you're one in a million

Post 29 :: Quintessential Somethings :: Oh, the Humanity!


I


I wonder if this is valid. My first thought (when I really think about this seriously) is a quintessential friend. So first, before we begin this little drabble of sorts, let's define the word. More for my sake than for yours, I must admit. Princeton's wordnet/whatnot defines it as "representing the perfect example of a class or quality." Although the first thing that comes to mind is that this example, a friend, does not really work, so we'll have to rethink that.

The Quintessential Paper Clip

We use these tiny metal objects so often, clipping them to loose sheets of paper, bending them into interesting shapes, and even making chains of them, linked together in an endless line of curved metal. We lose them as easy as we use them, perhaps even more easily. They're small, cheap, and simply not that valuable. Yet even though all that is true, how did something as simple as a piece of bent wire become so widely used? How can we look at that small piece of next-to-nothing and recognize it as a "paper clip"? There are three bends in a paper clip. Just enough to hold what you want. Just enough to contain itself in its pill-like shape. Just enough to make it the paper clip. Four bends is too many, making it too complex, neither as visually appealing nor as efficient. Two bends is too few, leaving too many holes, too little support. Three bends is the charm, simple, clean, and effective. Three bends makes the quintessential paper clip.


II


I shuffled through my library of old music a little while ago, and I pulled out a song I'd long since stopped listening to. It's a song in Russian, called, "Братья," or "Brothers," in English. It's a beautiful song, although it relates more to the storyline of the animation it is from than anything else. It really is an interesting show -- "Fullmetal Alchemist" -- look it up if you feel like it. It deals with the art of alchemy and how that affects life as we know it. How it affects views on humanity, as well as life and death.

Lyrics to "Brothers"

Прости меня, младший брат!
Я так пред тобой виноват.
Пытаться вернуть нельзя
Того, что взяла земля.

Кто знает закон Бытия,
Помог бы и мне найти ответ.
Жестоко ошибся я:
От смерти лекарства нет.

Милая мама! Нежная!
Мы так любили тебя.
Но все наши силы
Потрачены были зря.

Тебя соблазнил я
Прекрасной надеждой
Вернуть наш семейный очаг.
Мой брат, я во всем виноват.

Не плачь, не печалься, старший брат!
Не ты один виноват.
Дорога у нас одна,
Искупим вину до дна.

Мне не в чем тебя упрекнуть,
И я не обижен ничуть.
Тяжек, наш грех
Хотеть быть сильнее всех.

Милая мама! Нежная!
Мы так любили тебя.
Но все наши силы
Потрачены были зря.

Я сам соблазнился
Прекрасной надеждой
Вернуть наш семейный очаг.
Я сам во всем виноват.

Но что же нам делать, как быть?
Как все исправить, забыть?
Пытаться вернуть нельзя,
Того, что взяла земля.

(Prosti menya, mladshiy brat!
Ya tak pred toboy vinovat.
Pyitatsya vernut' nyelzya
Togo, chto vzyala zyemlya.

Kto znayet zakon Byitiya,
Pomog byi mne nayti otvet.
Zhestoko oshibsya ya;
Ot smerti lekarstva nyet.

Milaya mama! Nyezhnaya!
Myi tak lyubili tebya.
No vse nashi silyi
Potrachenyi byili zrya.

Tebya soblaznil ya
Prekrasnoy nadezhdoy
Vernut' nash semeynyiy ochag.
Moy brat, ya vo vsem vinovat.


Nye plach', nye pechal'sya, starshiy brat!
Nye tyi odin vinovat.
Doroga u nas odna,
Iskupim vinu do dna.

Mnye nye v chem tebya upreknut'.
I ya nye obihen nichut'.
Tyazhek, nash gryekh
Khotet' byit' silneye vsekh.

Milaya mama! Nyezhnaya!
Myi tak lyubili tebya.
No vse nashi silyi
Potrachenyi byili zrya.

Ya sam soblaznilsya
Prekprasnoy nadezhdoy
Vernut' nash semeinyiy ochag.
Ya sam vo vsem vinovat.

No chto zhe nam delat', kak byit'?
Kak vse ispravit', zyabyit'?
Pyitat'sya vernut' nyel'zhya,
Togo, chto vzyala zyemlya.)

Literal Translation:

Forgive me, little brother

I am so sorry before you.
It's forbidden to try to return
One taken by the earth.
The one who knows the law of existence
Could help me to find the answer.
I was very mistaken
There's no cure for death.*
Dear Mom, sweet Mom!
We loved you so much.
But all our efforts
Unfortunately were in vain.
I tempted you
With the wonderful hope
Of returning our home.
My brother, it's all my fault.
Don't cry, don't be sad, big brother.
You're not the only guilty one.
There's only one road before us,
We will purge our sins completely.
I cannot blame you,
I am not hurt at all.
Well, we sinned
By wanting to be stronger than everyone else.
Dear Mom, sweet Mom!
We loved you so much.
But all our efforts
Unfortunately were in vain.
I was tempted
With the wonderful hope
Of returning our home.
I'm guilty for all of it.
But what should we do, how should we be?
How to fix everything, to forget?
It's forbidden to try to return
One taken by the earth.*

English Version:

How can I repay you, Brother of mine?
How can I expect you to forgive?
Clinging to the past, I shed our blood. And shattered your chance to live.
Though I knew the laws, I paid no heed. How can I return your wasted breath? What I did not know has cost you dear,
...for there is no cure for death.
Beautiful Mother, soft and sweet. Once you were gone we were not complete. Back through the years, we reached for you. Alas, twas not meant to be.
And how can I make amends... for all that I took from you?
I lead you with hopeless dreams.
My brother I was a fool.

Dont cry for the past now brother of mine. Neither you nor I are free from blame. Nothing can erase the things we did. For the path we took was the same.
Beautiful Mother, soft and sweet. Once you were gone we were not complete. Back through the years we reached for you. Alas, twas not meant to be.
My dreams made me blind and mute. I longed to return to that time. I followed without a word. My brother the fault is mine.
So where do we go from here? And how to forget and forgive?
What's gone is forever lost. Now all we can do is live.