Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης & Le Penseur

I never thought that plaster statues could be so noisy.

In the museum, something happened secretly. All the statues were resurrected. Aristotle and Plato quarrelled with each other. The parliamentarians in Rome spoke loudly. Casa the Great and David were having a competitions to see who was the greatest. All the statues were so energetic, except for two statues that were as quiet as in their original forms. One was a statue without arms, but beautiful: winged, headless goddess of Victory, Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης. She actually wanted to join the other statues, but they didn’t want to be with an awfully broken statue. As all the statues were celebrating their new life, Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης curiously leaned over and used her soft wings to touch the other lonely statue. She touched and found out that he had hands, feet, and head. He was a very complete statue. But why did he have a long face?  

“Ah!  You are Le Penseur.” Said Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης.  Le Penseur remained silent.

”Why don’t you go compete with David? I bet that you could outsmart him in his games”. Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης asked him curiously.

He sighed without saying a word. 

“Do you know that I am the goddess of victory? Even if you lose to David, I will secretly let you win. Sounds good, right? Let's go!” said Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης 

He sighed without saying a word, again. 

“Can you do anything else besides sighing?” said Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης. 

“Leave me alone, broken statue!” Shouted Le Penseur.

Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης was shocked and flew out of the window sadly. Le Penseur sighed, feeling very guilty, so he chased after her. He stood up and tried not to imagine how painful it could be to move his knees after remaining in the same position for decades. Unexpectedly, it was so comfortable to stretch his body. As soon as he got outside the door, he drew in the cool night air. It was fresh and clearer than staying under the air conditioner. It was a starry sky in front of him brighter than Van Gogh's painting. Suddenly, a feather fell in front of his face. He looked up and found that Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης was on the roof top. He tried to get there, but, unfortunately, he broke a few fingers when he lost his balance. Finally, he got on the roof top and walked quietly next to Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης. He sat down, patted her shoulder and said to her:

“Hey! After all these years, I think I finally figured it out. I've been waiting for this moment.” He gently hugged her, feeling her skin and breathing.

“What have you been waiting for?” asked Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης.

“Imperfection. I've been waiting to be imperfect. I had spent centuries thinking about how I could be a perfect one. But in the end, perfection is not perfect at all.” replied Le Penseur. 

“Feel it.” Le Penseur gently touched Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης with his broken fingers.

“Oh no! you lost your pinky and ring finger!” Yelled Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης. Le Penseur laughed. This was the first time he had laughed.

“The ultimate perfection is to understand the beauty of imperfection. Now I have a whole new world. I can feel. I can laugh. I have you around me. Those fingers are nothing.” Said Le Penseur.

He kissed Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης on the neck. She shook her wings shyly. 

“Anywhere you want to go, I can be your hands, your feet and your eyes.” Said Le Penseur. 

“Then, let’s fly away. I will be your wings.” Replied Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης.

They flew away from the museum where they had been imprisoned for many years, leaving behind those noisy statues to argue about who spoke the true philosophy. Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης and Le Penseur didn’t have time to care whether Emperor Caesar was the best at war in the past, or whether David was the most beautiful in the past. Those things of the past were no longer important. And they knew that none of that philosophy was true enough to compare to living in the present. What was important was that perfection and imperfection were together beautifully now.