Fable about the little Chamois who didn’t want to sleep

Written by: Alba Marcoli, clinical psichologist

Translated by: Judit Gilani, sleep consultant

Among the animals in the Seven Oaks forest were the families of chamois, that were rarely seen around because they spent much of their time climbing the cliffs and did so cheerfully that when you happened to encounter them, it was a pleasure to see them.

But one day, strangely enough, one of the little chamois, at nightfall, when he must have been already on the threshold of dreamland, began to show signs of resisting to fall asleep, to everyone’s amazement.

At first his parents thought it would pass soon and did not pay too much attention to it, but as time went on, they noticed that it was beginning to become a real habit. Whenever all the little ones in the family were already in bed and about to fall asleep, here you are, the little puppy Giorgino would get more and more lively and cheerful, as if the day was beginning and not ending, and he would start making up all the excuses he could to keep his parents awake, as well.

He would either ask for some water because he was thirsty, or he wanted to go to the toilet to pee, or he felt a draft of air coming into the den, or heard strange noises at the door; sometimes it was a sudden tummy ache or some other strange pain, but the fact is that every night there were some new excuses and Giorgino got better and better at inventing them, just so that he wouldn’t sleep and his parents wouldn’t either. Daddy and Mommy Chamois at first were very patient, because they remembered that it had happened to them, too, when they were little and that they didn’t like being scolded by their parents at all, and so they indulged him and stayed to keep him company for a while.

But as the nights went by and this never ended, the next mornings their faces were more and more tired and fatigued.

Until one day they decided to visit Donkey Sapiens to talk to him about the problem and to try to understand. They got up very early in the morning, before the sun came up, and walked through the woods because he lived on the other side of the forest. When they finally arrived at his den, they knocked and knocked, but no one answered.

I wonder where we can find him?

Mom and Dad Chamois said to each other, looking around puzzled. At that moment they noticed that there was an old blackbird with an all-yellow beak hopping on the fresh grass, and they asked him.

I can tell, you live somewhere else in the forest,

replied the amused blackbird,

because around here, we all know where Sapiens is until mid-morning. He is in the glade at the top of the hill that goes down to the river. That’s where he goes every day to think and write in his little notebook. If you wait a little, you will see him coming back.

Indeed, twelve blackbird hops had not yet passed, when the old donkey was seen coming down the hill and walking along the path that led to his house. When he arrived, Mom and Dad Chamois told him about their problem, all concerned.

But Sapiens did not seem at all surprised or astonished; it seemed to him like something that could happen, just like so many other things in life.

Were none of you afraid to fall asleep as a child?

he finally asked as soon as they had finished talking.

Well, of course,

replied Dad Chamois,

maybe Giorgino takes after me because I, too, until I started to come out of the den and get my own food, I remember that at night I always had to go to sleep together with my parents, otherwise I was afraid of the night.

Me, too, I was really terrified,

Mom Chamois added,

I remember I was often awake at night because my daddy was very strict and thought I was having a tantrum about not wanting to sleep and wouldn’t let me go to their bed. And the rare times I slept, I would dream that a monster was coming to get me and I would wake up all sweaty and freezing with fear.

Even Giorgino, when he manages to fall asleep, always says that he dreams of two characters: the fairy from the East, who is friends with all the cubs and the witch from the West, who takes them away and kills them. Georgino does not want to fall asleep at night, I believe, because he does not want to dream of the witch of the West!

said Daddy Chamois thoughtfully.

This is very interesting!

Sapiens then noted.

Let’s try to understand why for Giorgino the good fairy comes from the East and the bad witch comes from the West! What happens every morning in the East?

The sun rises and a new day begins!

replied Dad and Mom Chamois together.

Then perhaps it means that the fairy from the East, who is the friend of all the cubs, is like the sun, who rises every morning to make the new day begin and accompanies the forest dwellers on their journey, lighting their way. I, too, who am now old, have for many years gone every day to greet the rising sun and to think with him about the things I then write down in my notebook.

But then the wicked witch, that Giorgino is afraid of, is the one from the West, because that’s where the sun sets and then night comes?

asked Mom Chamois, suddenly struck by the explanation that had immediately made sense to her after Sapiens’ words.

It may indeed be so,

replied the donkey,

For the cubs, that are active during the day, have always been afraid of the darkness of the night. But not all the cubs of the forest are afraid of the dark, there are also those who are afraid of the light and who hide themselves for good during the day, to come out only after the sun has set and night has come, like the young bats or dormice, or many other nocturnal animals.

