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Vasilyok

Tale of the Golden Pine

Our story begins with a seed.

Yes-yes! With an ordinary pine seed!

Have you ever seen such a seed? It is small, with one transparent golden wing. Many of such seeds ripen in a mother-cone. Many cones grow every year on their mother-pine!

When the seeds are mature, the mother-cone lifts its scales, and then these seeds fly around for new pines to be born and to grow.

… So, one day, the wind blew — and our little seed flew, catching the airflow with its little wing.

“How beautiful and great is the world!” — the seed thought. — “How light and spacious! And I — can fly!”

“No, it is I that can fly,” — said the wind which carried the seed. — “I am carrying you! You have only one wing, so you yourself cannot fly like a bird or a butterfly.”

"Thank you!” — the seed responded. — “I am very grateful to you! I like to fly!”

“But this is not your destiny — to fly. You must sprout; you can become a wonderful pine! Choose a place where you would like to become a pine tree! And when you grow up, I will fly to visit you and play in your branches, so that you do not get bored.”

“Here! I like this high sandy bank of the river! Here, when I grow up, I will see the whole Earth!”

“Well, maybe not the whole Earth! The Earth — it is much more than you can see! But that place is really good,” — the wind agreed.

And, with these words, the wind gently lowered its seed into a small pit on the favored site and, creating a light vortex, sprinkled it with soil.

“Thank you!…” — the seed almost inaudibly whispered goodbye. — “Oh, how tired I am today! Oh, how much I want to sleep!…”

So, the seed slept, nestled by the soil, until a small root and sprout had appeared.

And then our pine was born in the light above the ground.

Have you ever seen newborn pines?

They are not much more than little blades. They have a thin thread-like green stem. And at the top, there are several tiny soft and tender needles sticking up.

Our pine had five of them!

It spread them joyously, saying: “I was born! I am now — a pine!”

… As time went on, our pine grew. It was lucky: it was not washed away by rain, and it received sufficient sunlight, heat, and moisture.

It could feel the flow of life inside of itself: “Wow! I am really growing up!”.

After a few years, the tree could already stand conspicuously on the bank of the river.

Time went on…

Birds began to sing on the branches of the pine. The pine gladly listened to their songs.

The wind often visited it, when flying on this bank of the river.

In winter, the snow wrapped it up. In summer, a pleasant heat warmed its body and juices — to help it grow faster!

Yes, it wanted to become stronger and, even more so, it wanted — to caress with its branches the blue sky with white clouds!

It grew up faster and faster every year, growing new fluffy branches. Soon its trunk became slender and strong, covered with orange-golden bark.

By the banks of the river, kids often came to play from a nearby village. They would undress and jump into the water and have fun, splashing and swimming…

Sometimes the pine also wanted, like them, to have fun, laugh, run on the sand, and flop into the river… But the pine did not know how to run… So, it learned to be happy for others, along with them. And when happy children’s voices and laughter filled the air above the river — the pine was happy too, sending them waves of happy love with each of its needles…

But one day, an event happened that made the pine realize that not all people are the same…

… Some older boys came to the shore. It was cold, and they decided to make a campfire… But they were too lazy to collect dry branches and fallen tree trunks… So, they decided to cut our pine and make a campfire out of it…

“It is quite large and resinous, it will burn bright!” — said one of them.

The pine trembled…

Suddenly, a little boy, who often came here to the beach to swim, shielded the pine with his body: “Do not touch it, it is — living, it will feel pain! If you want, I’ll gather dry branches for you! Look how many dry branches are in this forest! And you can go along the beach and collect pieces of driftwood… I can collect it for you, if you want! Just do not hurt this pine!…”

The older boys laughed, and pushed him so that he fell: “Don’t bother us, Vasilyok! Get out! Look at him: a tree will feel pain! You talk like a little girl!”

But the boy named Vasilyok (the pine now knew the name of its little friend) rose from the ground and again shielded the pine: “Do not touch it! It is — alive!”

So much strength and courage was in his words that the older boys retreated.

To not show their defeat, they told Vasilyok to bring them firewood. And they continued to mock him…

Vasilyok, not paying attention to the ridicule, was glad that he was able to save the pine…

… Time ran by unnoticed. The pine grew and became stronger. Vasilyok also grew. He often came to it on the shore. He would sit with his back touching its warm from sunlight trunk, and dream of something good.

Or he would just listen to the silence.

And our pine would melt with happiness at such moments and try not to disturb him.

It would also listen to the transparent silence.

And the silence — would surround both the pine, and Vasilyok, and would cover the sandy beach, and was inside the distant forest…

The water of the river would gurgle softly in the silence, without disturbing it, but decorating it…

The river would carry its water somewhere far, far away — where there was neither the pine, nor Vasilyok… But when they were immersed in the river’s quietness and swam down with the river’s water, it would seem that the distant lands and unknown worlds were here, nearby…

And the soft golden Light of Someone infinitely Great and Good — would become visible in the silence…

… Time went on…

Vasilyok now often came to the beach with a girl with golden braids. The girl, too, had grown and become slim and beautiful. The pine now knew that the name of the girl was Olga.

Vasilyok and Olga made dates for themselves near our pine. And the pine saw how big and true love gradually flared within them.

The pine was not jealous. It loved them both and rejoiced together with them over the beautiful miracle of love.

… Everything was good…

However, once, on a hot and sultry summer day, Olga bathed in the river. But blue-black storm-clouds began to form in the sky on all sides. Lightning was flashing, and rolls of thunder were getting closer.

The pine worried… It always felt uneasy when flares occurred between the sky and earth, and when thunder shook the area around. But here Olga had decided to go for a swim!…

The pine had never left its seat above the river. But it had seen more than once, how lightning during heavy storms struck into the water, and one time even saw how lightning struck a lone tree on the other side of the river, and how the tree caught fire…

The pine worried and tried to wave its branches in the wind. It was trying to warn Olga: “The thunderstorm is coming, lightning will strike!”

By this time, Vasilyok had already run ashore: “Olga! What are you doing?! The storm is starting! Let’s run home quickly!”

While Olga was dressing on the shore, the rain began to start. And the lightning strikes and thunder were getting closer and closer… There had never before been such a severe thunderstorm in the hundred years of our pine’s life…

The pine suddenly felt that the lightning could now strike those whom it loved so much. It straightened up its branches — and they caught the deadly flame! Vasilyok threw himself on the sand, covering Olga. The crown of the pine blazed up…

“Oh how I would like to be born in a human body — to love like these people…” — the pine had time to think, before the flame engulfed it whole…

It plunged into the Light — the Light of that Infinitely Great and Good One…

* * *

Later Vasilyok and Olga got married. On the spot where our pine was growing, which had saved them from the lightning, they planted a new pine. The new tree was now already green, and it was stretching up to the sun.

In the family of Vasilyok and Olga, a daughter was born.

But that is for another story: a story not about the pine, but about a girl with amber-golden eyes, who was a bit similar to our pine, and a little bit — to Olga, and a little bit — to Vasilyok. And, of course, it is also a story about love.

After all, it is love that unites souls and leads them to the Perfection!