A philosophy webcomic about the inevitable anguish of living a brief life in an absurd world. Also Jokes

413

The Elflord and the Mayfly

"The sun rose, and the mayfly emerged from the watery depths of the lake, and became conscious of the world. "

"It fluttered around, in amazement in the beauty of the earth, trying to see everything it could in a flurry."

"Anxiety gripped it. What should it do? What should it see? It knew it only had a small time in the air before it was gone forever."

"It then saw a mighty elflord, sitting silently, staring at the sky."

Elflord: "And why is that, my little friend?"
Mayfly: "Noble elf, how i wish i could be of your kind, and not cursed to this short life!"

Mayfly: "To live eternally, beneath the sun! I am but a mayfly, and my time ends almost as quickly as it begins. With eternity i could see all the wonders of the world. "
Elflord: "That is more true than you realize."

Elflord: "Eternity, my friend, is very long. By the time you have traveled the earth and seen all it has to offer - you will still have an eternity to go. "
Elflord: "And what, then, will you do?"

Mayfly: "I could create wonders of my own. With all of time to perfect my craft, i could make such beautiful art!"

Elflord: "What reason have i to create wonders? So i can grow bored with them as time stretches out? So i can watch them fade away to dust?"

Elflord: "What you call perfecting your craft, i call exhausting the limits of my creativity, leaving me again with nothing left to do for all time. One cannot make progress on eternity."

Mayfly: "How can you say that? With all that time i could discover new passions which i will never know!"
Elflord: "And after you are done, you will still have an eternity left again."

Elflord: "We labored mightily to create great works, buildings of splendor, sculptures and paintings of great beauty."

Elflord: "When the elves first awoke, and the world was new, we thought as you do now."

$Elflord: "But as time passed, our creations began to fade away. The rain and wind ate away at our work. At first, with great energy, we took to repairing and replacing what was damaged. " Elflord: "But time still stretched on, and soon we grew suspiscious of our labor. For what purpose do we repair them? For whom? Should we seek to keep these things pristine for all of time?" Elflord: "Why did we even make them to begin with?" Elflord: "No matter what we did, they would only exist for a fraction of our lives...a fraction so small next to eternity that it was nothing. They might as well have not existed at all." Elflord: "It was then that we gave up on art, and now spend our time in only contemplation. But many fear the time for that will be over soon as well, when all that we can think is discovered." Elflord: "It is for this reason, my friend, that you should not envy me, for you have a gift that i will never have - the gift of death."$

Mayfly: "It doesn't seem like much of a gift. "

Elflord: "I'm sure it doesn't, no creature wishes to die."

Elflord: "But in exchange what you do with your time can mean so much more to you. You can feel what i will never feel."

"The elflord's words still didn't seem right to the mayfly. but the sun was setting, and his body was growing weary."

Mayfly: "My time is coming to an end, and although there is much i wish i could have done, i want to thank you for the conversation."

Elflord: "Thank you, my friend. You too made my time worth living. Although your life was brief, your passion for life will not be forgotten."

"And so the sun set, and the Elflord was alone with his thoughts once again."

"He got up, and started off towards the old workshops, to begin work on a new project."

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413

The Elflord and the Mayfly

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