Love & Death of Cleopatra
(PART 3 OF 5)
Dum-founded, the monkey stares at the name, which in deed he wrote, thinking that he reached the end of the world.
But it turns out to be the middle finger of Buddha.
"You said you flew over to the end of the world, but in my eyes you just jumped from my right hand to left hand."
It was such a thought-provoking scene that I can still remember it clearly.
If I were Buddha, I might have told Cleopatra the following:
"You certainly enjoyed a string of love affairs, soaked and immersed in politics, gathered a great deal of power, and boasted the unmeasurable treasure. But, after all, you are not so different from the monkey. In my eyes, you have been moving around on my palm."
"Is that so? Anyway, I'm so tired."
"Are you really tired of living in this world? If you say so, you might as well kill yourself. I wouldn't prevent you from doing so. It's up to you."
"I'm tired anyway. I did do my best. In your eyes, I might have done as the monkey did on your palm. Although all my effors seem to be a futile struggle, I cannot think of any other way to lead my life. And now I'm really exhausted."
"Every man or woman dies soon or later. Simply, it's the difference between being early or being late. You think you did do your best, don't you? If you really think so and there's nothing you want or desire, it might be a good idea that you finish your life and take it easy at this point. Nobody has a right to say otherwise."
Even if you lead a flashy, colorful life of Cleopatra, your life is nothing more than that of the monkey who, from the Buddha's point of view, only wriggles around on his palm.
Although Cleopatra did her best, she didn't achieve what she really wanted.
Nobody is perfect; so yo might feel hopeless and sigh in disappointment from time to time.
You might say, "I'm really tired to death." just as Cleopatra did.
And if you ask Buddha what to do, he has to say the same thing:
"Every man or woman dies soon or later. Simply, it's the difference between being early or being late. You think you did do your best. If you really think so and there's nothing you want or desire, it might be a good idea that you finish your life and take it easy at this point. Nobody has a right to say otherwise."
SOURCE: "Love Affairs"
『不倫にこだわっていませんわ』
(September 21, 2006)
I accept what Buddha said. But, Kato, you fogot the important thing.
Important thing? What's that?
So, I have come out this way. I stay here with you until I tell you the important thing. Then I'll go home.
You go home? but where?
Of course, back to Heaven!
Do you really want me to believe this?
"Those who believe will be saved."
Kato, there must be the same saying in Japan, is there?
Yes, there is the same saying in Japan, but I'm free of dire lament, great distress, acute regret or anything like that. I feel fairly contented with myself. So I don't have to join Heaven. By the way, where did you get the above article?
I searched for it on the net, of course.
But the original article is written in Japanese. Did you learn Japanese?
Yes, of course, I did.
Look! Cleopatra didn't speak English nor Japanese!
You're right, Kato. Cleopatra didn't speak both languages till her death in 30 BC. However, she spoke many languages of her neighboring countries. Indeed, without an interpreter, she communicated with Ethiopians, Arabs, Hebrews, Syrians, Medes, Parthians...You see, I have a talent for languages. Naturally, I've got a knack to learn Japanese.
And do you really believe, you're Cleopatra?
Yes, of course. Do you, Kato?
Listen! We are in the year of 2010. Cleopatra died in 30 BC. And if you are the real Cleopatra, your age is 2040 years old. Who would believe such a nonsense story?
I'm not saying I've been here in Alexsandria for all those years. I was born again as Cleopatra. Kato, have you ever heard of "reincarnation"?
Yes, I have. But I don't believe in reincarnation.
Then, start believing it. Judging from all those articles you wrote, I thought you should be able to understand reincarnation.
Yes, yes, yes... I understand reincarnation, but understanding is one thing; believing is another. Anyway, I've never thought that Cleopatra would read my articles on the net.
So, I told you I was reborn.
Don't be silly! No jokes anymore, please. You're suffering from delusion. You're talking gibberish. Is there a mental hospital near this hotel?
There isn't such a thing! Have you ever thought, Kato, why I know the article you wrote?
By intuition?
No, not by intuition. I've been watching you for a couple of years. Think about why I showed up in the nude.
Why?
'Cause I know you. You aren't an indecent womanizer, are you?
No, of course not. But, what you're saying is misleading my readers. Do you know that?
Why?
'Because you're saying there's no chance for you and me to get romantically involved. Some readers may think that I am impotent.
Are you?
No, of course not.
You don't have to worry about such a thing. hu, hu, hu...
Since I arrived here in Alexandria, I've been thinking about a romance with a charming woman like Cleopatra. And here you are. I might just as well hold you in my arms, and wanna turn tonight into a memorable night.
I know, I know...
Then let's make it!
...make what?
Let's make love, shall we?
Don't be ridiculous, Kato. You're here to search for Cleopatra, aren't you?
Oh, yes, I am...but your nude is too much for me.
Okay. Then get up and stay away from the bed.
What do you think you're doing?
I'm gonna take off the bed sheet, then wrap myself with it like this. Voila! How do I look now?
I don't think you're a reborn Cleopatra, but I can sense that you're quite knowledgeable about the queen. Tell me how you became intelligent enough to attract Caesar and Antony.
It's a long story. Here's an excerpt from the book you might be interested in:
Cleopatra had passed her early childhood in the royal women's apartments. She was educated according to the centuries-old program established for the pharaoh's daughters, who were raised to rule alongside their brother-husbands---the girls' curriculum was, in fact, the same as the boys'.
The pharaotic tradition had given a great deal of importance to scholarship, and the Ptolemies honored and even intensified this tradition. Like all the Hellenistic rulers, they sought to nurture the child's general culture, or enkukleios paideia---the phrase from which we get the word "encyclopedia."
The Ptolemies developed a nationwide system of primary and secondary schools, for the Greek elite of girls and boys who would be called upon to maintain the pharaoh's power over the native masses.
In Cleopatra's time, the course of study was based on Greek literature, especially the works considered masterpieces, which scholars had painstakingly assembled into a fixed canon, or collecction of texts.
Thus, the child read and studied Homer's epics, which were much admired at court; the poems of Hesiod and Pindar; the tragedies of Euripides, considered superior to those of Aeschylus and Sophocles; the comedies of Menander; and the Histories of Herodotus and Thucydides; Cleopatra learned the art of rhetoric from the speeches of Demosthenes. Her education in the sciences was equally thorough: she took courses in arithmetic and geometry, astronomy and medicine, disciplines that flourished in the Alexandrian schools. A gifted amateur, the young queen also learned to draw, play the seven-stringed lyre, and sing. She was an excellent horsewoman---a sure sign of Hellenism in a "barbarian" land.
Her intellectual abilities were remarkable, but the queen displayed a particular talent for foreign languages, though Plutarch, the Greek historian, may have exaggerated somewhat.
pages 32 - 34 "Cleopatra"
Author: Edith Flamarion
Published in 1997 by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
(To be continued)