“So tell me about your tree,” said the bee to the dayamdam.
“Well, it’s the best tree in the world of course!” The dayamdam said proudly. It had known that no other tree in the forest could match the beauty of its tree. It had beautiful flowers that bloomed in the summer and when it bore fruit! Oh was the sweet smell the most ravishing thing any being had ever smelled.
The bee asked “What of the humans? Do they share your thoughts on the tree?”
“You know how humans are,” the dayamdam replied. “Always thinking of themselves. They don’t even ask for permission when gathering fruit from my tree.”
“How rude!” the bee exclaimed.
“These humans don’t have any manners” the dayamdam said haughtily.
Just then, the entire tree shook. The bee flew away to safety, but the dayamdam stayed in the branches of its tree.
“You must run away!” The bee shouted
“What is happening?!” The dayamdam cried out.
“The humans! The humans are cutting your tree.” The bee tried to help the dayamdam but it was too small to carry the creature. The bee still tried to help its friend by stinging the humans as they tried to cut the tree down, but to no avail.
“Run my friend! Run far away!” The bee exclaimed again.
But the bee knew that its friend would never leave the tree. For the dayamdam, the tree was more than just a simple home. The tree was its entire life, the branches its veins and the flowers its heart. It would make clothes from the tree’s leaves and spend the entirety of its lifetime in between the bark and the fruit.
The bee stared as the tree was felled by human hands and if it could cry it would shed a tear for its fallen friend. The humans claimed more than one victim that day, and the whole forest would acknowledge that.
That night the trees echoed with the songs of the dayamdam, forever remembering the most beautiful tree in the forest.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Dayamdam description in Myth Museum. Medina. 2015.
Dayamdam Illustration by Kayla Teodoro
Tumblr: mikaylateodoro.tumblr.com