The Monastery of the Fools

8/21/2019 The Monastery of the Fools

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ocratis E. ocratous

T

HE

M

ONA TERY

OF

THE

F

OOL


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Copyright © Socratis E. Socratous (2015)

The right of Socratis E. Socratous to be identified as author of

this wor has been asserted by hi! in accordance with section ""

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irst &ubished (2015)

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'cnowedg!ents

The facts and persons in this boo are a fictiona. The ideas$

howe*er$ refect the hu!an e7istence$ its twists and turns and

what$ in the passage of ti!e$ we a now as ife in its daiy

routine.

The !onastery is aso fictiona$ but it does e7ist$ perhaps in

di*erse for!s$ in the hearts of each one of us. The reader has at

hand a iterary wor in which - ha*e aid down !y thoughts and

refections on the hu!an e7istence in its wordy as we as

!etaphysica di!ension.

- than those of !y friends who ha*e heped !e put these ideas

on paper. Especiay 8uius 3arides for his ad*ice and practica

support in !aing this edition a possibiity.

This was achie*ed with toi$ effort and ots of soitude. - aso

than those who did not beie*e in what - was doing$ becausetheir ac of con*iction has stiffened !y reso*e.

inay$ - than 3aria +icoaou &rodro!ou and Sophie

9achariou$ who heped !e with the typing and ayout of this

boo$ and 3eissa :eers$ who transated it into Engish. 'so -sincerey than %espina +icoaou who has edited the origina

6ree *ersion of this boo with a ot of care and o*e. /ast but by

no !eans east; - than a the peope at 'ustin 3acauey who

did a wonderfu


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E7cerpts fro! the Song of

Soo!on =d Testa!ent

Co!petion of /o*e

:e>...:ow beautifu you are and how peasing$

!y o*e$ with your deights? @our stature is ie that of the pa!$

and your breasts ie custers of fruit. - said$ A- wi ci!b the pa! tree;

- wi tae hod of its fruit.B

3ay your breasts be ie custers of grapes on the *ine$

the fragrance of your breath ie appes$ and your !outh ie the best wine...

She>

3ay the wine go straight to !y beo*ed$ fowing genty o*er ips and teeth. - beong to !y beo*ed$

and his desire is for !e.

Co!e$ !y beo*ed$ et us go to the countryside$ et us spend the night in the *iages. /et us go eary to the *ineyards

to see if the *ines ha*e budded$

if their bosso!s ha*e opened$

and if the po!egranates are in boo!

there - wi gi*e you !y o*e...


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PART ONE


6/21

Yiannis Aidonidis

-t was 8uy$ su!!er was at its highest pea and @iannisDs car

was speeding down the highway$ e7hausting the road as we

as the io!etres that tireessy eapsed as ti!e went by. -t wasan od car; @ianniss financia situation didnt aow hi! to

ac4uire anything better. :e was trying to hande the

unbearabe heat by eeping the car windows down and

aowing the hot air to caress his face and sweaty chest$ hidden

under his shirt. Fsuay$ whie dri*ing$ one of two things

happens or both> you thin and refect and you isten to !usic.

-t was ate in the afternoon and athough the sun was sti

strong$ the ci!ate had started to change. -t was around thatti!e when$ often$ those who i*e in the 3editerranean basin

start to fee a pecuiar euphoria. -ts so!ething - ha*e ne*er

!anaged to e7pain$ ie a !agica diffusion of Gthings$

where soutions to your probe!s start to appear. 3agicay$

its ti!es ie this that we see ife on a ighter note and we et

ourse*es get ost in thought whie istening to nostagic

baads that e7press our in!ost !eanchoic !oods.So!ewhere within this gaa7y$ hafway between reaity

and drea!ing$ @iannis concentrated on his dri*ing and as the

!aaise of the heat sowy subsided he co!fortaby caught

sight of a road sign. :e had seen this sign on nu!erous

occasions and had often thought about sideHtracing to

where*er the sign woud e*entuay ead hi!> The 3onastery

of the oos.

