A Lesson

Akimo was seated at his chair when Archimedes approached him. Archimedes went and sat himself beside the old man he deeply admired and respected. Hello Archimedes, said AKimo. It has been a long time since we last met, he said to the young Marakese. Yes , time does fly very fast , replied Archimedes. Yes my friend, agreed Akimo. A long life just gone in a whiff, said Akimo and then repeated something in his native tongue that Archimedes could not understand. Akimo was well versed in the tongue of Marakese. He could speak fluently the Marakan. And some of the kids there in the town could speak English. They spoke not fluently but with large gaps in them. Akimo was initially hesitant in teaching them either Japanese or English, but finally decided to teach them English, thinking that "One day it could be of use to them". Even now , late in the evenings when he is not taking his long walks, Akimo would teach the children English. The children would be seated down when he thought them the language and he could see that they were experiencing pure joy in learning a new language. Children were always joyous when learning new things . They were curious and adventurous and had no fear. Akimo used to look at their eyes and in rare moments feel a pinch of envy. He was well aware of the fact that he was old and scared , so afraid of trying new things and these children that were seated before him , could learn anything that they putt heir mind to. But his envy would dissipate in a matter of seconds and then he would go back to teaching them English. And once there was an instance where he spoke his native tongue by mistake and the Children caught on to it. What was that? asked one of the Children . It is nothing, replied Akimo at once trying to erase the incident . But no, that was not looking like a possibility. Can you teach us that tongue too? asked another child. Akimo sat down in silence. And all the children then started to bother him by asking him to teach them that tongue. Akimo thought for a while but ultimately decided against it. "It is too sacred for me to teach another person , for if I do not teach it correctly, I would be dishonoring my whole community". So Akimo sat there and the children bothered him for some more time. And after sensing that he was not going to budge, they walked away with most of the children sulking. Akimo sat there contemplating

Mr. Akimo, called out Archimedes. Sorry son, I just got lost in one of my memories, as I said, it was a long life , he said half jokingly. Mt. Akimo continued Archimedes, my friend and your ally Plato is in trouble. Plato, what has happened to him . He is not the one to be reckless, said Akimo. Unfortunately he has got himself in trouble and I would very much like to borrow your ship for this mission. Akimo seemed a bit distressed. I will get it for you , said the old man and walked into his house. Archimedes sat there patiently waiting for Mr. Akimo to return. Akimo returned after a while. He handed over a piece of paper to the warrior Marakese. Here , take this he said to him " the location for the ship is here". Akimo sat down . Archimedes opened the piece of paper and tried to unlock the puzzle. Is it a Maze Mr. Akimo? asked Archimedes. Akimo was still distressed about Plato and spoke in a puzzle himself. "I'm afraid that you have to figure it our for yourself" this was the only piece of inforamtion Archimedes could figure out for himself. Thank you said Archimedes and took leave.

What did he say? asked the deputy as Archimedes walked out the gates of Akimo. Nothing , he just handed me a piece of paper , replied Archimedes and handed the paper over to him without any inhibition. The deputy had a look at it and took Archimedes to the corner of the long gate, which took Archimdedes by surprise. See here general, said the deputy trying to warm up to Archimedes. The deputy continued "That man has lost his mind, this piece of paper does not mean anything". What are you saying ? he is as sharp as ever, said Archimedes who was getting a little wary and perplexed by the deputies accusations. Yes , believe me Hero, the deputy emphasized on Hero again "The ship was there alright, I have seen it with my own two eyes, but it drowned in the sea". Drowned in the sea, asked Archimedes ?. Yes , it drowned in the sea a long time ago. You see, continued the Deputy, there was a couple of no good people from our community who wanted to have a taste of the skies. And I would not blame them for it, everyone wanted the taste of the skies. Had they built something on their own we would have been proud, all of us. Buy you see, the no good people tracked the old man's ship and fidgeted it around a bit. The deputy paused and looked at Archimedes to see if he was following the story. After confirming that Archimedes was believing the story " They fidgeted with it long enough that these no good men flew on top of the oceans and dove into it like a bird would ". And then ? asked Archimedes. And then " they did not fly out of the ocean like a bird would , instead they sunk like rocks". Archimedes face showed a hint of sadness and disappointment . And young man, said the Deputy, " that was the last time anyone saw neither the man nor the ship".