Xi Su - (Zse Sue) like Zsa Zsa
The Book of Xi Su
By Shane Morgan
Xi Su had wasted the better part of
his thirty years of life. He had no family and not much of a life. He had lost
his young bride, Ming Lee, and their unborn baby ten years before during the
Great Fever Outbreak. He had not looked at a woman since he had met Ming Lee
and after her death he decided that he never would. Xi Su had bounced from job to job being a
farmer, a miller, a carpenter, and a gem minor.
All of which he was not good at nor did he find them fulfilling. Upon leaving his last job as a farm hand in a
rice field, he went home and went to straight to bed. The next morning Xi Su decided to take a
stroll through the woods to clear his mind and think about what job we would
like to do next. About an hour after
taking a wrong turn, he came upon an old building. Puzzled he thought himself, “What a strange
looking structure.” The building had
started to crumble and it looked like the front doors were barely holding it
up. Even after perceiving the danger, Xi
Su couldn’t control his curiosity. After
surveying the entire building, Xi Su found a small opening on the side of the
structure and crawled through. He found
himself in a large empty room.
Scratching his head he surveyed the inside. “Not much to look at. I wonder what this was used for,” he
pondered. As he examined the walls he
knew there wasn’t much time left before the structure fell in on itself. He took one last look and then headed back
to the small opening from which he had entered.
As he put his hand on the floor to crawl out, a floorboard kicked
up. “Strange,” he thought once
again. He pushed on the board again and
when it rose he grabbed it and took it from its place. Under the board was darkness. Xi Su could not see how deep it was or what,
if anything, was in this space. He
would’ve just reached down into the hole had his fear of spiders and snakes had
not stopped him. “It’s probably
nothing,” he thought to himself. Xi Su
then decided that it was time to go back home.
He crawled back through the opening and began his trip back home. Xi Su had not gone far when the space in the
floor began to consume his thoughts.
“Maybe someone had hidden some treasure or money there and had forgotten
about it. Maybe there were priceless
jewels.” His mind and heart raced at the possibilities. Xi Su knew that he had to go back and find
out what was in that hole. Before
heading back to the odd-looking structure. Xi Su knew he had to find something
that would illuminate the hole in the floor.
He sat on a tree stump and thought.
After fifteen minutes of thinking he still did not have an answer. He decided that he would think and walk at
the same time. Upon reaching the small entry, he still had no clue of how to
get light into the hole. He thought to
himself, “Surely, any spiders or snakes would have vacated the hole by
now.” With this new motivation, Xi Su
crawled back inside. He looked at the
hole, closed his eyes, and stuck his hand in the hole. At first, he didn’t feel anything and began to
get angry at all of the time that he had wasted. As he began to take his hand out, his pinky
finger touched something. Xi Su jerked
his hand out as fast as he could.
Laughing at himself, he put his hand back in the hole and grabbed the
mystery item. “Ohhhh!” he whined. “It’s
just a book.” Disappointed, Xi Su sat
back and pouted. He did not find the
treasure that he was looking for.
Dejected, he thought, “Well I put all of this work into to it, I’m
keeping this book.” He placed the bound
side of the book in his mouth and crawled through the opening and returned
home.
The next day Xi Su, who still hadn’t made his mind up on
what his next job was going to be, sat at his table and ate his breakfast. His new book was lying on the table and Xi Su
picked it up and began to read. At
first, he was lost. He had never heard
these stories before. He found the
stories captivating and couldn’t stop reading them. He had often questioned many things in his
life: who he was, who was he suppose to be and how he fit into the world around
him. These new stories, he felt, gave him answers to those life long questions
but most of all the stories gave hope.
After a week had passed, Xi Su had finished the book. He felt some new inner emotion that he had
never felt before. He couldn’t explain
it but he now knew what his next job would be.
Xi Su packed everything he owned
into a backpack. He then went to his neighbor, Chaun Net and asked him, “How
much will you pay me to buy my house?” Xi Su knew that Chaun Net’s son and
daughter-in-law were expecting their first child and Chaun Net’s house was too
small for the expanding family. Shocked,
his neighbor responded,” If you are serious, I can pay,” Chaun Net paused as if
he were counting in his head. “Five
hundred dokis,” he answered shyly, knowing it was more than he could afford and
way below what it was worth. Xi Su whose
mind had wandered off thinking about his stories, snapped back to reality. “Five hundred dokis?” he responded. Chaun Net turned red with embarrassment. “No, no my friend,” Xi Su quickly added. “That is more than enough.” Chaun Net’s face was aglow. He ran into his house. After about five minutes, the four and half
members of Chuan Net’s family came out. Xi Su could tell they had all been
crying. Chaun Net, with his life savings
in his hand, spoke up. “I am sorry, my
friend. “We have only 410 dokis and with
the baby soon to arrive, we can not afford your house.” Xi Su was silent and thought about the
stories he had read. He knew his house
was worth twice that amount. “I will
take 410 dokis for my house,” Xi Su announced.
