Once upon a time there was a country in the world that was actually two countries: the white country and the black country.
They were always fighting, and always means always. They had been fighting for as long as they could remember. The grandparents told their grandchildren that their grandparents had already told them that their grandparents used to fight against the other country.
They had been fighting for so long that they had more in common with each other than with any other country on earth – in fact, the countries were similar in everything except colour: they ate the same food, sang the same songs, danced the same dances, dressed the same way . . . but some in white and the others in black.
But their battles were an absolute disaster.
The aim was to capture the enemy king, but most of the time both kings were captured at almost the same moment, and a new battle would commence to decide which king had been captured first, and it went on and on and on. During the wars nobody was actually killed. The enemies were captured and freed when the battles were over and after they had said sorry.
The kings were almost always captured by the queen of the other country. The queens were the most powerful fighters. The queens were so powerful because during a period which was later known as the “ninja period” (at the time it was just called “now”), it became fashionable to try to capture the enemy not on the battlefield but at any time when their guard was down, by sending a single soldier dressed in black, stealthy as a cat, generally at night time.
At first the kings were protected by pawns who acted as their escorts, but, of course, the pawns couldn’t be beside the king all the time, and he would often be captured when he was in bed or in the shower. For that reason, it was decided that the kings would not marry for love but under pressure – under pressure from some young girl (or her parents) who would then become the queen. The girls were trained at school from a young age in judo, athletics and weightlifting and the strongest would be chosen to become the new queen and protect the king.
In both countries everyone looked like the kind person they were. If you were funny, you had a funny face, if you were strong you had a strong expression, if you were mean, you looked mean. One day, in the black country a boy was born who wore glasses: that meant he was very intelligent. He was called Sisa.
The king was not very bright, but he had slightly squinting eyes: that meant that he looked closely at things and really knew how to recognise the qualities in the people he saw.
One day, while he was out for a walk, he saw Sisa, the bespectacled boy, and he knew immediately that he was the smartest of all the people in the country. He asked the boy whether he wanted to help win the war against the white country and the boy, who was so intelligent that he never answered questions directly, replied that he would think about it and that when he had an answer he would let him know.
Sisa had never liked the wars against the whites. He had never seen such a chaotic lot of people and he hated anything that was not well-organised or which did not follow a set of rules. Since they were the roughest they were also the best in battle and their strongest girls became the queens. Their families would rather have a strong son than a smart one, and a fast daughter who could race against another to bring them glory. For Sisa, this wasn’t a good thing, but he thought it was something he could change.
Sisa spent many days and nights thinking about it. He went around with his head slightly raised and inclined to the right, a sign that he was thinking, and he always carried with him a notebook, jotting down his thoughts, drawing plans, crossing them out, and starting again.
When he had finished thinking he told his parents that they should go to the king and report that he finally had the answer which he would tell the black king, ..
They were always fighting, and always means always. They had been fighting for as long as they could remember. The grandparents told their grandchildren that their grandparents had already told them that their grandparents used to fight against the other country.
They had been fighting for so long that they had more in common with each other than with any other country on earth – in fact, the countries were similar in everything except colour: they ate the same food, sang the same songs, danced the same dances, dressed the same way . . . but some in white and the others in black.
But their battles were an absolute disaster.
The aim was to capture the enemy king, but most of the time both kings were captured at almost the same moment, and a new battle would commence to decide which king had been captured first, and it went on and on and on. During the wars nobody was actually killed. The enemies were captured and freed when the battles were over and after they had said sorry.
The kings were almost always captured by the queen of the other country. The queens were the most powerful fighters. The queens were so powerful because during a period which was later known as the “ninja period” (at the time it was just called “now”), it became fashionable to try to capture the enemy not on the battlefield but at any time when their guard was down, by sending a single soldier dressed in black, stealthy as a cat, generally at night time.
At first the kings were protected by pawns who acted as their escorts, but, of course, the pawns couldn’t be beside the king all the time, and he would often be captured when he was in bed or in the shower. For that reason, it was decided that the kings would not marry for love but under pressure – under pressure from some young girl (or her parents) who would then become the queen. The girls were trained at school from a young age in judo, athletics and weightlifting and the strongest would be chosen to become the new queen and protect the king.
In both countries everyone looked like the kind person they were. If you were funny, you had a funny face, if you were strong you had a strong expression, if you were mean, you looked mean. One day, in the black country a boy was born who wore glasses: that meant he was very intelligent. He was called Sisa.
The king was not very bright, but he had slightly squinting eyes: that meant that he looked closely at things and really knew how to recognise the qualities in the people he saw.
One day, while he was out for a walk, he saw Sisa, the bespectacled boy, and he knew immediately that he was the smartest of all the people in the country. He asked the boy whether he wanted to help win the war against the white country and the boy, who was so intelligent that he never answered questions directly, replied that he would think about it and that when he had an answer he would let him know.
Sisa had never liked the wars against the whites. He had never seen such a chaotic lot of people and he hated anything that was not well-organised or which did not follow a set of rules. Since they were the roughest they were also the best in battle and their strongest girls became the queens. Their families would rather have a strong son than a smart one, and a fast daughter who could race against another to bring them glory. For Sisa, this wasn’t a good thing, but he thought it was something he could change.
Sisa spent many days and nights thinking about it. He went around with his head slightly raised and inclined to the right, a sign that he was thinking, and he always carried with him a notebook, jotting down his thoughts, drawing plans, crossing them out, and starting again.
When he had finished thinking he told his parents that they should go to the king and report that he finally had the answer which he would tell the black king, ..
