Tales of Nature

Tales of nature

Asian tellers share stories of nature - of its beauty and power. Although modern problems of pollution plague many Asian nations, there is a tradition of care, of closeness to the natural world; nature is not something to be conquered, but something we can all learn from...

Avvil- a tasty tale of Indian recyling
A Faithful Friend - an Indian parrot shows the strength of friendship

Avvil

The treasurer of Mysore Palace once arranged for a big dinner. Several hours before the dinner, he went through the royal kitchen, checking the preparations. In a corner, he saw a large basket of vegetable scraps.

“What is this?” he asked a cook.

“Trimmings from the vegetables - the end pieces and things we don’t need,” replied the cook.

“What will you do with them?” the treasurer asked.

“Throw them away. They’re of no use,” replied the cook.

“But you can’t simply waste all of these pieces,” said the wise treasurer. “You must find a way to use them.” With a stern look to go with his command, he then walked away.

The cook then stared at the bits and pieces and tried to think what to do. Finally, he took some coconut scraps to make a sauce with yogurt. Then he cleaned all of the vegetables and cut them into small pieces. He added some spices and cooked the mixture.

Later that evening he served his dish. Guests immediately loved it and asked its name. He called it, “Avvil.” From that day on, this easy-to-make dish was very popular in the palace and then elsewhere. And it all started from a basket of waste!

(from Simple Wonders by Cathy Spagnoli and Paramasivam, Tulika Publishers, 2001)

A faithful friend

Once in a peaceful forest, a hunter walked, holding arrow tips dipped in a strong poison. He heard a sound, saw a deer leap out, and immediately he let loose an arrow. The arrow flew by the deer and hit instead a large, lovely tree. Annoyed at his miss, the hunter soon left the forest, never to return. But the arrow’s poison stayed in the tree, spreading quickly through it.

Soon, the life in the tree began to depart. Little by little, the tree started to die. In days, its leaves drooped sadly. Many of the creatures that lived in it began to move away, fearing death. More leaves fell and soon nothing was left on the wounded tree except for one small parrot. This parrot stayed, perched on a tree branch, even though there was no food to eat and no leaves to shelter him.

One day Indra, the king of heaven, saw a bright light surrounding a tree on the earth below. Curious, he went down and found a glow coming from a small parrot, who looked very weak and thin. Softly he said,“Dear bird, this tree is almost dead, it can no longer help you. Why do you stay on it? You may die if you don’t seek other shelter and food.”

“My lord,” said the parrot softly. “I was born in this tree, I ate my first food here. The tree has been my friend for so long, giving me both shelter and comfort. Now that it is weak and hurt, how can I go away? It helped me as I grew. I must now stay and help my friend as he leaves this earth.”

Indra, much impressed by the words and spirit of the kind parrot, smiled and said, “You know much about true friendship. I would like to grant you a boon, a blessing. What do you ask?”

“Great Indra,” replied the bird. “All that I ask is for my friend, the tree, to be brought back to full health once again.”

As soon as the words fell from the parrot’s beak, the tree began to recover. Brown leaves suddenly turned green, bark began to glisten, bent branches straightened proudly. And the happy parrot nestled closer to the tree, almost spinning round for joy, and rubbing his small body against the tree , as if to say, “Welcome back, dear friend.”

(from Jasmine and Coconuts by Spagnoli and Samanna, Libraries Unlimited, 1998)TOP