Not so long ago, On a warm and sunny day
My father took me aside and told me a tale
What a tale it was, of a long lost treasure
Listening to it made me tingle with pleasure
He said: In the depth of the forests
Beyond the bushes and the tall trees
Covered in sand, beneath the Pipal (Bodhi) Tree,
Is a treasure chest as shiny as can be
And when the sun sets it shines through the leaves
On the ground where the chest lies beneath.
With a bit of fear and lot of thrill, I set to venture
On a journey to uncover the coveted treasure
I walked beneath bushes and bore the scar(s)
The reptiles lurked but did not (me) deter
I searched far and near, I searched high and low ,
Beneath each rock and below every bough..
Rivulets ran down my face and spine
My back did ache but never did I whine
As dusk set in, I saw the gleam so near
And tripped and fell as I rushed to the clear (ing)
And there I beheld the Giant Pipal Tree
Beneath which the promised treasure would be
I dug with the shovel and with my arms bare
My eyes lighting up at the sight of the chest so dear
I opened in a hurry and was surprised to see
A palm leaf scroll with words wise as can be!
" Things not your own will yield no good, however you guard with pain;
Your own, however you scatter them abroad, will yours remain."
-Thirukural (Chapter 38, Verse 376) (Source - Wikipedia)
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The last couple of lines are that of the famous tamil poet Saint Thiruvaluvar. Tirukural was written 2200 years ago and consists of 1330 couplets divided into 133 chapters. They teach you the philosophy of life.. an attempt at translation has been made on Wikipedia The tamil kurals can be found at Tamilzone
In those days , in India the scribes were recorded on the readily available medium of smoke-treated palm leaves (olai in tamil)
The reference to the Bodhi/Pipal tree is intentional. Buddha got his enlightenment under a Bodhi tree.
This poem (cum short story) is in response to the prompt from Writers Island this week, I had fun writing it... hope you enjoyed reading it!!
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