When the Tiger Roars

by Graeme Cann

  “Marita continued, ‘For the rest of the world, fear is a primary emotion. Anger arises out of fear. Rage is a product of fear. Violence against another is birthed in fear. We can only be truly loving and forgiving, kind and generous if we banish fear. And we can only live without fear if we believe that our lives and our future are in the hands of another, who has the power to shape our destinies. The obligation of those who, like Rubin, call us to unbelief, because it is seemingly more logical, is to give us another reason not to be afraid. If the alternative to faith in a Great Creator is faith in ourselves, where will we find the power to grant ourselves peace?”

  “To you, Rubin, and to others who will undoubtedly lead us into the future, let me say: do not be afraid of change that improves our knowledge, our skills, our health, and our economy. They are important roads to prosperity and an improved standard of living. But remember, on their own they are not pathways to happiness and peace. Be very, very afraid of changes that will limit your capacity for love, faith, generosity, and peace. They and they alone are the pathways to the happiness and security Rubin speaks about.’

  “If you had heard the applause that day, you would have been excused for believing that all would be well in Sampa for a very long time. But you would have been wrong. The seeds of discontent had been sown and the wheels of change were turning. At the top of the agenda was a growing demand for an army. While it is true that those who believed in the Covenant were greatly encouraged by what they saw as a miraculous intervention on the day of the battle against the Mordecans, those who did not believe, and were mortally afraid, were inclined to see it as ‘a lucky break.’ The truth was that during the march from the village to the river, hundreds peeled off and ran back to the village, certain that the Mordecans would cross the river and massacre everyone. When the people heard the explosion many more ran, terrified by this frightening enemy. In their fear most of them did not see the charge of the animals or the assistance given by the mountain tribes, nor did they witness the enemy being driven back. All that they could remember was the crippling fear. Fear because of the enemy. Fear because they were unarmed. Fear like they had never experienced before. Marita was wrong when she said that Sampians lived without fear. That day hundreds of Sampians had experienced powerful feelings of fear for the first time. Now, as they reflected on that, they wished never to feel so terrified and disempowered again, and the only way they could be sure of that was to build an army.

  “Domoni continued to oppose Rubin’s push for an army, both publicly and in Council. He was a powerful debater but he was at a great disadvantage. The number of ‘build an army’ supporters among the Elders was growing daily. Their point of disconnection with the majority of the Elders was their disbelief in a Great Creator and their dismissal of the Covenant. For them the issue was alarmingly clear: Mordeca would return better equipped and more fearsome than before. Already there were rumours that they had joined forces with other villages in the north and were planning an attack in the summer when the river was at its lowest and would not be the barrier that it was last time. Without an army, Sampa was doomed.

  “Despite the efforts of Domoni, Marita, and some of the other Elders, the matter boiled over one winter’s evening. Rubin announced that on the basis of the significant support he was receiving from the community, he planned to leave the Council and become the founding commander of the Sampian Army. The announcement dismayed Marita, but what followed she found even more concerning. Nine other Elders said that they could no longer trust in the “protection of the Covenant” and had also decided to leave the Council and support Rubin in his effort to establish a military. After the ten dissidents had left the meeting room, it was Domoni who addressed the remaining fifteen Elders.

  “Speaking in measured tones, he said, ‘Brothers and sisters, it is now official: Sampa is no longer a community where all the people live without fear. We cannot pretend that everything is as it should be. For many of us, faith in the Great Creator will continue to give us the peace and the courage to face threats and dangers, and will continue to be the reason to be optimistic about the future. But now the greatest danger to Sampa is the anger that rises from the fear in the hearts of many of our own people. The action that Rubin has taken today will create division in the population, not only a difference of opinion. From this moment it will be seen by many that there are two seats of government in Sampa—the Elders and the Army. As a result there will be divided loyalties among the people and schisms in families. Brother will be turned against brother, and sister against sister. The raising up of an army to guard us against those who threaten us will cause war between friends.

  “‘It is very clear to me,’ Domoni continued, ‘that there are now two opposing pathways. One of these pathways is called “fear” and those who traverse it do so by believing that their safety and security rests completely with them. They trust nothing and nobody. They seek to minimise their anxiety about the present and the future by controlling circumstances and people. They meet all real and perceived threats with anger, which sometimes leads to aggression and violence. At other times fear may cause them to become withdrawn and emotionally isolated. They prioritise safety and security above relationship. They sit in judgement of others and discriminate against those who are of different race, colour, creed, gender or socioeconomic status. They manipulate political and social structures so that the safety and security of the majority depends on the dominance and control that is vested in a strong and powerful minority.

