Antoine in Nepal
Karel Peeraer www.ezelen.be
A journey towards happiness!
Welcome
How nice it is to walk when nature is carrying your backpack.
Antoine is walking through the mountains. His eyes are looking all around. Suddenly, he sees a heart. “That looks like my heart over there! It feels nice to see my own heart.�
Can you also see your heart now? I am really close by.
Antoine calls out, “What a beautiful waterfall!” The waterfall says, “If you think I’m beautiful, I will stay with you forever.” “How will you do that?” “I can, because you are just as beautiful. Touch me, if you want to.” Antoine holds his hand in the water. His whole heart glows. “I am glowing!”
“Now I will stay in your heart forever.”
There is a butterfly sitting on Antoine’s head. “What are you here for?” “Just feel. I am moving my wings.” “What’s happening? I can feel the landscape,” Antoine says. “How is this possible?” “It is possible, because you love nature.” Antoine whispers quietly, “Thank you very much.”
Antoine sees something very odd. There is water coming out of a rock. “Water, where are you from?” “Come a little closer. I will tell it to your heart.” Antoine’s heart is singing with joy! “How nice it is where you come from.” “Bye-bye Antoine. Will you come back to visit me?”
It is lovely to sleep in the mountains. Nature tucks Antoine in when he goes to bed. He wakes up and steps out for a bit. His torch is shining very brightly, because it is nice and dark. It is very quiet, now that it is night. Antoine writes his name between the stars with his torch. He enjoys his bare feet, walking through this far country.
That night, Antoine has a dream. His face is being painted. He is being dressed in the most beautiful clothes. He is wearing a crown on his little head. Everybody wants to see him. They are carrying him through the village. They admire him. Antoine wakes up, all excited.
“What a beautiful tree!” “Do you think I am beautiful?” the tree asks. “You have such a lovely colour.” “You say that in such a nice way,” the tree says. “From now on, I will stay beautiful forever.” Antoine gives the tree a big kiss.
“You are a really strong waterfall.” “I am here to help people,” the waterfall says. Antoine is amazed and he asks, “How can you help people?” “Just feel.” Antoine is dancing with joy. “I am so happy!”
The adventure continues. Antoine is walking through a forest. All the trees are talking to him. He is a little afraid. “Do not be afraid. We will help you, because you are happy.� Antoine feels that the trees love him. This is why he takes a little rest here. All the trees are laughing about him.
Antoine is having fun again. He is sitting with his feet dangling in the cold water. “You have such a strange colour. And there are no fish in you!” “Should my colour be different? And should there be fish inside of me? I did not know that. I am only water. I only just came out of the earth. When I become bigger, I will be a river with fish. And later on I will have waves like the sea.” Antoine does not understand a thing that the water is saying. But he is so happy.
“Do you think I am beautiful?” Antoine asks the mountain. “Why do you ask this? Instead, tell me whether you think I am beautiful.” “I think you are incredibly beautiful! Hey, what is happening now? Now that I say you are beautiful, I suddenly feel very, very beautiful.” Antoine shouts out to all the mountains that they are beautiful. Antoine loves feeling this beautiful.
“Mountain, can you talk too?” “If you would like me to. I am a real wishing mountain. Make a wish. And wish really hard for it to come true.” Antoine says, “I want to be happy forever.” The mountain says nothing. “Hey, I am already happy!” Antoine shouts. “I am always happy. Thank you, wishing mountain.”
Antoine is feeling cold, this high up in the mountains. “Aren’t you cold, with all that snow on top of you?” “No I am not, because I keep my heart open always. That keeps me warm all the time.” “How do you do that, keeping your heart open?” “I will teach you. Stay quiet for a little while and listen to your heart.” “I love you,” Antoine’s heart says. He starts to feel really, really warm.
Antoine has reached the top of the mountain. “I am so glad you are here,” the mountain says. “Why, do you know me?” Antoine asks. “No, I do not. But I am here because you are.” “And are you not here when I am not?” Antoine wants to know. “I do not know,” is the mountaintop’s strange answer. “But thank you for being here.” Antoine is so happy, now that he is at the top of the mountain. “Thank you very much, mountain.”
Antoine is walking down the mountains through a beautiful valley. The voices of the trees, the rivers and the mountains are still echoing in his heart. His body is jumping with joy and gladness. Antoine is so happy. It is as if the mountain is carrying him down. “I have everything I need,” Antoine thinks. “I will never be afraid anymore, thanks to this beautiful adventure.” “Hurray!”
I wrote this booklet after having made the Anapurna trek myself. With this booklet, I want to thank the Nepali people I had the pleasure to meet, for their friendliness and their hospitality. There is a great deal of poverty in Nepal. The tourists’ money can be of good use to the people over there. Perhaps this booklet will inspire you to visit Nepal. Perhaps this booklet will inspire you to visit Nepal and to share the happiness and love inside of you with the happiness and love in the hearts of the wonderful Nepali people. Karel Peeraer