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End of the World Fable: Death of the Last Satyr
Death comes for everyone, as a messenger, Hades prepares every day.
Decided for the soul he waits well aware, waits the hour for his prey.
Hades the god of death, all time is in his power and nonliving soul escapes its due. It is well said that all living and the unliving bend on before his throne,
Even the most majestic and wise of them all, the satyr.
Hades sees no virtue, even youth, beauty and kindness plead in vain,
For once someone sees the light, he orders the eyes to shut down.
The last satyr of them all, more than one hundred years old, Saw in his eyes the road still to be walked.
When Hades finally arrived to pick his soul up,
He too suddenly sent him off.
But the messenger of death has made his mind up,
And with one unseen blow he was prepared to make the satyr his own.
The satyr, the most majestic and wise living thing in all of Greece, realized Hades plan. “Postpone my death oh Master Hades,” the satyr prayed.
“I am the last of my species and as old as I am, I can still dance and amuse them all.” The satyr cried, “Think of all the wisdom I can still leave behind,“
On his knees he now begged, “Forget about Zeus, Poseidon and the cruel Olympians,” My teaching will leave nothing behind, but praises for the master of the underworld.
“Old Satyr,” said Hades, “despite all of your intellect you are blind;
This should be no surprise, more than one hundred springs you have danced.”
The satyr grabbed his robes and cried, “there is still so much I need to do.”
To which Hades replied, “Tell me, am I not the most benevolent of them all,
how many satyrs more is there for you to dance?”
To finish it all, the Master of Death, exclaimed,
“I have been observing you for a while,
it is true you have many quests to still embark on, but alas, if you have not done them by now you probably will never start on those tasks.”
As soon as the satyr realized how good Hades argued his side,
The old satyr accepted Hades stand, and on to the river Styx, he set his path to the underworld.
Observing this, the master of death thought to himself,
From all the millennia I have lived, never in my life have I seen such sorrow.
Many years this old goat-maned creature has lived, but so many paths are yet to be walked. And so the master of death sent everyone else to the underworld too.
By Alejandra Jaime and Enrique Sada
