Alyjah's Tree

Once upon a time in a very distant past, there lived in a small village a hermit named Alyjah. People called him “Alyjah the God’s lover”, as he worshipped the sole God for three hundred years. And so tender and pure was that love and so passionate was his quest for the Almighty that it was said that there is no thought in his mind, no feeling in his heart and no sense in his body but of one God. And miraculously, during those three centuries there was no trace of passing years, he seemed ever young since he started worshipping the sole God, and his wife too remained ever young since she was a God fearing lady who served her man with heart and soul.

Alyjah’s daily routine was simple. He started his day an hour before the dawn. First he sang the hymn to God and said his prayers. Then he took his buckets and went to the village well. He filled the buckets and delivered water to all the houses. Then he cleaned the yards of his neighbors. His final task before sunrise was going to those households who had lost their men and had no one to look after them. He milked their cows and fed their cattle. When it was near lightning he went to the forest with his axe over his shoulder to cut the woods. He went to the farthest corner so that the others may find woods at the near end, and selected the top branches so the others may get the lower ones. After the midday he collected the logs and went to the village market to sell them. Every body wanted to buy from Alyjah because he sold the best logs at lowest prices. Yet he sold no more than what was necessary to earn his daily bread. The rest, he distributed among the poor who could not buy. Reaching home at evening he took the only meal of the day and went to his chamber for prayers.

That was the simple and peaceful manner of Alyjah’s life for three hundred years. Generation after generation, the villagers saw him like this from their first to last breath. They had his lips the first kissing their newborns and his arms the last putting their deceased in grave. No one had ever seen him doing harm to any of God’s creation or refusing a call for help. Whenever there was a famine, flood or epidemic they asked Alyjah to pray, he prayed and the calamity was over.

Our story begins when Alyjah first had that weird dream. In the beginning it was just a voice, a sweet whisper indeed. It called him.

“Alyjah .... Alyjah come to me.. come to me Alyjah.”

Next morning Alyjah woke up in despair. He lost concentration in prayers and wondered about that voice.

“Why it’s calling me? Where can I find it?”

The following day was the most miserable for Alyjah. People saw him absorbed in deep thoughts. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that when he lied in his bed he forgot to say prayers and was soon dead to the world.

Again the dream was there, this time it was clearer.

“Alyjah come. come to me”

“Who . . . are you? Why are you calling me?” Alyjah muttered

“I am the call of your heart, seed of your desire your flesh and soul. Come to me”

“Where where to come where should I find you?”

“In the forest Alyjah, deep in the forest near the lake”

When Alyjah woke up, he rushed out without saying prayers. His destination was the thick dense part of the forest. He ran madly without fear of darkness and silence. And suddenly he found himself in the dense forest. Silent like a grave dark like a cave, abandoned by man and beast alike. The place had no hiss, no crow, the only sound of life there was Alyjah’s heavy breaths and the rustle of his steps against dry leaves.

While searching for the object of his interest his eyes glued at a spot. A strange barren piece of land cracked by some everlasting drought. There he felt its presence under the lump of soil. Some thing from within his heart told him. Yes! That is it”

He bent on the spot and put his ears on the ground.

“I am the seed of your desire, ...nourish me”

Taken aback, Alyjah moved a few steps back, then ran away.

The hollow voice was still chasing him.

“Nourish me . . . seed of your desire . . . nourish me”

Alyjah spent the day in a trance and went to bed early. In his dream he heard the voice again. This time, more persuasive and commanding.

“Alyjah, water me. Water the tree of your soul. Nourish the fruit of your desire”

Next morning Alyjah picked up his two buckets, went to the village well and filled the huge vessels (He was a man of great physical strength, his two buckets were good enough to fill the pots of whole village), but instead of going to the village he lugged to the forest.

He was going to water the seed.

In the forest at the same barren spot he poured the water. The soil absorbed the water with a sizzle. There wasn’t even the slight moisture. Feeling the great thirst of the torrid land, Alyjah ran back to the well, filled the buckets and dashed to the spot and emptied the buckets. He made many rounds before the well got dried and there was no more water left.

When the villagers woke up that morning, they were aghast to see their pots empty for the first time in 300 years and when in their desperate thirst they reached the well they found it dried too.

“Why the well is dry?”
“Where is Alyjah?”
“Why didn’t he fill the pots?”

But there were even more awkward findings for Alyjah’s wife who found him going to bed so early without saying prayers. There he mumbled mysterious words then was fast asleep.

In his dream Alyjah was again in the forest. There he heard the voice

“Alyjah, I am growing in your soul. Milk me”

“Milk! I do not have any cattle to milk you.”

“But your neighbors do Alyjah. They have healthy cows and goats; you served them without any reward for three hundred years. Its your right to nourish the tree of your desire with the milk you produced.”

Next morning Alyjah was determined what to do. He milked every goat and cow in his neighborhood till last drop and took it to the forest, the same spot he saw in the dream, and Lo! It was there, a tiny green plant swinging its small twigs in cold morning breeze.

Completely mesmerized by the sight, Alyjah ran to the plant and poured the milk over it. The plant swayed under the pressure of thick stream. One after the other the buckets were empty.

During the day, life in the village was on hold. Every body was discussing the strange happenings.

