We Will Not Go to the Mountain

In the first year that Eihlarian children spend in early learning, there is one particular play that they will stage repeatedly within their class. It is called We Will Not Go to the Mountain, and it is about a father and daughter who go on a series of errands. It is an introduction to the art of performance, but also a necessary step toward learning social skills and planning.

Summary

To prepare for the play, the students all decide on five objects that the characters will collect. Two children take the roles of father and daughter, and five others represent each location that they visit. The remaining children take the part of the audience.
The play begins with the father and daughter sitting in chairs that represent their home. Off to the side, another child representing the meadow holds paper flowers and one of the designated objects.

Father: We don't have (object 1). Let's go to the mountain to get one.
Daughter: I don't want to go to the mountain! It's so far away and I'm too small to walk there.
Father: All right, we will not go to the mountain. Let's go to the meadow instead and get (object 2).
Daughter: That's good. The meadow is so close that I can see it.

The father and daughter walk in a large circle. Meanwhile, other children remove the chairs. The child with paper flowers moves to the middle of the area, and another child holding a waterfall jar and another object stands off to the side. The daughter skips and hops around while the father takes object 2 from the child representing the meadow.

Father: We have (object 2), but we still don't have (object 1). Let's go to the mountain to get one.

They repeat the same dialogue as before, but with a third object to be found at the river. The next scene at the lake is the same. The fourth scene at the forest ends differently:

Father: We have (object 5), but we still don't have (object 1). Let's go to the mountain to get one. Look, it's close by.
Daughter: Oh, it is! I can see it! Yes, let's go to the mountain.

The father and daughter walk in a large circle. Meanwhile, the child holding the paper leaves moves to the other side of the area while the child carrying the small rock and object 1 moves to the middle. The daughter skips and hops around while the father takes object 1 from the child representing the mountain.

Daughter: Father, we have (lists the 5 objects). Let's go home.
Father: I don't want to go home! Home is so far away and I'm too tired to walk there.
Daughter: All right, we will not go home. Let's go to the forest instead.

This is the end of the play, unless the children really want to do the whole thing in reverse.

Purpose

For some children, this play is their first extended interaction with peers from other clans. They are used to behaving a particular way with their family and haven't had much exposure to Formal Eihlari. The play provides a structured activity that helps them adjust to the school environment and encourages their social development.
The maestros choose the objects the first time, but thereafter leave it up to the children so they can learn how to make decisions as a group. The maestros will still assist in assigning parts to make sure that all the children have the experience of playing roles different from themselves.
The most important lesson is about turning an impossible-seeming task into many smaller and simpler tasks. This aspect is not something that children truly understand until later, but because of their familiarity with the play they will immediately recognize even years afterward when someone suggests "going to the meadow".

Historical Basis

This story is not part of any clan's family history. It's assumed to be one of the lesson-stories that the Water Seekers brought to Eihlari as part of their intervention.

Variations & Mutation

The play is highly strctured, but also allows for variety. The five locations are always the same: meadow, river, lake, forest, mountain. The objects are different each time, and sometimes children will bring from home the strangest things they can find to make it funnier.
The story is so recognized and so beloved that professional performers will often stage it as a scene interlude during a longer play. It is usually given a much more humorous interpretation--casting someone very small as the father and very large as the daughter, for instance, or having the location representatives move the objects around as the father tries to take them.

"You're trying to go to the mountain. Go to the meadow instead."

— every Eihlarian parent at one time or another

Writing a guide to the world as my accreditation thesis feels very much like going to the mountain. I don't know if I'll ever get there, but I know I'm making better progress by writing one article at a time than by staring at the distant unachievable goal in despair.

Scribe Elan