Nick from New York

"What about you, dude? You haven't even introduced yourself," said Jeff as they got closer to Woodstock. The bigger guy with the radical beard glanced up and grinned.  "Well, I'm Nick and we are heading to my neck of the woods. I'm from New York! If we have time for one more story, I've got one about a guy I heard about who lived in Greenwhich Village near me. It's kind of a downer but for some reason it makes me feel good in the end," Nick explained to the group. "We've got time, Nick. Go for it!" exclaimed Jeff and Nick began his tale.

Most people in New York City in 1968 were familiar with the Hare Krisha movement. It was hard to miss the crazy looking dudes in the orange robes dancing around on the street, and the bells they played with their fingers played the most far-out tune most had ever heard. Their presence was annoying to some, but for others, especially the hippie brothers and sisters who lived in Greenwich Village, those crazy monks created a radical, peaceful atmosphere to exist in. One of those hippies, Hugo, was particularly taken by the movement and wanted badly to be a part of it. This caused some rifts in the group that Hugo lived with in the Village, because most of them weren't down with the religion of the Hare Krishnas. Of course they loved them like they loved every other brother and sister who lived on Mother Earth, but they didn't think that an organized religion really went along with the hippie movement. Religions always made outcasts out of some group of people and the hippies wanted to accept everyone. This opposition didn't deter Hugo, and he vowed to learn the chant of the Hare Krishnas and understand their philosophies.

Image Information: Hare Krishna Devotees Web Source: Robert Altman Photography

He met a really rad Krishna on the street one afternoon and asked about what he was chanting. The Krishna told him all about what they believed and what their chant meant to them, along with the ringing bells and the orange robes. A lot of their beliefs stemmed from the idea that the soul of every person was an everlasting personal identity that withstood the passing of time. In order to feel closer to their God, Krishna, they repeated their mantra for everyone to hear. He taught the words to Hugo. "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare" Hugo walked the streets with his friend, practicing the chant and spreading the word of the movement. He wore an orange robe and played his bells, fitting right in with the rest of the followers and enjoyed his life. Unfortunately, his hippie friends weren't chill with his new faith. They needed to stop him from connecting the Hare Krishna ideals with them, so they hired a dude who had just gotten out of prison. They didn't believe in violence so they just told the criminal to do whatever he had to in order to stop the chanting. The guy ambushed Hugo one night when he was on his way back from a Hare Krishna meeting. Hugo was stabbed and left for dead in an alley, but he kept chanting the mantra to keep himself at peace and his mind off the pain. When Hugo's Hare Krishna friend noticed that Hugo didn't show up for their morning chant, he went looking for him. He asked around to all of Hugo's former hippie friends but no one could point him in the right direction. Suddenly, the beautiful grooves of Hugo's voice chanting the mantra rose up over the noise of the crowded Village streets, and his friend followed the sound. He found Hugo in the alley, mortally wounded but still chanting. He called for the other Hare Krishnas to come and hold a makeshift service to allow Hugo to die in peace. When they were finished, his friend knelt next to Hugo and spoke with him. "How are you still singing our song with your wounds? You should have died!" he said, motioning towards Hugo's stab wounds. "I kept chanting to try and ignore the pain, and suddenly Krishna appeared to me. He said I would stay alive until I was ready to let go and stop the chant, so I kept going until you found me and performed the service. Thank you, Brother," and with that, Hugo passed away.  The hippies, if they could be called that with all of their hatred towards their fellow brothers and sisters because of religion, were sent to prison for conspiracy to commit murder, and the murderer was sent back to jail. The Krishnas that Hugo had chanted with for so many days continued their daily routine, but had a little more faith in their chant because of Hugo's miraculous time with them. Maybe the hippies and the Krishnas were more alike than they believed, and Hugo embodied them both!

The two chicks in the bus were tearing up and the dudes were just as touched. They were totally into the story and didn't even notice when Jeff made a turn off the highway. Suddenly there were cars and hippies everywhere. They group had made it to Woodstock and it was everything they had known it would be. The music was blaring, the brothers and sisters were swaying to the beats, and there was peace and love in the air. They passed a copacetic looking guy as they pulled off the main road holding a sign. WELCOME TO WOODSTOCK! PEACE, LOVE & ROCK AND ROLL!

Author's Note This is a retelling of "The Prioress's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the original, a Jewish boy named Hugh became enthralled by the song Ave Maria and asked a classmate what it was about. When Hugh learned that it was an ode to the Blessed Mother, he decided to learn it by Christmas to show his reverence to her. His classmate taught him the words on their walks to school and Hugh never stopped singing. The other Jews in the area were angry at Hugh for turning on his religion and moving towards Christianity, so they hired a murderer to kill him. The murderer slit Hugh's throat and left him for dead in a ditch. Hugh's mother went searching for him but no one could tell her his location. She heard him singing and found him in the ditch, and was followed by many Christians who heard the singing. They had the Jewish people who conspired to kill him and the murderer put to death and then held a mass for Hugh. The abbot asked how Hugh stayed alive with his throat slit, and the boy explained that the Holy Mother came to him in the ditch and said that he would stay alive with a grain on his tongue. The abbot removed the grain and Hugh died, but was revered by all of the Christians.  I made Hugh into Hugo and had him become a Hare Krishna, a movement in the late 60s and 70s. I changed his friend from a Christian into a Hare Krishna and also made him sing the mantra instead of Ave Maria. I tried to bring together the Hare Krishna and the hippies, and also showed that true hippies would never conspire to kill someone for having different beliefs.

Bibliography "The Prioress's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer, from The Canterbury Tales (1478). Web Source: The Baldwin Project

I Can See the Introduction For Miles And Miles

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