BONSAI MOUNTAINS
A Hobby for the Very Patient
From the works of Terry Pratchett
The most testing type of bonsai, practised only by History Monks and
other very long-lived persons who don't mind waiting a thousand years
to see what happens next.
The mountains are selected while they are small, and their growth is artificially restricted; careful positioning of mirrors and wind screens encourages the formation of the minature glaciers, forests and lakes that are part of the mountain's original morphic field.
Just any old piece of rock won't do. The trick is to spot the mountains while they are young. In a sense the expert is selecting that piece of rock which, after the normal processes of continental collision and crustal upheaval, will be at the very peak - i.e., from one point of view, the rock with the correct morphic field which will cause the rest of the mountain to form underneath it. A wrong choice here will be bound to lead to disappointment after a few hundred years or so.