3.5" tall elegant golden ceramic tree shape.
But what is most interesting in the tale is the Golden Tree. Not real of bark and water, leaves and root, but made of gold. The center of the universe that joins heaven and earth, which is rooted below and rises beyond, is something enduring and brilliant, both natural and magic.
A Jewish Tale from India
Retold by Laura Simms
An impetuous King had four wives. There was one wife who he favored. She was kind, intelligent, challenging and beautiful. The three other wives were jealous of the time he spent with her. Over the years, they connived and complained, and finally convinced the King that the fourth wife was the source of all the troubles in the kingdom. One morning, when the favored wife refused to agree with the King, he banished her saying, “Your ill will is the cause of all my problems. And, you have not born me a child after years of marriage!”
The Queen knew well the devious root of the King’s change of heart. Without a word, she left the palace. Disguised as a beggar, she journeyed until she arrived in India. There she found a small cottage in a forest and lived a simple life.
One night she dreamed of a magnificent Golden Tree. In the morning, she realized that she was pregnant. However, she sent no word to her husband, the King.
That same night the King also dreamed of the Golden Tree. The next morning he could not stop thinking of the wife whom he had banished. Realizing his mistake, he set out to find her and ask for her forgiveness.
He traveled following the merchants who said they had seen the woman he described. He, too, arrived in India. But he could not find his wife. Finally, he sought the advice of a sage. No disguise could hide her true beauty. The wise sage did not tell him how to find her. Instead, he advised the King to find the Golden Tree he had seen in his dream. “Then you will find your true love,” said the sage.
His journey was arduous and long. The King’s feet were hardened, his robes were torn to shreds and a beard grew from his chin. But, at last, in the middle of a boiling lake, he saw an island on which grew the Golden Tree.
He risked his life and crossed the fiery water and took a single branch from the tree. He saw his wife’s face reflected, as if in a mirror, on every leaf. He wept until his heart was cleansed of selfishness and the boiling water around him was cool and still. Then, soon afterward, he entered a forest he had not seen before. He came upon the cottage of his wife. She recognized him instantly for she had loved him with all of her heart. She saw the branch of the Golden Tree she had dreamed of in his hands. Yet, uncertain of the nature of his visit, the Queen let her seven-year-old son stay unseen. When she opened the door, he knew her as well.
The King asked for her forgiveness. They told each other their tales, and she gladly forgave him.
She then introduced her husband to their child. The Queen, the King and the Prince returned home. The gold branch was planted in the royal garden and grew as a reminder of their love. The three other queens were banished. They set off on their journeys. May they, too, be tempered by love.
Laura Simms is an internationally renowned storyteller, author, and recording artist whom Maori elders call “as good a our grandparents.” “The Golden Tree” is excerpted with permission from her book The Robe of Love: Secret Instructions for the Heart, Codhill Press, 2002. http://www.laurasimms.com/marketplace/