The Tree Beyond Good and Evil
Part 3 of Trilogy: Timeless Stories for the End of Time
Once upon a time, in a land of eternal winter,
there lived a woman with the power of fire in her hands.
No one knew how she came to have this power,
from whom she was born, or how old she was.
She was a great mystery.
She lived alone and never spoke
for she only knew the language of flowers
and in this cold, barren land, no one understood such a thing.
They didn’t even know her name.
So she was simply called Fire Woman.
Since anyone could remember she had been
lighting the hearth of every home
with a bright flame that issued from her hand.
But, the people of winter were always cold.
Though they spent all their time indoors,
huddled around the small fire lit daily by Fire Woman,
the heat never penetrated their skin.
The harsh conditions of this land had left the people cold inside.
The people of Winter had neither imagination nor affection.
And their lives- like their white world- were colorless…
Except for the Fire Woman.
She was full of life and color.
Her hair was long and wild and reflected all shades
of red and orange and gold, like an autumn sunset in our world.
Her eyes were dark and wise, but also carried a trace of sadness.
For though she knew everyone in the land, had been inside every home,
she was lonely, for the people of winter feared her.
The men were jealous of her power
and resentful that they could not possess it, or her.
The women coveted her timeless beauty and quiet grace,
but most of all, her freedom.
For the Fire Woman never knew cold.
No matter how far she traveled, or how bitter the air,
her skin was always warm to the touch.
With no family to tend and needing no shelter from cold,
she could move anywhere she wanted at any hour of day or night.
But what the others did not know is that, belonging to no one,
she was the one most tethered of them all…
for everyone depended on her for their survival.
The Fire Woman spent every day in much the same way,
traveling across the land, from home to home in silence.
Until one fateful morning, the Fire Woman awoke to screams…
Panic and hot vapor filled the air.
A dragon had come in the night and
burned homes to the ground with its fiery breath.
The people had fled to neighboring villages, but many had died.
And strangely, of the ones who perished, all were women.
Everyone was terrified, and they looked to Fire Woman as their only hope.
For it was understood that she was the protector and sustainer of this land,
even if none wanted to grant her the honor of admitting this.
But the Fire Woman was also afraid.
Though she possessed the gift of fire,
she had only ever used it to keep the land alive,
one small flame at a time.
Would she have the power to kill a dragon?
She was only a woman after all.
But she knew she was the people’s only hope.
So, despite her fear, she resolved to fight the beast.
But the dragon was a magical creature
who had wings and left no trace, only destruction.
He could not be hunted like an ordinary animal.
How was she to find him?
At night the dragon haunted her dreams.
She saw through its eyes,
where to it traveled and
what and whom it burned.
But when she woke and
traveled to the scenes in her dreams,
she was always too late.
The dragon was always one step ahead of her.
The dreams were not prophetic,
they were visions of the present and thus, useless.
Days and nights passed and the dark dreams
continued becoming living nightmares in the light of day.
With more and more homes turning to ash,
the cold, private people of Winter were forced to live crowded together.
Eventually, they learned to make torches and
carry the fire from the burning remains to their new homes.
The fire woman’s gift was no longer needed.
And the people seemed to resent her even more
now that they had no use for her.
For she was obviously incapable or unwilling
to defend them from the evil dragon.
Soon there would be no more villages to run to.
The Fire Woman knew she must somehow command
her fear and her wits and face this dragon.
But she did not know how.
On the night of the dark moon, she cried in despair and
silently implored the great hidden eye,
“You who see what I cannot, please help me.
The dragon is always beyond my reach, just beyond.
How can I save my people?”
And the moon answered with his silent smile…
“Go to the ends of the earth.
Begin tonight and you will meet the
great winged one by my next full light.”
Yes, of course. She must go to the end.
Meet the beast where there was nowhere left to run.
Immediately, she began walking.
When she reached the outer regions of her land,
she began to worry about her people.
How would they keep warm with her so far away?
But then she remembered that she was no longer needed to tend the hearth.
And though she was afraid of what lay ahead,
the Fire Woman found herself enjoying her journey.
The beauty of the snow glistening, shifting under her feet.
The naked trees silently approving as she walked past.
She had always been kept busy before,
with her tasks as keeper of the fire.
Now she realized that she had actually felt more
lonely around her people than she did alone.
Now, as she walked deeper into the wilderness,
she felt a sense of fullness and peace
mingling with her familiar emptiness.
And she was grateful, for during her journey,
every night when she laid to rest,
she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
One day, she came upon a rushing river.
