Ota's Tales

Why do leaves fall from trees?

In ancient times, when the planet Earth was greener, animals were more diverse, when people knew the language of animals, flowers, and trees, when there were no houses, no cars, no airplanes, no books, all the stories were passed on by word of mouth. And that is why most of these stories have been forgotten.

I am fortunate enough to know one, and I will tell you now.

It was a very difficult life for humans back then. That is why there were not as many as there are now. In fact, there were very few. They lived in groups to make their lives easier. They had known before that more was easier to carry. They knew the language, but they did not talk so much to each other. Rather than talk, they preferred gestures. When they were glad, they laughed. On the contrary, when they were not glad, they were sad. When a member of a band died, they mourned for him. In addition to these emotions, they also showed fear or anger. They were angry at those who stole from them or deceived others. They were angry at the members of the band, as well as at the animals who escaped when they were hunting. They showed fear when they were in danger.

Humans back then were omnivorous. They gathered all sorts of fruits provided by bushes or trees. They realized then that these sources of sustenance were far more important than the meat of the hunt. So they regularly paid tribute to the trees and shrubs. They thanked them for the food they provided. They worshipped nature like gods.

When they hunted, they did not stress the prey and quickly gave them death. They never hunted more than they needed to. Humans were not cruel, but they knew that the fruits of trees and shrubs were not enough to sustain them. Other predators knew this, of course. When humans hunted such an animal, they rejoiced. Life was hard, but humans wanted to live. They rejoiced in life.

The cruelest blow to the people of that time was the winter. It emerged each year after a beautiful sunny summer and a damp autumn. Like other animals, they gathered sufficient supplies for the winter to survive the winter. Nor could the trees and shrubs provide sustenance to anyone because of the winter. In winter, humans did not celebrate nature. They fell into a winter sleep like everyone else.

There was an unwritten agreement among all beings then. Since everyone was suffering in the winter, they promised not to hunt each other. There were enough problems as it was. And so everything was in balance until man found that he could have a lighter life.

Gradually, they began to spoil each other. We must not blame them. They liked to ape each other. Unlike animals, they learned to use primitive tools, which made it easier for them to hunt, and so they began to hunt on a large scale.

The animals were angry with them. This was a disturbance of the balance.

In the end, the animals were quietly promised that they would be hunted only if the meat was really needed by humans. The chosen representative solemnly swore the promise before the oldest inhabitant, a tree that jutted up to an incredible height of heaven. Its wisdom was known throughout the land.

After the oath, the tree told the people that if they broke the promise, there would be a punishment that would befall all their generations.

For several years, they fulfilled the agreement. Gradually, however, they began to hunt more than they needed.

So the tree had a man summoned to him and told him, "Breaking a promise is a serious matter. You will not escape punishment. You knew you were breaking it. I have thought long and hard about your punishment. Now I have come to conclusion. From now on, you and your companions will walk on two limbs for the rest of your lives. You will be slower that way, and the animals will escape easily. That is your punishment. Don't hunt so much animals anymore. If you break the promise again, you will not miss another punishment."

So the man began to move on two legs, because the tree was powerful and knew all the forces of the universe that he could command.

At first, they had great problems. Many people suffered, and many died.

But over time, the man on two legs became skillful. Only then did he begin to realize that he could easily turn his disadvantage into an advantage.

The people began to make hunting tools that they could now use. The hunt was much easier for them with spears. So they began to hunt more than they needed, and the tree noticed again. He called the man a second time.

"You didn't keep the promise the second time. You are more arrogant than I thought. For not keeping the promise, I will deny you a winter's sleep. Let you and your people freeze and starve in the winter when you can't obey. Now go, and don't try to break the promise a third time. Otherwise you'll get more punishment."

Well, now the people were running for their lives. They were doing well in the summer, stocking up for the winter, but they knew it couldn't be enough for all of them.

The people suffered greatly the first winter. And the next year things even got worse.
The representative of the people couldn't stand it before the third winter and went after the tree. "You're too cruel for my people. Please give us back hibernation. I implore you!" the representative of the people pleaded in front of the tree.
"You shouldn't have broken your promise, man. If I see that you can keep it, I'll soften the punishment. Now go," the tree told him.

The man began to feel more and more anger. He was angry at nature. It seemed too cruel. When they couldn't sleep in the winter, they would hunt more during the summer to survive.
So the representative of the people ordered everyone to hunt like forty so they could have as much food as possible for the winter.

The tree recognized what was happening right away. Every creature was talking about it at the time.
So he sent a huge, fierce storm down on the people. Lightning flashed everywhere, injuring a lot of people badly.

It was only after the people were punished that the tree asked the storm to end. When the storm stopped, one noticed that one lightning hit the tree, from which came an as yet unknown essence, fire.

Immediately the people realized its power, and so before the winter they started to cut down the trees to have a fire throughout the winter. If they plucked all the fruit from the tree, they found it useless and used its wood for a fire. They no longer worshipped plants.

As soon as the mighty tree saw their havoc, it summoned a representative of the people for the third time.
"Out of everything bad, you people will get something good for you. So there is no point in punishing you and your people. But I feel that I should punish you anyway. And so from now on you will not understand us or the animals. I see that there is no good deal with you, so none of us will make any deal with you again. Now go and never come back!" the tree told the man.

Man felt like a winner. In pride, he ordered his companions to cut down the great tree before the next winter, for it would be the most wood.

When the tree was cut down in November to give them enough wood for the winter, the oldest inhabitant of the planet sent a message around the world.
"Brothers, mourn me. Do so every year, so that the people will never forget what they have done."
And the trees obeyed his command and began to drop their leaves every year in November.
And the people? They had long since forgotten. And quite possibly deliberately, so that they would not feel guilty by the warm hearth.