Week 2 Story: Finally a Time to Learn

Veli knew it was time for finals. He knew his friends were trying to concentrate and study for their exams. It was just far more fun to sing, dance, and laugh.
He was hushed by his friends. He was quieted by the librarian. Finally, Veli was tossed out of the library for causing a disturbance. He found his way to the courtyard, where in less stressful seasons, the students would gather to enjoy the sun, talk, or play music. Today there was no one there but one older woman feeding the birds.
Veli couldn't help himself. He ran straight towards the woman and the flock of birds. Before he could reach the birds, the woman looked up at Veli and asked, "What joy do you find in these actions?" Veli stopped. He felt as if he had lived this moment before. He wasn't always Veli. It wasn't always a woman with birds - but there was always a moment and a question.
He stopped to think about the question and slowly walked toward the bench the woman was sitting on.
"I don't know that I find joy," Veli replied. "But my friends don't talk to me very much, and when I am loud at least I know they still see me."
The woman looked into Veli's eyes and said, "I see you here beside me. Perhaps your friends see you as well. Talk to them, talk to new people, while people will still talk to you."
Veli considered the woman's words. While they made sense, he knew they would be hard. Laughing, dancing, and singing all the time was an easy way to engage with the world. Changing the way he talked to his friends and approached other people would be hard.
"I think I understand what you are saying. If I continue to do things like getting kicked out of the library for being loud while my friends are studying... it may not matter that that is how I get them to talk to me. They will not be my friends. No one will be my friend." Veli stood up. "Thank you for speaking with me. I think I need to begin apologizing to some people."

"feeding the birds" by j3ssl33 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: The Jataka: Volume 1 translated by Robert Chalmers. 

Author's Note - This is my twist on the tales told in the Unruly Monks.

I wanted to tell a version of this story where the Brother - Veli in my story (name picked from a list here and meaning brother) - finally shows signs of breaking out of the cycle. The overall "feel" off the stories in the Unruly Monks reminded me a bit of the western/Christian idea of everything having a season. Which some folks may be familiar with either from the lyrics to the song Turn, Turn, Turn or from the biblical verses in Ecclesiastes. (Which are directly quoted in the song.) 

Either way, the reference is that there is a time to dance/sing/laugh/etc and a time to be quiet, mourn and so on. There is not specifically referenced a time to learn, which is what the Brother may have needed, again and again. A quiet moment to have someone say "Hey friend, what's the purpose of all of this?"