Fate - The Tree, the Rope &Le Provocateur Extraordinaire |
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The Tree:
In bygone Centuries between the Romans and the renaissance-era a seed fluttered in the wind, bouncing off pockets of air and carried into the distance by the breeze from its mother. As humans we'll never know if it was the seeds choice to let go, search out its territory and establish its life. It was probably a strong gust of wind that tore the seed away from its mother and fate that carried it through the air to its new home; however, the choice of real estate was exquisite for the seed had settled on the southeast slopes of Prissé, France overlooking the valley with a magnificent view over the vistas and the distant Mont Blanc.
The seed grew roots deep into the soil and up through the ground sprouted a slender tree-trunk that over the years, decades and centuries increased in size and girth. As a young tree it was vulnerable and an easy target to become firewood, as it grew bigger it became an ideal candidate for floorboards or maybe the hull of a ship. Again fate decided to let this tree stand and become an integral part of nature shedding its own seeds, some of which made other trees and other seeds that fluttered into the fields below.
Over time this tree would be climbed on by children, branches would be blown off by hurricanes, but the tree would grow stronger and taller, strong enough to hold the weight of a man.
The Rope:
1023 AD Charleroi, Walloon-region of Belgium. The scythe sliced the crops in the field, and the spinning wheels were turning at a high rate, the workers were sweating to meet the deadlines set by their master. The masters' deadline was set by the weather; rain would kill his crop and leave……well, not him but all his workers penniless and starving through the winter. His workforce was as important to his own riches as the fields that provided the crop. The alternative employment was unthinkable, for not one of them were surefooted on a slippery deck of a ship, heading out in the October-rain to catch fish in order to survive the coming winter. The master had no intention of going to sea, not this year and not any other year for that matter. His cloth and now twine was what he lived for. As a young tradesman he had followed some fellow Walloons across the dry land to Constantinople to trade with the Far East. These Walloons had come from far north over the seas. Their ruthlessness in trade spilled over into their living habits; they had a history of taking everything with them on the return journey. Usually smaller villages and kingdoms suffered and were wiped out. Amidst one of the campaigns, the master decided he wanted no more dealings with this looting as he wanted to build a lasting relationship with these new people, especially the ones that taught him valuable new techniques such as that of the strengthened twine. The technique he had been shown had strengthened the twine and allowed it to hold in place an enormous weight. The whole shipping fleet had come to him when they learned of this delicate yarn that would secure their ships in place through the worst of storms. The riches seemed to have come overnight, but when lying down at night thinking about his life and his current position in society it really had been hard work even though some luck—call it fate—had come his way. The trade-campaigns with the Walloons, better known as Vikings, had been very profitable. Ugly at times, yes, but profitable. He had got out at the right time. Little did he know that less than a decade away a massive battle would ensue ending his former cohort's stranglehold of the land and seas…and their part of history.
Late August approached and the inevitable rain hung in the sky. As usual, there was a gap in which to harvest and to expect the rain. It had ruined the previous year's crop, but the master had a cellar full of fine twine ‘hidden' away for when a bad year or two would come. This fine twine, this rope stood him in good stead with his king and other merchants including those buying for the Viking King Cnut (better known as Canute). Legend had it the seafaring Norsemen sailed across the flats of the Atlantic and the violent seas at the edge of the world. Using this story when selling his twine, even if it was a tall story, helped the Master to effectively convince other sea-merchants to trust his rope. He had had no complaints but many return-customers another sign of the strength of the twine.
