 |
 |
IN BETWEEN
BOOKS
Children's Story |
 |
 |
P.O.
Box 790, |
| FOREST MOTHER | ||
| My
grandmother told me this story when I was a child, and who it was that told
it to her I cannot say. I only know it is a true story, but then you may
not believe in the truth. When my grandmother was young there were many forests on the land. The trees were old and full of magic. They had never known the touch of ax or chain saw. Then there was no need to cut the forest down. The people of the village lived by the sea. Their houses were made of earth and stone. They gathered dung for fuel, and ate nuts, berries and roots of plants, that were easy to cultivate in the soil of sand and clay. No one came to the forest, and no one bothered the village. The village children were named the names of birds, after the winged creatures who nested in the trees and by the shore. The villagers believed the birds to be magic. After all, did they not live in the highest branches of the tallest trees, and on the sacred rocks off the coast, or in the silent meadows and lagoons where the sun lay down his face to sleep, and did they not give birth to their young in the sprint year after year? Did they not cry and sing in the early morning in order to wake up the Forest Mother? The Forest Mother was invisible, but the villagers with the names of birds could feel her presence. They believed she guarded the humans who carried the names of the flying spirits called birds. They believed she helped the crops grow and the air breathe. Now there were two special children in the village, a boy named Nuthatch, and a girl named Finch. They were special because they were kind to each other, because they loved to sing, and because they could see the Forest Mother. The Forest Mother chose to reveal herself to them because she loved their singing. Their voices were sweet and their laughter moved the sun on the leaves. They were gentle like the forest birds, like the wind in the pines and eucalyptus trees at dusk. Forest Mother brought visions to Nuthatch and Finch because she loved them, and the children told their visions to the elders, who listened patiently and carefully to all they described; nodding their greying heads as if to say, yes it is so. One of the visions sent by Forest Mother saved the village, for she warned them of a high tide and terrible storm that was to wash away their homes. Nuthatch and Finch saw this storm in their Mind's Eye, and they saw all the villagers retreating into the forest until it was over. So the villagers took refuge with the forest, waiting in the farthest glen until the storm passed. When it was over, they returned to the village to rebuild their fires and gather their lives together again. Everyone returned except for Nuthatch and Finch. They chose to stay in the forest. They lived there a long, long time. Happily too! They lived in the trees like their namesakes. The trees loved them and the birds enjoyed their company, teaching them many new songs. And always the Forest Mother guarded them. All was well until the morning the terrible noise began. It was a far away noise of whining and grinding. Nuthatch and Finch had never heard such a sound, and it disturbed them., Day after day the noise grew closer and louder until Nuthatch and Finch went to search for the source of such a trial, to see what might be the cause of such ear splitting furor. It did not take long to find the large men with chain saws, with yellow trucks and cranes and tractors, who were cutting down the Forest Mother's trees, one by one, and very quickly. Nuthatch and Finch ran back to warn the villagers, and when they heard these things, all the men and women gathered in front of the trees, telling the men with the machines to go home, to leave the giant trees alone. "They belong to the Forest Mother," they said. "You must not take away these trees. They are home for the birds and home for our children Nuthatch and Finch. Look up and you will see they have their homes in the topmost branches." "These trees do not belong to the village and there is no Forest Mother," laughed the biggest man with the biggest chain saw. "Now out of the way. I have orders from the boss, who is the King of Everything, the KOE we call him. It is he who owns this forest, and we are here to cut trees for building wood and toilet paper." So the biggest man with the biggest chain saw pushed the villagers out of his way and pulled the chain on his saw. But Nuthatch and Fince had run back to their home in the tallest redwood, and when the biggest man with the biggest chain saw spied them high, high in the top of the tree, he shouted at them to come down. "Come down or we will cut you down," he hollered, spitting on the ground and wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "You will come down. You will obey us. I am the biggest