The children followed along like little birds and he took them to the center plaza. Today was to be a different sort of lesson. “There will be no French this morning,” he told them, and they all- all seven- exclaimed with a glee he did not anticipate.
Do you know why seven monks were killed in Savilly? That is the question he asked his pupils. They stared back at him wide eyed, and he realized they were hungry, despite having eaten before school began. He sent one with some money to the baker and he came back with a sack full of red muffins instead of the fruit he was told to bring.
“My father says they were killed because they were fools,” said Thomaso, one of the smartest pupils.
“Why were they fools?”
“Because they went and brought a fight, and took many lives, in a place that was not their own, and… killing is stupid.”
“Well, what if the man they fought was a killer of many, a torturer, a thief, an evil man by all accounts? Is there not some justice in fighting him?”
“The Mainline Minister says no; my mother told me that. If people loved each other, or talked more, then fighting would not be necessary.”
“Perhaps children. I have much to learn on these things,” said the monk teacher.
He took one large red muffin out of the sack.
“Here is but one muffin, and I shall keep the rest and take a nap under this tree. Take eat, this is yours.”
He gave the muffin to Thomaso, who had made the purchase, then closed his eyes to sleep. It was not too long before he could feel tugs at his robes, and complaints that Thomaso was not sharing the sole muffin.
“Work it out amongst yourselves,” he told them, shutting his eyes to them. He could hear Thomaso yelling as he ran, and the other voices following behind. The voices caught their prey, and pried the muffin away.
Appetites not at all sated, the children returned to the feet of their tutor where the remaining muffins rested. Thomaso came last, angry and dirty, and kicked at his master’s feet.
“Teacher, they stole my muffin and you just sit there sleeping,” he said.
“I was not asleep. I lay here pretending to sleep and watched them take your muffin,” he said.
“Why did you do that?” Thomaso asked.
“Because it was not my muffin anymore to interfere”.
Of course this caused many problems. Thomaso’s father later came by to protest this outrage. The monk insisted he was teaching the virtues of peace.
