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.......... Just when a large portion of the world was ravaged with the plague, the Internet brought new hope. .... At first only the computer professionals and a handful of people knew about it. Then the rumors of it rapidly spread to everywhere, like a fire sweeping through a grass plain, catching everyone by surprise and unprepared. While everyone spoke about it, many believed it and many doubted it. Many, however, immediately went on their way to start their dot-coms. Many splendid and incredible things were reported about the Internet. Many found new lives and many made big fortunes. .........
I had loved forests ever since I was a kid and this one seemed to me
especially beautiful. While I was watching a squirrel climbing a large pine
tree, I noticed a track leading through a thicket of high ferns, which rose
like a miniature forest within the great forest. It was a narrow winding
footpath. We cautiously pressed between the ferns and followed where it led.
After a while we came upon a huge rock extending from the shore into the lake.
We climbed and scrambled up the rock. When we reached the top, we were
amazed to find a tree growing out of the rock, a sturdy tree with some strong
branches and thick leaves. There it stood, beautiful and odd, hard and stiff
in the rock. And beneath the tree sat an old man with both hands gripping a
fishing rod.
The whole action was in one coherent move, effortless and youthful. His body, from head to toe, from left to right was not acting as separating parts but as a whole with economical motions and quiet agility; it looked like an orient martial art movement, governed by strict rules which had been practiced a thousand times and brought to a tranquil dexterity. |