The Chanseite Wall

There was once a man in the kingdom of Yantha, long, long ago, whose name was Cole. Cole served the king of Yantha and was one of the king’s best servants. When the king would ask Cole to clean the stable; Cole would clean the stable AND feed the horses. When the king would ask Cole to help plow a field so that it could be planted; Cole would not only plow the field, but also teach the younger men and women to plow the field so that they could help. Cole loved working for the king and he and the king became good friends. In fact, just like Joseph of Egypt, Nehemiah and Daniel, Cole was made the king’s second in command.

One day the king came to Cole with a job for him to do. “Cole,” said the king, “I need you to go and protect the city of Chanseth. This city keeps getting attacked by the Maislebessians.”

“Yes, my king.” said Cole, “I will gather the men I need and go to the city today.”

Cole immediately called upon two hundred of the best workers in the kingdom and together they made their way to the city of Chanseth.

Chanseth was built inside a wide, horseshoe shaped mountain range on the edge of the kingdom of Yantha. The mountains rose tall all around with small hills in front; these hills dotted with the houses of those who farmed the fruitful potato fields and houses of those who tended the cattle. The fields and pastures lay in the wide valley, and the city was centered near the mouth of the mountains. The wide opening at the end of the horseshoe valley made it very easy to pass to and from the city, but also made the city very vulnerable to the attacks of the neighboring kingdom.

This neighboring kingdom, named Maislebessia, could grow corn and other grains very well, but could never seem to have a successful potato crop. Since Chanseth produced the best potatoes in all the land, the Maislebessians would attack the town and raid their potato stores.

Cole quickly determined that he wanted to build a wall across the opening of the horseshoe valley, so that the Chanseites could more easily defend themselves from attack. With his two hundred men he began to lay the foundation of the wall. The stones had to be very large to be able to offer the protection that was needed, and two men were needed to carry every stone and put it into place.

A single Maislebessian approached one day, after Cole and his men had been working for about a month. By this time, the wall spanned the entire mouth of the valley and went up to a man’s waist. The Maislebessian, seeing the wall, shouted, “What are you doing! How dare you build such a wall!” Cole, hearing the man, went out speak with him, saying, “We are building this wall to protect ourselves from your attacks. Go and tell your king that should he attack this city again he will not prevail.” The Maislebessian replied in anger, “How DARE you say such a thing to our king! I will go get him now and he will send his army against you!” At this, the unfriendly Maislebessian ran away.

Cole asked his men to focus on continuing to build the wall, and he chose two of the men to help him watch over the building of the wall and help the men continue to construct. He then went to the city of Chanseth and asked the people to begin to prepare weapons of war.

After about another month, a small group of almost a dozen Maislebessians approach the men at the wall. Having had another month’s worth of effort applied to the construction of the wall had allowed it to grow to the height of a man’s eyes, and the work of building the wall was much more strenuous now. The small group of Maislebessians began to taunt the men building the wall, and would occasionally throw rocks at the builders. Cole’s men, however, had by now grown very strong from lifting the rocks for the wall, and rarely noticed the taunting or the rocks that would glance off of their arms and legs. Cole, however, would not stand for his men being treated this way. “Stop!” he cried to the pestering group, “be done this instant. We would prefer not to be taunted and abused in this way. Go and tell your king that this behavior will NOT be tolerated!”

“Ha ha ha ha!” the Maislebessians laughed, “You would not prefer this treatment! Such weak words will be easily met by our kings’ army!” This said, these rude men went their way.

Another month passed. The wall was now taller than a man, and the labor to build the great wall continued to strengthen the two hundred men who were working on it.

In the distance, a slow moving, thin cloud of dust showed the army of the Maislebessians approaching. Cole consulted with the leaders he had appointed and together they determined what they felt to be the best course of action. Each man was given a weapon and stood upon the wall. As the attacking army drew near, Cole and his leaders rode out to meet with the king to try to discuss options that would not need to include warfare.

The Maislebessian king brought two of his most fearsome servants to meet with Cole. Cole spoke first, “Oh king, we would prefer not to battle you today. Please leave us in peace.”

“Ha ha ha!” the king laughed darkly, “You should have never built your wall! We have come to tear your wall down, stone by stone, and to kill any man who will stand in the way! I have fifteen hundred men with me today; your two hundred will be no match!”

“King of Maislebessia,” Cole replied, “again let me say that we do NOT want to fight you and your army today, but WE WILL if you should attack.”

The king gave another dark chuckle and said, “You and your men will be attacked, and your wall will be torn down. I have nothing more to say to you.” At this the king began to turn to join the ranks of his army.

Cole called out, “King, let me say just one more thing.” The king stopped and Cole continued, “I believe you have not clearly grasped the situation. Look at our wall. The stones are large and expertly fit, and will not be easy to tear down into rubble. Also, my men have worked steadfastly with these boulders for three months and have become extremely strong. If you look at them you will see that each of them has the strength to exceed ten of your men. If you should attack us today, you will be met with our strength and your army will fail.”

The Maislebessian king swore in his anger at being so addressed, but he took a moment to assess the words which had been spoken. The wall was indeed finely built, with seams so tight between the hewn rocks that a man’s finger would be too large to find leverage. He then glanced at the men standing on the wall, each with a weapon in his hand. They appeared to be at least as strong as Cole had said, and possibly quite a bit stronger. Suddenly, the king did not feel that he had an advantage.

“I’m afraid it appears you are right.” said the king, “it is clear we will not likely prevail against you today.” At this the king was suddenly at a loss for words, fearing lest Cole and his men attack the king’s army.

Cole broke the silence, “King of Maislebessia, you will no longer attack this city! Should you try again, we will destroy your army. However, today I offer you a chance for peace. If you will promise never to attack any city in our kingdom again, we will build gates into our wall and allow you to bring your corn to sell to us. In return, we will bring our potatoes to your lands and sell to you.”

The Maislebessian king was quite surprised at this offer. The Maislebessians had been fighting with the people of Yantha for centuries and never had there been talk of the two kingdoms selling produce to each other. After talking with the men of his army, the Maislebessian king consented to promising never to attack any city in Yantha again.

Cole and his appointed leaders redesigned the walls to widen the gates to allow for trade, and (after several months of encouragement) Maislebessian corn was made available all through the kingdom of Yantha. At the same time, Yanthite potatoes began to grace many a Maislebessian stew. After many more years, the boys and girls of the two kingdoms began to marry, and the kingdoms found themselves tied together in bonds of family as well as commerce and friendship.

The king of Yantha was extremely proud of Cole for not only finding a way to protect the city of Chanseth, but also for using the strength of his men and the wall as a tool for befriending the nation that had, for so long, been unkind to the Yanthites. Cole had taken an enemy nation and made it a close friend and ally.

Even to this day, Chanseth holds a yearly celebration remembering the strength, change and friendship that came from the building of the Chanseite wall.

The End