Copyright ©SammyHoe2013

Hope searched for Knowledge and Understanding from the breaking of the day until the setting of the sun, yelling their names aloud but could not find them, yet he gave no heed to the bad bellows of the townspeople calling him mad fellow. Hope had been to the Valley of Ignorance (now known as Valley of Knowledge) as well as the Valley of Inexperience (now called Valley of Experience) but couldn’t find Mr. Knowledge. Even in the dark, he kept searching.
At the setting of the sun after two weeks of thorough search, two old faces came close. They had on them some grungy duffel coats. Their faces had many scary scars, making them have the look of some gargantuan gargoyles. Each of them had a monocle set before his face. They had some old clumpy pair of shoes beneath their feet and their swagger sticks were short and thick, bearing their heavy weights as they leaned on them while shambled gently along the dusty path. They had a worn-out duffel bag each, which were sitting on top of their broad shoulders. When they approached Hope, they asked, “Who are you?”
“Hope, from Happy-Go-Lucky,” he replied.
“Whom do you seek after?” asked the more elderly of them.
“Mr. Knowledge.”
“Mr. Knowledge?” they smiled. “Come over, let’s lead you to him.” Hope was eager. He asked no question before following them in the way. The road they were leading him went sloping down and dark. They slid down a tunnel and asked Hope to do the same, but then, Hope said, “I don’t even know who you are.”
“Oh!” they exclaimed. “We are the friends of Mr. Evil from your town.”
“The friends of Mr. Evil?!” Hope exclaimed, calling to mind Father Sage’s counsel:
And because you hate the friends of Mr. Evil of the Hurt huts you will find Knowledge
He turned away quickly and then found a light peering at him from afar. He trekked the long mile to reach the light and at every step he took, the light got brighter. Eventually he found a chalet made of red bricks at the end of the remote path and found the light having its source from a hung hurricane lamp in there. Therefore he began to hurry towards it. Hope got in to search them, and then he found Mr. Knowledge.
“Wonderful!” Hope gave a yell. “I found you at last!”
“Who are you?” Mr. Knowledge demanded suspiciously.
“Hopefulness from—”
“How did you find me?” the man interrupted excitedly.
“I hurried after the ray of light from that hurricane lamp,” Hope pointed at the ancient lantern hung on the roof. With delight, Hope confessed, “Knowledge is light.”
“Come over to wash your feet and drink water so I can begin to feed you with mysteries,” Mr. Knowledge said, leading him in. He made him drink water after he had washed his feet. He sat Hope down on a seat and sketched nine circles on a wall with his pen, and then asked, “Hope, do you understand these patterns?”
“Not at all,” Hope replied sincerely. The old man looked straight into Hope’s eyes and then smiled as he got to his feet and said, “Perhaps there’s someone you’ll need to meet.” He entered his inner chamber and soon returned with an aged woman of around the same age as himself. The old woman stared blankly at Hope in awe, and so was Hope doing to her. Just then, Mr. Knowledge turned to the aged woman and said, pointing to Hope, “Darling, here is the surprise package I have for you!” Then he turned to Hope and touched the woman as he said, “Young man, here is the one I said you’ll need to meet. She’s Understanding, my wife.”
“Understanding?” Hope’s mouth went wide apart. “So she’s your wife?”
“Of course!” Mr. Knowledge said with glee. “Without her how can my School of Thought stand?” Only Understanding was left in the cloud, blinking at Hope to see if she had met him before. To end her suspicion, she moved close to Hope and asked, “Who are you?”
“I am your kinsman,” Hope replied boldly now.
“Mmm!” Understanding smiled broadly. “You speak just exactly like my aged brother, Sage. You must have spent long time at his feet.” She played with his head.
“Yes,” Hope replied and fell into her waiting warm embrace.
Mr. Knowledge pointed at the wall again and asked, “Look here, can you now understand these patterns?”
“Yes!” Hope said without batting an eye, yet still in Understanding’s illuminating embrace. “They are the pleasant Planets of Plans planted by Father Creator to revolve around the sun. According to my thought, and judging by the manner with which they play around the scorching sun day in day out, I believe they are there to teach us nine lessons—how to love, have joy, have peace, have longsuffering, be gentle, be good, have faith, be meek and have temperance in every situation...I don’t think any law is qualified to hold without having these nine qualities in them.”
“You are right Great Hope,” said Mr. Knowledge with delight. “Not even the Law of Gravity would hold without them.” He trimmed the light to raise its intensity and then beamed into Hope’s face as he asked, “Have you ever attended my school?”
“Em, er—not really,” Hope replied, fearing that the question would ruin the whole day.
“How then did you easily arrive at this?” the man asked puzzlingly. “You must have got into my school somehow—anyhow.”
“Yes sir—” Hope could not hide it any longer. “But I—I didn’t come through the gate sir. I sneaked into it those days, seven years back, while I was still little, by jumping over the unfortified forty-inch tall fence furtively. Then I would crawl in and hide under seats when I was sure everyone was engrossed in the teachings. From beneath the seats, I’d listened.” Hope’s face had turned glum as he added, “I am v—very sorry for my wrongdoings those days, stealing knowledge from your school of thought.” Hope was sorry.
The man and his wife smiled and responded, “By sneaking in, you’ve done nothing wrong. Why did you think we made our fence so low to the extent that a kid like you could climb over then? It’s because knowledge is for all—the less fortunate inclusive. Even though the school fee of KSOT in Happy-Go-Lucky was so cheap those days, yet only few parents sent their children there. But I stand to assure you that the fees in the schools of thought in the Island of Greatness are exorbitant, yet all parents seek to send not only their children but also themselves there. That is why the island is great.”
“Hmm!” Hope had learnt a secret.
“Hope, as Father Sage had said, the River of Achievement is free from impediments but the foes of good things can so make it tough and rough for you by planting ledges in it so you could strike your head against them and die. I’m sure Mr. Experience has thought you how to manoeuvre your ways through waters. Even If you can’t do that very well, don’t you worry because I shall come with you to lead you through the path in the river you will take, because I know the ledges, how they appear in the river, and I’ll not stop leading you until I, Mr. Knowledge, have seen you step your legs on the golden knoll edge of the Island of Greatness.”
Mr. Knowledge taught Hope many things he knew nothing about afore. He revealed many mysterious stories to him about cops in the Island of Greatness; how people set other people up and make no one suspect them at all by putting forward some airtight alibis. He also spoke at length to enlighten him on how some races treated some other races unjustly for hating the traces of blacks or reds on their skins.
However, Mr. Knowledge did not forget to tell him how tough it was before he could establish the Knowledge School of Thought in the Valley of Ignorance eventually. He began by clearing his throat, expectorating, with the intent of raising Hope’s expectation...

Curled from "Hope And The Island of Greatness" a story by SAMMY HOE.

I hope we will continue with HAIG too come September.



Besides,



















i aM tHe fIrSt t0 c0mmEnt

PrinceAdepoju: I hope we will continue with HAIG too come September.



Besides,

i aM tHe fIrSt t0 c0mmEnt

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