Tales of the Tree - In an enchanted park, in the heart of a modern city, an ancient oak whispers the tales of the ages. Listen carefully...you are invited to send us the tales you have heard, whispered on the wind.
Yuri sat in the shade of the slender oak tree, chewing on a blade of grass and watching the road for travelers. He had been attracted to that particular tree for several reasons. It was young, as he was young. It was slender, as he was slender. And it seemed to yearn toward the heavens, seeking an understanding of higher things, as he yearned. He was full of questions, and still young enough to be hopeful of obtaining the answers. It seemed to Yuri that if he could find the answers to his questions, the world would somehow be a better place. Changes would come, and fine things would happen. Things that would make the world much easier to live in. The townsfolk shook their heads at him, despairing of his future.
"That boy...always asking questions that have no answers! When will he settle down and accept things as they are?"
But Yuri couldn't stop. The questions he held seemed to have a life of their own, and demanded that every free moment of his time be spent in asking them. It was late afternoon, and all his chores were done, so he had come here seeking travelers to query, as he did each day.
"Someday, someone will know," he told the tree, smiling companionably up at it. "Someone will come down this road, and will have the answers I seek. I know it, Friend Oak. I can feel it in my very bones!"
His conversation with the oak was interrupted by the sight of a man drawing near. It was the innkeeper from Yuri's village. He was a man of middle age, strong and opinionated, and had a reputation for being very knowledgeable in the ways of the world. Yuri couldn't believe his luck, and stood to hail him, with a grin. They made their greetings, and sooner than good manners dictated, Yuri jumped in with his first question.
"Good Innkeeper, why is there war? I have heard that our Master has declared a war on the people in the south, and I was wondering why."
"War is necessary, my boy!" the Innkeeper answered, his voice booming importantly. "Without war, how would we keep what we have, and safeguard it from other people? By the waging of war, we protect what we have from others!"
"But why would others want what we have? Do we have so very much then?" asked Yuri.
"Well...no," answered the innkeeper. "It is true that we are not the most prosperous people in the world, but still..those in the south have less, and we must keep them from it! We can't allow them to come in and steal it without a fight, now can we?"
"But if they have less than we do, then they are surely in dire need!" exclaimed Yuri, "How could they be so poor?"
"There are many reasons for poverty," sighed the innkeeper. "Perhaps their crops have failed, or they have no materials to make things for trade, as we do here. If there are no goods, there is no money, and if there is no money, then there is no food. And a people who have no food have no compunction about stealing it from others!"
"But couldn't the people of the south appeal to our Master for help, then?" asked Yuri. "Surely we have enough land and material to share!"
"Bah!" exclaimed the innkeeper. "The Master is not interested in poor people. The Master is interested in those who pay taxes, and whom he is sworn to protect!"
"But then.." wondered Yuri aloud, "what does he do with the taxes?"
"Why feed the soldiers, of course..and buy the weapons, to keep the army mighty..for the wars!" answered the innkeeper impatiently. "You ask too many questions Yuri!"
The innkeeper shook off Yuri's hand, and hurried away. Yuri stood in the
road, contemplating what he had just heard. "I suppose it makes sense," he
murmured to the oak. "But still.." He turned to look down the road again,
and spied the faraway form of the moneylender, hurrying back to the village
after a busy day in town. The moneylender moved slowly, wiping his face
every few steps, his great bulk hindering him. As he approached, he spotted
Yuri, and hailed him, requesting a drink of water. Yuri shared his gladly,
and the man had not wiped his lips dry before Yuri began questioning him.
"Friend Moneylender, why is there hunger? Do we not have enough to feed everyone?"
"Hunger?" asked the moneylender, with a frown, "Only those who cannot pay go hungry..I know nothing of hunger! I work for *my* living!"
"I know," said Yuri, "but what if there is no work for a man? How should he feed his children?"
"How indeed!" answered the moneylender, amused, "he should have thought of that before he had them! I have always been of the opinion that the poor do far too much breeding. Now, if they had to work, like I do, they wouldn't have time to make so many mouths to feed, would they?"
The moneylender's answer only served to confuse Yuri further, so he tried again. "But what if he did have a job, and then suddenly found himself without? What then?"
"There is always the risk of poverty," answered the moneylender, "Any wise man knows you should do whatever you have to in order to insure your future against hunger."
"Even steal?" asked Yuri.
