The Magic Orange Tree
A folktale, a fairytale and a corporate lesson
Long, long ago in a time before me and a time before you, hurricanes tore through the island of Hispaniola. Hurtling across fields of sweet potato, cassava and golden corn. Ripping up slender palm and pine trees, like toys in the hands of vengeful gods. Leaving in its wake, a gentle breeze drifting in from the depths of the Caribbean sea. Whispering ancient secrets of forgotten rituals and spells…
A tale from Haiti
That’s the beginning of my story ‘The Magic Orange Tree’ which is inspired by a Creole folktale from Haiti. The story is about a young boy who steals 3 oranges from a farmer. Faced with his wrath, the boy runs into the forest and seeks comfort at his mother’s grave. Whilst crying and appealing to his mother’s spirit for protection, a single orange seed falls onto the ground and is swallowed up by the soil. His tears water the seed which takes root and begins to grow. As soon as he sees the plant rising from the earth, he feels hope and sings:
“Grow orange tree, grow orange tree grow.”
Shortly afterwards, fragrant white blossoms emerge from the buds and he sings again.
“Blossom orange tree blossom, blossom orange tree blossom.”
The flowers transform into green oranges, encouraging him to sing one last time for them to ripen. At last the branches are shimmering with golden oranges with dreams of a brighter future. The boy picks a few oranges and replaces the ones she has stolen, only for the Farmer to demand where they have come from. Reluctantly he leads him to the magic orange tree which is now towering above them. The farmer promises to share the oranges only if the boy gathers them for him. Trusting his word, he sings for the tree to lower its branches. Obeying the young boy’s command, the tree bends to his will but the farmer climbs into the tree and claims the fruit for himself exclaiming how rich he’ll become by selling oranges from the magic tree. Sensing a way to get rid of the farmer, the young boy sings again.
“Grow orange tree grow, grow orange tree grow.” As before, the tree continues to rise, carrying the farmer beyond the clouds until a timely breeze drifts in from the Caribbean sea. Crick, crack, the branches snap, sending that greedy farmer far, far away.
Cinderella around the world
I came across a few versions of this folktale when researching stories for my first book. Diana Wolkstein’s (The Magic Orange Tree: African American People, Haiti) and Suzanne Comhare Silvain’s (Creole Tales from Haiti - The journal of American folklore) tell of a young girl and her step-mother whilst others have written about boys. Regardless of gender, the folktale has been likened to variants of the fairytale Cinderella and similar narratives that have been told all over the world for centuries. The first was written in 9th century China during the Tang dynasty and appears in Duang Chengshi’s collection ‘Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang’. The protagonist (a young girl) befriends a golden fish and is helped by the magical fish bones to attend a festival in a beautiful dress and golden slippers. The same motifs as The Magic Orange Tree run through the story, as with others from Russia, Palestine, Iran and Canada to name a few. One where a motherless child or orphan escapes their difficult circumstances and with the help of some supernatural guidance, goes through a transformation before recognising their own worth and power. It’s incredible to think of these stories weaving around the world for centuries and being retold today.
Finding your gem
I recently co-ran a workshop for a group at GAIN (Girls Are Investors) in ‘Communicating with Impact’ and we included a section on ‘storytelling.’ The group were keen to find ways of ‘hooking’ in their audience and bringing to life sometimes fairly dull corporate stories. I especially love to share folktales or myths when I’m in a corporate setting as it gives everyone an opportunity to be inspired by stories and topics outside of their usual work. They get to find the gem within the story that speaks directly to them. I told the story of The Magic Orange Tree and despite the awkward setting of a corporate space for a wondrous, magical tale, they all joined in the song. Some of them took away the message that we can plant a seed of an idea and continue to nurture it for growth, others reflected on how momentum can build from just the spark of an idea and the notion that no matter how challenging our predicament might be at times, or how much we’re out of our comfort zone, we can take a leap of faith and see something flourish.
There are many perspectives and a multitude of layers to this narrative and I’m always encouraged to keep writing and sharing stories after hearing people express what they’ve taken away from it. As with all stories, songs and poetry, we receive from it, whatever we need to hear.
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