... there...
DeleteI'm confused. What did Xerxes bring you in the sack? Was it cartridges, bullets, or cases to be reloaded?
DeleteIn fact, Xerxes brought loaded shells. In last week's update, he took empty cartridges.
DeleteI haven't thought about this in years, but I distinctly remember the feeling of awe and power one gets when opening up a box of ammo. Or at least one like me who rarely had use for it most of his life. I suppose if one used ammo quite often, like say competitive skeet shooting, it might go away at some point.
ReplyDelete(Sorry Ed - This came to spam and I just saw it).
DeleteThat is a pity observation - and likely true for me as well, who rarely uses such things. I wonder if it is the implied power that it contains, both physical and psychological.
Guns and swords, when nothing else will work to keep the forces of chaos and death at bay.
ReplyDeleteTM anything will work. To quote a movie from long ago (in a galaxy far far away) "A lightsaber is more elegant that a blaster or fusion cutter". But maybe not more efficient.
Delete