man with the biggest chain saw, and you must do what I say." "You'd best go down, Finch," said Nuthatch. "I don't want you to be hurt. I will stay here with our friends even if they cut us down." "No, my friend. If you stay, so will I. We will fall to earth together, like birds who have grown old," Finch replied. "But we are young, too young to die, and you are too beautiful to fall to earth like a wingless bird." "I will not leave this tree without you Nuthatch, and I will never leave you, my friend." Then the Forest Mother whispered to them. "Go, my children, you are too beautiful to die. It is better you live to tell the story of the man with the biggest chain saw. But give him a chance to change his mind. Ask him once more to put down his saw and leave this tree to stand." So Nuthatch and Finch began the descent. From the ground they looked like tiny brown spiders, clinging to the sweet bark of the giant redwood. When they reached the ground, the biggest man with the biggest chain saw stepped up to them, towering over them like an oppressive smell. "Now you will wear these handcuffs," he laughed. "Now you will go to jail. You are trespassing on the property of the King of Everything, the KOE himself! And because you were so slow to obey, you will now watch the giant tree be brought to earth. Perhaps it is something you need to see." Once more the biggest man spat on the ground. The village gasped to hear such malevolence. They were horrified to see the look of satisfaction that crossed over the biggest man's face, and they realized then, that some ancient evil had risen from the earth and possessed the mind of the biggest man with the biggest saw. And they knew it would take a village to defeat such a man. Finch and Nuthatch wept when the saw bit into the flesh of red wood. The tears covered their faces. The villagers wept too. "Oh stop," pleaded Finch. "This land belongs to Forest Mother, not the King of Everything. She is begging you to leave the rest of her forest in peace." But the biggest man with the biggest chain saw did not stop. He sneered and cut until at last the tree was brought low. When it fell to the ground, it lay flat on its side, and still it was taller than the biggest man. Who turned and tipped back his hard hat. "Now maybe you will listen the next time I speak." "It is you who should listen to me," said Finch. "Even flat on her side, our red wood tree is taller than you, biggest man. Your heart is blackened, and you will never find happiness." Nuthatch and Finch were taken away to the town owned by the King of Everything. The name of the town was Mall Town, and they were put in the Mall Town Jail. They huddled together to see if the villagers could get them released. They wanted to return to the village by the sea, for Mall Town was a sickening place to these Lost Forest Children. The villagers waited outside the jail, chanting, "Let them go, let them go, let our lost forest children come home. Nuthatch and Finch," they shouted. "Nuthatch and Finch. The King is a thief. The King is a thief." Over and over they chanted and sang. Now the KOE did not like to hear himself bandied about in public. He was a sneaky little king, and he sent the Big Men with the Big Saws out to do his dirty work. "Send them home now," said the KOE. Maybe now they will obey." The lost forest children returned with the villagers to the edge of the sea. The villagers told their story for many years, so that children would understand what bravery is. The Biggest Man with the Biggest ChainSaw went on working for the KOE, and when he got older and overweight, he died of a heart attack. But the KOE had a stable full of biggest men, and chose another to do his work. The Forest Biggest Man Mother roamed like a ghost through the nightsleeps of the KOE, bringing wringing wrenching nightmares to the King, who woke screaming after dreaming about falling redwoods crushing him. He fired the current Biggest Man, and took away his chain saw. The biggest man couldn't find another job, and went hungry in his old age like the rest of the stable full of big men owned by the King of Everything. The King of Everything never stopped having bad dreams or firing the Biggest Men. His mind was ever after filled with sawdust, and he forgot everything, muttering to himself, "You seen one redwood, you seen 'em all. Now who was it always used to say that?" He drank copiously of bad spirits, as befitted a man of his particular rankness. The Forest Mother made new trees grow, and covered the village with sunshine. Nuthatch and Finch never did learn to obey, but they grew up and married and had many children who loved the forest. My grandmother was one of them, and as I told you, her brothers were loggers, and she was a storyteller. ©1997 by Karla Andersdatter |
||
© 2000 IN BETWEEN
BOOKS
Return to home page