The Gold Miner's Metaphor
Posted: Sunday, April 18, 2010
by Ella Camp
In this certain time and place, the insurgent rage of "Gold Fever" swept across the land in turbulent, riotous waves of covetous greed and ambition; inundating the souls of men in a pulsing surge of primal urgency.
Beset by this harbinger of universal madness, men did, in undulating droves, abandoning hearth and home and duties, transport themselves by every known and available conveyance toward those hills of acclaimed golden dreams.
Each rock and bend in the racing stream of his choosing, was by now his familiar; a perpetual transformation of rushing white-capped water conveying its ambiguous treasure into grasping, ravenous hands. The goddess of gold released this prodigious fertile bounty in miniscule miserly increments from its ancient mountainous tomb.
Such was this miner's vigorous, attentive devotion to the fervent toil demanded by this parsimonious conveyance, that the pale twilight moon of a purple, sequin-studded night sky often bore witness to his oblivious labors beside the haunting luminous stream; the lure of the temptingly concealed bonanza coaxing him ever onward.
Repeated attempts to pilfer, loot, rob, and purloin away his claim to the possession of this fortuitously seized parcel of arable earth and race, had, with the passage of time, bred within his nature a righteous xenophobic construction of vigilant, protective prowess; refined in expedient defense of his hard-won prosperity.
At fragmented times of laggard optimism, the goddess, in playful taunt, did confine in maddening restraint, the corporeal confirmation of this precious elusive virgin; provoking a doubt of her benevolent generosity to him.
In this hour of whimsical mockery, the deceptive, deluding folly of "fool's gold" may be foisted upon him; lending credence to the bandied humbug that this great and bountiful reserve of gold is but a chimera in the minds of men.
At such times, his robust and vigorous resolution worked to repel this interloper of pessimistic debilitation from his vision.
The veracity of the pure and valid yielding from this font of abundant wealth, as well as the aforesaid specimens of demon deception, was by him, determined in a manner, which albeit nonscientific, was in fact a reputable and wide-acclaimed method of certification. The glittering particles of gold, this queen of earth's age-hoarded riches, which may bend in compliance with the biting force of the tooth; will yet not crack. And whereupon crushed by the force of rock, may become flattened, but will not break or shatter.
Repetition and prolonged intervals of failure to discover vast and proud examples of successful vindication for his long-held, hard-fought dream, wrought in him a season of somnambulant diligence, which did cast a shadow over the quality of his heretofore alert and sturdy observations.
While trapped within this altered and diminished state of being, he did evolve an immunity to the recognition of random manifestations of his long-desired image.
When once upon a time the jarring and presumptive appearance of tangible, immense evidence of considerable and massive size, did meet his sluggish, jaded eye, a shroud of dejected insight followed closely upon the heels of his instantaneous elation. This insightful dejection, whetted on the stone of bitter disappointment, prompted an act of fearful postponement of his customary examination; lest some identity of treacherous counterfeit end too soon his moment hopeful euphoria.
After an interval of minutes, which seemed far longer, in which he held in suspension his deferred elucidation, the impatience of his pounding heart to confront this now engulfing deluge of suspense, overwhelmed him.
His resounding cry of jubilation echoed in booming triumph through the moonlight silvered pines.
EUREKA!
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)(I am chuckling because my dad often told a joke and the punch line was EUREKA and the other guy in the story says "you don't smell so good yourself...." I can still hear that coming out of my dad's mouth.... that aside, you do have a way with words, Ella!
It is a great story.Thank you so much- glad you think so-
Stunning write, Ella but I have to wait for my brain transplant to reach full comprehension.XXXX
Great article ...so well done!
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