The picture shows Parvin eating dust after he has been defeated by Timmy, a gladiator from Rome with the bulkiest body I have yet seen, in one of the jousts between the warriors of Gor and the gladiators of Rome. The jousting was a new and interesting element introduced at this years festival. According to Parvin his dear and loving friends had taken the picture to rub his nose in the defeat. And isn't that exactly what friends are for?
It reminded me that it is said that in ancient Rome: as a Roman general was parading through the streets during a victory triumph, standing behind him was his slave, tasked with reminding the general that, although at his peak today, tomorrow he could fall, or — more likely — be brought down. The servant is thought to have conveyed this with the warning, "Memento mori" (Remember that you will die!).
Friends are there to support us, encourage us, comfort us, care for us and love us, but also to cut us down to size and remind us of who we are if and when we risk forgetting it.
