Storie. Kountdown! 4 more days left to the End.

ok, for the last 5 days of the blog, jus to remind you,:
27-30may, a 4-part story abt a small town and its leader.
31may, farewell post, a story abt letting go.

so here goes...

Once, many years ago, a hermit--who later came to be known as St Savin--lived in one of the caves near Viscos, a small town. At the time, Viscos was little more than a frontier post, populated by bandits fleeing from justice, by smugglers and prostitutes, by confidence tricksters in search of accomplices, even by murderers resting in between murders. The wickedest of them all, an Arab named Ahab, controlled the whole village and the surrounding area, imposing extortionate taxes on the local farmers who still insisted on maintaining a dignified way of life.

One day, St Savin came down from his cave, arrived at Ahab's house and asked to spend the night there. Ahab laughed, "You do know that I'm a murderer who has already slit a numerous number of throats, and that your life is worth nothing to me?"

"Yes I know that," Savin replied, "but I'm tired of living in a cave and I'd like to spend at least a night here with you."

Ahab knew the saint's reputation, which was as great as his own, and this made him uneasy, for he did not like having to share his glory with someone so weak. Thus he determined to kill him that very night, to prove to everyone that he was the one true master of the place.

They chatted for a while. Ahab was impressed by what the saint had to say, but he was a suspicious man who no longer believed in the existence of Good. He showed Savin where he could sleep and then continued menacingly sharpening his knife. After watching him for a few minutes, Savin closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Ahab spent all night sharpening his knife. The next day, when Savin awoke, he found Ahab in tears at his side.

"You weren't afraid of me and you didn't judge me. For the first time ever, someone spent a night by my side trusting that I could be a good man, one ready to offer hospitality to those in need. Because you believed that I was capable of behaving decently, I did."

From that moment on, Ahab abandoned his life of crime and set out transforming the region. That was when Viscos ceased being merely a frontier post, inhabited by outcasts, and became and important trading centre on the border between two countries.