Once upon a time, not so long ago nor so very far away, there lived three young pigs and their mother, in a little cottage in the woods. Their names where Mogal, Carnul, and Belle. Their family was not rich, but was never in need, and the three pigs grow to adulthood in a supportive and pleasant atmosphere.
One day Mogal, Carnul, and Belle decided it was time for them to go and make their way in the world. So they bid their mother good-bye and set off.
They walked for many days together. As their journey progressed definite behavioral traits began to emerge. Carnul was always worried about his appearance, especially how good his clothes looked. He was very selfish when it came to possessions, and did such things as refuse his siblings the lend of a blanket, even on the coldest nights, for he didn't want them to dirty it.
Belle on the other hand, spent all day with eyes wide looking at all they passed and exclaiming at how beautiful it all was.
As for Mogal, there wasn't a second during the day where she wasn't bossing the other two around, or trying to prove her superiority.
Tempers ran high and the three pigs would have gladly split paths, had there been an opportunity to do so. But for miles and miles the walked along the narrow road with nothing but dense forest on either side of them.
Finally one day they came to a cross roads. Mogal took the road to the left, Carnul the one to the right, and Belle kept on in the same direction. So without a word of farewell they left each others company and set off on their own.
(First let's follow the path of Mogal.)
Mogal walked and walked for many days and nights through the forest. Presently she rounded a bend. Before her lay fields and fields of grain broken only by an occasional farmhouse sitting all on its own, like a island in desert sea. When she got to the first farm house she asked for room and board.
"What do you have to give in return?" she was asked. Alas she had nothing and this she stated sadly. The farmer took pity on her and allowed her to stay.
At dinner that night she asked what could this wondrous phenomena be that would cause nothing but wheat to grown in such a large area? The farmer laughed and said that it wasn't a phenomena, but the way the crops where planted, it was called monoculture.
"It's one of the inventions of the industrial revolution."
"Oh, how marvelous! Where can I learn more about this 'industrial revolution'?" asked Mogal. The farmer suggested that she take a bus to the city, she was bound to learn all about it there he said.
The next day she set out for the nearest bus stop. When she got there she took the farmers advice and went to the city. There she learned many things about the industrial revolution, and other related things, such as modern architecture. She became quite a successful architect, a leader in her field, in fact.
Just before she retired she designed herself a house. It was very industrial, her dream house. It was built entirely of concrete and steel. It had very few windows and the ones that there were, were high up and didn't open. Even on the sunniest day you had to have the lights on inside. The floors were all cold cement and the rooms where uniform boxes. Mogal furnished her house sparsely with plastic and metal.
Oh, how hard she had worked on this house! Making sure that every thing fit her ideal of industrialism. Even the yard was monoculture grass. She mowed it regularly to make certain it was always the same length and sprayed it with gallons of chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers.
Once she retired she was at last free to spend twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week in her special retreat! But things did not go as planned. After only a little while she became bored. Watching television didn't help, nor did buying more stuff. Her boredom soon turned to depression. Mogal was chronically depressed.
(Now let's time travel back to that day when the three pigs separated paths, and follow Carnul this time.)
Carnul, glad to be free of the others and have his things all to himself, walked only a little while before he stopped to admire his possessions. While he was doing this a beautiful young sow drove up and offered him a lift. He gladly excepted and off they went. She introduced herself as Fourchune and they hit it off royally.
Now Carnul was quite handsome, enough so that even his immense vanity was, at least a little, justified, and the sow was entirely taken by him. Carnul felt much the same way about Fourchune, for she was very beautiful indeed. Before long the were engaged to be married.
They had been driving for weeks when finally the came to a little village by the sea. They decided that was were they would be married and where they would build their dream house. That very day they 'tied the knot' and found a place to live.
Fourchune was very rich, and now that they were married, so was Carnul. This pleased him no end and he bought gidgets and gadgets, boats and cars, property and houses, clothes and jewels, furniture and rare paintings. He soon owned well over a million things, which he treasured above all else, even his wife. Among his vast collection there was one thing that enchanted him above all else, tropical hardwood furniture. In fact, anything made of tropical hardwood made him giddy with joy and a wild lust for more. He resolved to one day have a house built and completely furnished with tropical
hardwood. With this in mind he bought up vast tracts of forest in Brazil.
Soon after this his marriage failed. He was left with little money but he was allowed to keep all of his things, the combined value of which represented a fortune.
Since Carnul no longer had much money, just a lot of assets, he was forced to sell some of his things. This broke his heart far more than parting ways with Fourchune had.
He decided to move to a warmer climate, where he could spend more time on outside (something he did a lot of already), and build his house of tropical hardwood.
So Carnul moved to Mexico City and began building his house.
When it was finished it was HUGE! It took over 2 hundred thousand old growth tropical hardwood trees to build it. Everything from the supporting beams, to the floors, to the toilet seat was made from tropical hardwood! It was a masterpiece and Carnul was very proud.
Carnul's house was on the edge of the city but that made little difference when it came to air quality. On the best days the view was very bleared, on the worst people dared not to go outside for fear of choking to death! Despite this, Carnul went for long runs every day to keep in shape.
One day when Carnul was having a check up the doctor discovered something. Carnul had severe lung cancer! The doctor was afraid that he didn't have very long to live. It was too advanced to cure!
(Here we must leave Carnul and once again travel back in time to that cross roads, so that we may follow Belle.)
Belle was a bit sad to leave her siblings, for she did love them despite their failings, and would have said 'good bye' and 'keep in touch', but she was so enthralled with her surroundings, that she hadn't even realized they had parted company until long beyond the cross roads. She did not let this bother her though, but instead resolved to one day find them again.
