“You will learn that,” said Vasudeva, “but not from me. The river taught me how to listen; you will learn that from the river too. The river knows everything; everything can be learned from it. Look, you have already learned that it is good to aim low, to sink, to seek the bottom. The rich and prominent Siddhartha has become an oarsman’s helper; this, too, was the advice of the river. You will learn the other thing from it too.” pg. 82
When the ferryman told Siddhartha this he was saying that you can learn many things from the river such as listening. Because the river is always clean and cycles around at all times, Vasudeva has learned that most good things will come back to him. The river taught him to become a good listener by listening to Vasudeva when he was still learning to listen. The river is an object that cannot talk but can listen. Also Vasudeva might have learned from his reflection.
I like the way you explain how Siddhartha has to listen to the river in order to understand who he really is. Also how you explain that people really need to hear the river to understand that there is no such thing as time.
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