  “‘The opposite pathway is called “faith,” and those who traverse it must first recognise that there is much that happens on our life’s journey which will threaten our safety and security, and that the ensuing anxiety cannot be minimised by control and dominance. Rather, they choose instead to believe in and love the Creator who created them and their world, and to love, honour, and respect themselves and each other. They engage in relationships in which their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs are met and they refuse to judge or reject others on any grounds at all. They welcome the stranger and share their resources with those in need. They have no faith in armies, they eschew war, and reject the belief that violence is ever an acceptable response to threat. They forgive those who have hurt them, and accept those who are different. They love their spouses and their children, and they honour their parents and care for the feeble and vulnerable members of their community. Because there are two pathways, every person must choose for themselves which one they will take. For Sampians it is no longer true that to walk the pathway of faith is the cultural norm. People will choose to walk it because they can see that such a choice leads to freedom from fear.’

  “The others agreed, but as they talked into the night it became clear to them that there was no way that they could rein Rubin in. He was not breaking any laws nor was he doing anything that could be seen to be evil. Other villages had armies and the determination to protect the people from attacks by enemies had to be seen as a noble goal. At the end of the meeting, Marita spoke prophetically of a day when the Covenant would be broken and the time of harmony and understanding between the Sampians and the animals of the forest would be ended. ‘That day,’ she said, ‘would usher in a long period of struggle for those who dared to continue to believe in the Great Creator and the Covenant as the only basis for peace.’

  “Rubin wasted no time. The next day he met with key men among his supporters and together they laid plans for launching a call to arms. They would encourage young men to leave their farms and their jobs and to enter a training camp. Older men and women would be conscripted to make weapons and uniforms, and business people would be asked to contribute money toward buying more modern weapons from arms dealers in Towin. It would of course be made clear to the people of Sampa that this initiative was not supported by the Council of Elders, and because the danger of attack was so real, the army would present itself as an alternative form of government. It is not clear whether or not the Elders had foreseen this d
evelopment, but in any event Domoni’s warning that the establishment of the army in Sampa would bring division was clearly vindicated.

  “Within a week Rubin approached Marita to inform her that the army had appointed a number of personnel to positions of responsibility, and while there were no immediate plans to depose the Elders, they intended to enforce a number of laws, with or without the agreement of the Elders. The first of these would be a system of taxation, which would be imposed on all families and collected by soldiers for the support of the army. When informed by Marita that there would undoubtedly be families who on principle would refuse to pay the tax, he simply replied that there would be serious reprisals for such a refusal.

  “Late that night, Marita made one of her frequent journeys to the edge of the forest. The Tigress who met her there chuffed quietly as she approached. After a long period of silence in which the two simply sat together, deeply engrossed in their own thoughts, Marita began to speak. ‘My heart is heavy tonight. Of all the Mother-Fathers in the history of Sampa, I have been chosen to preside over the breaking of the Covenant. Rubin is not a bad man, but he is a fearful man who no longer believes in the protection afforded by the Covenant. He has rejected belief in the Great Creator and now every action he takes is motivated by his response to danger. He has formed an army and assumed the right to make laws and impose them on the people. In this, he acts out of fear of the Mordecans. He will eventually lead our people to enter and plunder the forest. They will destroy habitat and hunt and kill animals for their meat and pelts. He will justify what he does on the basis of fear. The fear that if Sampa does not expand its territory, people will die of starvation. He will kill you, too, out of the same fear. The safety that we have all enjoyed because of the Covenant no longer exists. Because of fear, we are once again enemies.’

  “The beautiful animal who, whilst Marita spoke, had sat on her haunches, now lay down with her rear legs stretched out behind her and her massive head resting on her forelegs. It was the closest a tiger, in the presence of a human being, could get to showing reverence. The voice that spoke into Marita’s mind did not in any way resemble that of an angry tiger. It was a gentle and reassuring sound. As the sounds formed words in her mind, this is what she heard: ‘You are right, Marita: there have been many Mother-Fathers as there have been many Great Ones of the forest. Each one, both Sampian and tiger, has deserved and been afforded the greatest honour. But their greatness was not that by their own strength they caused the Covenant to endure, but because they were faithful to the Covenant first made between Abele and the Great Tiger.

  “‘You, Marita, have also been faithful, and what is happening now is no fault of your own. But you are correct when you say that we are now living in a different time. The Covenant will no longer make us safe, but it will continue to make us courageous. It is the will of the Great Creator that in the midst of a people driven by fear and anger, there continues to be a covenant people who, by example, show that a way of hope always exists. There will come a time when people are tired of living in fear and will seek for new truth. What is an old truth to us will be the new truth to them.’

  “‘Will we speak again?’ Marita asked.

  “‘No, Marita,’ were the words formed in her mind. ‘The days that approach will be dark days indeed, and I will be unable to help you. Trust in the Great Creator, my child, for beyond this world a life awaits you where peace and joy will be your rich reward.’

  “Instinctively Marita knew that the Tigress had gone. What she had said had not made her feel afraid, just incredibly sad. Marita’s sadness was not for herself but for the Elders, for Domoni her faithful friend, for fear-driven Rubin, and for the people of Sampa.

