By Odeen Ishmael
Deep within the forest stood a massive tree. This tree was a very unusual tree because it had magical qualities that enabled it to produce all kinds of fruits on its wide leafy branches. It also had an immense trunk and was much taller than any other tree, rising like a majestic mountain in the middle of the forest. Large knots protruded from its bark, and its branches were so thickly covered with leaves that they blocked the sunlight from reaching the ground. Nevertheless, it was always full of life since large flocks of birds and swarms of insects occupied its branches and fed on its delicious fruits, which emitted a pleasant fragrance all around. All the people in the surrounding countryside came to this special tree for its abundant supply of fruits and most of them felt that they must make special efforts to ensure that it was carefully protected. For its colossal size and magical properties, it was known as the tree of life.
But Pia, the well-known powerful and muscular woodcutter, was determined to test his skills by cutting down this mammoth tree. One day he expressed his thoughts to the men in his village.
“All over the land everyone would regard me as the greatest woodcutter if I chop down this tree,” he boasted.
But Akuri, the short rotund farmer, immediately objected to his plan.
“How can you ever think of cutting down the tree of life?” he remonstrated. “It provides fruits for us all year round. If you chop it down, we will lose a most valuable resource, and, furthermore, our ancestors warned us that if ever that tree is cut down a destructive flood will spread all over the land.”
But Pia shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s just an old superstition that cutting down the tree will bring about a flood,” he declared. “I don’t believe that will ever happen. And if I cut down the tree, we can easily transplant pieces of its branches all over the land, thus enabling more fruits to be available after a little while.”
Opinion was divided over his statement, and while some agreed with him, others, including Akuri, continued to raise objections.
But nothing could deter Pia, so he grabbed his heavy axe, threw it across his broad shoulders, and strode into the forest towards the magic tree. Akuri, worried as ever, hustled behind and pleaded with him to desist from any rash action.
Soon after, Pia arrived at the magic tree and stood beside its huge trunk under the thick branches looming overhead. He lifted his axe and made a heavy chop on the trunk. But the wood was so hard that the heavy axe bounced back without leaving a mark on it. Again and again he swung the axe, but it had no effect at all.
Standing close by, Akuri pleaded for Pia to stop his madness, but the woodcutter ignored him and continued to chop away.
As Pia realised he was making no headway, he suddenly remembered that he could call on the forest spirit to soften the wood of the magic tree. This he did, and almost at once, the forest spirit, who had always protected him, softened the wood and the heavy axe began to cut deep into the trunk.
Seeing this, Akuri begged, “Please, Pia, don’t cut down the tree or else a dangerous flood will emerge from it.”
But Pia continued to ignore him, so in frantic haste he began to collect bees’ wax and fallen fruits which he stuffed into the sharp gashes the axe made on the tree trunk. Akuri hoped that his action would prevent any flood that he feared would spew from the damaged tree. But as fast as Akuri kept filling the gashes, Pia continued to hew away at the tree trunk.
Then Pia’s axe sank far into the trunk which had become as soft as a papaya tree, and at any moment it seemed as if the tree would tumble over. By this time, a large crowd of people had gathered at the scene and they watched as Pia chopped away while Akuri tried desperately to stuff the deep cuts with wax and fruits.
Soon, the great tree began to sway, but just as it was about to fall, the onlookers heard a loud shout. It was Anzik, Pia’s close friend, who came rushing up to save tree of life. He had been away from the village and, on his return, had learned from some children of what his friend intended to do.
He shouted to the forest spirit, who was his protector as well, to make the tree trunk as hard as rock. At once, the forest spirit heeded his call and immediately Pia’s axe no longer had any effect on the tree.
But the damage was already done. With the trunk cut more than half-way across, the mighty tree swayed and then crashed heavily with a loud creaking sound to the ground. Its wide-spreading, heavy branches knocked over all trees nearby, and its fruits flew off in all directions. And as slammed to the ground, the force of its weight split a large section of the trunk and tore up the deeply embedded roots which erupted from the soil, causing a destructive earthquake all over the land. Great blocks of rock were ripped up and thrown in the air as well, and as they fell back they formed a range of high mountains stretching as far as the eye could see.
As for the enormous trunk of the tree of life, it also rose up to the sky in the form of a massive rock, and created a towering mountain which later became known as Roraima.
And from its base where the ripped-open trunk once stood, a gigantic spout of water shot out and began to flood the entire countryside. While Pia and some of the villagers saved themselves by rushing to higher ground, many people and animals in the surrounding areas could not escape the deluge. The flow was so fast and furious that large numbers of them drowned because they could not reach high land quickly enough.
One of those lucky enough to escape was Akuri. He ran as fast as he could, but his short chubby legs proved to be a disadvantage. As the flood waters were almost upon him, the forest spirit mercifully transformed him into an agouti, and his new-found swiftness of feet enabled him to scamper rapidly up the steep side of Mount Roraima, high above the raging waters of the mighty flood.
Story, published with permission from author, is taken from “Guyana Legends – Folktales of the Indigenous Amerindians” by Odeen Ishmael, published 2012. Ishmael is a veteran retired Guyanese diplomat. He retired from the diplomatic service in June 2014. He last served as Guyana’s Ambassador to Kuwait.
