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King Mensa's Dinari - Literature - Nairaland

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King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 3:53pm On Jan 22, 2013
grin
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by movmentish(m): 10:17pm On Jan 22, 2013
angry
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 10:19pm On Jan 22, 2013
Y d sad face
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 1:18pm On Jan 23, 2013
King Mensa's *dinari.
Chapter One

A very long time ago, long enough for only books to remember, there was an ancient city on the edge of the sea.

It was a prosperous city with common folk and royals, old and young. It was a city like any city, it was a changing city.

They had a strange custom this city, they chose not to bury their dead, no dead went in the ground. Neither man nor beast, it was bad for the sea they thought.
So all the dead both great and small were burned with flames. Their ashes were spread in the air or in the sea, wherever they willed. The royals though, kept their dead in special urns, urns so special, so expensive, the least could buy a thousand fishes. These urns were called dinaris.

Very few potters could make a dinari, it was a closely guarded set of skills. Furthermore, only a rich potter could make one, he needed jewels and colours and precious stones, no one bought an un bedazzling dinari.


(* a word made up by this author because she liked the sound, not to be confused with a denari, a historical unit of exchange)
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 1:21pm On Jan 23, 2013
On a lectern in a young potter's shop, sat a lovely dinari. This urn was many shades of yellow and purple, she was glazed with sapphire and diamonds and gold.

The master potter made this urn with so much care, You should have seen his face as he worked on her, the love in his eyes, the joy in his smile, he was putting the best of himself in this urn ; his years, his skills and how he learned to play with light.

Then one day, the master potter would not be roused. They pushed, they heaved, they prodded. The potter lay as still as he could, his arms were stiff, his eyes were closed, his heart was cold, no more would this weary potter bend clay.

The little urn sat in the fire, waiting. Waiting to be turned, waiting for the most gentle of potters to put her on display.
As dawn broke and mist cleared, the little urn sat alone and thought
"Surely, this would be the end of me, I would crack in this hurt, I would truly break in this devil heat".

She heard those hurried footsteps as they made their way into the store, they were not like her master's. They didn't stop to feel the breeze, these feet didn't stop to live.

She heard those calloused hands rummage, they picked and cleared, they sorted the vases, urns and pots, some broke, some cracked they didn't care, the Master potter would never return. No one noticed the little urn in the fire.

Eventually, the nights grew cold, the days stayed warm, the little urn sat there roughly finished, slightly flawed.
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 10:43pm On Jan 24, 2013
Chapter Two
"Hey Potter, that's a lovely urn, how much is she going for?"
"That's a dinari, a special urn, one of the last few made by the late master, it will cost a pretty penny"
" I am not looking for anything fancy, just something to for my dog's ashes"

And off he went, the little fool. Anything would have sufficed yet he loved a dinari.

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

"Hey Potter, is this urn for sale?"
"Yes indeed, it is a classic, its worth a lot of coins"
"Its a dinari I see"
"Yes it is, it costs a hundred talents."
"A hundred talents? Is that not really steep?
Take a look there mister, this dinari is even flawed. I could never pay hundred talents for a flawed dinari"

And away he went this man in the green kilt, too cheap to pay full price for the urn he loved.

************************
"Howdy Sir, I hear you have a flawed dinari on sale"
"Yes I do, I have a slightly flawed dinari, its on that lectern, in the back."
"Hmm, it is really pretty but I have got only twenty talents, this is a flawed dinari, I doubt you would get better"
" A dinari! For twenty coins? They are only a handful of such dinaris in the world and you expect to get one for twenty coins?Surely, you jest."

"Pardon me my good sir" said the short man now humbled.
" You see, it has always been my mothers dream to own a dinari, I have never had enough money to buy her one, so when I heard of this flawed dinari, I got hopeful.
My mother died last week and it will give me great pleasure to store her ashes in this urn, I really love her and I know my mother would have loved her too"

The young potter thought for a while, he was visibly troubled, no one had offered him that much for this urn and he had no way of knowing if he would ever get a better offer.

He turned around to take another look at her as she sat there as purple and yellow as a grecian sunset, he knew he could not let her go this way.

" I am sure your mother would have loved this urn but she is a dinari, she belongs in a palace. She was crafted as the final resting place of dignitaries, that's her destiny. I could sell her to you but she will be out of place.
Even as she sits on the lectern, owner less, kinless, she's still a star. Men come and go, people stop to admire, most know this is the closest they will ever come to a dinari.

A dinari is still a dinari you know, even when the rocks fall off, even if her walls crack, she was made by a master. She was made for a king."

