The archer said to his Master, 'I've enough skill,
But I'll have to work on my ego'.
'Over the next ten years,
Please teach me how I can forgo.'
The Master said, 'For real wisdom,
Into the world, you'll have to go,
I've shown you the path,
And now you must traverse it alone.'
So reluctantly, the archer left the monastery,
And traveled a long lonely path on foot.
Until he reached a little village on a hill,
Which was quaint, and utterly beautiful.
He walked around,
There wasn't a soul to be encountered.
But he noticed many archery targets,
With an arrow at its exact center.
Each arrow was accurate,
To the width of a hair.
His ego was bruised, as he thought
There's a greater archer out there somewhere.
He was desperate to find out,
Who the great archer was.
So that he could challenge him,
In an archery war.
Soon he came upon the villagers,
Sowing their paddy fields.
He enquired about the archer,
But no one seemed to know anything.
Only one man said,
'I think it's a little girl,
She's the only archer in the village,
And she usually plays by the waterfall.'
Now the archer's pride,
Was shattered.
He couldn't accept that a little girl,
Could be a better archer.
He hurriedly made way,
For the waterfall, at the edge of the village
He was deeply upset,
And couldn't keep his mind at rest.
Finally, he came across the little girl,
By the waterfall at the village's edge.
But he was perplexed to see that,
She was shooting arrows without a target.
She shot an arrow.
At a large tree,
Then she put down her bow,
And ran towards it.
He saw she was carrying something, a brush,
And two cans of paint, thick due to the intense winter.
She ran barefoot on the cold ground,
Smiling, like nothing could deter her.
He witnessed her unbridled joy,
In the heart of harsh cold nature.
And on reaching the tree,
She drew a target with the arrow at its center.
The archer then realized
How bloated was his ego?
He had let a little girl,
Perturb him to his core.
He finally realized his Master's wisdom,
And why He had sent him out into the world.
He didn't care anymore,
About whether he was the greatest archer across the land.
Humbled by the experience,
He knew what had to be done.
He embarked on a difficult route,
To dissolve his ego and all its remnants.

.    .    .