:e ooed down at his watch. Since he had nothing ti!eHde!anding to do and without a second thought$ he et his car

drift to the eft. E7iting the highway he entered a pro*incia

road. :e continued foowing the arrows that ed to his


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destination; dri*ing through a *iage he headed towards a

bigger sign that stuc out fro! afar$ eading the way towards

the !onastery.

Strangey enough$ each and e*ery one of us has a different

opinion about reigion; church$ priests and hoy eaders.

%espite this$ when things arent going as we hope$ we a see

to hod onto so!ething eusi*e$ so!ething of a higher power

that we fee cose to$ for hep. e !osty ca this 6od$ and

that is precisey what @iannis was doing at the ti!e.

Things werent going we for hi!. :e had chosen a

difficut path in a country where it woud ha*e been easier to

estabish hi!sef if he had pursued the crowd. There were!any other reasons why he coud ha*e been better off. :e

coud ha*e beco!e one with the syste!$ he coud ha*e

induged in business and chosen a sector in which there was

!oney$ regardess of whether he ied it or not or$ if it

corresponded to his drea!s.

@iannis was a graduate of Engish iterature and

phiosophy and wanted to beco!e a writer. :e noced on

countess doors and$ fro! ti!e to ti!e$ wrote artices in

newspapers in order to pay the bis I but that was a. :e sent

out drafts of his wor to pubishing houses$ poe!s under

pseudony!s to co!petitions; but so!ething was !issing and

he new it. :e needed so!ething to ift his spirits. :e needed

so!e additiona inspiration. That itte so!ething that woud

arouse his inner sef and awaen his sou and spirit. :e needed

to find a sub


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the opportunity to drea! or ha*e drea!s fro! a *ery young

age and they


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Dionysis Meletakis

%ionysiss car !o*ed aong the highway counting the

io!etres. -t was hot and hu!id. Surey$ the heat had started

to subside a itte$ yet he sti had the air conditioning on highin his fashy sports car. :e istened to !usic$ ost in thought$

and in sow !otion; he too a cigarette and it up$ inhaing the

poison that !ade his thining cearer.

E*erything had ended that *ery sa!e !orning. The tria

had gone through for his di*orce$ he had peaded guity$ too

on his responsibiities and as e7pected$ e*erything was setted

to his disad*antage. :is wife had been e7tre!ey *indicti*e

towards hi!$ pur*eying huge doses of bitterness and re*enge.' within her right of course$ she coudnt hande betraya as

she saw it. 'though the


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e7posing a wo!an with huge conse4uences for her and her

fa!iy$ he too on the burden and was obigated to ie to his

wife and te her that he had had an affair with a prostitute and

that it was best that they fied for di*orce and paid the

conse4uences.

The !ost difficut part in this situation was e7paining

e*erything to his chidren. :e spoe to the! and cenched his

teeth and sou to try to show strength. :is heart broe in two.

Two sets of innocent eyes tried to find ogic in what their

father was saying to the!. Their words shattered and

unfortunatey we ne*er now how !uch da!age is caused in

such circu!stances unti years after$ potentiay not e*en in aifeti!e. :e tod the! that their !other and father o*ed the!

but that they stopped o*ing each other as husband and wife

and thats why they were separating$ but that both woud oo

after the! and o*e the! fore*er. The youngest son who was

paying !ore attention to the si!pe words he used as opposed

to his fathers !onoogue$ said>

ASo you !ean that we wont be a fa!iy any!oreJB

%ionysis$ a!ost with tears in his eyes$ tried to subside the

pain$ Ae wi be !y daring$ its


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Paulina Antinopoulou

=ne hour earierK&auina ooed at her face in the car rear

*iew !irror. :er eyes were swoen fro! crying but she fet

reie*ed. She had been in the church of the !onastery for o*er an hour now. -t is here that she has been crying bittery fro!

guit$ pain and hepessness for the past coupe of !onths.

hen she ca!e round a itte$ she breathed the air surrounding

the !onastery with greediness$ and for the ast ti!e before

heading ho!e.

