Bikkuriland

Once upon a time, deep in the depths of the deepest forest in the land, a girl named Francesca lived with her mother in a tiny wooden cabin.

They lived a simple life and supported themselves by cutting wood for lumber and selling it in town from time to time. The lumber sold very well, because the forest was a beautiful and enchanted place with the finest wood in the world. However, the trip to town was a long and difficult one, so Francesca and her mother learned to be content without luxuries and appreciated their enchanting surroundings instead.

For many years they lived happily, until the beautiful forest began to die. Bit by bit the trees would be used for lumber and refuse to grow back. Francesca and her mother did not want to destroy the forest and only chopped down enough to pay for their food, but the trees still disappeared bit by bit.

Soon, there was only one tree left in the forest. It was a huge, proud and very old tree that Francesca’s mother did not want to chop down. Sadly, she knew that she and her daughter would starve if she did not chop it down and so she approached it one day with sad, heavy footsteps.

When she reached the tree it said “Please do not chop me down. I am the last tree in the forest. If you kill me, then there will be no more forest at all! I warn you that the death of me will bring misery to this forest and death to you!”

Moved by the words of the tree, Francesca’s mother went home and told Francesca the story. She apologized for not having any lumber, and said that she would try again tomorrow. That night, they went to bed without food, and Francesca mumbled in her sleep about how hungry she was. Her mother was saddened by this and knew that she must chop down the tree for the sake of her daughter. Before she left, she wrote a note for Francesca that said:
“Dear Francesca, I may never see you again. I have gone to chop down the great tree in the forest so that you may eat. Please sell the wood from the tree and live well. It is a selfish request, but I also ask that when I die, you have my bones made into keys and the wood from the tree made into a piano so that you may play beautiful music and always remember our times in the forest.”

Francesca’s mother then ran to the huge tree with her axe and begged it for forgiveness, claiming that she must chop it down for her daughter to live. She dug her axe deeper and deeper into the tree until finally it teetered and prepared to fall. When she struck the last blow, the giant tree came crashing down on top of her, crushing her body and killing her.

Francesca found her body the next day and wept, but was determined to honor her mother’s wishes. She went to town, made a tremendous amount of money from the magical tree’s lumber and had a piano made.

Every day, she played the piano alone in the house that her mother built. From dawn to dusk, she would play with passion and think kindly of her mother as tears rolled down her cheeks. One day, when the money from the lumber was beginning to run out and she was confident in her musical ability, she decided to go to town and spread the song of the forest to the world.

When she arrived in town, she quickly found a tavern that was in need of a piano player. She spoke to the owner and said that she was looking for a job. The owner smiled and asked her to please play a tune for him.

She played her piano with more passion than she had ever played before. She thought of the beautiful enchanted forest of her childhood and her dear mother who died so that she could have food to eat. She could feel the spirits of her mother and the forest in her hands as she played.

When she was done, the tavern owner looked at her strangely, with his eyes wide open. He took a deep breath and said…
“Well, that was nice and all, but I’m looking for a piano player.”
“What do you mean!?” Francesca asked. “I have played and played my piano for days and nights to spread the song of my memories to the world! It was made from the wood of a magical tree and the bones of my mother!”
The owner just shook his head and said…
“Francesca, you got gypped. That’s not a piano. It’s a goat’s horn.”