Prix Littéraire Rumuri

“A Paradise Tree on Earth”

by Anaclet Ndayikunda

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of birds, there was an extraordinary tree with golden fruit. It had grown in a fertile land that rain never stopped watering nine months of the year. That rain alternated with soft sunlight. All natural features offered the tree a very comfortable place to live in. Birds would call it “A tree of honey and milk”; others went even further and called it “a paradise tree on earth”. The beauty of the tree and its tasty fruits attracted all birds from neighboring trees. You would see parrots, starlings, eagles, pigeons, pelicans, owls, herons, ibis, penguins, nightingales, albatrosses, vultures, doves, hens, ducks, peacocks, all in spite of their different species, living together in harmony and eating from the fruit of their mother's tree. But this was not the whole story. The tree offered the birds all necessities of life. It served both as nest settlement and food provision. The sixteen branches of the tree bore ripe fruits all the time, during the dry season as well as the rainy season. Birds were happy to share everything from the tree without any discrimination from the high ranked albatross to nightingale down the scale of the society. From a closer perspective one could see birds harvesting golden fruits from all the four corners of the tree and feeding their chicks, which after being satisfied by the tasty fruits, started singing poetry, recounting stories and legends about their tree. Poetry, legends, songs, stories were recited in the night around the fire as well as at social events. The variety songs were sung at family and communal festivals or at community work in the fields known as IKIBIRI.

In spite of their different origins—some were from the South and the North, others from East and from West—the birds lived together, went to the same church, attended the same schools, went to the same market and bars, fetched water from the same spring and participated in the same happy as well as sad events. On all those occasions, the birds dressed extravagantly, mostly in suits, shirts, shorts and hats, especially the males; these were the contemporary fashionable cloths. Birds in multicolored flocks, wearing clothes bought from the market, went to SAGA beach library; everyone read his preferred author. Some would read AMSTEL, Bechou, PRIMUS, FANTA, and others read the famous tasty authors: AMSTEL Royal and the Wine from Italy. “The Have-nots” did not have to worry anymore because you would hear the Haves saying: “Have-nots,” have a drink on me.” The birds with deep pockets would share drinks with those who were short of money; then all would enjoy happy hours every weekend. The parrot, who got drunk quickly, was beaten many times, because he was so talkative; he insulted and mimicked other birds. The coming of night was like broad day light because the tree was illuminated with multicolored lights. You would see young as well as old birds in their luxurious cars heading towards the night crops where they read their preferred authors and started dancing to music while young girls sang, “Sugar daddy ooh you kill me today!” and young boys answered: “Honey do not worry, everything is alright kiss uuumwaa”.

In such a paradise tree on earth, if any strange enemy threatened the birds, in spite of their different origin and species, they would come together as one to fight him. As they spoke the same language, they had a coded way of alerting each other. When any danger approached you would hear them whistling, “Ziiiiyeee ngaho!” Alarm everywhere! Every bird became attentive and looked left and right, up and down to find the potential enemies.

One day as the flock of Ravens- the ancient enemy of his fellow birds- attacked them, they came together as one, in spite of their different species and origins, and fought successfully against the Ravens. After more than sixty years of the Ravens' domination, the Great Day came and birds gained their Independence. That was and still is the greatest day in the history of their contemporary life and for the coming generations. It was a hard won independence that took the lives of thousands of brothers and sisters of that nation. Till now the hero is still praised. United birds, however unarmed they were, sent Ravens away for good even though they had come armed to the teeth.

They then adopted a motto: “Together we stand, divided we are powerless.’’ The same motto has come down in their national anthem:

“Birds of the same feather,

From all over the kingdom,

Come together, be as one.

It is true we are constituted from different species,

Some from the South, others from the North, the East, and the West,

But we never fail to unite.

Together we stand; divided we are powerless.

When we fail to unite,

It is a disgrace for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters

Who have sacrificed their lives for this hard won independence.

We fought barehanded with the Ravens who were armed to the teeth

And we defeated them because we were united.

You future elements of this nation,

Keep safe this independence

Because it is by this means that we restored to ourselves this tree.

At the end of the day, the flag hovered,

We are independent, we are independent. Amen.

We have returned to our paradise tree on earth”.