E*erything had happened so fast and the end of the story

was written bittery and shorter than e7pected. ' ast gance; a

ast sient goodbye and an apoogy for why things ca!e aboutthe way they did$ and which unfortunatey$ was ne*er said.

She had gone to the 3onastery of the oos eary$ regardess

of the heat. She fet ony foos coud understand her as she sat

on one of the benches in the yard and sur*eyed the pre!ises

around her. ' coupe of nuns she had !et there that day sat

with her and taed to her. Their words were ie soace to her

sou. They offered her sa*ouries with fresh cod water fro!the !ountains. The *arious s!es were beautifu$ as were the

fowers$ the birds$ the tre!bing of the cande fa!es it by

beie*ers$ and the soft *oice of the nun in charge caing on

other nuns to !eet$ to return fro! their daiy duties. ' nun

ca!e out of the *egetabe garden$ another fro! ceaning the

abbey$ another fro! her hagiography and another fro!

!onitoring the church. 'fter ha*ing sat there for a whie$ she

entered the church and$ hidden in a dar corner$ she continuedto cry.

&auina !arried at an eary age. -n part she had decided to

get !arried for the sae of gaining independence fro! her


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parents$ with a itte enthusias! and ad*ice fro! third parties

(A:e is a good !an and he o*es you$ e*entuay you wi o*e

hi! too.B)

' went we at first unti the rigid e*eryday routine$ the

!onotony$ and two chidren were born. Two anges that is; a

gir first$ Sophia$ and three years ater a boy na!ed 'nastasis.

The pu,,e was soon co!peted$ the circe was neary

perfect. ' happy !other$ a wonderfu husband$ no one had

anything bad to say about her. 'nd her husband worshipped

her. E*en so$ so!ething !ore was needed in order to

co!pete the circe. The Gwo!an in her was !issing. The

wo!an in her was hurting because e*erything was en*iabe$and she hersef fet the *oid$ she !issed o*e$ the big o*e that

she had ne*er i*ed.

't a ti!e when things at ho!e were not going we at a

with her husband$ she succu!bed to a stranger$ a sweet o*er$

a cient fro! the ad*ertising agency where she wored. 't

east thats what she thought$ because when she reaised what

was reay going on it was too ate. hen you get too cose to

fire you wi burn. 'nd fire had surrounded &auina and

punished her for her wish to fee ie a senti!enta wo!an.

She ga*e her body for this cause; she beca!e a whore as she

saw it in body with tragic conse4uences.

The tre!be was strong$ but she woud get through it if

there were no other tre!bes after that. The unnown cient$

the seducti*e G'donis that !ised &auina was a fraud$ a

!onster$ who$ as soon as he got what he wanted and had her where he wanted her$ showed his true coours. =ne day$ in one

of the ousy hote roo!s in which they usuay !et in pri*ate$

he tod her that if she wanted to gain her freedo! bac$ she

woud ha*e to beco!e bait and seduce a *ery weHnown

cient of her co!pany. G'donis and his coaborators were

ooing for a way to Gnai this !an down and bac!ai hi!.

So!ebody with a conficting interest had paid the! to set

this whoe dirty networ up$ in the !idde of which &auinawas nai*ey standing. She now had to firt with a stranger$

foo hi! and brea his ho!e for her to ha*e !ere hope that


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she woud get out of this !ess Gcean and return to her

husband and chidren. :ow naL*e and wea had she been?

