A great Egyptian pharaoh summons his two young nephews, Chuma and Azur, and commissions them to a monumental task: Build two massive pyramids as a tribute to Egypt. Upon completion, the pharaoh promised them kingship and riches for their remaining days. The only condition is that they must construct it without the help of anyone else.
Chuma and Azur are both young, ambitious, and up for the challenge.
Azur gets to work immediately. He drags heavy stones into a square formation, and in a few months completes the foundation of the pyramid. Townspeople cheer him on and commend his hard work.
But Azur is confused. When he looks over to where Chuma’s pyramid is supposed to be, he only sees an empty lot.
He goes to visit Chuma, only to find him working on a twisted apparatus that resembles some kind of a human torture device.
Azur says “Chuma, why aren’t you building your pyramid?! The Pharaoh might take this as disrespect and kill you!”
Chuma smiles back quietly and says “I am building a pyramid, leave me alone. Your short-sightedness and thirst for wealth have clouded your vision. You build your pyramid and I will build mine”
Another year passes and Azur is now building the second level of the pyramid, where he encounters a problem. As the pyramid gets taller, it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry the stones up. He hires Bennu, a local strong-man to teach him to be stronger.
As the pyramid gets taller, his toil gets harder. He continues to pay Bennu for his services, and Azur’s only consolation is that his pyramid is higher than his brother Chuma’s, which is still nonexistent.
One day, while Azur hauling a heavy stone up his pyramid, he hears a loud commotion erupting from the town square. He rushes over to see what is going on.
Surrounded by a cheering crowd, Chuma is commandeering a 25-foot contraption, a towering machine built from a twisted maze of gantries, wheels and levers.
Within minutes, Chuma’s strange machine starts moving heavy stones and begins to lay the foundation of his pyramid. The machine effortlessly lifts the stones and softly places them side-by-side into place.
Using his machine, Chuma completes the base of the pyramid in a week, and the second level within a month.
Azur was destroyed. But instead of building his own machine, he buckles down and trains even harder with Bennu, promising himself that he will not let Chuma beat him.
After a few years, Azur dies from physical exhaustion, leaving just two more levels to go to complete the pyramid.
Using his machine, Chuma retires 40 years early, and uses his riches and free time to become Egypt’s greatest scholar and accomplished inventor. He is buried in the same pyramid that he built.
The End.