Belle walked for many hours through the forest. Then towards sunset she came to a more open land. There was still much natural forest but it was all in pockets and there were many fields in between. These fields were diverse and rich, more like large gardens than anything else. Many things grew in them, both plant and animal. It was quite breathtaking the harmony of it all! And Belle, being a great appreciater of beauty, was enchanted.
As darkness fell she came to a village. She knocked at the first door and was warmly welcomed. She asked about all the beautiful fields she had seen and was told that they were examples of a mix of biointensive farming and permaculture.
She also asked about the house, for it was at least as beautiful and amazing as the fields. It felt lovely to be in, and she decided then and there to live in a house just like it, only one that she had built herself. Her hosts told her that it was a strawbale house and that their neighbors would be building one tomorrow, would she like to help?
"Oh, yes please!" replied Belle quick as a wink.
The next day she helped with building the house as she said she would. The neighbors were grateful for the help. Everyone was very kind to Belle, and she decided to stay. She had no money but was offered a place to stay and an appropriate amount of LETS currency in exchange for helping her host with the farming.
It was a very agreeable situation, and in no time flat Belle had earned enough LETS money to buy a share in the cooperatively held land. She was now able to build her house!
House building in that village was very much a community effort. Everyone helped in some way or other, from the very young, to the very old. Thus was built Belle's house of straw, which was really, and more importantly, a house of love.
Now that she was all settled and was happy with her life, Belle remembered her resolution, on that day so long ago, to one day find her brother and sister again. This was obviously that day.
To prepare for her journey Belle meditated on where to find her siblings. When she was confident she knew where they were she packed some provisions and set out.
Her journey was long and hard, but Belle hardly noticed these things, for her thoughts and senses were so occupied with the good and beautiful things in the world.
Finally she came to the city in which her sister lived. She walked along and soon there stood before her a building, that even Belle had to admit was depressingly ugly. On the mail box it said 'residents of Ms. Mogal Pig' so Belle went up to the door and knocked.
Mogal opened the door and Belle gave her a big hug, and started asking her about what had happened to her since they had last seen each other. But Mogal just stood there looking melancholy and downcast. So, seeing that her sister didn't want to talk herself, Belle began to speak of what had befallen her, and all the wonderful and beautiful things she had seen and done.
Slowly, ever so slowly, a change began to take place in Mogal. As she listened to what her sister said, she began to see it through her eyes. She saw the beauty and the joy in what Belle said. Then she began to fill with this beauty. As the beauty and joy in Mogal got bigger and bigger her chronic depression was squeezed out, for there is no room for such things in a heart full of beauty, of love.
When Belle was finished with her story Mogal was grinning from ear to ear, and looked half her age, while before she had look twice it. She was so happy she began to dance! Giggling Belle joined her and they danced all the way out of the city.
The two sisters then set out to find their brother. Their journey was very long and hard, and they saw many strange places and things, for it is a long way to Mexico City. The hardships did not bother them though, for they always stayed light of heart, and in this way, they where soon there.
When they got there they took a walk along the street. Presently the came to a house built entirely of tropical hardwood. The plaque by the door said 'Mr. Carnul Pig' so they knocked.
"Who is it?" asked Carnul.
"It's your sisters, Mogal and Belle"
"Go away!" he said, and they could get no further word from him.
How depressing to come all this way for nothing! But that would not be the way it ended, for the sister pigs could see their brother was in trouble and wished to help him.
Every day, from then on, they picked him flowers, kept his yard neat, sung him lullabies at night, and told him they loved him, every chance they could. They did all this and more without ever seeing him, without even knowing if he was listening. But he was, and soon he felt so grateful and loved, that he let them in.
"Why didn't you want to see us brother?" asked Mogal, who had by now quite forgotten that they had quarreled once.
"It was not so much that I didn't want to see you, but that I didn't want you to see me. I am very sick and will not live long."
Upon hearing that the two sisters begged him to return to Belle's home with them, so that they could care for him if need be. But he would hear nothing of it, for he could not bear the thought of leaving his home and all his many belongings. Still they tried to persuade him and at long last they won over.
This happened while Belle was telling of her home and her happiness there. As she talked, Carnul realized that though he loved his possessions, they had never really brought him happiness, but in fact destroyed it. He could have been happy with Fourchune but instead his greed was stronger than his love. And his present disease, was it not due to his greed? His beloved house was part of the cause of the increase of carbon dioxide in the air and decrease of general air quality, that had contributed to his lung cancer. Happiness can not be found in possessions, but in other pigs, like his wonderful sisters!
The next day they set off for Belle's home. Their journey was both long and hard, but seemed neither, with the good company and light hearts of the three pigs.
When they arrived they were greeted warmly by all the villagers. "It is even more wonderful than you described!" exclaimed Mogal.
After they had been there a little while, Carnul started meditating and the local wholistic healer began working with him to try and find a cure. One day during guidance, Carnul was told to go to Brazil and spend the rest of his life repairing the damage he had done to the rainforest, and working to stop more being done. He was told to do this in a loving and open manner and to take with him only his love.
Shortly after, Carnul left on his journey. He had learned to trust life, and willing followed the guidance.
His journey was both hard and long, but neither of these things bothered Carnul, for his heart was light and full of love. Though he never carried anything with him, he was never in want.
Eventually he reached Brazil and there he quickly grew to love the tropical rain forests, far more than he ever had their wood. Under their leafy canopy he lived happily for the rest of his life, always working for their preservation.
Back in the village of Belle's, things were very happy too.
Mogal enjoyed the life, and Belle and her became the closest of
sisters. Their lives where good and long and very happy.