Chaun Net was both happy and worried.
They now had room for their family but no more savings. Chaun Net handed Xi Su the money. Xi Su walked over to the quiet girl in the
back and said “For your baby.” He handed
her a 50 dokis piece. Xi Su then took
step back and said “I wish your family good fortune,” and he turned and left.
With his new money, Xi Su headed for the nearest town. Two days later, Xi Su arrived in Jai Pek late
in the morning. He bought some food and
sat on a barrel to eat. He knew his new
job would be to tell the stories in the book, but he did not know how to go
about it or how he would be paid. As he
ate, he watched the people walking by.
He noticed that the next street up seemed to be a very busy street. “That would be a good place for me to tell
the stories,” he thought. “But how?” he
questioned. Then a thought came to him
and he stood up on the barrel that he had been sitting on. “It seems pretty stable,” he told
himself. Since the barrel didn’t seem
to belong to anyone he decided he would roll the barrel to the next street and
if it did belong to someone it didn’t matter because he would return it. So, Xi Su put his plan into action. He rolled the barrel to busy thoroughfare,
stood it up right and climbed on top of it.
He began to tell the stories that he had read and not long after a crowd
had gather around him. For as long as he
could remember Xi Su had not enjoyed himself as much as he was at that moment.
After about forty-five minutes, some of the town elders came to see what was
going on. It didn’t take long for them
to realize that he had been telling the forbidden stories from the forbidden
book. “Get down from there!” They yelled
at him. “Stop telling those stories!” Xi
Su was confused. He hopped off his
barrel. The elders then told him that he
must leave town immediately and not to return.
Xi Su tried to ask why but was not given an answer. He hung his head, put on his backpack and
left town. While walking, he replayed
the event in his head but couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong. He looked back, shrugged his shoulders and kept
walking. The next town was a small village called Kish-shee. Xi Su thought that maybe he shouldn’t have
started in the larger town and maybe the small village would a better place to
start. When he arrived in Kish-shee, he
found that there were a lot of people in the village square eating lunch. So, he jumped onto a bench and began to tell
them his stories. At first, there was
silence but then a murmur began to arise.
Soon, a group of men left but that didn’t bother Xi Su; he continued to
tell his stories. After a brief time
away, the grouped of men returned carrying pitchforks. They were headed right for him. Xi Su didn’t waste any time. He jumped off of his bench and ran out of
town. After what seemed like an hour of running,
Xi Su stopped to rest. He couldn’t
believe what had just occurred. Xi Su
was more confused than ever. Why did
people not want to hear these stories of hope?
“If I can’t tell my stories, what am I going to do?” he ask himself.
“Maybe I am not telling them correctly. I am going to have to practice,” he
concluded. Xi Su spent the next two
weeks reading his book over and over.
Even though each time he read the book he felt more purpose in life,
there was something else. Something that
created a maddening drive in him that he had never before felt. During his final days in seclusion, Xi Su
dumped out the contents of backpack. He
was running out of money and food. After
his dinner, Xi Su slumped up against a rock.
As he slept, he dreamed of the odd old building. He once again was crawling through the small
hole but this time it wasn’t empty.
Someone was standing by the front wall.
Xi Su walked toward the figure.
The figure spoke and broke the silence.
“Xi Su, welcome to my house.” “
Who are you?” questioned Xi Su. Again
the figure spoke “I am the one who led you here.” Puzzled Xi Su responded, “I ended up here
because I got lost.” The figure
laughed. “Xi Su, you have lived near
these woods all of your life. How is it
that you suddenly became lost?” Xi Su
thought for a minute but he had no answer.
The figure continued, “Is it because you have been lost your entire
life?” Again, Xi Su had no answer. Xi Su then asked his own question. “Is it your book?” “It is my book to give,” answered the
figure. “You did not give the book to
me. I found the book in that hole.” Xi
Su quickly responded, “Xi Su, you were meant to find my truths.” “What? Why me?” Xi Su asked. The figure answered, “Because it is your
time.”