She put her head up. She didnt e*en reaise how ong she

had been crying there unti she suddeny sensed she wasnt

aone. She saw a *ery sy!pathetic face ooing at her$ an od

priest$ and she was surprised. -t was the first ti!e she had

co!e across hi! since this was a nuns !onastery. :e$ on the

other hand$ see!ed to read her thoughts$ and said>

A:eo !y chid$ -! ather -erocis. Today is riday and

- ca!e here for the e*ening prayers. - co!e fro! a *iage

nearby$ and - hep out fro! ti!e to ti!e. Thats why you see!e here. ut - can see that youre upset. hy are you crying$

whats troubing you$ do you want to ta to !e about itJB

AThan you father$ but - thin that -! not ready to ta

about it. So !uch has happened in !y ife recenty fro!

which - ha*e$ it see!s$ escaped. The wound eft in !y sou

hasnt yet heaed$ and - ha*e to earn to i*e with it for the

sae of peope - treasure the !ost.B

A/isten to !e !y chid$ - dont !ean to pressure you but

-! a spiritua person$ - !ean$ you can confess to !e. -f you

e*er fee the need to do so$ co!e and find !e$ here$ eary on a

riday. %o you ha*e a spiritua fatherJB

+o$ she didnt$ she wasnt the reigious type. She beie*ed

that confession was so!ething other peope did$ not her. She

was asha!ed. To re*ea hersef in front of a stranger$ e*en if

he was a priest$ to te hi! what she did$ in e*ery detai. +o$she coudnt. She coudnt bear the thought. She fet

unco!fortabe and stood up; she wiped her eyes$ issed ather

-erociss hand and e7ited the church.

'!ost running$ she crossed the yard$ through the trees

and got out onto the road. She got into her car and tried to

ca! down before setting off. :er husband and chidren at

ho!e were waiting for her. :er rea word was waiting for

herKor !aybe her fase oneK


14/21

PART TWO


15/21

The Book

-n ife$ what we ca a coincidence so!eti!es isnt. -ts an

encounter of stars that eads us to a !eeting with our destiny.

+othing ends; on !any occasions fate wea*es ifetowards its oo! in such a ce*er way that it scares you. This

fear aso !aes you oo at ife straight in the eye and face it$

foow it whie it taes you to your drea!s. -t was a tough and

difficut road on which &auina$ %ionysis and @iannis had

found the!se*es.

:e too the ast page fro! the printer in his hands. :e

eaned bac in his chair and started reading the concusionfro! the beginning again. :e ied it; his eyes fied with

tears$ not so !uch about the content of his words and the

buoyant finae$ but !osty because of the hea*y oad he was

carrying on his shouders. :e had finished the boo that he

had panned for !any years. ' boo$ which he wrote with so

!uch assiduity and o*e. The story of %ionysis and &auina$

e7acty as it was narrated to hi! in the 3onastery of the oosfi*e years ago$ was beco!ing a boo$ his !ost concrete

creation; that was certain. The !an that had changed his ife

on a war! afternoon in 8uy was the eading character in the

boo that he had


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:e conte!pated !o!ent by !o!ent a the years that

had gone by. :is rebirth$ his first short stories that were

e!braced by his readers$ his coaboration with a s!a

pubishing house$ as we as his e*oution. The pubishing

house grew and so did he. :e beca!e a sharehoder of the

pubishing house and their coaboration continued s!oothy.

:e had nothing to co!pain about. Then$ a series of poe!s

that had recei*ed a ot of positi*e criticis! was pubished and

after$ his first no*e. :e ne*er ooed bac$ he had foowed

his drea!s and they had beco!e true.

This boo was a duty$ thats how he saw it$ a hoy duty to

a person that had raised his stature and ignored his position$his !oney and power. ith a soe weapon in hand$ so!e

beiefs and *irtues$ this person accepted to ose e*erything in

order to be a correct person but aso to co*er up for another

hu!an being$ a wo!an.

:e was patient$ his ideas !atured in his head for years; he

studied e*ery detai and waited. :e wanted to rise first$ to

succeed$ to get attention$ to beco!e so!eone and then to write

and !ore i!portanty pubish his boo. This ti!e had co!e.

:e had no doubt about its success.

:e had aready booed an appoint!ent for the foowing

day with his friend and pubisher$ 3inas %a!anaai and

friend Stea &apade!etriotou who woud hep hi!$ as aways$

with so!e good ideas and with the editing and for! of the

boo.

