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OLE AND TRUFA ( A Story of Two Leaves )
4 c& C2 o; r7 w8 l! n( `/ e3 Z. Fby Issac Bashevis Singer
) A! `: r+ |1 z* @. o3 |The forest was large and thickly overgrown with all kinds of leaf-bearing
- C6 [* i! ^9 B) X+ K" |3 H; Itrees. It was in the month of November. Usually, it's cold this time of year; y8 P7 i- s" n& m* K& B3 H
and it even happens that it snows, but this November was relatively warm.
$ g8 L e H. H9 n4 ZThe nights were cool and windy but as soon as the sun came out in the
/ u5 y4 T& _1 }" r5 P( _: mmornings it turned warm. You might have thought it was summer except that
2 E5 `# C& V2 v' Zthe whole forest was strewn with fallen leaves - some yellow as saffron,
8 c c9 [6 o; b9 ~5 q6 qsome red as wine, some the color of gold, and some of mixed color. The# V5 t9 r* ], @/ L* p
leaves had been torn down by the rain, by the wind, some by day, some at1 X5 a D t6 [9 J/ X
night, and they now formed a deep carpet over the forest floor. Although$ b! t2 R" F( a# J- [0 m' u) h9 {
their juices had run dry, the leaves still exuded a pleasant aroma. The sun
8 `4 V$ K) c; V* s/ @1 H$ M- T7 |0 N# fshone down on them through the living branches, and the worms and flies
/ r$ H1 f& ^* i8 m- Q2 I- Cwhich had somehow survived the autumn storms crawled over them. The space* C5 H% v" v( T: z! u
beneath the leaves provided hiding places for crickets, field mice, and many
9 V8 H2 z# H, D; t3 `" K2 `other creatures who sough protection in the earth. The birds that don't
- }7 s% ]9 U8 `/ u( dmigrate to warmer climates in the winter but stay behind perched on the bare
1 s% J$ V, X9 [# p+ g9 x, Xtree limbs. Among them were sparrows - tiny birds, but endowed with much
2 W- C: G$ R. u" V. ?- kcourage and the experience accumulated through thousands of generations.
! ?: W8 D B! i: f- S l$ ]3 vThey hopped, twittered, and searched for the food the forest offered this9 \* k9 T" P. J+ a# \7 |* c1 m
time of year. Many, many insects and worms had perished in recent weeks, but
' H$ ?, N7 z9 L. pno one mourned their loss. God's creatures know that death is merely a phase3 o2 V& \5 B2 P4 L* Y* @2 s8 A
of life. With the coming of spring, the forest would again fill with( `4 \' s. i3 J: y
grasses, green leaves, blossoms and flowers. The migrating birds would0 [% \7 }% a! h
return from far-off lands and locate their abandoned nests. Even if the wind9 u! D! \1 n8 x% A8 \3 c
or the rain had disturbed a nest, it could be easily repaired.
" C- y3 f. T+ t- _On the tip of a tree which had lost all its other leaves, two still
) R# v: B- M; T( a: Q9 |+ c% rremained. One leaf was named Ole and the other, Trufa. Ole and Trufa both
1 ?6 q+ s3 t/ g" bhung from one twig. Since they were at the very tip of the tree they: @7 i) |$ O( a6 ^; M5 x- y2 H
received lots of sunlight. For some reason unknown to Ole or Trufa, they had
# t& g+ Z: ]7 E7 C: B# ~8 dsurvived all the rains, all the cold nights and winds, and still clung to
' y8 L' s+ i3 V7 Ithe tip of the twig. Who knows the reason one leaf falls and another
* D. _+ \/ y- f" J6 m l, @remains? But Ole and Trufa believed the answer lay in the great love they
+ n j% |& R" C4 ibore one another. Ole was slightly bigger than Trufa and a few days older,
" g: d, C3 H, n8 ^# v4 U; O* ~9 Ubut Trufa was prettier and more delicate. One leaf can do little for another
( s& x2 h$ p: Gwhen the wind blows, the rain pours, or hail begins to fall. It even happens+ w2 a# j- B$ i/ d# G9 r
in summer that a leaf is torn loose - come autumn and winter nothing can be
. {( c$ K' _. b- ddone. Still, Ole encouraged Trufa at every opportunity. During the worst( `$ K( ]% p* \ N' E% q
storms, when the thunder clapped, the lightning flashed, and the wind tore% `) @* q$ X* T0 k
off not only leaves but even whole branches, Ole pleaded with Trufa: "Hang! G; T$ V; F" C9 F$ t+ a
on, Trufa! Hang on with all your might!"* Z! @) {9 d0 ^1 s
At times during the cold and stormy nights, Trufa would complain: "My time
7 A6 U+ F+ ^& R" whas come, Ole, but you hang on!"% n% w, q/ z! q5 R( X
"What for?" Ole asked. "Without you, my life is senseless. If you fall, I'll+ S% q7 H3 a) z
fall with you."2 Y/ }- i5 W& A- m: |, \
"No, Ole, don't do it! So long as a leaf can stay up it mustn't let go..."
