too much good is very bad

too much good is very bad

fiction
edward w pritchard

The nuances of politics and a life at court has always been enough for me to be happy. Wealth and power leave that to others, I like the intrigue, the backstabbing, the collapse of friendship, affiliation and self respect that being near the centers of power causes.

Crete, is my fourth such assignment. You call it Minoan civilization, there in the future. It's difficult to describe to you because of language differences between our cultures and time differences, of course; I live 3800 years into your past. Still I think you will get my point, beauty is the lust of the eye. My eyes betray me and are keeping me from doing what I like most and my duty as a diplomat.

I am from a Sumerian city, in your time dissolved into a piece of forgotten desert but in my time rich, important and powerful. My city sends emissaries to Egypt, where I served at court, and other such places; I have seen much.

Now I am ruined. My talent as a diplomat shrivels. My eyes betray me. I can't concentrate on my duties.

When I sit at the palace near Knossos, during a long meeting, fete, or party I am unable to concentrate for obsessing on these Cretan women. They are no different than a hundred others I have been near. At court the women are beautiful, always, so what. It never came to my attention or bothered me before.

Here at Crete the women wear a full skirt, very elaborate and curled hair. It's the bare breasts that intrigues me. They sit around that way, here at the palace as they go about their day. Of course it's not like that in my home Country. Hence the problem. I won't go into further detail, but you see the problem. Too much good is very bad.