A STORY OF A STORY OF A STORY

Once there was a man who dreamed of Japan.
And dreams usually have a way of coming true.
So it happened that one day this man came to Japan,
to the city of Kyoto which is considered
one of the most beautiful and ancient cities.
After a while the man became much disappointed
in what he saw.
The ancient, even though well preserved,
resided in the modern world which was very far
from ideas of virtue and high moral
that once used to reside in the ancient.

So he picked up a stone in a parking lot of Kyoto and started walking. He walked for many days until he saw the Sea of Japan. He took the stone, washed it in the sea and put it back in his pocket. Then he started walking again. After many more days he reached the Pacific Ocean. He took the stone, washed it in the ocean and put it in his pocket. Then he started walking again. He walked for several days until he came back to Kyoto - an ancient city that resides in the modern world. He took the stone and placed it on the ground of the parking lot. It was the same parking lot where he had first found the stone.

This story I heard from my friend Beatrix, she had heard from her friend - a Hungarian sculptor Ferenc Varga - who actually walked over 900 km for 22 days to create an artwork manifested in the stone.

The name of this artwork is "Twenty-Two Days Together with a Pebble". Yesterday Beatrix introduced me to Ferenc Varga through his homepage. The story of a pebble (and not a story of a story of a story) retold by Ferenc Varga, you can find here:

Step 1. Go to http://www.vargaferenc.net/
Step 2. If you do not understand Hungarian,
choose English in the upper right corner of the page.
Step 3. On the menu (to the left) choose WORKS.
Step 4. From RECENT WORKS choose the gray box - the third from the top.
Step 5. Destination! Take a rest and read the story.