Le Provocateur:
Stockholm April 29, 1938. Europe at the brink of yet another war was the talk of the town; “We're lucky to be living in a neutral country” thought the working man. His wife, ‘the princess' from a wealthy family in the County of Dalsland, was only minutes away from giving birth to their first child. The atmosphere was tense, and the doctor's and nurses scurried around to ensure a safe delivery. The working man was calm though, he had lived through the Great War be it in a neutral country but his persona was one of calm, secretly within himself he was excited as hell to see his first child. The war that came wouldn't affect them; Knut was born into peace and love from his parents in neutral Sweden. Little did the worker know that the years ahead would be troublesome because ‘Le Provocateur', his son, had great conflict within. Le Provocateur's background of near ‘royalty' out east but a workers son in Stockholm City would torment him through his life from upbringing to adjusting to modern society. The ‘modern' society making everybody equal, Le Provocateur thought, was against the grain of the whole animal-kingdom including man. “We're not equal, the first born should be leading the family and get the support from his siblings to go forth into the world no matter what.” These words would be echoed in Le Provocateur's household. The manifesto rooted in the chivalry age of the Walloons and the olde Swedish society had all but died in this new society ruled by the socialists. Fascism had killed true right wing policy and ethics.
The school-years were an endless time of breaking the rules and living life free; free from worry, free from work and responsibilities. Life was about using your energy living and doing the things you wanted; meeting other rebels or travellers as they we're often called. The life as a ‘royal' floating through society going to parties; staying up late and getting home in a drunken stupor appealed to Le Provocateur. It was the perfect way of life because it was against the ethos of the society he lived in; a society that frowned upon drinking and borrowing rigid rules from the Victorians. Le Provocateur's thoughts and actions were set on breaking down the barriers and living life in accordance with his ancestors:
'Wealth dies, kinsmen die. Cattle die and the wheat, too.
But this thing never dies: word-fame!
Word-fame never dies for he that achieves it well.'
Word-Fame…warfare and personal reputation, the saying of his distant ancestors the Walloons/Vikings; his personal non-violent interpretation of it was provoking an action and reaction out of everything. He declared his actions against the modern society a success!
Le Provocateur hated the socialists and based his life on going against the grain and teaching his children the opposite of what the socialist society taught. He alone restored the olde ways where the eldest was the leader of his young pack. Christmas wasn't about giving presents equally; one child would get 10 presents and the other child one if anything at all. “If everyone got everything equally”, he said, “how come we don't live in the same house as the king. Life isn't equal, people suffer, others gloat in their riches but we all go on in one way or another.” It was a life where jealousy was ousted; it had no place in Le Provocateurs home.
Life does, however, have its twists; the major source of living like a ‘royal' requires money, a lot of money. Le Provocateur was a visionary with very little luck, see, he played fair and refused to cheat his way to riches, but he wanted to do something dramatic that would show the society that individualism was necessary, and when society acknowledged this the riches would come his way. He had been fortunate to have a handsome inheritance from his grand-father but his parents had also forwarded money, an advance on their will to their children. Le Provocateur took these advances as gifts from his parents but his parents held a ledger of all their advances to him, the advances were signed for and would, unknown to Le Provocateur, form a legal document that would play a major part in later life.
Sick and tired of the way the socialists were destroying Swedish society, Le Provocateur moved, somewhat ironically, abroad to France. There he would be able to restart his life, and set out to do something useful, of course it would be on his terms.
The years moved on, June 1992 came and saw the princess, his mother, die from a long-term illness. It provoked him to immediately set up research to find a way to cure the disease that took his mothers life, and if not, at least make it less painful for the sufferer. His research stretched to farming and had several pending patents for a safer fodder for the agricultural community. He himself got sick from testing his inventions on himself; arch-wrenching vomiting contorting his body and flu-like diseases, but he always fought back to continue the research.
Through all the work he found time to live life and do the things he enjoyed, like skiing and hiking into the mountains of nearby Mont Blanc. He would call his son one day (in 2003) after a near death incident whilst skiing; he talked about the scary thought of loosing control and falling 15 meters (50 feet) to a lower shelf. He thought himself lucky to have escaped death, though badly bruised.
The money got tighter, and the debts were piling up. August 2001 his father died at the age of 95. He had travelled up to Sweden to see his father a couple of months prior, saying his farewell. They shared a bottle of St.Emillion and crayfish for dinner and made up their differences throughout their life. It was a joyous but sad day. They both knew that once the door closed behind him they would never see each other again. Le Provocateur knew he would never set foot in Sweden again. Socialism had taken care of his father though, that much he had to admit.