After this hard won independence, birds went on living together peacefully and enjoyed the tree’s fruits. As days advanced, the tree went on growing and becoming larger than before. Two years after their independence, two branches grew on the tree, one in the south and other in the central part. In the end, the tree obtained up to eighteen branches. Birds were happy because according to them, many branches meant many houses to live in and many fruits to pick.

In such a paradise tree on earth, it was hard to believe that one day, the situation could get worse. In spite of the unceasing fruits, some birds wanted to possess more than others and soon there appeared inequality in the society. As soon as some birds enriched themselves, others were impoverished. In this way, beside the existing birds’ species, the three big classes of different levels of richness appeared: “The Haves”, “the Have nots” and the neutral class named “Neither Haves nor Have-nots”.

Just as the Have-nots were close to death because of hunger, despite plenty of fruits possessed by the minority of the Haves, the latter were close to death from eating so much. The third class of the Neither Haves nor Have-nots was constituted by both neutral Haves and Have-nots. The Haves of that class believed that it was better to share the tree’s fruits equally and the have-nots of this class had decided to remain poor. What was astonishing was that the rich and the poor met at the hospital, sick to death.

Among the Haves you would see very fat birds, so fat that to get in their nest was impossible; therefore, some were obliged to renew their nests so as to make them big enough to enter. Again that was not the whole story. To go to the beach in a flock or to visit their relatives was a difficult activity. Some were struck by overweight illnesses and heart disease. You would see birds with big stomachs, as though they were about to give birth; curiously, they had beards and wore trousers instead of skirts. It really was funny to see male birds pregnant not with children but food. It was hard to believe that in the same society, some birds could die of hunger while others died from eating so much. On the other side, you could see skinny birds whose chicks were crying every day because their grandmothers' branches, which used to provide them fruits, was monopolized by the Haves. Most of the Have-not chicks were suffering from malnutrition. The poor birds could not understand such a social gap in the same society. This injustice generated conflicts between brothers and sisters of the same nation, not because there was little to eat, but because of the selfishness of some birds who liked to dominate their fellows.

After two years of suffering from hunger, oppression and injustice, a talkative Parrot, in the night when other birds were sleeping, with an amplified voice said, “Enough is enough, we have been oppressed a great deal, we have been exploited a great deal, we have suffered a great deal, and then enough is enough. We have to dare to say no to oppressors: all Have-nots, tomorrow morning, rally to the most remote branch”.

In the morning, as they had been told, all the Have-nots gathered at the most remote branch. Then the talkative Parrot mounted the podium and initiated the following dialogue:

Parrot: “The Have nots Oyeee!”

Crowd: Oyeee!

Parrot: Stay serene during this hardship!

Crowd: Serene Oyeee!

Parrot: Oyeee!

Crowd: Oyeee!

He then delivered a long speech in which the crowd clapped at every word. It began: “Ladies and gentlemen, present and future elements of this nation, enough is enough. Now is the time for us to get our fair share from our mother’s fruit tree. It is an emergency now. If it is to die, I am ready to die for a noble cause. We were lucky to have such a good tree as ours, a tree full of economic potential and golden fruits. This was a tree of Haves, Have-nots, as well as the Neither Haves nor Have-nots. Now it is no longer our own country, as the Haves are enjoying and eating the tree’s golden fruits while we are starving. Now is the time, it is an emergency now. We have to dare to speak out, stand together as one, and fight for our rights. Tomorrow we have to start demonstrating to show our disagreement”.

The next day was a day of peaceful demonstrations. Before they started, an Albatross delivered a wise speech:

“Brother Birds of the same feather, stand together as one and fight peacefully for your right. I have a strong dream that one day this tree will be a tree of all species of birds.

A nation where all species of birds will not be judged by poverty or riches ,that will be the time when we will live together as one and share the little we have; it will be the time when all birds will understand that injustice, oppression and domination are the causes of division between brothers and sisters. It is true we are hungry and dropping like flies. It is true that we are suffering, but I have a dream that in this nation, all the Haves, the Have-nots and the neither Haves nor Have-nots will be able to sit and drink together from the cup of honey and milk around the table of brotherhood. Then, try to be peaceful and good, never opt for war, and try dialogue first. Some of us are thinking of war. Remember war is the source of losses. As the last advice, keep the little you have rather than lose all, otherwise you will be asking for trouble”.

