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Khnum and the Lotus Blossom LbNA #6428 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Nov 12, 2003
Location:
City:Southwick
County:Hampden
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:2
Planted by:Micah Taylor
Found by: The Bird Stamper
Last found:Jul 31, 2004
Status:FFFFa
Last edited:Sep 16, 2015
Khnum and the Lotus Blossom
Granville Gorge
Southwick, MA (Hampden County)

Placed: Nov. 12, 2003 by TehutiKa, AsetKa and kids!
Distance: less than 1/2 mile
Time: 30 minutes or so...if you can resist simply sitting and staring...
Difficulty: Narrative Clue. Two boxes.

***** ONE BOX IS MISSING AND WILL BE REPLACED *****

Directions: The Granville Gorge is just off Rt. 57 in Southwick, on the way to Granville. The sign sneaks up on you, on the right side of the road, and is easy to miss. Granville Gorge is a great little park, just barely on the Southwick side of the line. It is owned by the town, and administered by the Conservation Commission. The parking lot is very rocky, as is the entire site, so please be careful driving in. As always, please rehide carefully.

Clue:

This is the story as it was told to me.

Khnum, the Celestial Potter, sat in His workshop at the source of the Nile. Every day, for years upon years, He sat in His workshop, creating the bodies of all of the children being born. Each one different, each one special, never a duplicate.

Until today.

Khnum found himself holding an exact duplicate. He knew it was. He never forgot any of His creations. Surprised, He remolded it, and began anew. And created the same duplicate again! And again, and again, and again!!

Amazed, Khnum pushed away from His pottery wheel. Never before had this happened. The very idea was unthinkable. Khnum had lost His inspiration! He could no longer create, and if He could not create new bodies, how would any babies be born?

"Trouble?", said a voice behind him. Khnum turned, and saw Bes, the dwarven God of Laughter, standing in the window. The ram-headed god nodded. "I know what you need.", replied the little man. "Follow me!"

The little god led Khnum to a strange land, far from the lush valley of the Nile. He led the Father of Fathers to another river, a smaller one, in a much colder place. But this one felt strangely familiar. Though small, it was much like one of the numerous cataracts that span the length of the river, where the mighty river turns to rapids. Khnum found Himself smiling as he stood beside this small rushing river. He turned to Bes, asking, "Is this what you meant, Little One?"

In the clearing behind him, Bes crouched in the branches of a mighty tree. "No, Lord of the Silt, this is not what you need. What you need is to be put out to pasture with the ewes!"

How could this little creature say such things to Him? Enraged, Khnum lowered His horns and charged the tree. With a mighty crash, He broke it in two! Part of the trunk remained standing, the rest fell to the forest floor. Khnum had smashed it so hard that He left an imprint of himself in the bark!

Khnum heard laughter coming from behind Him, farther up the trail. The vile little man stood, laughing still, between the trunks of a double tree, upon a rock. Determined to catch the dwarf, Khnum charged across the clearing and leapt at the gap in the tree. But the little man scampered out of the way as Khnum came crashing to the ground next to the rock. But He saw something there that shocked and surprised the old god. In this cold, strange land, so far from home, He saw a perfect lotus blossom, growing in the shelter of the stone.

Bes came and knelt beside the prone body of Khnum. "This is what you need, Potter of Gods. You need to find inspiration where you least expect it."

Khnum understood. Gathering Himself, He nodded His thanks to Bes. With a renewed sense of purpose, Khnum returned to His workshop, leaving the lotus behind, as inspiration for others. As for Bes, He stayed behind, watching the river for a short time, before wandering off to find more mischief....but that is another story....