There’s an aged old tale in the village about a god who lives in a tree beyond the wall. His tree is so big, its leaves and branches reach the sky and its roots are sturdy like the legs of a thousand elephants. This god is so powerful, so mighty, that he controls the balance of the forest. He shapes everything and is shaped by everything.
Undisturbed by the whispers of his creation, this god sleeps in the sanctuary of his sacred tree. He sleeps for so long, so soundly, that his creation begins to rot. The rivers run dry, the plants wither and die, the oceans recede and yet, the god sleeps.
‘Who will awaken the god?” some of the villagers cry out.
“Who is mad enough and drunk enough?” Others answer.
No one was mad enough or drunk enough. No one, except the leopard hunter. The only man strong enough to kill a leopard with a single blow.
“I will’ he says, “I will awaken the god”
So the leopard hunter set out. He takes with him seven cloves of alligator pepper, a gong and a sealing amulet. He does not look back when he goes beyond the wall. For seven days, he rides through the dead forest, only stopping to drink or rest on the way.
Then he finds the tree whose leaves and branches reach the sky and whose roots are sturdy like the legs of a thousand elephants. For the first time, the leopard hunter senses fear but what must be done, must be done.
The leopard hunter hits the gong. It is the tune of the forest. The magic of reshaping. The forest trees dance and the mighty tree parts, to reveal the sleeping god. The leopard hunter chews the alligator pepper. He eats all of it. His ears grow hot and he breathes fire. He swings the sealing amulet and it reshapes the earth. The tune of the forest continues into the wilderness of the gods, covered in the fire of the leopard hunter.
The god stirs in his sleep. Awakened by the fire and the smell of a mouse.
“Who dares to wake the god in the tree beyond the wall?” the ancestors cry. The god cries.
“It is I, the leopard hunter that has dared to wake the god in the tree beyond the wall”
“I have come to shape god”
The god smiles. The leopard hunter knows. The sealing amulet ignites and his flesh is burned.
Rain pours. Springs gush fresh water. Oceans rise and the people dance. They sing of the god in the tree beyond the wall but they do not sing of the leopard hunter
The god sits with the spirit of the leopard hunter inside of him. He sits in the tree beyond the wall.
JT Writes 