Poem: "The Scales of Justice"
Mar. 4th, 2014 03:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis is the freebie for today's fishbowl, prompted by corvi. It also fills the "presumed dead" square in my 1-2-14 card for the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
trope_bingo fest. Read about the curse of Fáfnir.
"The Scales of Justice"
They hoarded
most of the world's wealth
and still it was never enough
to assuage their greed.
They took what they wanted
and left the land to burn.
Sometimes, too,
they demanded virgin sacrifices
and got them.
They believed in nothing --
not religion, and not science either --
only themselves and their desires.
It should have come as no surprise,
but they had forgotten the legends of Fáfnir,
and in any case it had been a long time
since any human could amass enough
of the total treasure on Earth
to trigger the curse.
But it happened.
One morning the richest man in the world
found himself turned into a dragon,
encased in the scales of justice.
He was presumed dead
(eaten, actually)
and the Army was called in
to slay the dragon.
He was forced to flee
from the ruins of his mansion,
leaving behind his hoarded riches
and power and prestige,
finally taking refuge in a dank cave
in a squalid little country
whose name he couldn't even remember.
On a lovely tropical island,
another rich man went to sleep
dreaming dragonish dreams,
and woke to a nightmare.
corvi. It also fills the "presumed dead" square in my 1-2-14 card for the trope_bingo fest. Read about the curse of Fáfnir."The Scales of Justice"
They hoarded
most of the world's wealth
and still it was never enough
to assuage their greed.
They took what they wanted
and left the land to burn.
Sometimes, too,
they demanded virgin sacrifices
and got them.
They believed in nothing --
not religion, and not science either --
only themselves and their desires.
It should have come as no surprise,
but they had forgotten the legends of Fáfnir,
and in any case it had been a long time
since any human could amass enough
of the total treasure on Earth
to trigger the curse.
But it happened.
One morning the richest man in the world
found himself turned into a dragon,
encased in the scales of justice.
He was presumed dead
(eaten, actually)
and the Army was called in
to slay the dragon.
He was forced to flee
from the ruins of his mansion,
leaving behind his hoarded riches
and power and prestige,
finally taking refuge in a dank cave
in a squalid little country
whose name he couldn't even remember.
On a lovely tropical island,
another rich man went to sleep
dreaming dragonish dreams,
and woke to a nightmare.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-04 09:45 pm (UTC)2. If the world loses too much of its population-- say, all but one person-- that would suck for that person. Because xe would own all of everything. And that wouldn't be xyr fault.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-04 10:19 pm (UTC)(... I wonder if the dragon-people can even communicate with /each other/. Or if they have to learn that, too.)
Hmm...
Date: 2014-03-06 04:06 am (UTC)That could be interesting. The trigger for the curse is not just wealth, though, but greed. The people left human would be either nongreedy, nonwealthy, or both.
>> (... I wonder if the dragon-people can even communicate with /each other/. Or if they have to learn that, too.) <<
They'd have to learn.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-04 11:59 pm (UTC)Well...
Date: 2014-03-05 12:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-05 05:12 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-03-05 05:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-05 08:04 pm (UTC)I find it particularly amusing that, in this case, due to most of the wealth being stored electronically, and sometimes only actually existing electronically, the resulting dragons aren't actually going to be able to hoard very much of anything at all, in real terms.
For some reason, this one strikes me as particularly cinematic. I'll bet the right screenwriter and director could make a hell of a summer blockbuster out of it.
Thank you!
Date: 2014-03-05 08:14 pm (UTC)Same here, hence my reversion to the core concepts. I often do that with myths and legends.
>> I find it particularly amusing that, in this case, due to most of the wealth being stored electronically, and sometimes only actually existing electronically, the resulting dragons aren't actually going to be able to hoard very much of anything at all, in real terms. <<
I imagine that would be quite frustrating for them, don't you? ;)
>> For some reason, this one strikes me as particularly cinematic. I'll bet the right screenwriter and director could make a hell of a summer blockbuster out of it. <<
Now that would be fun.