After the loss  of his aunt and uncle, Luke searches for his future by discovering his past. Obi-wan urges Luke to become a Jedi Knight and to learn the occult powers and techniques of the old ways. Luke goes to Degobah and becomes a student of Yoda, the Jedi Master. After a full day of training, Yoda and Luke turn their attention to the sunken craft that brought Luke to this planet....

         Standing at the water's edge, Luke saw that all but the tip of the X-wing's nose had disappeared beneath the water's surface.

         "Oh, no," moaned Luke. "We'll never get it out now." Yoda had joined them, and stamped his foot in irritation at Luke's remark. "So sure are you?" Yoda scolded, "tried have you? Always with you it can't be done. Hear you nothing that I say?" His little wrinkled face puckered with a furious scowl.

         Luke glanced at his master, then looked doubtfully toward the sunken ship.

        "Master," he said skeptically, "lifting rocks is one thing, but this is a little different." Yoda was really angry now. "No! No different!" He shouted. "The differences are in your mind. Throw them out! No longer of use are they to you."

         Luke trusted his master. If Yoda said this could be done, then maybe he should try. He looked at the downed X-wing and readied himself for maximum concentration. "Okay," he said at last, "I'll give it a try."

        Again he had spoken the wrong words. "No," Yoda said impatiently. "Try not. Do, do. Or do not. There is no try."

        Luke closed his eyes. He tried to envision the contours, the shape, to feel the weight of his X-wing fighter. And he concentrated on the movement it would make as it rose from the murky waters.

        As he concentrated, he began to hear the waters churn and gurgle, and then begin to bubble with the emerging nose of the X-wing. The tip of the fighter was slowly lifting from the water, and it hovered there for a moment, then sank back beneath the surface with a loud splash.

        Luke was drained and had to gasp for breath. "I can't," he said dejectedly. "It's too big."

         "Size has no meaning," Yoda insisted. "It matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?"

         Luke, chastened, just shook his head.

        "And well you shouldn't," the Jedi Master advised. "For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it and makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter," he said as he pinched Luke's skin.

        Yoda made a grand sweeping gesture to indicate the vastness of the universe about him. "Feel it you must. Feel the flow. Feel the force around you. Here," he said, as he pointed, "Between you and me and that tree and that rock."

         While Yoda gave his explanation of the Force, Artoo spun its domed head around, trying without success to register this "Force" on his scanners. He whistled and beeped in bafflement.

         "Yes, everywhere," Yoda continued, ignoring the little droid, "waiting to be felt and used. Yes, even between this land and that ship!"

        Then Yoda turned and looked at the swamp, and as he did the water began to swirl. Slowly, from the gently bubbling waters, the nose of the fighter appeared again.

         Luke gaped in astonishment as the X-wing gracefully rose from its watery tomb and moved majestically toward the shore.

        He silently vowed never to use the word "impossible" again. For there, standing on his tree root pedestal, was tiny Yoda, effortlessly gliding the ship from the water onto the shore. It was a sight that Luke could scarcely believe. But he knew that it was a potent example of Jedi mastery over the Force.

        Artoo, equally astounded but not so philosophical, issued a series of loud whistles, then bolted off to hide behind some giant roots.

         The X-wing seemed to float onto the beach, and then gently came to a stop.

        Luke was humbled by the feat he had witnessed and approached Yoda in awe. "I . . . " he began, dazzled. "I don't believe it."

         "That," Yoda stated emphatically, "is why you fail."

         Bewildered, Luke shook his head, wondering if he would ever rise to the station of a Jedi.

        "The Empire Strikes Back", pgs 122-124
        By Donald F. Glut, based on a story by George Lucas

To Story Beginning

        Now, Rafiki comes closer, singing and chanting right beside an upset Simba.  "C'mon, will ya cut it out!" snaps Simba.

         "Can't cut it out", Rafiki laughs. "It grow right back! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

        "Creepy little monkey," mutters Simba. "Will you stop following me? Who are you?"

         "The question is, 'Who  are  you?' !", continues Rafiki.

        "I thought I knew," ponders Simba. "Now, I'm not so sure."

         "Well, I know who you are. C'mon here! It's a secret...", Rafiki spontaneously bursts into singing and chanting, not waiting for Simba's response.

         "Unngghh! Enough already!", Simba interrupts. "What's that supposed to mean?"