But it’s because they are used to living at night and recognizing all the voices of darkness and silence that they are familiar with and keep them company,

said Dad Chamois,

But then, if that’s the case, it means that it’s not so important whether if it’s about day or night, but that we can see and hear the things that are familiar and that don’t make us feel lonely!

added Mom Chamois.

And in fact, now that I think about it, Giorgino has an old acorn that he holds tight, whenever he is afraid! You can tell, he needs it so he doesn’t feel lonely. So, when he doesn’t want to fall asleep, does he do so to avoid making the journey to dreamland alone?

If you thought it through, that may indeed be so,

Sapiens replied.

But tell me: what is the exact moment when Georgino begins to be as viscous and cheerful as if he were standing guard?

It is always at sunset,

replied Dad and Mom Chamois together.

It’s so timely that it happens just about every night now.

This is also very interesting,

pondered Sapiens aloud,

Because just yesterday Dad and Mom Dormouse visited me and they had the same problem with one of their cubs, but for him the fear began exactly at sunrise. You can see that the setting and rising of the sun mean the same thing to Giorgino and the little dormouse.

Surely for Giorgino the setting of the sun means the end of the day, which is his world,

replied Daddy Chamois.

But for the little dormouse, the rising of the sun means the end of the night which is his world,

added Mom Chamois who had already empathised with the little dormouse’s problem, as well.

There, then, if this is true, it means that both Giorgino and the little dormouse are afraid of the end of something, namely, their own world. Then maybe the two cubs are afraid of the end of the world, that is, death.

It’s true,

added Dad Chamois suddenly brightening up.

In fact, Giorgino often says that he does not want to fall asleep because he is afraid of dying in his sleep.

Then maybe we are on the right track,

Sapiens reflected,

because the little dormouse had the same fear.

Yes, but now that we understand that they don’t want to sleep because they are afraid of dying in their sleep, what can we do to help them? It seems to me that understanding is not enough.

asked Mom Chamois, who continued to be worried.

Understanding is always the first step and is the most important, but the problem is to understand with the heart, as well. So, to you, what feeling does the thought of a familiar thing ending bring?

asked Sapiens.

It always gives me a little melancholy,

said Dad Chamois,

like every time someone leaves or dies.

You see that something that ends makes everyone melancholy, even grown-ups. Just imagine how much it must do to a puppy, who has not yet become familiar with the world as he has always been protected by his parents. It must make him so melancholy that sometimes the puppy in his head decides to erase it and make it nonexistent. So Giorgino tries perhaps to erase the night, staying awake as during the day, and the little dormouse tries to erase the day in the same way. Both of them refuse to accept the end of something that is familiar and the beginning of something that is unfamiliar. Giorgino stands guard all night to keep the fairy from the East, who is a friend to the cubs, to stick around and avoid the witch from the West, who kidnaps them.

But the rhythm of life is made up of both day and night,

sighed Dad Chamois,

so we have to help Giorgino realize that, because if he’s afraid of the rhythm of life, it is as if he’s afraid to live.

Of course,

agreed Sapiens

so what do you think Georgino’s real problem is?

Certainly not that of not wanting to sleep, but that of not wanting to grow!

replied Mom Chamois decisively,

but Giorgino will not always have daddy and mommy near to protect him all his life, as we do now. So he, too, has to learn to grow up, to be able to defend himself and be independent and find out how to jump from cliff to cliff, to look for new grasslands, to play with the water in the streams, and to learn everything that forest life teaches.

You know what we could do?

said Dad Chamois, who already had an initial idea.

We could start by protecting him a little less, as we both tend to protect him more than the others, since he’s the smallest.

And then we could…

added Mom Chamois.

Sure, and also…

replied Dad Chamois, and by the time they had finished talking to each other, they already knew where to start, without needing to ask Sapiens, who, in any case, could not have made any decision instead of them, because he was another person and not them.

So it happened that Mom and Dad Chamois thanked, old donkey and returned to their corner of the forest to take up everyday life. But this time they knew a few more things and, without them realizing it, little things began to change in their den and Georgino began to be much less dependent on them and more confident. And as the days went by, he, too, began to learn how to climb higher and higher cliffs, discover new springs in the bushes of the forest, find new friends to play with and new stories to listen to and tell.

And so it was, too, that once again the old river of the Seven Oaks forest saw a cub gradually learning to grow big and strong, among the lights and shadows of the woods, as has always happened every spring since rivers have flowed over this old land.