Tribal Boy

Deep in a viridian undergrowth, a tribe of perhaps 7 or so families resided. A little ways from the tribe lived a wise old sage. He originated from deep within JiuXu province, where the king of this land lived. This old sage, humbled with awareness from mediation, lived a hut no bigger than two arms lengths wide. Quite a tight squeeze.

One day, the sage walked to the tribe to get associated with them. The children were bustling with play while the older ones helped out the elders. While waiting to speak with the tribe leader, the old sage noticed the children huddled around a corner, staring down at something. The old sage rose from his seat and peered over the heads of the children to see the head of another child in the center of the circle. The old sage walked closer to the gaggle of children to get a better idea of the situation. The high-pitched voices of the children were exclaiming all sorts of names to the center child who was crouching down. When the sage approached, one kid noticed and signaled his friends. The group dispersed, leaving the frail child in the corner.

Realizing that the insults stopped, the small child raised his head, his eyes widening once he saw the sage. He scurried to his feet and bowed. The sage held out his palm to the child, and the child lifted his head.

"What's your name?" The sage asked. The eyes of the small child, who was about 3 or so, widened with panic. His head swayed back and forth, eyes darting around in search of something. He saw a bamboo shoot and tugged a bit. The child struggled a bit before the shoot snapped, almost causing the child to fall back. The boy then ran back to the sage and wrote in the dirt in between them.

ZhengZheng.