        Rafiki: "It means you're a baboon, and I'm not!"

         Simba: "I think you're a little confused."

        R: "Wrong! I'm not the one who's confused. You don't even know who you are!"

         S: "Oh, and I suppose you do."

        R: "Sure do! You're Mufasa's boy! Bye!!!"

         S: "Hey! Wait!"

        With this, Rafiki disappears, as if carried by the wind. Simba follows; when he finally catches up, Rafiki has already begun meditating on top of a large rock...

        S: "You knew my father?"

        R: "Correction! I know your father!"

         S: "I hate to tell you this, but he died, a long time ago."

        R: "Nope! Wrong again! Ha! Ha! Ha! He's alive, and I'll show him to you! You follow old Rafiki! He knows the way! C'mon!"

         Again, as if carried by the wind, Raffiki races ahead of the young lion. Simba follows, with great difficulty. Through the thicket, around trees, under roots, ducking and swerving as he goes. We are to see the metaphor of hardship, personal growth, and difficulty experienced. Rafiki prepares Simba for the most important moment of his young life... it is spiritual preparation, wearing him down for the spirit vision that awaits him...

        R: "Don't dawdle!........... Hurry up!........... C'mon!........... C'mon!"

        S: "Wait!.......... Wait, will you?.......... Slow down!.......... Will you slow down?"

        Without warning, and directly ahead, stands Rafiki... "Stop!!!", he commands Simba. Rafiki parts the reeds, motions for Simba, and whispers, "Shhh! Look down there!"

        Simba carefully approaches the water's edge and looks down to see a full grown, handsome lion looking up at himself. "That's not my father", Simba observes. "It's just my reflection."

         "Naw!", rebukes Rafiki, pointing again to the still water. "Look harder!" As Simba looks down again, Rafiki explains, "You see, he lives in you!

        Beyond where we are, in the distant sky, there seems to be sound and a growing mass of turbulence. The sky is filled with rolling clouds and thunder... Almost imperceptively, the light forms into a shape Simba will recognize. The thunder beckons Simba out of this plane and into a spirit-vision... Now the sounds of thunder have become recognizable... and the voice of the Mufasa-Spirit speaks... "Simba!"

         Simba: "Father?"

         M-Spirit: "Simba! You have forgotten me!"

         Simba: "No! How could I?"

         M-Spirit: "You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become! You must take your place in the Circle of Life!"

        Simba: "How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be!"

         M-Spirit: "Remember who you are! You are my son and the one true king! Remember who you are!....."

         The sky begins to clear... the clouds start to recede... Mufasa's image begins to fade... soon there will be only rolling clouds and distant thunder...

        M-Spirit: "Remember!.............. Remember!.............. Remember!.............."

        Simba:    "No! Please don't leave me!....... Father!....... Don't leave me!......."

        And now the sky is clear, and the stars shine brightly, again... Simba returns to this plane, as a familiar voice brings him back...

         "What was that? Ha! Ha!", asks Rafiki. "The weather, hah! Rather peculiar, don't you think?"

         Simba looks at the sky and feels the wind around him. "Yeah... Looks like the winds are changing..."

        Rafiki rests his hand on Simba. "Aww... Change is good."

         Simba: "Yeah, but it's not easy. I know what I have to do, but going back means I'll have to face my past. I've been running from it for so long....."

         Without warning, Rafiki brings his staff down hard on Simba's furry head. "Oww! Jeez!", Simba cries. "What was that for?"

        Rafiki: "It doesn't matter! It's in the past!"

         Simba: "Yeah, but it hurts!"

         R: "Oh, yes. The past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it!"

        Rafiki swings his staff again, to strike Simba's head once more. This time, Simba ducks and the staff catches only thin air!

         R: "Haw! You see? So! What are you going to do?"

         S: "First, I'm going to take your stick!"

         Simba grabs Rafiki's staff with his mouth, tosses it into the tall grass, then leaps away and immediately into a hard run.

         R: "No! No! Better stick! Hey! Where are you going?"

        S: "I'm going back!"

        R: "Good! Go on! Get out of here!"

         Rafiki stands there, waving his arms above him, chanting and cheering and singing.....

         Without another word, we hear Rafiki's thoughts... "It is time!"

        The Lion King
        Walt Disney Studios

To Story Beginning