Comes now the story of Nullen.
Nullen was a man who, to his thinking, lived a menial life in a menial city on a menial salary. He had a wife though no children. He had a job as a plumber.
As he reached close to middle age, Nullen decided he was very bored with his life. But at his time of life, options were limited. Receiving an education was expensive and time consuming aside from the fact he was not a good student. Nullen had no hobbies to take up his free time. He loved his wife but she had seemingly lost interest in him romantically so though Nullen was married, he felt alone.
So in desperation one evening he called out to the moon. To his surprise the moon responded and asked what he wanted. Nullen said that he wasn’t sure, he just wanted something different. The moon replied that his answer wasn’t helpful but it would see what it could do for him.
The next morning Nullen woke up in a bed that was not his in a home that wasn’t his. His wife was not lying next to him. The surroundings were unfamiliar. He walked through the house and saw pictures of his family members though they looked different, like they were different versions of themselves.
Nullen approached a mirror and discovered that he had a different haircut with a thinner build and a scar across his shoulder. He became disoriented, lightheaded and nearly passed out.
Nullen went to his mother’s house and knocked on the door. He was shocked when a man he didn’t recognized greeted him and asked him to come in. The man knew him and called Nullen by his name. His mother eventually entered and asked Nullen how he was doing. Nullen yelled that he was confused about who the man was. His other answered that he was her husband and Nullen’s step-father. Without further conversation Nullen left. He went home and locked the door and sat on the floor, waiting for night.
When the moon appeared, Nullen cried out and asked what it had done. The moon responded that it gave Nolan a new life, but it was an iteration of his previous life. It was the result of a few decisions made differently. The moon explained that in this life Nullen never married, he became a teacher instead of a plumber and his mother had remarried when she divorced his father.
The news shocked Nullen but he felt intrigued at the new life. With more information from the moon about his current existence, Nullen went to sleep. The next day he arose to fulfill his new version.
It was confusing at first. Several weeks went by before he adjusted to being an educator and single. He also got to know his stepfather, to whom he was indifferent.
While the new life seemed fulfilling, Nullen eventually decided that he did not like this new version of him. Even though he was lonely while he was married, he was decidedly more lonely by himself.
Nullen cried out to the moon, saying that he wanted to change his life again. The moon asked if he wanted to go back to his old life, and no one replied that he did not. The moon told Nullen that he would eventually want to return to his first life.
So the next morning Nullen again woke up in a bed that he did not recognize next to a woman who he did not know. He rose from the bed woke and walked through the house to get familiar with his surroundings. The home was rather large and looked expensive. The woman eventually woke up, approached Nullen and hugged him. Even though she had just got out of bed, Nolan decided she was attractive.
In this version of his life Nullen had, on the surface, a happy life. His wife was very loving and paid attention to him. His home was nice and he had some valuable possessions.
However, in this life, he had somehow managed to become the owner of a small business which was very successful. While overall the new life seemed good, the business turned out to be a lot of hard work. Nullen spent most of his time operating it, leaving little time with his beautiful wife and his abundant material wealth.
Before calling out to the moon again, Nullen decided he was going to try and change the life in which he had found himself. He scaled back the time that he spent working with his business, and instead hired a manager to take care of the operations. While this definitely gave him more time at home with his wife, who he was getting to know for the first time, it meant less wealth.
As Nullen did not really have the knowledge to work a small business, it turned out that the manager he hired was not very competent and over the course of a few months, the business shut down. His wife, having been accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle, changed. She still loved Nullen. but she did not seem as present as she had been when he first arrived in the new life.
Over time, Nullen found that he was again depressed and unfulfilled. Again he called the moon for a change. The moon obliged and Nullen woke to a new life.
Thus began a cycle where Nullen would shift to a different version of himself, become dissatisfied and request a change, which the moon always agreed. He was a pilot, then a lawyer, then an athlete. Nullen could never seem to find a version that he thought was best for him.
The moon suggested that maybe he should return to the original version. Nullen replied that he didn’t and that he wanted to keep looking for the version of his life in which he felt was the right one for him.
This cycle went on for many years and decades until one day Nullen decided it was time to return to his original life. The moon granted his request.
But when Nullen woke the next morning, he was in a bed with a woman he did not know in a house he did not recognize. He ran outside to catch the moon as it was setting for the morning. Nullen cried that it was not his original life he had returned to. The moon replied that it was. Nullen had changed so many times that he did not recognize his original existence. He was forever lost.
A common theme in myths and folktales--but in this case, turned completely on its head. Clever!
I am reading The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature and the style of this fable would fit right in. I love the ending.