July 6, 2022, 9:38am
It is with delight and despair that I draw your attention to the modern-day hermit “discovered” over the weekend in a cave in Sichuan province, China, just hanging out, reading books, and smoking cigarettes.
I am delighted, of course, that people are still just dropping out of this garbage-fire of a world to read books; I despair, though, that this particular recluse will never know another moment of peace.
A group of friends were out hiking in the mountains near Neijiang when they stumbled upon one of the many caves in the area, and noticed something different about it. Said one of the hikers:
When we were standing nearby talking, we didn’t realize there was a person in the cave. However, not long after, I noticed someone sitting there and found the man taking notes while reading a book. He looked about 40 years old. Based on the surroundings, there were not many visitors, so I believe he chose to live there because he does not want to be disturbed.
Yup, that sounds about right. As can be seen on the video (that very quickly went viral), the Reading Man’s cave contained all the trappings of that sweet, sweet hermit life: blankets, buckets, pots, and books. The article doesn’t provide much detail about the identity or fate of the Reading Man, and it is my sincere hope that he simply moved on with his bindle and his books and found a new cave.
In unrelated news, I will now be moving to a cave