This was very odd for water in her land was always frozen still.
She wondered how she would get across this great moving thing
when she heard her name.
And she knew this, even though she could not
remember ever having heard her name before.
Beyond the river was a great fruit tree and
it was he who called to her.
He unfurled one of his elegant arms and
stretched it across the breadth of the river…
The Fire Woman walked carefully down the slender limb and
when she was safe across the river and quite close to his body,
the tree invited her to eat of his fruit.
Dark, ripe figs hung from the silver branches
of this magical tree that knew her name.
Shyly, she plucked a fat juicy one and put it in her mouth.
As the juice from the warm flesh flowed into her body,
her womb and heart filled with a sweetness and
satisfaction she had never known before.
As this pleasure moved through her,
the Fire Woman suddenly awoke to a desire deep
within her that had long been denied.
She longed to be with one who could meet her-
as the moon meets the sun.
One who could receive her full power,
not these tiny house fires-
but the inferno of love that she had to give- but to whom?
And the woman wept tears of sadness and exhaustion.
She was so tired of holding this strong front to mask her loneliness,
not wanting to reveal her weakness to those that depended upon her strength.
With the life of the sweet fruit coursing through her,
she who was always warm began to feel hot.
So she took off her garments, boots, and cloak, and dress.
And when she was naked she saw what she had not been able to see a moment before-
green fields covered with flowers,
beautiful blooms of every shade.
The symphony of color and scent intoxicated her.
And then their voices, the flowers began to speak,
welcoming her to the land of Eternal Spring.
And the Fire Woman smiled, so happy to be in a land where she would finally be understood.
And just when she was about to speak, and express her joy,
she remembered her true home and thought,
“How can I smile and sing in this pretty place while my people burn?”
The great silver tree knew her thoughts and silently spoke,
“Stay. Within you is the seed from which a great tree will grow.
From its fruits, a new world will be born.
Eat of my fruit once more and all your worries will dissolve…
Your questions answered, your mind at peace.”
The Fire Woman was struck with a wave of anger and distrust.
Why was this beautiful tree trying to seduce her?
It was not pleasure that would save her world but the killing of a dragon.
But she was tempted…
the people of Winter had never loved her.
Why should she risk her life to save them?
Yes, she should forget them and stay here,
where she could lie naked and feel this delicious satisfaction fill her body,
and enjoy an endless supply of fruit and song…
But, she could not let go. …
she could not give up the task that was hers alone to do.
She put on her clothes and prepared to walk on.
The great tree was sad to see her go,
but he knew they would meet again.
Besides, he was part of her now, inside her.
By and by the woman came across a great moving thing,
more wild and vast than the rushing river of Spring.
She had reached the great ocean at the end of the world,
far too big to ever be frozen still.
The Fire Woman looked at the sky and knew
she would meet the dragon here, now,
under the moon’s full light.
There was nowhere left to hide.
And as she approached the great ocean,
there he was.
The dragon was enormous but even more startling
than his size was his incredible beauty.
His mighty wings were a mass of moving storms and
the iridescent scales that covered his body reflected the tones of all colors,
colors she had never known before,
and brighter even than the flowers of Spring.
The dragon glistened with such light, he was hard to look upon
and his sparkling eyes flashed upon her.
The Fire Woman took a deep breath.
She did not want to fight such a beautiful creature
and felt very small in his presence.
But she remembered the smell of the burning bodies
and the cries of her people and
she knew she must do what she came here to do.
She summoned all her courage, raised her hands and
blasted the great beast with her inner fire.
And he roared back at her.
But when the great flash of light finally faded,
the dragon was still there, unscathed.
And so was she.
Then the fire woman knew she would not defeat this dragon, could not.
So she spoke, though she was not sure he would understand her words,
she spoke in her tongue…
저는 불의 여인 입니다
세상 시작 서 부터
저의가 집집 마다
불씨를 줬다.
근데 저의 주민들은
아직도 차갑다.
사랑 줄수록
그들에 마음들은
더 멀어져 갔다
이제 저의 도움을
더 이상 피료 하지 않고
저의 힘이
아무 소용도 없다.
저 포기 하겠다.
저의 삶 돼신 우리
주민들 살려 주십쇼.
“I am the woman of fire.
Since time began I have lit the hearth of every home.
Yet my people are still cold inside.
The more I gave, the more distant they became.
They need me no longer,
my power means nothing.
I come before you now.
I surrender to your great fire.
May my sacrifice appease your appetite.