“Why our cattle are dry?
“Who has sucked milk from their teats?”

But above all was the strange behavior of Alyjah who had been very rude and mean in his dealings.

We are in an evil hour, that’s why Alyjah is hostile to us. We must seek his forgiveness before it’s too late” They concluded.

Meanwhile in the forest, Alyjah was at the same spot. Till then he cut no logs, instead, he kept watching his plant growing, which had grown to full tree in one day. It was majestic and beautiful with large trunk, curly branches and lush green leafs.

As he sat under its shade Alyjah dreamed of beautiful women, delicious food, gold coins and lavish cloths. When it became dark Alyjah stood up. He embraced the tree whose huge trunk was scarcely fit within his outstretched arms. While he kissed the trunk he mumbled.

“Farewell for the day my dear, I will not left you. Shall obey you till my last breath”

When the villagers reached Alyjah’s door they called his wife out. When she came out one of the elders spoke.

“O, daughter of noble chief and wife of God’s lover. Help us to seek Alyjah’s forgiveness as he is angry with us for some unknown reasons and the village is under an evil spell. Help us before it’s too late.”

The poor lady had nothing to comfort them. She herself was enduring this painful change in her husband, who suddenly had developed a great taste of bodily desires.

When Alyjah came back the meeting was abjured immediately as no one dared talk to him and the clouds of doubt and fear still enveloped the atmosphere.

That night, before the couple fell asleep, there was great merriment and vigorous lovemaking.

“Body . . . my dearest is the heart of every pleasure”

Alyjah whispered in her ears as he clung his wife fast to his chest.

“YOUR DEAREST?”

The lady repeated in rapture.

“Yes my dearest”

Ajyjah pressed her lips with tender kisses.

The night falled and Alyjah dreamed. He saw himself knelt down before the towering figure. Silence reined the whole atmosphere, not even the termites cracked.

Finally the tree spoke.

“The time has come Alyjah to give you what has been ripen in me. The fruit of your desire, taste of your paradise. ….
But first you have to quench my thirst …
I want Blood.

“BLOOD!”

Alyjah shouted with terror.

“Yes … BLOOD, a one year old child’s blood. I am thirsty Alyjah, can’t produce the fruit of your desire without it.”

“But who would like to sacrifice his child for me”

“Then take it. . .”

After a brief silence the voice continued.

“The villagers owe this much to you. What ever they have it’s because of you. Take it as your right.”

Alyjah woke up shivering with cold, all soaked with sweat.

“I . . I cannot. . . kill a child”

He cried in a voice choked with tears. He turned his head to the corner he used to keep his axe.

“When some thing is too large” Alyjah murmured, still staring in darkness, “It has to be cut down”

But as soon as he touched the axe, a frozen chill pierced down the very marrow of his bones. “The tree has the fruit of my desire”

“But the one-year child! Who would be the one year child?’

And suddenly he remembered his cousin joshu’s son who had reached the first year of his life yesterday. He threw the axe and walked away, when he came back he carried a knife and a coil of rope.

It was a full moon night. Joshu’s house was very near. He had no problem in getting in.
The villagers were in the habit of keeping their doors open day and night since no man or beast dared harm any body in Alyjah’s village.

Alyyjah picked up the child from his mother’s side and after wrapping him carefully into his tunic, sneaked out.

Once in open air, he dashed to the forest as fast as his strong legs can get him there.

While running towards the forest, he felt the throbs of his heart hammering his chest.

He recognized the tree from the very far end, which was twice as big as he left it last evening. There he laid the child. The feeble creature, his hands fastened from the back and mouth sacked tightly with a kerchief.

As he took out the knife he looked up to the sky. The North Star was twinkling at the northern horizon. It was the time he used to sing his hymn.

The fountain of blood reddened the trunk, Alyjah lift the boy in his hands such that the mouth of the wound opened at the bottom of the trunk. The young torso was almost motionless in his powerful grip.

The stream got thinner and thinner, finally the panting creature succumbed to death.

Alyjah felt a great relief with a vogue sense of vicarious pleasure and he lied down beside the dead body.

When Alyjah woke up and recalled what happened he got up with a start. The child was there in the same position. And the tree … Lo! it was loaded with tufts of blood red fruits.

“Fruit of my desire, taste of paradise”

Alyjah felt a great hunger like he never had before. He climbed the tree and picked one fruit. It was delicious. He ate as much as he could until he felt drowsy and fell down.

This time Alyjah woke up in the evening. The setting sun was heading towards the western horizon.

After getting to his nerves, he hurriedly shoveled the ground and buried the child beneath the dark shadow. Then he collected his things and dashed towards the village.

When came out of the forest, he turned back to see the tree.

It was sky high.

At the last turn to the village he saw Joshu, running towards him.

“Alyjah; have you seen my . . . son.”

As the shattered man approached the hermit, His words broke into silence as he saw the most abhorrent sight, even more abhorrent than the loss of his child.

He stood like a stone, dumbfounded, staring at the other man’s white haggard face and bewildered eyes.

“ALYJAH! YOU HAVE GROWN OLD”

Pushing his cousin aside, Alyjah growled in half animal voice.

“Leave my way”

And he walked to the village.