When I saw the road sign (above) on my around-the-island walk the other day, I thought of this painting by Vasnetsov (below) which is an illustration of an epic folk poem and a repeating plot in many fairytales across various cultures about a choice that needs to be made by a protagonist in order to continue the journey.

Inscription on the stone reads: “If you ride to the left, you will lose your horse, if you ride to the right, you will lose your head”.

Painting by Viktor Vasnetsov: Warrior at the Crossroads, 1882. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg