Work Text
🌠Supernova🌠
【Ancient Tea-Horse Road Paro】
【International Tea Day】"Three Courses of Tea"⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶.•° ✿ °•.⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶—The three courses of tea, starting with the bitterness, followed by the sweetest, and finally the long-lasting aftertaste, implies the circumstances and the philosophy of life.
Implies the brief encounter between the Tibetan warrior who can't leave the Holy land plateau for his whole life, and the Bai lady who would never cease to yearn for the flourish in distance.Cor-Cor had always yearned for that highland since she was young.
—The stars in the sky are bigger than pears from Dali.
So, just after turning fourteen, her mother couldn't resist her constant clamor and had to let her go under the care of her uncle, the head of the horse caravan, to transport tea leaves and a batch of porcelain to Tibet.In the first year, the journey was treacherous and difficult, and the young lady raised amidst the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains naturally couldn't withstand the hardships of the long journey and crossing mountains and rivers;
She persevered and followed the caravan to Lhasa, but couldn't bear the unfamiliar environment, falling gravely ill.
Not only did it delay her return journey, but it also indirectly caused a punishment for the silver-haired young guard of the temple who had always endured hardships and beatings.In the second year, she adapted to the fast-paced life with the caravan, endured the rugged roads and the discomfort of arriving at the plateau, and once she arrived in Lhasa, she carried a package of tea cakes and a snuff bottle to find the young guard to apologize, only to find that the guard was no longer there—replaced by a tall and strong young man, a warrior who stood a head taller than her, dressed in Tibetan warrior attires with a long sword at his waist, with silver hair and green eyes. In just a year, he had become a renowned warrior in the highlands.In the third year, after studying hard for two years and stutteringly learning broken Tibetan, she struggled to speak to him and said many words.
She talked about her hometown, the legends of Erhai Lake, and the experiences and changes of the journey throughout the year.
But he remained silent, listening attentively.
She knew that a warrior of the highlands was born to protect this holy land with his life.
He could never leave here in his lifetime, so naturally he couldn't see her hometown with his own eyes—the picturesque scenery she described, like "flowers blown from Xiaguan to Shangguang, moonlight reflecting on the snow-capped Mount Diancang of Erhai Lake."In the fourth year, she told him that the caravan would continue westward.
It was rumored that the road to the west led to many kingdoms, big and small, where there were ancient temples, golden statues taller than palaces, and white elephants adorned with gemstones.
There were wandering poets who played the sitar and sang magnificent epics about gods and asuras churning the Milky Way.
And there were beautiful dancers adorned in colorful veils and golden bells, rumored to have beautiful noses, long eyelashes, eyes like amber, skin like honeydew, and graceful waist movements. Just a smile and a glance from them would make people feel as if they were in the heaven of the Trāyastriṃśa.As she spoke these words, he observed how her eyes shimmered like stars in the highland sky, as if she yearned to be instantly transported to those places and witness the splendor of magnificent palaces and temples. The words that were already difficult for him to utter became even more unspoken at this moment.Little did she know that over these past few years, he had never ceased to anticipate, quietly awaiting that time each year. He longed for the road that brought not only the indispensable tea leaves for the people of the highlands but also carried her on the back of a packhorse.Unbeknownst to her, the exotic dancer depicted as beautiful and graceful paled in comparison to the radiance in her eyes, like a blossoming smile from the colors of Erhai Lake. Despite her halting Tibetan speech, she spoke eloquently, captivating him far more than any lavish depiction of an exotic dancer.Before her departure, she served him three courses of tea as a gesture of farewell.The three courses of tea, starting with the bitterness, followed by the sweetest, and finally the long-lasting aftertaste, implies the circumstances and the philosophy of life.
Implies the brief encounter between the Tibetan warrior who can't leave the Holy land plateau for his whole life, and the Bai lady who would never cease to yearn for the flourish in distance.
Implies their encounter, their well-acquaintance, their mutual appreciation.
Implies that phrase she spoke in a low voice while looking at her feet, and he wouldn't understand, just before her departure."Li-Listen, I will just say it once……"
"I like you (in Bai ethnic language), Sephiroth!"The arduous road, shuttling caravans and porters dispatched superior species of mule and steed, wool and fur, gold, silver and medicinal herbs from the high plateau, and came back with tea leaves, porcelains and silks.
And that smile from Erhai Lake.
Now, it is to take this smiling face to some farther, distant lands.If fate allows, let them meet again and pause for each other;
Or in this lifetime, part ways and never cross paths again...
Yet, they can repeatedly savor the bittersweet lingering fragrance.⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶°•. ✿ .•°⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶First published: 21/05/2022