Path to the sea

In a poor village a boy was born. He spent his days senselessly, mechanically and monotonously, as well as the rest of the inhabitants of this fading village, having no idea what to do with his own life. And one fine night he dreamed a sea. None of the villagers have ever seen the sea, so no one could confirm that somewhere in the world there is such endless water.

And when the young man said that he was going to go in search of the sea from his dream, everyone twisted his finger at his temple and called him crazy. But he, in spite of everything, set off and traveled for a long time, until he was at a fork in the road. Here he chose the road that led directly, and a few days later he reached the village, whose inhabitants led a quiet, prosperous life. When the young man told them that he was wandering, dreaming of finding the sea, they began to convince him that he was wasting his time and it would be better for him to stay in this village and live as happily as everyone.

For several years the young man lived in prosperity. But one night he again dreamed the sea, and he remembered his unfulfilled dream. The young man decided to leave the village and set off again. Saying goodbye to everyone, he returned to the fork and this time went in a different direction. He walked a long time, until he reached the big city. He admired his hubbub and diversity and decided to stay there. He studied, worked, had fun, and eventually forgot the purpose of his journey.

However, after a few years, he again saw the sea in a dream and thought that if he did not fulfill the dream of his youth, he would waste his life. Therefore, he again returned to the fork and chose the third road that led him to the forest. On a small clearing, a man saw a hut, and near her was no longer too young, but a beautiful woman, who was hanging out the washed clothes. She invited him to stay with her, as her husband went to war and never returned. The man agreed.
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For many years they lived happily, raised children, but once our hero, who was already old, again visited the dream of the sea. And he left everything with which he had been connected for many years, returned to the fork and set off on the last, previously unknown path, very steep and rocky. He walked with difficulty and began to fear that he would soon become completely exhausted.

Once at the foot of a big mountain, the old man decided to climb it in the hope of at least seeing the sea from his dreams from afar. A few hours later at the end of the forces he reached the top of the mountain. Vast expanses stretched before him: the old man saw a fork in the road and a village in which residents lived a prosperous life, and a big city, and the hut of a woman with whom he had spent many happy years. And in the distance, on the horizon, I saw a blue, boundless sea.

And, before his exhausted heart stopped, the touched old man, through tears of regret, noticed that all the roads along which he had walked led to the sea, but only none of them had passed through to the end.