IN THREE PHASES
PHASE ONE - DIVERSITY
A Ferryman was awoken at midnight in his hut by two Will-o'-wisp travellers who demanded to be taken across the River. They pay him in gold which he cannot take so he buried it in a Chasm where a Green Snake lives.
The Green Snake eats the gold and becomes luminous. This enables her to see in the Chasm, statues of four kings - one gold, another silver, a third bronze and a fourth made of mixed metals, which hithertoo, she had only been able to touch.
PHASE TWO - COMMUNITY BUILDING
The Gold King asks the Green Snake questions. A Man with a Lamp appears in the Chasm through a cleft in the rock wall. He talks with all four kings and the Snake. At the end of these conversations he says with a loud voice, "The Time is at Hand."
The Man with the Lamp and his wife, the Woman with the Basket live in a cottage. The two Will-o'-wisps visit the cottage and lick gold from the walls. Their dog Mops ate pieces of gold the Will-o'-wisps shook from themselves and Mops turns into an onyx stone.
The Man with the Lamp tells his wife to take the onyx stone to the Beautiful Lily who lives on the opposite side of the River. He tells her to do this because whatever the Lily touches, that is dead, becomes alive and whatever is alive, becomes dead.
The Woman with the Basket goes to the Lily and presents to her the onyx stone. Lily touches the stone and Mops the dog becomes alive immediately. Lily plays with the dog with great joy.
The Woman with the Basket met a Youth on her way to the Lily. He sees Lily playing avidly with the dog. The Youth felt the dog was ugly. He became jealous of the dog and exasperated by Lily playing so rapturously with the animal. In his desperation he felt there was nothing to loose by touching Lily. This he did and fell unconscious to the ground.
The Green Snake immediately formed a circle round the body of the Youth. She asked the Woman with the Basket to summon The Man with the Lamp, for help. He arrived just before sunset. He considered the situation and declared for the second time in the Tale, "The Time is at Hand."
PHASE THREE - TRANSFORMATION
All present knew what to do. Following the Man with The Lamp telling the Lily to touch the Snake with her left hand and the Youth with her right, the Youth regained half-consciousness.
At this point the Chasm, in the earth under the River, together with the Ferryman's Hut, rose with great commotion and clanking of beams to become a Temple and an Altar.
The community party went into the Temple. The Youth met the Gold, Silver and Bronze Kings. They bestowed upon the Youth their Attributes, whereupon, the Youth regained full consciousness. The Man with the Lamp declared for the third and final time in the Tale, "The Time is at Hand!"
The now Youth Prince with Lily, his bride, together with the rest of the community, turned round and saw what had become of the Green Snake. She had dissolved into fine jewels which had formed the pillars of a magnificent Bridge across the River.
The Bridge enabled people and animals from the communities upon either side of the River to cross, in harmony.
The King and Queen looked upon the one combined community with great pleasure.
The Temple is the most frequented place on the whole Earth.
Summary by Robin Blackmore For study purposes only . May 2017
Summary by Robin Blackmore For study purposes only . May 2017