Xi Su suddenly awoke. He was stunned. All of his life, like most people from his
region, Xi Su had no direction and no hope.
Now he had been given both but from whom? Xi Su now knew what was driving him. “These aren’t just stories, these are true
events. Everyone shall hear these
truths,” he exalted. “It is not right
for them to keep these truths from people.
Everyone should get to have this hope and I know just where to
start.”
Viahew was the provincial capitol
and it was home to largest population in the region. Xi Su knew that this was place for him to
tell these truths. He took his time
after arriving. He studied the city and
found a busy area with a large rock that he could stand on and be seen. At noon, on his third day in the city, he
climbed onto the rock and began to profess these truths. An extremely large crowd gathered to
listen. He spoke for one hour and
climbed down. He repeated the process
for four days. Xi Su no longer cared
about making money he found telling the truths more fulfilling. He noticed that many of the same faces were
attending everyday and they brought with them new people. On the fifth day, he once again climbed on
his rock. As he told his truths, the
Provincial Governor arrived. He screamed
at Xi Su to get down. Xi Su climbed
down. The Governor grabbed Xi Su’s book
and asks “Why are you telling these forbidden stories from this forbidden book?” Xi Su replied, “I am only telling the
truths.” “No!” exclaimed the
Governor. “These are lies. That is why they are forbidden. You must climb back on your rock and
apologize to these people for the lies you have told.” “I am not going to do that,” replied Xi Su in
a stern but respectful voice. “You will
or I will throw you in prison,” commanded the governor. Xi Su looked at him and held up his wrist to
be handcuffed. “I will not.” He said
calmly. The Governor was perplexed at
this occurrence. He summoned his guard
to shackle Xi Su and take him to prison.
When Xi Su arrived at the prison he was sat at a table. When the Provincial Governor arrived he told
Xi Su, “You have severely broken our laws and you have refused to recant
yourself. You have until noon tomorrow
to do so publicly or you will face my firing squad.” Xi Su was then taken and put into a tiny
cell. He was allowed to keep his sacred
book with him. When night came, Xi Su
fell asleep hoping he would visit the figure again. Xi Su slept well and again
awoke in the morning with the words “It is your time”. Only this time, it was his bride Ming Lee’s
voice. Xi Su then thought about her and the future they had planned. “Ming Lee, I don’t know why you were taken
from me or why it has been so long since I heard your voice. For the first time, I feel like I have a
purpose but yet everyone is trying to take that purpose away from me. How I wish you were here. I have missed you for so long. If it is ‘my
time’, then it shall be.” Just then the
guards came in and took him from his cell. He was sat at a table once
more. In front of him, lamp oil and
matches were placed. The Governor soon
came in and announced, “Xi Su, to correct your misdeeds you must first burn
your book of lies and then get back on your rock and ask for forgiveness from
the people for spreading your lies.” Xi
Su looked at him and said, “I will not do that.” The Governor’s face turned red as he
screamed, “This is your last chance!” Xi
Su just stared forward not saying a word” “ Then you’ll die by the firing
squad!” the governor yelled.
At noon, Xi Su was marched out into the
courtyard and stood in front of a wall.
Eleven soldiers then came through a second doorway and lined up shoulder
to shoulder facing Xi Su. The Governor,
holding a sword and still furious with Xi Su, sternly said, “Xi Su, I am giving
you one last chance. Admit to the people
your lies and deception and you will live.”
Not long ago Xi Su would have questioned why his life had turned out
this way but his reading had warned him that things like this might happen if
he were to spread the truth. The figure
and book had brought him such peace and direction that he was ready to face his
fate and answered with an assertive “No.”
Xi Su then refused a blindfold and placed his book over his heart and
closed his eyes. The sky clouded and
turned dark and thunder began to roll. Xi Su then heard the order “READY, AIM”
but he remained at peace. The Governor screamed, “FIRE!” It was followed by nothing but clicks. Xi Su opened his eyes to see the eleven
soldiers looking at their guns, each other and finally the Governor. The Governor screamed again “FIRE!” At that moment a sunbeam burst through the
clouds and fell upon Xi Su. It
illuminated his body as if he were a candle.
Again the soldiers tried to fire but to no avail. Xi Su closed his eyes again and smiled. He then faded into the sunbeam and his
clothes fell to the ground. On the clothes, his book of truths landed right
side up with the words “Holy Bible” showing so that everyone could read
it. Awe struck, the soldiers dropped
their rifles and the Governor dropped his sword. The twelve then ran off to tell others what
they had witnessed.
