দু'টো গাছ এবং এক দেবদূতীর গল্প

সে অনেক দিনের কথা। গাঁয়ের পরে ছিল এক হিনা গাছ, আর তার পাশে একটা বেল গাছ। কেউ জানে না কে তাদের পুঁতেছিল, কে-ই বা তাদের মালিক। আনমনে গাছ দুটো বেড়ে উঠেছিল তরতরিয়ে। হিনার মনে প্রশ্ন, “মোরা কাদের গাছ?” বেল বলে, “ভাই কেউ যখন আমাদের দেখে না, তাহলে আমরা উপরওয়ালার গাছ।“ এ কথা শুনে হিনা বড় খুশি, দিন-রাত বাতাসে পাতা নাচায় আর বলে, “আমরা উপরওয়ালার গাছ।"

That was a long back time. On d outskirts of a village, there grew up a Henna tree and a Bael tree. Nobody knew who planted them, or who their owner was. They grew up together like two brothers. They faced the bad weather, fought the floods and the draught, and stood erect in the stormy nights, holding each other’s hands. The Henna always asked, “To whom do we owe?” Someday, the Bael replied, “Bro, since nobody cares for us here, I am telling you, we only owe to our God.” The Henna was happy, and since then, whole day it played with the wind and repeated, “We only owe to our God.”

God listened to him someday, and sent an angel to meet them. The angel was a beautiful lady, and she came down like a butterfly. Her wings, her dress, her style-everything was just wonderful. The two plants looked at her with amazement. She walked up to them and said, “Do you believe that you are the master’s sons?” The Bael said, “Yes we do.” The Angel said, “Master is happy to know that, he told me to bring him two branches from both of you.” The Henna was so excited, and it said, “We are shedding our two branches. Please let him know that we love him so much, and miss him at tough times.”

The Angel was about to pick up the branches when some people said in a very harsh tone, “Don’t dare to touch them.” She looked back, and saw some angry village people standing there. They were two groups. One group said, “She is surely a Muslim Hoorie. She came here to kill our sacred Bael tree. Once she touches them, all our children will die of unknown diseases. We take oath in the name of our God; we won’t allow her to do that.” Another group shouted, “She is surely a Hindu Pari. She came here to ruin the Henna tree, whose leaves our ladies use as Mehendi. Once she touches the leaves, all our ponds and lands will dry out. We take oath in the name of our God, she won’t be successful in her evil motives.”

The Angel’s eyes filled with tears. She said, “I came down from your God’s home only. There nobody talks like you. These two trees are the true sons of him, as they never caused any harm to anybody, and kept their faith on the Master. I am just taking these leaves as a token of love to him.” But the angry villagers refused to believe her. They attacked the innocent angel and she died immediately. The Henna tree and the Bael tree cried whole night. In the morning, they left each other’s hands. They said the same thing to each other, “The Angel came from my Master’s home, and your people killed her. I can’t stay with you anymore, because this shows that my religion is better than yours.”