; v% p) B: p( G! m"It all depends if you stay with me," Ole replied. "By day I look at you and
3 M0 W; m& i) `admire your beauty. At night I sense your fragrance. Be the only leaf on a3 a. l" _ p& M$ k( k8 x
tree? No, never!"& v3 E2 X+ k+ d. O6 i( f+ u. R( r
"Ole, your words are so sweet but they're not true," Trufa said. "You know' }9 P7 Y0 i$ D
very well that I'm no longer pretty. Look how wrinkled I am! All my juices
. H9 R# D ]: `: Q/ i& lhave dried out and I'm ashamed before the birds. They look at me with such& f9 g/ [( ^5 l* Y
pity. At times it seems to me they're laughing at how shriveled I've become.& s4 g( N# @; c& l4 }9 r* N
I've lost everything, but one things is still left me - my love for you."' ^6 S7 N& I: h# _4 c/ @7 f
"Isn't that enough? Of all our powers love is the highest, the finest," Ole
/ H8 e& {2 c! Xsaid. "So long as we love each other we remain here, and no wind rain or
5 ~' e, A4 r" t; }( [# O, q! wstorm can destroy us. I'll tell you something, Trufa - I never loved you as
) A" Y2 i+ O5 Q: n" x- Pmuch as I love you now."
+ Y- h/ B- A$ n3 m* m+ R2 v# n# l"Why, Ole? Why? I'm all yellow" "Who says green is pretty and yellow is not?
h% }+ E8 P7 C+ N( ~All colors are equally handsome."; w& j! i% A0 |1 k! k+ ~9 n- b
And just as Ole spoke these words, that which Trufa had feared all these6 C7 {0 z3 T8 _4 c
months happened - a wind came up and tore Ole loose from the twig. Trufa
! B5 b, R6 c* X% w# d4 ybegan to tremble and flutter until it seemed that she too would soon be torn
" [3 f6 t0 j8 {% x. ~/ }0 Jaway, but she held fast. She saw Ole fall and sway in the air and she called& R# ^4 e% f, O4 [7 P
to him in leafy language: "Ole! Come back! Ole! Ole!"
5 f! u4 Y: m7 c" F6 I' KBut before she could even finish Ole vanished from sight. He blended in with
) e5 G5 O& Z8 Q2 L& Jthe other leaves on the ground and Trufa was left all alone on the tree.' O, E7 {" X& P4 s/ i' O) O
So long as it was still day, Trufa managed somehow to endure her grief. But1 }5 a H. p' o$ b! }5 i& G
when it grew dark and cold and a piercing rain began to fall, she sank into x8 T* W: g2 ^, ~6 X( J9 P F7 ]1 g" B
despair. Somehow she felt that the blame for all the leafy misfortunes lay" B8 H* a9 p2 r- f/ e% p1 t
with the tree, the trunk with all its mighty limbs. Leaves fell but the/ a& U$ Z) A# C; P# L2 B
trunk stood tall, thick and firmly rooted in the ground. No wind, rain, or, v2 a6 s5 a$ I' R0 Y2 I0 F
hail could upset it. What did it matter to a tree which probably loved
- W4 R( j8 \0 V- `- G5 ^forever what became of a leaf? To Trufa, the trunk was a kind of God. It
+ c5 k0 G! Z8 `: z9 e4 g; a/ Zcovered itself with leaves for a few months, then it shook them off. It0 D7 E$ Z# e. t. c
nourished them with its sap as long as it pleased, then it let them die of# V' O/ ]" Z, v7 P
thirst. Trufa pleaded with the tree to give her back her Ole and make it
) N- i7 }6 ?, `! e- q! xsummer again, but the tree didn't heed, or refused to heed, her prayers.... E% c& ^, m& ?' @. s3 l* n; n
Trufa didn't think a night could be so long as this one - so dark, so
p! G3 x8 m5 L0 bfrosty. She spoke to Ole and hoped for an answer, but Ole was silent and! Y4 y/ T6 C4 j" e
gave no sign of his presence.8 o$ A+ B( P$ {) j- B$ {' }+ o
Trufa said to the tree: "Since you've taken Ole from me, take me too."
# m; M; U$ f8 f7 vBut even this prayer the tree didn't acknowledge.
* l* W8 ?( v8 M" [( K: D$ H& E9 b TAfter a while, Trufa dozed off. This wasn't sleep but a strange languor.2 h/ b7 a7 c) B: T
Trufa awoke and to her amazement found that she was no longer hanging on the- I7 j2 |2 i9 s& R4 |/ c( y4 K2 B: Z
tree. The wind had blown her down while she was asleep. This was different
1 }7 P B5 K9 A1 cfrom the way she used to feel when she awoke on the tree with the sunrise.
8 _ T9 G# h$ e4 {All her fears and anxieties had now vanished. The awakening also brought& H9 [/ B8 ~/ ` \
with it an awareness that she had never felt before. She knew now that she8 Z: L: ]+ A$ r' W
wasn't just a leaf that depended on every whim of the wind, but that she was7 V- R% k, g- N2 S$ c+ X
a part of the universe. She no longer was small not weak not transient, but6 H7 N6 D* _/ s
part of an eternity. Through some mysterious force, Trufa understood the# C6 `5 h0 y% |! |
miracle of her molecules, atoms, protons, and electrons - the enormous
4 J- T7 S/ w* F' [* genergy she represented and the divine plan of which she was a part. Next to
% T" K2 ^! |: R! }3 Yher lay OLe and they greeted each other with a love they hadn't been aware
+ n5 d6 @0 i$ r" b- mof before. This wasn't a love that depended on chance or caprice, but a love' z0 n e- u" p- [8 g& q
as mighty and eternal as the universe itself. That which they had feared all( `. c) N5 ^. D
the days and nights between April and November turned out to be not death
5 e, L, \, w! r7 D; abut redemption. A breeze came and lifted Ole and Trufa in the air and the5 s0 c) i. `6 {
soared with the bliss known only by those who have freed themselves and have
; f) B: l4 ^$ W1 Ejoined with eternity. |
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