“A story? Mm, I suppose I can tell you one, if I must.

It used to be my wont to wander the land, travelling far and wide. This was before I found myself a home and some bees to tend. Well, I came by a small village outside a vast forest. I had little with me at the time and although the animals kept me fed and watered, I was weary and longed for a soft bed. Kindly, these village people let me stay and rest. I remained there for half the cycle of the moon, until the itch took my feet again. But before I left I said to them, I am a wizard, with some power over the wild places. If there is aught I can do for you, ask it. This was my way of paying back their kindness.

Well, the villagers took meeting together. They'd lately been having a problem with rodents and bugs that destroyed their harvests, and in recent days some larger beast had broken into their stores. They came back to me, saying, “Mr. Wizard” – polite, you know – “won't you kindly repay our hospitality by banishing the animals from this place.”

The animals, say I.

Not our herds, they tell me, but all the insects, and the creeping vermin, and the large beasts that haunt us in the night. Send them away from this place, if you have the power.

Well, I was deeply troubled by this. I told them it was a folly they embarked on. Banish all the animals of the wild? I warned them thrice, but they were firm, and it is a poor guest who does not repay his host.

So I told the animals of the wood the people's wish. I did not like to do it, not at all, but I raised my staff and asked the beasts to follow me. We must have looked a sight. I led them deeper into the forest, and I spent the next moon's cycle finding each of them a home.

After that was done I wandered on my way. I am not one for great adventures, not like my white-cloaked companion here. It was a quiet going. I healed a dog and found a sheep and brought a cat and crow to peace.

Long after, my way brought me back towards that village, and I thought to see how they did. They had told me not only to make the beasts depart, but to ensure that no beast would ever come back within the lines they drew. As I approached, I spotted the place immediately. Beyond that line, no living thing grew. Where flowers had flourished, here there was brown. The huts were empty; the place was still. I have never found a stiller place except in the tombs of the dead. No bees buzzed, no birds chirped, no children made merry. I remembered what I had told them so long ago. Men and beasts are bound together – to reject your fellow living creatures is to reject your own lives.

Now when I come to your great white city, I get to thinking about that village. I look around here and see stone, and not a plant growing. I hear only the sounds of men, and none of beasts.”

Children, I warn you to take heed. For a forest of men cannot grow.”