Storytelling Week 5: The Tree

Once upon a time, there lived a poor man Paul.  Born into poverty, money and wealth was something he had never known.  He had a wife and three children and as a poor man, he was a beggar and would walk around the village, asking for any food he could have to feed his family. 

He went door to door for weeks and received enough food to get by but as the weeks turned into months, the food became scarce.  He knew he couldn’t keep up the unknown of whether or not his family would have food for much longer for it was not enough for his family anymore. 

One day, Paul saw an old, cranky man who had lived in the village for sixty years and there, he overheard the man, who owned one hundred acres of property in the village, say he had an announcement to make the following day at noon. 

Hearing this news, Paul was going to return the next day at noon to see what the landlord had to say, hoping it might be something that would help his family.  Though Paul knew his hope was a little far-fetched, he had no other options. 

So the next day, the landlord came out to make his speech.  Little did Paul know, the landlord was looking for someone to do a task for him and in return, he who completed the task would be granted a great reward.  

Paul asked, “Sir, what is the task you need done?  I am willing to do anything.” 

The landlord replied, “I am in need of someone to go fetch me an apple from the tallest apple tree far away in the forest. This is a tree that no one can miss.  It is the tallest, biggest, and most plentiful apple tree anyone has ever seen. 

Though I know no one has ever been able to climb it, since the land out there has a history of being haunted by the dead who roam there, the man who picks the apple will be granted ten acres of my land.  There, you will be able to live rent free forever.” 

Paul knew that no one had ever been able to climb the tree alone or dare to wander that far in fear of the ghosts, but he also knew this was his only chance at saving his family from the poor, begging life he was living.  Terrified of the unknown, none of the other men accepted the challenge to make their way out to the tree and get an apple, except for Paul, whose desperation kept him motivated.

And so, that night, Paul walked out into the depths of the forest, into the land where ghosts roam, to find the apple tree and grab just one apple for the landlord.    

Paul was on the lookout.  Though he had never been afraid of ghosts before, the stories he heard about the ones here made him weary.  As he searched and searched for the tree, he never once saw a ghost anywhere.  Onward he searched until - there it was. 

When he finally saw the tree, he knew the landlord was right.  It was the tallest, biggest, most plentiful apple tree he had ever seen.  There was more fruit on the tree than he could have ever imagined.  He knew this was enough to feed his whole family for months and months. 

“If there were some way that I could build a home out here, my family and I would be set.  I don’t have the money or the resources to build a home, but this tree would provide enough food,” he said to himself. 

But Paul was torn.  He knew there was a decision to make.  If he returned the apple to the old man, he would have a place to live but no food and if he didn’t return the apple, he would have enough food but no place to live. 

As he paced, thinking about what he should do, he saw a small hole in the trunk of the tree that was barely visible from the tall grass surrounding it but once he pushed aside the grass, the hole was even larger than he thought.  

Intrigued, he took a closer look and saw the most amazing thing. 

Inside the bark of the tree was the safe haven he was looking for.  It was like an underground bunker, safe from the harsh weather, big enough for his whole family, and inside the tree that produced enough fruit for his family to survive. 

Because no one else volunteered to climb the tree for the landlord, he knew that no one would come looking for him if he did not return and with that in mind, he decided not to go back. 

Back at the village, Paul’s family was anxiously awaiting his arrival.  They wanted to be there when Paul was granted the land, so that they could all celebrate together.  They knew that Paul was not one to be afraid of ghosts and they all knew he would be victorious and face the danger.  But as they stood there, they overheard yelling in the near distance. 

“That ignorant beggar!” exclaimed the landlord.  “I knew he couldn’t do it.  No one ever has!  Paul and his family will never live on my land!” 

Overcome with fear after what they heard, the family left the village and began searching for Paul.  They made their way to the apple tree, unafraid of anything or anyone they might run into, including the ghosts.  This was last place they knew he’d be. 

Panicked, the family yelled for Paul.  “Paul!  Paul!  Are you here?  We’ve looked everywhere!  Please, if you’re out here, come to us!” 

Paul heard the cries of his wife and kids and came running out of the trunk of the tree. 

“My family!  I have found shelter for you, here, inside this tree.  It will protect us and feed us for years to come.”  “Out here in this wonderful land, there was no sight of any ghosts, no fear, nothing to scare us away!  The rumors of ghosts had to be untrue or maybe they knew the plea of a desperate man and decided to let us stay without conflict.”   

His family was overjoyed. 

With tears of happiness in her eyes, his wife said, “We can’t believe you have found somewhere for us to live and provide for us.  We can’t thank you enough!”

“Before we go inside, there’s just one more thing I need your help with,” said Paul. 

So before they went inside, with the help of his family, Paul climbed the apple tree and tossed down six dozen apples to his kids. 

Together, Paul and his family were set.  He found an unexpected place for his family to live without having to put up with the demands from the landlord. 

There they lived, together, protected, and far from hungry.  

Apple tree

Author’s note: This story was based off of the original story, The Story of a Brahmadaitya. I decided to keep small aspects of the original story but change many of the details.  In the original story, the Brahman, who in my story is Paul, was a poor man who overheard a man in the village say that he was willing to give away ten acres of land if someone would go get him a branch from a very haunted tree.  Those who had gone before had died and never returned, so none of the others wanted to try except for the Brahman.  When he finally gets to the haunted tree, the ghosts, instead of hurting the Brahman, actually helped him and allowed him to take a branch so that he could have a place to live.  He returned to the landlord with the branch and from there, was granted the land he was promised.  I decided to only retell the first portion of the story because I liked it best and really wanted to put my effort into retelling it.   I really liked the original story so I wanted to keep some of the original aspects of the story.  I thought the story was an interesting ghost story because it didn’t turn out the way you’d expect.  Typically, you don’t think of ghosts being helpful but in the original, they were.  In the original, the Brahman was so brave and also desperate for help that he was willing to do anything and I wanted to keep that aspect in my story.  I wanted to change the story from supernatural to a more realistic story so, I changed the focus from a tree branch to an apple tree so that it would serve the purpose of providing Paul with food for his family.  Part of my inspiration for Paul finding a hole in the tree came from Alice in Wonderland.  There, Alice falls down the rabbit hole and here, Paul finds a hole in the tree that leads to another "world" for his family, a safe haven.  

Bibliography:
Folk-Tales of Bengal by Rev. Lal Behari Day with illustrations by Warwick Goble (1912).