Transcript
The Tales of Wudan
Original Stories
written by Andrew Tate, to pass on the lessons bestowed upon him by his father.
Master Poe.
The sun faded and the day finished.
Master Po was very critical.
It is difficult to not be pessimistic when you are eternally correct.
Of all my time atop Wudan, I struggled to think of a conversation that took place without him correcting someone or something.
Poe had a particular dislike for dreams, which always confused myself and the other adepts.
Each morning he would line us up and force us to tell him what we dreamt of the night before.
He would often interrupt loudly and visibly angry,
On this particular morning, he started with me. He pointed and I began to speak.
In my dream I saw three trees.
each different colors.
You were there and ordered me to climb the red one
But when I approached it,
"It became blue," I began.
He interrupted me. "Inaccurate and imprecise," he screamed.
He struck me hard in the face before pointing at the next adept.
This reprimand
was particularly upsetting.
as his accurate insults left me in a difficult position.
I struggled to think of any dream had by anyone.
which was neither inaccurate or imprecise.
The following morning, he once again pointed at me to recite my dream.
Surrendering to further beating, I began to speak exactly as before.
Last night I dreamed I was on a cloud high atop the temple.
It was early morning and as all of the other students stood exercising, I sat atop this cloud and simply watched.
Poe's expression did not change.
So your dream of mastery
He ushered me over to the exercise floor.
Only practice breeds mastery, not dreams.
I walked over and began my forms. Atop Wudan we had seven basic forms, a demonstration of the seven Wudan styles.
Po stood and watched me without moving.
A few hours later, after reciting every form,
I looked over to Poe for instructions.
But he did not move or speak. Unsure what to do, I simply started again.
Hours passed.
The sun faded and the day finished.
The darkness came and went. I had practiced all throughout the night and was well into the afternoon of the following day.
Poe was still standing in the exact same position
Even the wind which shook the trees did not dare ruffle the fabric of his robe.
He was perfect stillness. Resisting exhaustion, I continued to train, until deep in the next night,
I heard Poe's shout.
Enough.
I had not had a moment's rest for two days. Not a sip of water.
Reciting forms in the summer sun had left my mouth so dry I was unable to speak.
The only force which kept me going was the fear of Poe's punishment for stopping before I was told.
I drank a large cup of water and went straight to bed. I slept a full three hours before the 5 a.m. wake-up call.
It felt as if only a minute had passed.
I was so tired, I remember only darkness.
as we stood in a line.
Poe once again pointed at me to begin reciting the story of my dreams from the night before.
for the first time since my ascent to Wudan.
I had not dreamt anything.
I said to Poe.
I did not dream last night.
I was so tired.
I don't remember anything but black.
He didn't reply.
simply pointed at the next adept.
Such is the way of Wudan.