Please set my people free.”
The Fire Woman bowed her head in reverence, and the dragon nodded in turn.
Then she closed her eyes and waited for the dragon’s breath to consume her.
But nothing happened.
She slowly opened her eyes and
was startled to find the wide jewel-like eyes of the dragon
staring into her own, quite still.
And then he said her name….
“이재인
그래 내가 니 이름을 안다
니 언어도 알고
너의 대한 모든 것을 알고 있지
나는 이 세상을 만들었고
너는 내 알에서 생겼다
니본채는
해이다.
니가 사랑을 받으려고
내려 온 것이 아니고
뜨거운 사랑으로
인간들 마음을
열여라고 왔지
꽃이 해빛 밑에서
피드시
근데 니가 챙피 한것 배우면서
니 할일을 못 했지
챙피한것은 이 세상
모든 고생에 뿌리이다
니 외로움. 니 슬픔. 답답한 마음
니 질투. 니 화
다 참고 숢길려고 했던 감정이
내 몸이다
나는 니 활짝 핀 영원이 순진한 마음이다
잘 봐라!
내가 얼마나 멋있고
아름 다운지!
날 겁나서
피하려고
인간들이 가까와 졌고
내가 불 태워 버린 재 속에서
불씨를 발견했다.
나는이 세상에 선물이다
자 니 자신을 이제 인정 하라
날 보면서
니 모습을 찾으라.
” 이재인
Yes, I know your name,
I know the language of your heart,
I know everything about you.
I am the creator of this world.
From my egg were you born.
Your origin is the sun.
You did not come here to receive love.
You came down to give love,
even more deeply, more intimately-
to open the heart of this world
as the flower bud opens to sunlight.
But you held back because
you are afraid of your power,
ashamed of your darkness.
Shame is the root of all suffering.
The ashamed see death when there is only life.
Look at me!
I am your loneliness and your frustration.
I am your sadness. Your anger.
I am your fear incarnate.
All the feelings you try to hide, to control-
they are my body.
Beyond all this,
I am your innocence.
unleashed,
unmasked,
fully expressed.
I am beautiful beyond measure.
I AM A GIFT.
As the people fled my fire,
they opened their homes and hearts.
They became vulnerable.
It is in my wake
that they learned to create
fire from ashes.
Now accept who you are.
See me as you.”
But the Fire Woman could not sustain his gaze.
She looked away. She could not…accept this.
“All the homes burned, the women, dead. Me?
God if this is true
if I was meant to be a sun walking this earth…
A giver of life… I have failed miserably.
All I have done is destroyed…. there is only one thing left to do.”
She jumped into the ocean
to drown in her terrible reflection.
But she did not lose her breath.
In fact, she did not feel the water against her skin,
but inside.
Against her will, with no will at all,
she was drinking the entire ocean,
taking in all the waters of life.
And when the last drop was drunk,
she let out an immense roar
that set the entire world aflame.
When the Fire Woman finally opened her eyes,
she found that she was not at the bottom of the sea
but high in the sky….
She looked down upon the burning world and she was afraid…
she saw the burning trees and homes and flowers,
the Land of Winter no different from the Land of Spring now.
And all the people’s bodies burning.
Their clothes, their hardened shells, and tough skins.
And she felt their pain and their fear.
The Fire Woman looked away
only to find herself face to face with the great eye- the shining moon.
When she saw her reflection, she let out a great cry,
for she saw the truth of who she was.
As she faced herself fully for the first time,
every beautiful scale of her dragon’s body
suddenly dissolved into millions of raindrops
that poured down upon the burning world and the naked people.
The waters came in and penetrated them.
Without their divisions of skin,
they could not tell one from the other;
who was old or who was young,
who was kin, and who was stranger.
They felt each others’ insides as if they were their own.
Though it was dark and there was no more covering,
no one was afraid or cold any longer.
Then light slowly began to fill the air.
A new sun rose higher and higher, and
a great hush came over the earth as a
tremendous rainbow filled the sky- from end to end.
Where the east end met the land,
a woman was seen…
her hair alive with the colors of the sun.
And from her mouth songs of joy poured forth as oceans of sound.
And the people’s hearts were flooded and
they opened, like flowers open to the sun.
Then their bodies began to bear strange fruit.
As they ate of each other’s fruits, a new garden was born.
And the Fire Woman who was no longer needed or feared knew herself.
She
the great dragon, golden sun, giver of life -
knew herself as beloved.
And the whole world knew her name,
Yeeve 이재인 Rayne.
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