Suddeny he interrupted his thoughts; he stood up$ went tohis bacony and it a cigarette. There was so!ething bothering

hi!; he had ne*er found out what had beco!e of %ionysis.

Their encounter that afternoon at the !onastery was their

first and their ast. 'nd then$ respectfu of his pro!ise to

%ionysis$ he ne*er tod anyone about what he had heard that

afternoon. :e ne*er ooed for &auina or %ionysis. G:ow

strange ife is$ he conte!pated. G- !et a !an in so!e

!onastery; he changed !y ife and our paths ne*er crossedagain.

hat bothered hi! the !ost was that he woud pubish a

boo that tod the story about a !an$ and that !an didnt e*en


17/21

now there woud be a boo about hi!. :ow !uch he wanted

to see hi! again? ho nows$ they coud ha*e beco!e

friends. :e wanted to ha*e a coffee with hi! and ta about

anything$ he wanted the! to get to now each other better$

e7change opinions$ wa together$ ta about things that two

friends coud ta aboutKabout anything.

Stea waed in and out of the office with her eyes

swoen fro! her ac of seep$ s!oing and !aybe fro!

crying too as she waited for @iannis restessy. hen she saw

hi! she

A@ianni$ - now you 4uite we$ - beie*ed in you; at ti!es

we ca!e coser to each other and - thin you aowed !e to

see things in you that no one ese can identify. ut ast night -found out that - was wrong. hat - now about you was ony

the tip of the iceberg$ which - woud say is not an iceberg but

a *ocano. This boo$ for !e$ who nows you better$ is your

own sou in a coded for!.

Aithin these pages - earned things that - didnt e*en

reaise e7isted and because you deposited your sou$ and e*ery

sou in this word is uni4ue$ your boo is uni4ue. The story is

nice$ it fows$ and its si!pe. - dont now if you are referringto true e*ents$ or to peope you ha*e !et or not but that

doesnt !atter. hat - now$ and beie*e !e !any peope

beie*e that what - ha*e to say in !y fied of wor can be


18/21

considered as scripture$ is that here we ha*e !ateria for

success. e need to hande it as suits it$ with respect and

co!passion in order to finay !ae a boo out of it. e wi

not change it$ we wont add or tae away anything to gi*e it

!ore ogic or tae away fro! its character$ its uni4ueness. e

wi si!py hande it as we woud hande a chid. e wi oo

after it$ we wi dress it war!y$ we wi hep it wa$ and we

wi pay with it. 'nd then$ where we thin we are the ony

ones supporting it$ it wi reciprocate its !agic$ its char!. '

these thoughts and feeings you ha*e written down within

these pages wi co!e ai*e$ wi tae fesh and bood and$ ie

the bow of Cupid$ it wi start to war! the hearts of the peopewho read the boo. They wi be e!braced by an ei7ir of

truth$ the nectar of the sou. They wi read it and they

disco*er their reaities$ their own se*es.B

She stopped and too a deep breath. She was out of breath

and ooed at hi! seriousy.

A@ianni$ this boo is good and we !ust treat it as it

deser*es$ starting fro! now.B

@iannis nodded in appro*a. -n front of hi! stood a

professiona who spoe about his wor with !ore passion

than he hi!sef.

Stea see!ed to ha*e co!posed a her energy to say

what she had and coapsed on the sofa. @iannis headed

towards the window$ it a cigarette and ooed out$ hiding a

tear that was ready to o*erfow fro! his right eye. -n the

bacground he heard Stea ca 3r %a!anaai$ setting up a!eeting for that *ery sa!e night between the three of the! in

a pi,,eria in MoonaiKThey had a ot to discuss and e*en

!ore to do.


19/21

The Success

The success of the boo was beyond e*ery e7pectation. The

pubic o*ed it instanty$ the pubishing house did a good


20/21

AE*erybody has a story$ so!ething to te us and teach

us$B he woud often say and s!ie. :e s!ied contenty about

who he was$ about his perse*erance$ about his insistence and

his ideas that ne*er faied to reward hi!.

