Eric The Earthworm

By Sr. Cuc Nghiem
Illustrations by Br. Phap Tu

Slowly, very slowly, Eric made his way. He pushed his chest forward, "pff...", he sighed, and then he pulled up the back . It was a hot day. "Maybe this wasn't the best day after all to go on an adventure," Eric said to himself. "No, I need something new. I've eaten so much of the same old dirt lately. I am fed up with it and ready for something new! " With renewed energy he continued his path.

Eric felt as if he'd been eating around in circles lately. Time and again, he would stumble upon the same old tree root.

Like other parents, Eric's parents told him he could only eat his way to the left, to the right or little downwards, but never upwards. Eric had gotten bored with the same circles. One day, when he stumbled again upon the same tree root, he decided to eat his way over the root instead of underneath. He couldn't resist. His longing to go on an adventure won and slowly he started to chew his way up.

Suddenly the dark sky of dirt broke open and he entered an enormous wide space. Everywhere he looked it was very light and warm. " So this must be the wide, wide world," he thought. He'd heard so much about it.

The stories were always told with much reverence. Some earthworms had returned after exploring the wide world. There were never the same again. There was one old earthworm, "Evan the Old". He lived far away, all by himself. Most worms thought he was a little crazy and feared him.

He had returned, heavily wounded, from his journey, with a big hole in the end of his body. He told a horrendous story about his exploration. He'd been taken prisoner, together with many other earthworms. They'd all been put in a completely white, prison, that everybody called "The Bucket". Most worms were unknown to him, but he seen Esther there, a distant relative. Nobody ever seen our heard from her again after her journey to the wide world.

The story of Evan the Old went that after he'd been taken prisoner, once in a while a big thing with five tentacles would come to take out some earthworms from the white prison. These worms would never return to "The Bucket". Evan the Old, said they probably "the humans" were behind all this. He

The other day at Eric's school, the teacher had taught about humans. " They are a very dangerous species ", said the teacher. Many worms have been killed by them. The teacher showed a picture and the whole classroom shivered with fear.

At a certain moment, the thing with five tentacles came it took Evan the Old out of prison. He was nearly squeezed to death by the tentacles, but had survived. Then a hook was pushed through his body, and he was thrown into the water. He cried out in pain and wiggled his body. Big fish surrounded him, ready to eat their midday meal. But Evan the Old was lucky. Suddenly he fell off the hook and sank to the ground. There, very quickly, he ate his way into the dirt. That is how he found his way home again. Barely alive he arrived in his village. When he recounted the story he warned everybody not to ever go into the wide world. After that he retreated to a place outside the village where he had lived ever since. Worms say he is still alive, but he hardly ever comes out of his house and nobody ever sees him. Most little worms avoid his house and eat in a big circle around him.

A shiver went down Eric's back. Now that he was in the wide world the story came alive again. He'd heard it from his parents.

He looked back at the trail of sweat he was leaving behind. When he turned his head again a shock went through his body. There was a flat dried up warm right in front of him ... dead! He didn't know the earthworm personally, but Eric understood at that moment it hadn't been a good idea to eat his way up into the world. Instantly he decided to return home. He wanted to take a big bite of dirt. Bang! He hit his nose hard on the ground . The ground was hard as rock - not even a crumb came off. Eric started to get a little scared and crawled a little faster. Every few minutes he tried to eat his way down, but the soil remained hard and inedible. What was happening?

Suddenly a shade fell over Eric. He felt something squeezing his body very hard. Immediately he recognized it as the big thing with five tentacles Evan the Old had talked about. Eric screamed out loud. "Ahhhhh, this will be the end of my life! Surely they will put me in "The Bucket"! I will be a fish's dinner!" He wiggled hard to break loose, but it was of no use. Then he gave up and lay still. "Bye mom and dad", he said in silence.

Then a miracle happened. Nothing of what he thought was going to happen, came to be. Very carefully Eric was put on some kind of plateau which floated through the air. Carefully, he looked over the border of the plateau. There were vast green fields in trees, as far as he could see. Above him were the blue sky and some clouds. Sound came from above. As he looked up he saw a strange being talking to him. Eric recognized the being from the picture in school. "This is a human!" Eric was scared. "But somehow, this human-person doesn't look that dangerous", he thought. Sounds coming out of a big hole, which probably was the mouth. "I don't understand anything you say, but wow, you can have really big bites of dirt with that mouth, you are lucky!"

Eric stayed very still, and listen closely. Suddenly it was as if the strange sounds turned into words. Eric heard: " Hey little worm, don't be scared, which side of the road you want to go to?"

"I want to go home," squeaked Eric softly, hoping the human would understand him. He floated a little more through the sky and landed softly on the ground. Quickly, he took a bite. It was delicious, soft, black dirt! Eric felt so relieved. As fast as he could he started to eat his way down, back home. A little while later Eric stumbled upon the same tree root again. "Hey, you wonderful, big, old tree root. I have missed you! I will never look at you in the same way again. I have arrived, I am home!" Eric smiled out loud. He'd never been so happy to see the root. Quickly, he ate his way underneath the root, turn left, made another right and entered his home village. It was as if Eric looked at the world with new eyes. He was so happy to be back again.

He arrived at his house. Inside his mom was just making sweet, black, dirt soup, Eric's favorite dessert.

Eric jumped on her back in gave her a kiss; "Mom, I'm so happy to see you!" he exclaimed. "I have so many things to tell!"

In the next day's Eric recounted the story to everyone who wanted to hear it. He became the hero of the village.

The end.

The Two Promises

In Plum Village, we learn many things. In the summer there is always a program especially for the children. One of the things that you learn is to live in harmony with people, animals, plants and minerals.

When you have stayed for a week, it is possible to be part of a formal ceremony. You come before the community and say that you will do your best practice to live in harmony with people, animals, plants and minerals. You will also receive a name, which shows one of your beautiful qualities that you have. For example, this year we name one of the children "gentle smile of the heart".

These are the two promises:

The Two Promises

I vow to develop understanding
In order to live peacefully with people,
Animals, plants and minerals.

I vow to develop compassion
In order to protect the lives of people,
Animals, plants and minerals.