There is no best, only better
To say Noah loved music and his violin is an understatement. His passion for both had him skipping meals, losing sleep and wandering the fields and forests, fiddling away the hours in practice. A young teenager, he was enrolled at Waihi College where he joined the school orchestra. Unfortunately, his passion just wasn’t enough. For all the time sacrificed and spent in practice, he just wasn’t a very good violin player and so was given only a minor role at the back of the string section. This left him feeling discouraged and frustrated and he fervently prayed for a miracle to change things.
As a distraction, he would visit the second-hand shops and browse through the shelves and piles of abandoned and unwanted collectables and books. He rarely found anything interesting, but on one particular occasion he came across an old tattered book with a picture of musical instruments on the front cover. He quickly flipped through it and decided it was a worthy find to add to his collection and sought out Odette, the eccentric store owner.
“Well, hello Noah, have you found something you’d like today?” she asked in her usual calm, yet eerie, voice.
“Yes, I have found this old book,” he replied. “But it was in the ten dollar section, and I am afraid I only have two dollars to spend?”
Odette looked deeply into his eyes, sighed and said with a smile, “I can see you truly want this book. You can have it, and one day, when you can afford it, come back and pay the rest. But don’t forget young man!” and then she turned and shuffled away.
The sun was setting so he headed home for dinner. He would take a closer look at the book later that evening. After a terribly frustrating practice session, he decided to re-investigate the old book and proceeded to flip through it more diligently. It was just filled with pictures of musical instruments and descriptions, until he reached the end and found a hollowed out section in the last pages. There within, was a small, green pouch with three, small dried raisins and a small scroll. What a strange thing to find in a book, thought Noah, and felt a little intrigued by this point. He carefully unravelled the scroll and there, written in a beautiful handwriting, was a simple message:
“To the finder of this book comes the gift of three wishes. Choose wisely and be very careful what you wish for.”
With nothing to lose, he swallowed one of the raisins and made a wish – that he would one day become the best violin player in New Zealand! In time, he blossomed into a handsome young man, and sure enough his talent multiplied his listeners as he excelled with every practice session. It wasn’t long before he won numerous awards, became famous, and was undoubtedly the best violin player in the country. He enjoyed his fortune and fame, but it still wasn’t enough. He desired to be the best violin player known, internationally recognised and hugely successful. He had two more raisins and so that evening he swallowed another. In the following years, he achieved worldwide recognition as the best violin player of his generation and enjoyed the affluent lifestyle that came with it, eventually settling down in the English countryside.
Time passed, everything was perfect, yet deep down inside, his pride, greed and desire to be the ‘best of the best’ still haunted him. He often wondered if he really was the best violin player that existed. That night, he opened a bottle of his finest wine and swallowed the last raisin, made his wish, shortly after which he went to sleep. The following morning he woke up late, shivering and cold, only to find himself in a small musty caravan wearing soiled clothes and covered by an old dirty blanket. He looked outside and saw a group of Romany Gipsies gathered around a fire, tuning up their instruments. One of them called out to him, laughing, “Hey Noah, had a little too much last night? Hurry up, grab your violin and come on over to the fire. We are about to start the music and we really need you!” And that’s when he realised the folly of his desires. He had never returned to repay Odette and it finally dawned on him – there is no best … only better.
Words by Amir Yussof
Find out more about Amir here.
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