Once upon a time,
On the edge of a village,
Lived a giant redwood tree whose top appeared to stroke the clouds.
No one knew why the redwood had grown there.
The land was arid,
The landscape all stear and the villagers surly.
The mayor,
Who was seeking ways to attract visitors,
Decided to launch a contest.
Whoever managed to climb to the top of the redwood tree would be granted honorary citizenship of the village.
The prize was modest indeed,
But the opportunities for recreation were rare in this county.
So the news spread like wildfire,
Posters were hung for miles around and on the day of the contest,
Dozens of contestants hurried to the foot of the redwood,
Surrounded by hundreds of curious onlookers looking for diversion.
When the mayor blew his whistle,
The brave contestants began their ascent.
But the spectators did not encourage their efforts.
Quite the contrary.
The only remarks that could be heard were rather to incite them to give up.
They're surely going to kill themselves.
It's much too dangerous.
No one will reach the top.
It's impossible.
Very quickly,
Several contestants gave up,
Overwhelmed by the distance that they still had to climb and above all,
Influenced by the disturbing warnings they could hear.
Then others came down,
Encouraging their neighbours to turn around too.
Soon the only one left clinging to the trunk was a young boy,
Frail admittedly,
But alert and determined.
You'd better come down now before you break your neck,
They cried.
If he looks down,
He'll feel dizzy and full.
Of course,
Weakling that he is,
He'll start crying and end up tiring himself out.
But indifferent to their cries,
The young man continued to climb ever higher.
Now he was two thirds of the way up.
The branches were further and further apart.
Calm down,
Lad.
It's too dangerous,
Pleaded the spectators over and over again,
While the women let out blood-curdling screams.
Suddenly the boy reached the top of the redwood tree and turned towards the villagers,
Shaking his fist in pride.
Then he nimbly made his way back down.
When he jumped down onto the firm ground,
The crowd surrounded him in admiration,
Keen to hear his secret.
It was then that they realised the young man was deaf.
His success in the challenge was thanks to the fact that he had not been exposed to the dreadful warnings called out by the spectators.
