THE THREE CEDARS
*Translated from the book “O Gênio e as Rosas e outros contos” (The Genius and the Roses and other fairytales) from Paulo Coelho and Mauricio de Souza.
An old legend talks about three Cedars which grew in the beautiful forests from Lebanon. As we know, the Cedars needs a long period of time to grow, and those trees passed centuries and more centuries thinking about life, death, the nature and the humans.
They presented the arrival of an expedition from Israel, in name of Solomon, and later they saw the earth covered by blood during the battles against the Assyrians. They met Jezebel and the prophet Elias, both enemies. They watched the invention of the alphabet and the passage of caravans transporting printed fabrics.
One day, they talked about the future.
- After all those things I saw – said the first tree - , I want to become the throne of the most powerful king of this world.
- I wonder to be a part of something that makes forever the evil turn into good – said the second Cedar.
- By my side, I wonder that every time somebody looks at me, think about God – noticed the last.
A long time passed, and a wood-cutter threw down the Cedars and they were shipped to a so far away place.
Every tree had a dream, but the reality never ask us what to do with our dreams; the first was employed to build an animal’s shelter, and some pieces were used to support an amount of hay. The second tree became a simple table, sold to a furniture seller. The wood from the third Cedar wasn’t sold and it was cut and stored in big city.
Unhappy, they lamented: “Our wood was a high quality product, and nobody found out something beautiful to make using it”.
One night, full of stars, a couple doesn’t find a refugee and they preferred to rest in a simple stable, built with the wood from the first Cedar. A woman screamed, with childbirth aches. There was born a guy and he was put between the ray and the pieces of wood which gave support.
In that moment, the first tree understood that his dream was accomplished: that guy was Jesus, the most powerful king from Earth.
Some years passed, and in a modest house some men sat around the table, made by the wood came from the second tree. One of them, before everybody has begun to eat, told some words about the bread and the wine in front of him.
And the second tree understood that it was supporting not just a chalice and some pieces of bread, but the alliance between the man and the divinity.
In the following day, some people got two pieces from the third Cedar and they built a cross. It was left in a place, a few hours after they bring a wounded man, who was nailed in its wood. Sad, the third tree lamented the inheritance left to it by the destiny.
Before three days, the third Cedar understood its destiny: the man that was nailed there became the light which illuminates everything. The cross made by its wood was a symbol of torture no more. Now it becomes a symbol of victory.
As always it happens with the dreams, the three Cedars from Lebanon accomplished the destiny they wished, but not by the manner they imagined.