  “The next day trainee soldiers began to collect the taxes that the army had imposed on the people. Those who refused received a letter signed by Rubin stating that they had three days to reconsider their response and to pay the required tax. If they had not done that by the time the three days had expired, they would be arrested and brought before a court of army officers and charged with treason.

  “Marita met with her Elders that evening and it was decided that because her position as Mother-Father had not been revoked, she should gather the people together and address them. At the appointed time, some four thousand people had gathered in the village square to hear their beloved Mother-Father speak. When she arrived, however, she was not alone. Two soldiers in training escorted her on to the platform, each holding one of her arms. Incensed by the sight of Marita under arrest, Domoni leapt on to the platform, demanding that she be released immediately. He was quickly overcome by more than twelve other soldiers who quickly surrounded him, binding his hands with rope. It was then that Rubin stepped forward to speak.

  “‘For many hundreds of years Sampa has been led by a Mother-Father. No other people in the world have had such an oppressive form of government. One dictator, supported by some faceless men and women appointed more for their seniority or their popularity than for their political savvy. People of Sampa, we have been duped for far too long. We thought that our leaders cared for us and that they were concerned about our prosperity and our safety. We felt safe because they told us myths about a Great Creator who cared about our valley and the people who lived here, and the rainforest and the animals that lived there. They perpetuated a story about a covenant with the tiger of the rainforest, which they said guaranteed our safety and prosperity. Instead it placed us in great danger and will soon lead us into poverty. They have lied to us for their own ends. They have placed us under religious oppression. They have captivated our minds with silly tales. But it will happen no longer. The army is in charge. From now on, you are really safe and really free.’

  “Suddenly, even before Rubin had time to turn around, a man in a hurriedly made soldier’s uniform had rushed on to the stage from the rear and driven a knife between Marita’s shoulder blades. Those close to the stage would say that she simply sighed and crumpled to the ground. Domoni broke free from his captors and, in a show of almost supernatural strength, freed himself from the ropes that held his wrists, pushed away the people who stood between him and Marita’s body and, falling on his knees, cradled her in his arms.

  “Rubin was truly shocked by this turn of events and the crowd was stunned. Some other men had leapt onto the stage and were struggling to apprehend the assassin, when, astonishingly, he struck again. Breaking free for only a split second, he drove his blade into Domoni’s neck, killing him instantly. This seemed to shock Rubin into action and, with amazing speed, he leapt on the attacker, disarmed him, and almost in the same motion stabbed him in the heart. To say that the crowd who witnessed all of this were mortified would be a terrible understatement. One man described the scene as mesmerising and terrifying, whilst others used words like ‘sickening’ and ‘horrific.’”

  “When Rubin, covered with blood, motioned for silence, many in the crowd averted their eyes, too afraid of what might happen next to watch. ‘People of Sampa,’ he said, ‘the action of this man in slaying both Marita and Domini is abhorrent and was not ordered or sanctioned by the army. Such violence as this has never been seen in Sampa since Mordeca and his followers attacked Galildra and Mesila, and its occurrence today underscores the need for an army to keep us all safe. I wish to announce that in the light of Marita’s opposition to a compulsory tax, and in honour of her memory, the tax will be a voluntary one until further notice. In the coming days we must attend to honouring those who have died, and then the army will address the issue of future governmental structures.’ As the crowd dispersed and those close to Marita, Domoni, and the assassin attended to the bodies on the stage, an unseen drama was being played out on the edge of the forest. The moment that Marita died, the heart of the great tigress broke, and she now lay dead on the ground, surrounded by four other tigers.”

  Muralu sat in silence, and Alofa, still grappling with the emotion roused by a story that he had never heard before, sat with his head bowed and with tear
s in his eyes. “So that is how Sampa passed from being a village without fear to one that is now driven by fear and wracked by violence?” he asked.

  “Yes, Alofa, that is how it happened,” Muralu answered softly. “But now you must sleep and in the morning you must go home to Misha and your family, and when you return there is one last Great Story of Sampa that I must tell you.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE FOURTH GREAT SAMPIAN STORY: THE COVENANT BREAKER

  “Power is not a means it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution to establish the dictatorship.”

  George Orwell(1984)

  As Alofa travelled back to Sampa, his heart was very heavy. The story of Marita left him feeling angry and depressed, and even the thought of going home to his beloved Misha did not cheer him as it normally did. Before he left Muralu’s cottage that morning, the old man told him that Marita was the sister of Misha’s great-great-grandmother. He was not really surprised. When Muralu described Marita, it sounded like he was describing his wife. The slaying of Marita and Domoni over one hundred years ago not only shocked those who were there on the day that it happened, but it left Alofa devastated today. And what, he questioned miserably, did the death of the Great One of the Forest at the same time mean? Was that symbolic of the end of the Covenant, or was it something else? If since Marita’s death there has never been another Mother-Father in Sampa, does that mean that the Tigress who died of a broken heart was also the last Great One of the Forest? And if that is true, how would it be possible for another Mother-Father to be appointed?