Was It Us?
"I will tell you something else, King, which may be a surprise for you. It will not happen for hundreds of years, but both of us are to come back. Do you know what is going to be written on your tombstone? Hic jacet Arthurus Rex quondam Rexque futurus. Do you remember your Latin? It means, the once and future king."
"I am to come back as well as you?"
"Some say from the vale of Avilion."
The King thought about it in silence. It was full night outside, and there was stillness in the bright pavilion. The sentries, moving on the grass, could not be heard. "I wonder," he said at last, "whether they will remember about our Table?" Merlyn did not answer. His head was bowed on the white beard and his hands clasped between his knees. "What sort of people will they be, Merlyn?" cried the young man's voice, unhappily.
The Once And Future King
by T. H. White
Even though it has been thirty years since reading the book, two small things that were said in it have never left my mind. This was one of them, and I never stopped wondering what the people would be like. Would they be survivors of the nuclear holocaust that we always lived in fear of, or some kind of mutants that lost their humanity? For some reason I always imagined people with no hope.
Of course, now I think they must have been talking about all the people I see with their heads down staring at smart phones, not paying any attention to what is going on around them. And I joined those ranks last week when I found myself waiting in a public place, and out of boredom, pulled out the phone and went online. After a couple of minutes I looked up to see people passing by me with a look of distaste.
But King Arthur didn't show up, so it must not have been us that Merlyn was speaking of.