The Mirror Man

By David E. Juniman

Moses is a mysterious man about whom no one knows much. He is known as The Mirror Man because the profession from which he makes a living is mirror making. However, he is so much more than that. He rents an attic room in a house, and the terms of this lease always brought happy smiles and laughter to all who heard them. Moses had no money to pay rent. At the time of the rental negotiations, he said, Everyone gives what he has. I will give you stories! He then said that he was going to tell a story right then and there, as his security deposit

Using storytelling as a device, The Mirror Man brings a town of people together as a story within a story. He demonstrates that the unknown can be known and the possibility of experiencing higher dimensions of consciousness and wisdom happily exist.

The stories The Mirror Man tells are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of years old. They have survived in the consciousnesses of schooled people as well as illiterate people because they are about the human condition and because we all have something in common with what these stories impart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 19, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450218528

David E. Juniman

David Juniman was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He has a degree in business administration. He is a textile specialist and CEO of Footloose Dancewear Inc.dba/Prima Soft Corporation. His lifetime passions have been esotericism, psychology, literature, and writing. He now resides in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Marlena.

Book preview

Contents

PREFACE

THE MIRROR MAN

THE POT AND THE BABY

THE WOODSMAN AND THE BEAR

THE HUMP OF THE HUNCHBACK

THE DREAM

THE SADDLE

THE DEATH OF THE VALIANT

THE HAIR (A bad joke)

DON’T PUSH IT!

BY THE SWEAT OF YOUR FOREHEAD

TO MAKE A WRONG MOVE IS A MISTAKE, TO MAKE IT AGAIN IS A SIN

I AM GOING TO BE LIKE YOU, DAD

MY NOSE IS CAUGHT!

APOLOGY WORSE THAN THE OFFENSE

MR. INAPPROPRIATE

THE MESSAGE OF THE TOMBSTONE

DESSERT PREPARED IN THIRTY YEARS

THE KING AND THE NOSE

DEATH IS RIDICULOUS

EPILOGUE

PREFACE

I have wanted to write The Mirror Man for a long time. Or it might be more correct to say I have wanted to let the Mirror Man tell his stories for a long time.

I always put it off until tomorrow because putting the stories into words, sending the words to ink and paper, felt like I was separating myself from them. When I finally realized tomorrow will always become today, I started writing.

The stories The Mirror Man is about to tell are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of years old. They have survived in the consciousnesses of schooled people as well as illiterate people because they are about the human condition and because we all have something in common with what these stories impart.

This book is a lot more than a storybook. Behind the disguise of the stories, the Mirror Man tells us his own story and the story of human beings’ possible arrival at a higher state of consciousness.

I was no farther than a few pages into writing the book when the Mirror Man took over. From there on, he did not permit me to write anything that he did not suggest.

Keeping all that in mind, I think it would be fair to say that all credits should belong to the Mirror Man. All criticisms should belong to him also.

—David Juniman

THE MIRROR MAN

It was quiet and very dark. My father and I chitchatted with a few friends we had invited to dinner. We had just finished dinner and were having coffee. In the small suburb in which we lived, winter nights always felt a lot longer than they were. Tonight was no exception.

Suddenly a terrible scream or screech or a mixture of both engulfed the house. One might think anyone hearing such a thing would run as far away as possible, but the reactions of my father and me were very different from those of our guests. Our guests sat on the edges of their chairs, ready to take off because they had never heard the scream before. We, on the other hand, were very calm and ready to explain the scream, which periodically but infrequently occurred.

Finally my father explained, It is Moses. It is Moses. Do not be alarmed. He is having an insanity attack. Unfortunately, that explanation was not any less worrisome to our guests than the event itself.

Moses was a mysterious man about whom no one knew much. He rented an attic room in our house, and the terms of his lease always brought happy smiles and laughter to all who heard them. Moses had no money to pay rent. At the time of our rental negotiations, he said, Everyone gives what he has. I will give you stories! He then said he would tell us a story right then and there as a security deposit.

THE POT AND THE BABY

A man went to his next-door neighbor and said, I am having a few guests to dinner tomorrow night, but I do not have a large enough pot to cook in. May I borrow one from you for a couple of days?

The neighbor gave his friend a pot that was not too old and still in good shape, and everyone was happy. A few days later the borrower came back with the pot and told his friend, Thank you very much. I do not know what I would have done without your help. However, there was a small pot inside the big one.

What is this? I did not give you the small pot, the neighbor said.

Oh, I forgot to tell you; the pot had a baby. Since the big pot was yours, the baby is yours as well.

The owner of the pot was very happy with the gain. A few days later when the man returned to borrow another pot for another party, the neighbor gave him the biggest and the best pot he had.

Days and weeks went by, and the man had not returned the pot. The owner of the pot politely approached the man and said, You forgot to return the pot.

The borrower replied, The pot died!

What are you talking about? Pots do not die, said the lender.

The borrower smiled and replied, How come you believe a pot can have a baby, but you do not believe pots can die?

My father and I had instantly accepted the story as a security deposit.

Hardly anyone referred to Moses by his name; he was known as the Mirror Man. That is because the profession from which he made a living was mirror making. He had a small workshop in a rough