Friday, August 01, 2008

A Modern Time Fable

The Story of

The Facebook Wall

A Modern Time Fable

By:
Wael Nawara



















Once upon a time
A time when the great clock blinked
Then dozed off
And took a short nap
A fraud of a monk
Presided over the Temple


He wanted to prove his loyalty
To his Master the King
And his Mistress, the Queen
Who, undeservingly,
appointed him to that high post


He searched for what could bring joy to his master's heart
And asked everyone
And in his search he learned
And observed
That what really pleases his masters beyond belief
Is when his master sees his pictures
And pictures of the queen
And the crown prince
Carved on the Stones of Great Temples
Painted on the Walls of every building


And when he hears his words
Resounding in every corner of the Kingdom
Being revered like holy gospel
And specially when the limited accomplishments
achieved during his reign
Are blown out, inflated,
into gigantic miracles and unprecedented victories


So, the Monk set out an enormous campaign
to build walls, temples and statues
Glorifying his master and the Royal Family
Carrying his pictures
Reciting his words


But the people observed that things
were getting from bad to worse
The hardships were becoming insurmountable
Bread became scarce
And Maat laws were no longer enforced
Except when a poor man is punished
for stealing bread from the wealthy or powerful


So, the People of the Two Lands,
decided to go to the King
To raise their grievances to his royal ears




But the bad monk and his assistants
Stood in their way
And scolded them
And the Monk announced
That the Two Lands never had before witnessed
Such a great and just king
And that his reign was but a journey
of successive achievements and victories


The people were very frustrated
But were determined that their complaints must be heard
So, they decided to build a wall facing the palace of the King
Where they could write their grievances
Complaints
Demands
And stories
Which tell of what had happened
And what did not
but should have

And soon the wall facing the palace
became full of writings of every sort
It became like a giant book
So, the people called it
The Facebook!


The Monk was enraged
He wanted to demolish the wall on the spot
So that no one could see the people's complaints
Many of which were incriminating corruption
within the very walls of the temple
Upon which he undeservedly presided


But the Monk could not knock down the wall
without causing an angry uproar
Because Egyptians glorified any wall with writings or symbols on it
For they considered the hieroglyphs
and the written word
A sacred and holy gift from the Gods


So, the Monk, devised an evil plan
to achieve his ignoble purpose
Where he claimed that the Great God himself
came to him in a vision while he was asleep
And informed him of an evil plot drawn
by the enemies of Egypt

Where by they use agitators and protestors
to drive the lands into upheaval
Thus causing chaos and facilitating the enemies' conquest

And that the Great God in his wisdom
Told him that he must set up a competent commission
With many watchful eyes
And with the power to overlook any writings
or signs of any kind
Specially those scribed on the Facebook



*******************


So, what will the people do?
Will they let the Monk get away with this evil scheme
Which threatens to deprive them
of the only means to express themselves?

Or will the remove the fraudulent Monk,
banish him from his office
And demand that the King must listen to their plea
and restore justice in throught the land?

***********************


Only the people can write the end of that story
Only you can make a happy ending
Oh … how we missed happy endings
We have not had a happy ending in decades

Surely we must deserve one now

But only those who work for it
Can ever get it !




For in the Land of Egypt
You can have a free lunch
but then you can never be free
until you earn such freedom

********************
Participate in drafting
a happy ending to that sad story

**********************************************




Top Picture From:
Mystery of the Empty Tomb
Picture Designed and Painted By: Yousef Ragheb
Courtesy, Horizon Interactive Studios
(c) 2001, Horizon Interactive Studios.

**************************

Bottom Picture
from the following blog


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