@iannis continued writing artices now that he had !ore

e7posure. :is artices !eant so!ething and were foowed.

@iannis 'idonidis coud not send an artice to a newspaper

and be ignored. The the!es he chose were !osty socia$ witty

or accusations for negati*e associations of the syste!.

hether it was a scanda$ an incident or so!ething i!portant

he grasped the opportunity and wrote about it. :e considered

it his duty towards society and his feow hu!an beings$seeing as he woud ne*er beco!e a poitician. :e didnt ha*e

the patience nor coud he ie and do fa*ours. =f course$

sowyHsowy he reaised that a !an can do !uch !ore than

he coud e*er i!agine.

This was @iannis$ or a!ost. e forgot to !ention the

two persons he had in his ife$ or three. The one we ha*e

aready !entioned. -t was his friend$ oder by age$ Stea

&apade!etriotou who supported hi! e*en when no one new

hi!. She was di*orced. 3arriage was not for her. She had a

twentyHtwoHyearHod daughter$ a speech therapist$ with who!

she !aintained !ore of a friendship rather than a !otherH

daughter reationship. :er reationship with her e7Hhusband

was aso friendy. Stea was a good person and was *aued in

her fied. She got cose to @iannis at an eary stage and a rare

friendship e*o*ed$ which bonded the!. Their friendship had passed between the sheets e*en though she was twe*e years

oder than hi!$ but when this happens and the friendship

re!ains$ nothing can brea it.

The other person in his ife was his brother$ 'is$ three

years younger than hi!; a !usician who i*ed in 'thens$

where he studied. :e was co!ing cose to finishing his studies

and was woring in a nightcub with i*e 6ree !usic to

co*er his e7penses. :is drea! was to get into an orchestra; he payed the fute and !aybe one day woud acco!pish his

drea!. Fp to here e*erything we$ nothing pecuiar$ two

brothers$ @iannis and 'is$ who i*ed in 'thens$ were *ery


21/21

cose to each other and who each had their persona ife. '

co!!on story. 'is was a ho!ose7ua; howe*er$ it was

so!ething that ony @iannis new about in the fa!iy and that

others potentiay aso new through whispers.

Their parents$ especiay their !other$ new it; she was a

!other after a$ but she ne*er said anything. 'is$ through

his difference$ had chosen sience. :e fought aone$ he created

his own defences$ his own word$ and !o*ed aong with

dignity. hen he chose to spea$ he spoe to his brother$

@iannis. hen you confir! so!ething that you aready now$

or at east you sense it$ then you find yoursef face to face with

reaity.@iannis was openH!inded; he stood by his brother$ they

spoe$ and he sat down and istened to 'iss feeings with

sy!pathy. :e accepted hi! as he was$ no co!paints$ nothing

probe!atic.

A@oure hu!an$ -! hu!an$B he said$ Aand a good person

too. - aways be by your side$B he co!forted hi!$ Aand - can

understand the oneiness$ the distress and the batte that you

ha*e to fight in a society thats biased whie i*ing with

peope that dont accept you. Thats why you ha*e to !ae

sure that youre aways decent. ro! there on its your right to

fa in o*e with whoe*er you want and howe*er you want.B

's brothers$ they were reay cose and 'is owed a ot

to @iannis because he supported hi! and heped hi!. @iannis

aso owed a ot to his brother. 'is had introduced hi! to his

!use$ Erato. Erato was a bright pear in @ianniss ife. ithher we concude to the third person in @ianniss ife.

Their story was not unusua but at the sa!e ti!e it was

specia for the!. They !et and got cose *ery 4uicy. Erato

payed the *ioin and was a *ery good friend of 'is. They

fe in o*e and i*ed together. +othing coudy in their

reationship$ as e*erything was based in honesty and trust ; it

was a nor!a story that probaby woud ha*e had a happy

ending$ if we consider !arriage and chidren as a happyending or the beginning of a ifeti!e which is !ore stabe$

with different

Documents

The Monastery of the Fools