The Apprentice

The Apprentice

I remember it like it was yesterday. I know when you’re just a few months old you usually don’t remember much, but this, this was different. The day was cold and grey, and I could feel the death all around me. At the time, I thought it was some sort of awful joke, but when my parents didn’t wake up, I realized that I was all alone. I was dazed, and confused. All these citizens were running around me, with their black powder guns blasting all around me. I know now that it was a rebellion, and that the Tang dynasty had finally fallen. I am now working for my great uncle, who beats me if I mess up even the slightest thing.

I can hear him right now shouting at me

“Jin! get over here this instant, or I shall beat you with this lump of clay I’m holding!”

I sighed. 16 years of this misery. I headed over the dirty, rotting, wooden floor that had been built by his uncle long before. I passed by barrels of arrows with their steel tips barrels of gunpowder,and scraps of worn fishnet, bark, and cloth, used to make paper. I looked outside, wishing that I could be out there, having fun.

“Jin, I want twenty pots made before sundown!” he told me. I groaned inwardly, but knowing how much it would upset him if I didn’t, sat down and got to work. Pot after pot I made, and it seemed like forever. My hands hurt from shaping the hard, white clay, and after finishing the last one, I decided that this was too much for me to take. I decided to run away.

I had already tried to do this before, but I had been caught when I was hardly 100 yards from our workshop.

This time though, I had made all the necessary preparations to do so. I had already gathered up some food that I had snuck from my uncle the night before. I had also included some of the rare paper money wrapped in the mulberry paper that I had pressed and made.

I decided that I would leave that night.

Later, I woke up on the cold, hard floor. I had everything I needed, so I had decided to head towards the major trade route, the Silk Road. I put on my ragged and torn robe made of hemp, gathered up my stuff, and got up and walked across the creaky floor. I grew nervous; every step, the floor creaked, and I grew increasingly nervous that my uncle would wake up. I made it to the door, and as soon as I got outside into the cold, starry night, I sprinted as fast as I could, running far away.

The next few days were miserable. I was extremely hungry, having eaten nothing before I left, and only packed a small amount of rice in a little pouch made of the same material as my robes that I carried in my hand. Eventually though, I made it to the Silk Road.

I met up with some traders on the road, and I gave them some of my money for food and water.

I kept on walking through the blazing sun, and I felt that my face had begun to perspire. I was so delirious from my journey. I had run out of the food and water I had bought, and the lack of nutrients only made it worse.

Eventually, after a couple more miles, my vision went blurry and I passed out.

The next thing I knew, I woke up to the sound of splashing water. A girl with hair as black as the night sky came over to me and introduced herself as Fung.

She told me that she was going to meet a monk, and how he was going to bring the children who were traveling on the Silk Road together

“My father told me that he was going to teach Confucianism to children” she said.

From that point on, I became great friends with Fung. She said that she had run away, from the printing business her father owned. She told me that carving out the designs on the wood to print on paper had badly damaged her hands, so much that she could barely hold anything properly.

We travelled together for a few more days, and eventually came across the capital of Kapilvastu, where we were told the monk lived.

We arrived at his house; it was grand, with a tall wall made of rammed earth, and once inside, I could see another wall, dark brown like the first one, but not nearly as tall or impressive.

I could see two other children already sitting with the monk in the middle of the courtyard. They introduced themselves, and I introduced myself, and so did Fung.

We sat in silence for a long while the monk spoke. He told us of the wonders of life, and the importance of a good family. He explained how it was important, and how much the well-being of a person depended on it. Then, he spoke with a different tone. Not one that was calm and peaceful like the ocean, but short and straight to the point.

“I have great news for you, my children” he said. “You are welcome to stay and live with me, under one condition; you must spread the word far and wide about Confucianism, and do not stop until the furthest part of Japan hears about it”

We looked at each other and sighed.

The monk looked at us impatiently and asked us what our decision was. We all agreed to spread the word far and wide, and we vowed that nothing would stop us.