Today is Mariusz Day. It commemorates the passing of Lord Mariusz, Ruler of the Known World, Emperor of Castle Hattan, and lifelong friend.
On this day every guinea pig in the world celebrates Friendship and Duty. Friendship is easy as we all like to be with our friends, even if we sometimes grumble at each other. Duty is something younger pigs often have difficulty understanding. It is our Duty to be true to our nature, to live as a harmonious tribe, to share our experience, to listen to our elders, to learn from our betters. It is our Duty to have a useful role in our tribe, whether Thinker, Engineer, Leader, Jester, or Cuddlemonkey. There are millions of roles and each of us has one or more we find fits our nature. We must discharge our Duty honestly and faithfully. And if our Duty brings us in contact with Humans we must still discharge our Tribe Duty but we should also try to help our Human understand our role and participate in it with us.
Lord Mariusz was an Exemplar of Duty. We salute him, and his Humans Aurora and Wagon, on this day of remembrance.
Mariusz Day also brings to a close the period of mourning for Fred, the Philospher, the Princeling of the East.
George's Guinea Pig World 
Thank you, Victor and Mummy, for these wise and profound words. We should all live by them.
An Exemplar of Duty? Hmm. Interesting perspective. I thought he was just a cheeky pig. Perhaps he was a bit of both. 😉
Yes, he was always true to his nature. Mariusz never did anything Mariusz didn’t want to do. He was his own pig, always. Yet, underneath the sassiness was a fiercely loyal heart. I never doubted that he loved and trusted his Momma, even if he didn’t always obey me. I’m not sure why I expected obedience, really, when it was clear that he was the Leader. What a dense human I was.
This was the biggest lesson that Mariusz taught me: be myself, and “Pfffft” to anyone who doesn’t like it. For the world, Mariusz Day; for me, a Mariusz Lifetime.
Love and miss you always, T-Bag.
(I have a feeling I know who the Jester is. I’m looking at you, Willoughby.)
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PS — For readers who don’t know, “T-Bag” was one of Mariusz’s many nicknames, given to him in honor of his large .. um … teabags. He was a big boar in every sense.
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