After this elder’s speech, the demonstration started, the Have-nots with placards on which it was written: “We want equal opportunities to eat the tree’s golden fruits of our mother country”. On the other side, Mister Blues, the famous police, approached all loaded with tear gas. The crowd told him unanimously: “We are unarmed and we are in a peaceful demonstration. We are ready to die for a noble cause; we want justice for all bird species”. The pitiless Mister Blues just bombed the crowd with tear gas and it immediately scattered. Some were killed, others were injured, and still others were captured and embarked in the famous car known as “Kizunguzungu” or “pick up” in a foreign language.

After that incident, the Have-nots resolved the issue peacefully; they then delegated fifteen elders to dialogue with the Haves and reach a wise men’s agreement on the equitable sharing of the tree’s fruits. The delegation was received and was accused of being traitor; they were jailed before being hanged. The Haves just sent a letter saying, “Your troublemakers and traitors are jailed, tomorrow they will be killed, we will never dialogue with you, we are the first settlers and as you know the first to come is the first served; we must have a bigger part of the tree’s fruits. No dialogue with you on this issue, come what may! We are not afraid of you poor birds”. The messenger just put the letter in the dead letter box and went back home.

The news spread in the region of the Have-nots. They quickly gathered and treated the issue. The leader of the Have-nots, the Pelican, delivered a harsh speech from the podium in front of the enraged crowd:

Ladies and gentlemen here present and who stand impeached of unfair treatment, from chicks, women and men, all birds’ species, drastic times call for drastic measures. Dear brothers it is high time we did something.

Jailing our elders is an aggression. Enough is enough, this is the saturation point, no more injustice we can stand. Look! This is our mother tree, it is our tree, and we must equally share its fruits. But now, as we were trying a peaceful procedure, our elders were jailed and tomorrow are to be killed like flies.

Now the honey moon is over. It is high time we did something to set free our elders; if not it will be a crying shame. We will die for a noble cause. Some of us are dead already, jailed and injured; others have taken the avenue of escape, and now that our elders are to be killed, we have to fight at all cost and die for a noble cause. Come what may, I am ready to sacrifice my life for freedom and equal opportunity for my people. Now from the chicks, women and men have to go straight to the market and buy spears and machetes. This has to be done tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, we will avenge them. We are fed up with living in a bandit territory.

After the Pelican's harsh speech, a wise Dove, also known as a bird of peace, asked for the floor. She mounted the podium and said: “Brothers and sisters, bird species suffering under the Haves' injustice, hold on to hope. He who has hope has everything. It is true we have decided to fight, but when you start a war, you never know the loser or the winner, and obviously there will be losses. Can we not keep the little we have and survive instead of experiencing a lost battle?”

Some of the birds agreed with the Dove, others opted for war and accused them of cowardliness. The Dove intervened again and said: “These who opt for war, let me tell you this story:

Once upon a time there lived a strange bird with two heads; one facing the left and the other facing the right. The heads used to fight and argue with each other even for very small reasons. Though they shared the same body, the two birds behaved like rivals. One day, while flying over the river, the left head saw a good piece of meat. He flew down, picked it up and ate it. The right head asked: “Can you give me a piece to taste?” The left head answered: “See we have one stomach, so even when I eat with my mouth, it will go in our stomach”. The right head insisted: “But I want to taste the meat, so you should give it to me”. The left head replied in anger: “I saw the meat and hence I have the right to eat it without sharing with anyone”. The right head felt sad and fell silent.

A few days later, while the bird was flying over the river again, the right head saw a beautiful pink fruit on a tree. He flew down and picked it up . The other birds living in the tree said: “It is poisonous fruit, don't eat it, it will kill you”. The left head shouted: “Don't eat it, we will die”. However, the right head did not listen and said: “Remember that day? I have to take vengeance on you; then I will eat it because I saw it and you have no right to stop me”. Finally the fruit was eaten by the right head and in a few minutes, the strange bird with two heads dropped down dead!

“Now you bird species”, the Dover concluded, “You should know that quarrel between individuals in the same family will always affect the whole family badly. Whenever there is a quarrel, never opt for war. Do not dare, who dares will regret it, I say it in a broad day, God is my witness”.