"Well..no..not outright thievery," answered the moneylender, warming to the subject. "But there are ways, there are ways. A tip of the scale here, a tiny white lie there.." he winked. "Why, if I actually paid every tax our Master asked of us, I would have none left for my poor family! No..there is no harm in a bit of..err..creative tithing. You would do well to remember what I am telling you, young man." he added, puffing himself up importantly.
"Are you rich then?" asked Yuri curiously.
"Ahem.." coughed the moneylender modestly, "I do well...I do well. Not to brag, but I have a small fortune of my own that I have managed to tuck away. Enough to ensure that myself and my family will never want for anything."
"Why then," exclaimed Yuri happily, "you, and others like you...could you not help the poor?"
The moneylender dropped the canteen, and backed away from Yuri, his eyes wide. "What kind of a question is that? Are you a beggar? A thief? I have nothing, nothing I tell you! I can barely feed my own brood. Let me pass, I say! Let me pass!"
Yuri moved to let the moneylender pass, and watched with astonishment as the man propelled his considerable bulk back to the village at an undignified speed. "Now what was that all about?" he asked the tree, shaking his head. "I only thought that I might find the answer to the problem of the war with the south. I believe that he thought I meant him harm!"
A movement down the road caught his eye, and he waved. He saw that it was two of his friends from the village, Josep and Aman. They hurried up the road to join him, smiling their greetings. For a change, it was Josep that asked the first question.
"Have you heard about Jennin?" he asked, breathlessly. "He is going to be banished!"
"Banished?" exclaimed Yuri, "For what reason? What has he done?"
Aman, who was standing to the side with a superior air, answered. "It's not just what he's done, but what he *is*" he said smugly. Aman seemed pleased. He had never liked Jennin.
Yuri didn't understand. "Umm..what is he?" he asked.
"Are you blind Yuri?" exclaimed Josep, tripping over his words in his excitement to tell the tale, "He's got green eyes!! No one in the village has green eyes, and we all know Jennin is an orphan, so he has no parents to vouch for him.."
"If he ever *did* have parents," sniffed Aman. "That has yet to be proven. Everyone knows he was left on the mill steps."
"Yes, " Josep rushed on, "And since it cannot be proved he is not a demon, he is to be banished!"
"A demon?" Yuri was astonished. "Why would anyone believe that Jennin was a demon? He works hard at the mill, and bothers no one!"
"Sarah, the Master's daughter, has been bewitched by him," breathed Josep.
"Imagine, the daughter of the most powerful man in our land claims that she loves him. And he a green eyed demon! He has no fortune, no land, no right to be even noticed by the likes of her, yet she claims that she loves him! The temple priests have declared that such a thing could only have been accomplished by a demon, and that his green eyes and inability to prove his parentage is further proof. He will be harried out of the land tomorrow, and left to fend for himself in the Great Waste."
Yuri stood silently, his mind racing. It seemed that something was wrong with the story, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
Aman nudged Josep, and gestured to the village. "We have to hurry, or we will miss the banishment," he urged. Josep threw one last glance back at the still silent Yuri, and nodded. "Yes, Yuri, are you coming?" he asked.
Yuri looked up at the two young men, and shook his head sadly. "No. I need to sit and think a while longer."
Josep shrugged, and hurried to catch up with Aman, who was already trotting to the village.
Yuri sat and watched the sun go down, his mind filled with questions. He struggled to make sense of what he had heard, and wondered what he should have learned from it. He knew that some of what he heard was wrong, or made no sense, but he could not for the life of him put his finger on the why of it.
The stars were shining brightly from the heavens by the time he rose from his place under the oak. He leaned up against it, whispering "I won't give up, Friend Oak. Someone will come along who has the answers I seek. There has to be someone who can tell me the truth of war, and hunger, and the fear of our neighbors. Someone who could help me to figure out a way to make things better." He sighed wearily. "Oh, I would give anything to meet such a one. But if often seems that I may die before I know the answers to these questions that torment me!" He stared up into the night sky, and called out softly to the darkness, to the One Who Watched All. "Please! Will you not send us someone to help? Someone wise, and kind, who can explain things so that we may understand them?"
At that moment, there was a flash in the east, as one star blazed gloriously, outshining everything in the sky. Yuri looked up in amazement, and began first to smile, and then to laugh wildly. Tossing a stone up into the sky, he whooped, and headed to the village at a full run. "He comes!!" he shouted as he ran through the streets, tears of joy streaming down his face. "He will show us the answers, and He comes at last!"