Sunken, sullen and dejected, the short cross eyed man walked away. His heart was clearly broken for he loved that urn. She was his dream.
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by movmentish(m): 11:04pm On Jan 24, 2013
Don't sell it yet,atleast until king mensa needs it........ I think those asterisks aren't really needed,a paragraph will do instead........
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 8:32am On Jan 25, 2013
^^ thanks a lot.
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 11:11am On Jan 29, 2013
Chapter Three.

For the umpteenth time, the young potter wondered if he hadn't been too hasty, maybe he should have let the poor short man have his urn, clearly he loved her, maybe she would have learnt how to love him. He had only wanted his masters dream.

As the month rolled into years, the flawed urn sat on the lectern ageing gracefully, admired constantly, wishing longingly, waiting to be owned by that king her master intended.

She was starting to hate the young potter, he should have accepted twenty talents for her pretty self, it could buy a dozen pots and a warm coat for his dotting wife. She sat and wondered, and waited.

Then, one day, in a cloud of dust there arrived a middle aged king with a smile like the sun.
" Goodday, your Highness, what are you looking to buy? Said the young potter to the smiling king.
"A peaceful resting place, young man, a peaceful resting place"
"Why, that's a nice feeling, peace" the potter sighed.
" I am looking to buy a dinari, young man" said the king with a smile.
"I am looking for something special" he continued, " a dinari with character, with sunshine, like me"

The young potter thought for a while and then he said
"I have just the one for you"

He made his way gently to the lectern and reached for the flawed dinari. Oh, how his hands shook with reverence, he could feel it in his heart, this dinari's time had definitely come.

The smiling king looked stunned for a minute as he beheld this urn, he had never seen anything like her, she seemed to have a thousand colours, she looked like she was born of lights and nights.

It was a wonderful moment, so solemn, so serene, when the searching king found his dinari.

He heard himself whisper
"How much is she worth?"
"A hundred talents" the young potter replied, still shaken, still in awe.

The king beckoned to his aide, a wobbly man with airs about him, more royal than the king he seemed. A royal purse jiggled in his hands as he started to count; ten, twenty, thirty...

"Milord' said the potter jolted from his trance
" I have to point out to you that this urn, is slightly flawed. She was too long in the fire, her colours are all mixed up".

The besotted king looked up and answered
"Flawed? Who says she's flawed? A thing is only a flaw for whom it serves no purpose.
I am king of a scarred land. The old world went up in smoke, a new season now emerges. My reign has seen so many changes, various treatise, many wars.
When I am no more I will be in a dinari that exactly describes my life, bright and dark, sunny and moody.
What you call flawed, I can honestly call perfect. Perfect for me"

The young potter nodded with tears in his eyes, as he took his money and waved goodbye to the king.
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 11:12am On Jan 29, 2013
Chapter Four

In the kings palace on a gold stool made just for her, the flawed urn sits and thinks to herself, finally, I am home, in the place made specially for me not because I am flawed not because I am perfect but because I am me, king Mensa's dinari.

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

The young potter sat by his fire a smile on his face, he could almost hear his late master's voice

" Every dinari has two destinies, the first is to sit on the lectern on display for the world to see, the next is to live in a palace holding the heart of a king. The first is just as great as the next.
Anything else is a tragedy"


The end
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 11:13am On Jan 29, 2013
Chapter Four

In the kings palace on a gold stool made just for her, the flawed urn sits and thinks to herself, finally, I am home, in the place made specially for me not because I am flawed not because I am perfect but because I am me, king Mensa's dinari.

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

The young potter sat by his fire a smile on his face, he could almost hear his late master's voice

" Every dinari has two destinies, the first is to sit on the lectern on display for the world to see, the next is to live in a palace holding the heart of a king. The first is just as great as the next.
Anything less is a tragedy"


The end
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by movmentish(m): 10:27pm On Jan 29, 2013
**clap clap clap clap clap** I love you...... Nice story
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 11:01pm On Jan 29, 2013
movmentish: **clap clap clap clap clap** I love you...... Nice story
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 11:01pm On Jan 29, 2013
movmentish: **clap clap clap clap clap** I love you...... Nice story

grin . Thanks for liking my story
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by Nobody: 2:05pm On Feb 02, 2013
Pretty story.
Following your diary on the other thread. Never read such beautiful rants since Dostoyevsky. It's nowhere close though smiley
Re: King Mensa's Dinari by durobraham(f): 10:41pm On Feb 02, 2013
sauer: Pretty story.
Following your diary on the other thread. Never read such beautiful rants since Dostoyevsky. It's nowhere close though smiley

"Pretty story". "Beautiful rants". Looks like I have a fan.wink

Thanks a lot for liking my work. God bless

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