In spite of the Dove's advice, the Have-nots decided to attack the haves the following night. Every bird from the Have-nots arrived armed to the teeth in the Haves village. That night was a bad unheard of night where a thousand brothers and sisters, of the same nation, who spoke the same language, who went to the same church every Sunday and who fetched water from the same spring, slaughtered each other like savages. After five hours of fighting, the famous police Mister Blues encountered the Have-nots army. The Have-nots won, having invented a bad strategy of burning the Haves nests, cutting down the branches on which the Haves lived, and even cutting the tree roots so as punish them. But here a question arose: Who is the loser? According to the Have-nots, since the Haves refused to offer a fair share, both had to lose rather than to live in the tree alone. They cut down five branches on which the Haves lived and put to fire their nests. However, to their great dismay, birds would actually cut the branch on which they stood. And when they cut down a branch, it brought down the branch under it on which they stood. Then the Haves as well as the Have-nots all dropped down like flies.

The neutral class of the neither Haves nor Have-nots was against the use of force to resolve the conflicts in society. That class was made up of the Have-nots who believed that instead of engaging in war they should remain poor and have peace. They rejected all idea of war. In that class were also the Haves who believed that it is better to give the Have-nots their fair share. That class saw no use for conflicts between brothers and sisters of the same nation.

At nightfall, a voice from the cock, much amplified, was heard in the whole kingdom. It said: “Both sides said that a thousand people are already dead; therefore, they accept inclusive negotiation to resolve the conflict”. Immediately, the machetes as well as the spears were laid down. The next day was the day of burying the dead; you could count a thousand coffins ready to be buried. You would hear birds saying: “We lived to tell the tale, then we will never opt again for war’’. After the ceremony of inhumation of dead birds, a day off in the whole kingdom was fixed.

The following day was the day of inclusive negotiation. The elder Dove took the floor and said:

Dear patriots, I say it and I repeat it, this is our tree, being the Haves, Have-nots or the Neither Haves nor Have-nots, for an everlasting peace we have to make a fair division of its fruits, and we need to understand things in this way. The Haves accuse the Have-nots of being their problem and vice versa. Both are ignorant of the real cause of their misunderstanding; knowing the illness is half the cure. First, accept that there is a problem, regardless of the interest you gain from disorder. Then act in a positive way, the way of common interest. Dear brothers and sisters, we have suffered enough. Our loved ones are dead because of the nasty selfishness of a group of birds. Now peace is a crying need. I beg you, all bird species, never opt for war; you have to use the force of argument instead of the argument of force. Never think of destroying your mother tree. Peace is more important than all justice. You thought you would get the fruit. Now you have cut down the tree's branches and our brothers and sisters are dead for nothing. Now tell me, have you gained or lost? Negotiation is needed now. Our tree was self-sufficient. Some of us cut down the basis of our life and its remaining few branches. Did you get the fruits you wanted? Oh no! Then think about how to explore all avenues of peacemaking between you. Think about how to share our tree's fruits and resolve your conflicts peacefully. Bird species are created with both violent and peaceful spirits, but never let your violent spirit dominate your peaceful spirit. If you dare to do so, at the end of the day, you will regret it. You end where you should have started, with dialogue. Whenever you disagree with your neighbor, a win-win solution is the long-lasting solution. Such a solution will restore our paradise tree on earth. That is the truth. The opposite of a win-win solution, a win-lose solution, is always pregnant with bad and sad consequences.

For the first time in their history, the Haves and Have-not birds were able to sit together around the table of peace. The negotiations were central to the peace agreement based on both sides that led them to the win-win solution.

In conclusive dialogue in which all birds species were represented, they agreed on the fact that the root problems of society are injustice, bad leadership, unfair sharing of the fruits of the tree, the lack of the rule of law, and corruption. Therefore, they set up a government of union, an “all-things-to-all-people” government. They agreed on the fact that whenever a conflict occurs, dialogue must be the first resort. They agreed that they would live together peacefully on the thirteen remaining branches without any discrimination. In honor of the dead people, they built a memorial monument with the words: “Birds of the same feather, if you disagree about something, dialogue until you find a win-win solution”.

From then on, that kingdom became an example of a peaceful society in the world. They lived together peacefully, sharing their mother’s tree fruits. For four years, the branches that were cut down had already grown up and bore fruits. All sbird species—from the South, the North, the East, the West and the center of the tree—lived together in harmony and picked the golden fruits in all corners of the tree. It became again a paradise tree on earth, a country where every bird had his fair share of the tree's fruit. Since then, there is no more war and misunderstanding. In joking, the birds sing in the morning: “Good morning my peaceful tree paradise. This history was written down in books and was taught to chicks at school. Reading their country’s history, future elements of the nation would never try war as a way out”.