There was a monastery on a long-lost land that taught the world’s most gifted students the secrets of the universe. There, Grandmaster held Book of Eternal Knowledge which had secrets to everything known and unknown. Once every hundred years, Grandmaster would come out of hiding and offer the disciples a chance to earn that Book.

They were given a choice to either take a single word from Book in exchange for all the years they had served at the monastery, or they could accept a challenge to win the complete text. A single word had enough power to grant that person the knowledge of five hundred libraries and life of a thousand years; thus, no one ever took the challenge.

Then at one such hopeful day, a middle-aged man of hundred and fifty years accepted it. He was asked thrice if he was ready to undertake the quest, and he replied in the affirmative. Grandmaster then handed him a scroll and asked him to read it aloud.

Scale the tallest mountain and fetch some silver dust

Dive into the deepest ocean and steal its largest pearl

Roam into the sky and best its princely birds

He bowed before Grandmaster and asked his permission to leave. He was to return to him after a hundred years. The man embarked on his first quest. He spent ten years journeying around the world to find the highest mountain. Finally, he came upon it and learned he was too weak to ascend. He labored for another ten years, scaling smaller mountains around the world before coming back to the lofty peak that smirked on his human weakness. The mountain was covered in ice and was only accessible in the three months of summer. Every summer for the next ten years, he would attempt to scale it in vain. It was on his eleventh attempt when he finally made it to the top.

It was such a magnificent sight; he could see the furthest edge of the world and all its blue oceans. The stars were there at his hand’s reach, and then there was a milky bridge on the sky that ascended to an unknown zenith. His heart told him to take the bridge and explore the mysteries of space, yet he knew his objective was different. He picked up a dozen stars which turned into silvery stardust as he touched.

Finding the deepest part of the ocean didn’t prove that difficult for him, for he had seen the colors of seas from that mountain’s peak. He knew which ocean he needed to explore, but he didn’t know how to swim and had no way to go to its depths and survive its crushing weight. He spent the next twenty years learning the art of invention and devised machinations to help him explore the ocean unharmed. He scavenged the oceanic abyss for the next fifteen years and finally found the world’s largest oyster; it had a pearl as big as an ostrich’s egg. Fishermen could see it radiating miles under the sea.

The disciple with years of wandering had gained much experience and knowledge and had grown old. But he was certain to accomplish his last trial without much difficulty. He worked hard, spent his days and nights designing and redesigning a new instrument. He made several flying objects, but none of them could soar higher than a pigeon.

Finally, he invented the machine that had wings like an eagle and flew higher than any other flying being. When he took his first flight, tears rolled down his eyes, for he could feel the freedom of a liberated king.

There were still some twenty years left before the deadline. Disciple built much better flying machines and flew even higher. He went to that celestial bridge he wanted to cross, but when he walked on it for several months, he realized that it would take a whole lifetime to make it to the other side, for he could never see its end. He returned to the monastery on his flying machine ten years earlier and decided to spend the remaining time in meditation.

He had seen lots of things and had been to many places; his perspective on life had changed. He pondered on marvels of life and the universe and made peculiar discoveries. It was near the end of hundred years when he revisited that scroll. The trials seemed odd to him, so he meditated on them. The disciple had turned into an older man when Grandmaster reappeared.

Grandmaster congratulated him for being the first man who had undertaken the trails and had returned. He asked him if he had been successful. Disciple said that he had failed at understanding the trial in the first place, and although he had completed it, he believed he hadn’t been successful. Grandmaster told him to show what he had brought.

Disciple offered him Stardust and the largest Pearl. Then he showed him his flying machine and demonstrated how he could fly higher than all the princely birds. Grandmaster asked him why he considered himself a failure when he had accomplished his mission. The disciple replied that the tallest mountain was not the peak he submitted but himself. That it was in his struggle to complete the trials, he surpassed all his bodily limitations and conquered his flaws, and in his victory, he brought the essence of human excellence.

He searched for real pearl only after returning to the monastery, where he pondered on all the wisdom he had gained and sought truth behind the truth. In his search of true wisdom, the largest pearl unraveled itself upon him; it spoke to him of his infinite ignorance, of all the knowledge he didn’t have, and showed him how hollow his understanding was.

Grandmaster had a disturbed look on his face and asked him what he thought of his final trial. Disciple told him that it was an understanding of his final trial which made him realize his failure; that the Book had enslaved Grandmaster, and he wanted to give it up, to be free and fly like an eagle, but because Book of eternal knowledge could never go to a person who didn’t understand what it was, the trial was designed to choose a man who was willing to sacrifice his freedom for it.

Disciple said that he would fail the trial if he chose to keep the book, and if he didn’t keep it, his labor would turn fruitless. Grandmaster told him that he had deciphered the scroll accurately and that he should take his place at the monastery. He acknowledged Disciple’s assumption of Book having some bindings; that its keeper could never leave the monastery as long as he held it. He then spoke to him of eternal wisdom and immortality that Book would grant him, that he would be so indulged in the exploration of Book, which was a universe in its own, that he would never feel the need to get out.

He offered him a few pages from it that Disciple could take without any condition; if he felt like it, he could take the book from him. Disciple said that he would prefer to contemplate and explore on his terms instead of spending eternity inside the monastery. He regretted missing the opportunity to quench his thirst for wisdom and regretted losing a chance to gain immortality; he then told him of that milky bridge he had walked upon and said he would go searching for its end. He said that he would gladly accept a mortal death of limited knowledge over a lifetime in the prison of infinite wisdom. Disciple apologized to Grandmaster and took off on his flying machine.