The Tree & The Sun
Far across the ocean, at the very end of the world, the Sun sleeps in the Land of the Dead. He rests in the branches of a great tree, until the time comes for him to rise again and light our way in the world. But this was not always so. In the time of our eldest ancestors, this tree had not grown yet, and the Sun had no bed to spend his nights in. This is the story of how the tree came to grow, and become the resting place of the Sun.
In a small village, in a poor country, there lived a young boy named Surye. Surye tried his best to be a good little boy, and help his mother as she took care of him and his two sisters. But Surye loved the forests, and would always wander off to explore the woods near his home. He would always mean to go for just a few minutes, and come back as soon as he saw what was behind that tree. But once he saw what was behind that tree, he would see a beautiful flower he wanted to see up close. And then, just behind another tree, he would see the bushy tail of a squirrel just disappearing. And thus he would go further and further from his home, until the Sun had crossed overhead and was on his journey down again. Then he would realize he had been away for hours, instead of the few minutes he had intended to be, and would go rushing back home. His mother rebuked him many times for this forgetfulness, but lo and behold, when the Sun came to light the way again, Surye would be back in the forest again. His mother tried everything she could to make him remember not to run off, but it did no good. She was not so angry that he spent the day in the woods, but worried that one day, he would not come home again.
As Surye grew older, he learned to finish his chores before going into the forest, and would regularly disappear in the afternoons, not returning until the Sun had almost begun his journey to the Land of the Dead.
One day, Surye watched the Sun slip below the horizon and he wondered where the Sun went each day. He thought about it, and could not think of where the Sun could go.
“Mother, where does the Sun go when he leaves us each night?” he asked, when he got home.
“What makes you ask that?” his mother questioned.
“I cannot think of where the Sun would have to go. There are no legends about it that I have heard.”
His mother smiled and gestured for Surye to sit down. “It is an old tale, one that has been forgotten by most,” she said.
“When the world was much younger than it is now, and the Sun was just a child, he roamed all over the world, exploring it, much like you have explored the woods by our home. He learned every corner of it, and marveled at the things that the Mother had created. But one day, he found a forest he had never seen before. It was dark, and full of mist. It seemed to be very old, almost as old as the Mother herself. He was afraid to enter it at first, but his curiosity soon led him down into the trees.
The Sun noticed that his light, which was much gentler then than it is now, was greatly diminished by the fog in this dark forest. He became frightened that it would die out completely, thus killing him as well. He tried to find his way out of the forest, but it was too thick to tell which way he had come in.”
“Why didn’t the Sun just fly out of the forest?” Surye’s youngest sister interrupted. She had heard Surye come home, and was now intently listening to her mother’s story.
“Because, little one. This was a magical forest, many times larger than even a giant’s forest, and the Sun could not fly high enough to get out of it.”
Surye’s sister seemed to be satisfied with that answer and sat back again to listen.
“As I was saying,” Surye’s mother continued, “The Sun was very lost in this huge forest. Suddenly, he came to a clearing in the trees. He ran into it, thinking that he had found his way out of the forest. But he stopped when he saw what was in the middle of the clearing. There sat the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She glowed with a light, like he did, but it was silver, and much softer. She looked up at him, and the Sun realized that she was as young as he. He was glad to find someone else in this dark ancient wood.
The Moon, for that is who she was, smiled at the Sun as he came into the clearing. She thought that she had never seen one as handsome as he, and she wondered what he was doing so deep in the Forest.
“Hail, good sir,” she said tentatively, and smiled. Her voice was like the sound of silver chimes when they ring softly in the wind. The Sun was speechless for a moment, but then managed to smile back at her.
“Hail, oh fairest maiden,” he said, “What is one such as you doing so deep in these woods?”
The Moon laughed, and rose to her feet. She walked over to the Sun and stood in front of him. “Know ye not where we are?” she asked.
The Sun shook his head. He knew he had never seen a forest such as this one.
“We are in the Forest of the Dead,” the Moon told him.
The Sun gasped. He knew that the Forest of the Dead was a very dangerous place to be in. He knew he must get out quickly, for he was in grave danger.
“Then we must get out of here!” the Sun told the Moon.
The Moon smiled and shook her head. “I cannot leave here. This is the place where I was born, and I cannot leave it.”
The Sun frowned. He wanted nothing more than to take this beautiful woman away from the darkness of the forest, and keep her safe from all that would dare to harm her.
“Please come with me,” he said. ‘I cannot bear to see one such as you stay here in this dark place. Come with me and we shall travel together across the world. I will be your light, and if you are willing, your love.”
The Moon smiled sadly. She wished she could go with the Sun, to see the world at his side. But she had been trapped here in this clearing by the evil of the forest, and did not know how she could break free.
“I am sorry, but I cannot. I am trapped here, and do not know how to break free.”
“Trapped? Who has trapped you here! I will do battle with them and force them to set you free!” The Sun drew his shining sword, and turned to face the dark forest. “I will not let your evil claws wrap around her! Come forth, ye evil, and do battle with me!”
The Moon watched in fear, afraid that something would come out of the forest to harm the Sun, and she would be forced to watch. But all was still in the Forest of the Dead, and only her soft fearful breath broke the silence.
The Sun glared out into the darkness, hoping that some creature would come by which he could set the Moon free. But nothing came, and after a while, he turned back to the Moon.
“If you cannot leave this place, then I will stay here with you.”
“The forest is harsh, my champion. I am afraid you will be hurt or killed here. Nothing in the forest will harm me, for nothing may enter my clearing. I was born here, and it is a holy place, even though it is also my prison.”
The Sun shook his head. “That does not matter my love. I will stay here with you, for I know that without your light, my own will go dark.”
The Sun stepped to the edge of her circle and reached out. He could not enter her circle, but he could touch her hands at the very edge of it. They stood there, their palms touching, until their light mingled and became as one. Both of their lights, one silver, and one gold, rose above them to light the dark and twisted trees above them. Where the light touched, the trees changed, ever so slightly, and became less twisted, less dark.
The Moon looked up, at where the trees had changed. She could feel the magic holding her to this place weakening. The Sun was just smiling at her, taking in all her beauty and reflecting it back to her. She looked into his eyes, and drank in the light that flowed from them. She yearned to break free from the circle, and fall into his arms.
The air around them suddenly hummed with magic, dark, twisted magic. It clawed at them, trying to tear them apart, but it could not even touch the golden and silver light that surrounded them. The light pushed the magic away, and it fell away and faded into the forest.
The Moon suddenly felt the barrier she pushed against fall away, and she fell into the Sun’s arms with a surprised cry that quickly turned to joy.
“Oh! Oh!” Surye’s little sister interrupted again. “Did the Moon and the Sun leave the Forest then?” Surye’s mother nodded. “Yes, they did. And they lived in happiness for many long years, dancing together across the sky.
This story is still in progress.