Following the death of the worker a bitter feud ensued over the will, it would take up two years of everybody's life. The advances of previous years now came to haunt Le Provocateur, his fathers ledgers were served against him. In essence he would end up with no money; maybe €5000 ($6000) but all his other debts outweighed this puny amount. His work, life and future lay in ruins.
April 2004 after much deliberation and mental preparation Le Provocateur had made a decision. He settled what debts he could before packing up his life into 40 medium-sized cardboard boxes. As he had sold his car he took his bicycle and went to the store and bought some rope for his upcoming journey. He would take it with him on his walk through the hills; walks he had mastered through the years of living in Macon. The locals knew of his knowledge and were thoroughly impressed by this man from Sweden that had settled into their way of life, in reverse to the Walloons that had travelled north to settle.
Monday April 26, 2004 the journey up the hillside to his favourite spot where he could see the valley Macon lay in. He could see Mont Blanc in the very distance. This was the spot! Leaning against a tree that must be at least 1000 years old, a massive tree with branches thicker than both his legs, Le Provocateur went through the routine of transforming the length of rope. The smooth well-oiled twine was secured around the base of the tree and the noose hung over the thick branch. The view was fantastic the sun was warm. Le Provocateur said his final words, bitter but happy to be in charge of his life and destiny……
The Tree and the Twine held the body of Le Provocateur.
The Fate:
I received the phone-call at midnight telling me my father had hung himself. He called himself Le Provocateur to his closest friends because he knew he led them all astray from the paths of society. He had no regrets though it had been better to live life a free man rather than a slave to societies manifesto. I'm sad not to ever be able to talk to him again , but saddest of all for him not to have seen his granddaughter. Although a tragedy, I think I understand him better in death than I ever did alive.
Fredrik Bergström
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Footnote taken from www.Regia.org
The Vikings were a proud, honourable, law-abiding people who valued warfare and personal reputation (they called it 'word fame' ) above almost anything else. In the latter years of the Viking Age, they became involved in their own myth, starting such organisations as the Jomsvikings.
They brought the seafaring ship to Europe and, by their constant depredations, spread its use far and wide. In only 250 years, they set their mark on the law and language of many countries and made many European communities see themselves in the light of a nation state for the first time. In terms of human history, if you blinked, you would have missed them! But the image the Vikings promoted of the brave, hardy individualist, unafraid of the world in all its forms, remains with us all as an example of how a man should conduct himself in adversity.
'Wealth dies, kinsmen die. Cattle die and the wheat, too.
But this thing never dies: word-fame!
Word-fame never dies for he that achieves it well.'
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Fredrik Bergström
Born: November 8, 1964 - Stockholm, Sweden
Educated at Spring Garden College, Philadelphia PA
Graduate with dual degrees - Interior Design & Architecture
Other worthwhile mentions are winning photography entries & published written word.
Currently engaged in the architectural design of hospitals and educational facilities; the motivation is to pursue architecture and develop the sensitivity toward people and their interaction with buildings, nature and themselves.
The career has enabled a quite well-travelled person; destinations and places lived include: most of Western Europe, the four corners of mainland USA. Melbourne, Australia & New Zealand with stop offs in the Far East. Someone need to tell me how to spend money in Singapore, cause everywhere I went I got food and drink for free.
A keen skier since being very young, the mountains of Sweden, France, Austria, Italy & USA have been conquered before the giant ski-lift networks of each of these countries were fully developed. The peace of the mountains creates a ‘church' where earth meets the sky without the interruption of man.
The stories are part fiction part reality; what better story is there than real life events. The goal is to capture the essence of the soul and connect it with real life events. Bottom line is life isn't always pretty and fair; life deals us knocks, turmoil and triumphs. These knocks, turmoil and triumphs shape us into what we are.