The Two Kings
(I’ve adapted Los Dos Reyes y Los Dos Laberintos de Borges).
Long ago, in a faraway land, there lived two brothers, kings who ruled his own kingdom and between these kingdoms rested an uneasy detente, for the brothers only pretended to get along. The one-eyed king lived in the mountains and had accumulated vast wealth and so built a castle the likes of which the world had never seen. There were turrets and towers, pillars, and statues and they were all hewn of ivory. He worshiped magic and illusion, ruled with terror, and surrounded himself with cloying sycophants. He sired two daughters by two queens. The desert king, however, lived a nomadic life, travelled in robes and tents, and never cut his hair or beard, such was the custom in that land. He begat many sons.
One day, the one-eyed king thought to himself, The freedom of the desert king is an insult to me, and set upon devising a plan to set a trap. Within days, a dove arrived in the desert with an invitation to the mountains for a meal and a celebration honoring the two kingdoms.
Upon the arrival of the desert king, his brother took him by the arm and said, Look brother, look at the riches and splendor here in the mountains; am I not blessed by the Gods? But it wasn't long into the dinner when - his cup slightly poisoned - that the desert king fell into a deep sleep. Upon waking, he found himself in the castle’s prized and famous labyrinth. It had taken many years and much gold to build, but the one-eyed king had built it as a monument to himself. Mirrors and trap doors, secret passageways, and periods of complete darkness kept the desert king prisoner until at last, he found an exit through a chamber of sewage and garbage, long forgotten by the one-eyed king.
A fortnight later, the desert king returned with his sons to the mountain castle through the tunnels of sewage and quickly captured his brother, fitting him with a single eye-mask, as a blindfold was not needed. Hands bound, the one-eyed king is led for days through imposed darkness and heat where at last they arrive at a square black stone in the desert. The desert king kisses the stone, whispers to himself, Allahu Akbar, and says, Brother, there is no need to build a labyrinth when the universe is one. He takes his brother’s camel and departs into the swirling winds.
With thanks to Jorge Luis Borges, Judge Holden, the Old Testament and the Quran - There is only one God but God.
