The afternoon spreads golden-yellow stripes among the leaves. The air smells of pine and cool water, and a brook murmurs softly as it licks the stones. There, between the forest's shadows and the dots of sunlight, walks an anthropomorphic turtle—around fifty years old, male, with a cane, round glasses, and a gaze that touches everything with serenity. His name is Sithu.
When fatigue weighs on his legs, he sits on a flat rock near the water. He rests his cane beside him, opens his flask, and drinks slowly, as if giving thanks for every sip. The sunbeams dance on his shell, and the reflections from the brook scatter little silver sparks across his glasses.
As he drinks his water, suddenly—
POOF!
Something heavy lands on his head. His glasses slip off, spin twice in the air, and plop onto the grass.
—"Oh… my lenses…" he murmurs, seeing only shadows and light melting into each other.
Within the blurry green, a small brown figure stirs hesitantly on the ground. A tiny "kii" is heard, and the creature crawls on all fours toward him. Sithu feels a gentle hand touch his wrist—then something cold slides into his palms: his glasses.
He puts the frame on. The world clears like glass wiped by rain: in front of him is a baby monkey, brown, with enormous shining eyes. Its ears twitch, its tail forms a question mark. A leaf stuck in its fur looks like a tiny crown.
—"Thank you… little one," says Sithu, smiling.
The baby monkey shakes its head, lets out a proud "kii!" and points with its little finger… at Sithu's head. He, too, has a leaf there. Sithu takes it off and looks at it.
The harmonious sound of a river flows in the distance.
The monkey points that way with its finger.
As they walk there, the sun strikes the glistening river. Sithu looks at his own reflection in the water. The baby monkey beside him dives in. Seconds pass. Sithu begins to worry—
Could it have drowned? Suddenly, the monkey emerges, smiling, holding a stone shaped like the Earth. It offers it to Sithu. He looks at it and says:
"I will call you Las."
And so begins the bond of master and student. Sithu takes the little monkey into his arms, and they walk out of the forest. Before them spreads a vast meadow, filled with every kind of flower imaginable. Suddenly, the howls of wolves echo across the land. With a wise look, Sithu says:
"Our world is harsh."
The little monkey gazes at him curiously…