Hear

UDALA TREE

There was an orphan boy
Who had no mother or father of his own.
He lived with his stepmother
And two stepbrothers.

Now whenever there was food to be had
The stepmother and the stepbrothers ate the good food
And gave the orphan boy only the scraps.

Whenever there was work to be done
The stepmother and the stepbrothers
Would do only the lightest work
And give all the hardest work to the boy.

Every day he had to sweep the compound,
Hoe the garden,
And bring water from the river.

One day when the boy was sweeping the compound
He found the seed of an Udala tree
Lodged in a crack in the ground.

The boy owned nothing of his own.
He thought I will keep this shiny Udala seed.
It will be something that belongs to me.

That night when the boy slept
He put the Udala seed under his pillow.
And while he slept he had a dream.

The boy dreamed that an Udala tree
Grew from the tiny seed under his pillow
And spread its branches over his head.

The next morning
The boy took the Udala seed to the garden.
He made a tiny hole and planted the seed.
He covered it over...
He brought water from the stream and watered it.

Then the boy sat down
And began to chant.

"Udala GROW!
Udala GROW!
Grow for motherless child!
Grow for fatherless child!
The earth is a place of call.
Man stops here and goes on."

And as the boy chanted
A tiny shoot began to grow from the Udala seed.

The boy chanted louder.

"..."

And as the boy chanted
The Udala tree began to grow...
It grew taller than the boy's head.

The boy became EXCITED!

"..."

Before his very eyes
That seed grew until it became a great Udala tree.
And it spread its branches over his head.

The boy sat in the shade of his very own Udala tree.
And he was happy.

Then the boy thought
"What if the tree should bear fruit?"

So the boy chanted:

"Udala FRUIT!
Udala FRUIT!
Fruit for motherless child!
Fruit for fatherless child!
The earth is a place of call.
Man stops here and goes on."

Then over his head
Udala fruit grew on the branches.
Tiny green Udala fruit covered the tree.

The boy chanted for the fruit to ripen.

"Udala RIPEN!
Udala RIPEN!
..."

All through the Udala tree
The fruit turned a ripe yellowish brown.

But the boy could not reach the fruit.
He called the fruit to....drop.

"Udala DROP!
Udala DROP!
..."

All about the boy
In his lap
On the ground
All around the tree
Fell the ripe Udala fruit.

The boy ate of the delicious Udala fruit.
Never had he been so full.
Never had he felt so contented.

In the evening the stepmother and stepbrothers
Returned from the village.
They saw the tall Udala tree in their garden
And were astonished.

The boy told them to pick whatever of the Udala
Fruit they wanted
From the ground.

But he warned them never to touch
His magic Udala tree.
They must never climb the tree
Or pick the fruit.

The stepmother and stepbrothers ate of the delicious
Fruit and were delighted.

Some days later
When the boy was hoeing the garden
He heard a noise in his tree.
The two stepbrothers had climbed the Udala tree
And were breaking the branches
To get at the fruit!

The orphan boy was FURIOUS!

He began to chant for the tree to grow
Higher into the air
Carrying the two boys with it.

"Udala GROW!
Udala GROW!
..."

The stepbrothers began to scream for help.

Their mother ran from the house.
She begged the orphan boy to stop the tree.

But he was angry
And he would not.

He chanted for the tree to grow taller
Into the sky.

"UDALA GROW!!!
UDALA GROW!!!
..."

And the tree grew taller...
Taller...
Taller...
Until the boys disappeared
Into the clouds.

The villagers ran to see this strange thing.
Then the stepmother...
Before all the assembled villagers...
Promised to give the boy
Only the best food to eat
Only the lightest work to do
If he would bring back her sons.

When the boy heard her make this promise
Before the entire village
He knew she would have to keep her promise.
And so he relented.

He called for the tree to shrink.

And slowly
The tree shrank back toward the earth
Until it was its normal size again
And the boys were able to climb back to the ground.

From that day
The orphan boy
Was given only the best food
And only the lightest labor
In that household.

And always...
Always...
That boy remembered to share with everyone
The fruit of his
MAGIC UDALA TREE.