Baa baaaa.. sang the lamb, in rhythm as he jumped over David’s hunched-over back. He was on his harp strumming a melody. The strains of the tune enveloped the flock of sheep in a protective fence. He sang lines he came to him early that morning – a song of praise!
He looked up into the skies, the sun was setting, and he had been out many days in this pasture. In the next couple of days, he planned on being home. He got up from the cool spot under the tree and tucked his Harp into his bag. He called out a few sheep by name and began their walk back to his father Jesse’s house.
The house was calm when he got there. He found his father at his desk, lost in thought. David inquired his father about his brothers. Jesse said they were in King Saul’s army, and have been away close to 40 days now. Jesse asked David to take some food over to his brothers the next day. The following morning, David got to the battlefield and located his brothers.
He asked them about the happenings there. They told him about the standoff with the Palestinian army. Every day a giant of a man would come out from the Palestinian side and challenge the Israeli army. Even before he got more details, the man came out to challenge them. As he had been doing for the last 40 days. Goliath was his name. The Israeli army trembled with fear. Goliath thundered: Come out and fight me! David looked at the man in shining Armour and gleaming sword, he looked as tall as the hill he had stepped out of. He was over 9 ft. tall. This giant of a man had a voice that boomed and bounced off the hills. David looked at him from his perch, his mind going back to a story Ruth, his grandmother had told him many years ago.
His mind wandered to that time. He was sitting outside looking out into the starry night with his grandmother. Ruth was recounting a tale from a book she found in the forest. She found this book many years ago when she was a young girl. She was on the way back from the temple, her eyes gleamed even that night, as she recalled that day. High above the trees, she saw a strange sight. A muscular man-like creature with a long tail was moving at great speed. Her friends and she ran to find a clearing to get a better look but he soon disappeared among the trees.
Ruth noticed something fall from the trees. She picked it up. In her hand, she held a bundle of exquisitely embroidered, golden leaves parchments. Written in a script she couldn’t decipher. David remembered the tale of her very treasured book as vividly as the tales she told from that book. Time passed by, and Ruth was now married to Boaz. One day Boaz brought along a man who had travelled the world selling spices and gold. Ruth noticed the book he made his notes in had a script she recognized but couldn’t read. She went into her room and from her little box which went with her on all her journeys – Moab or Bethlehem. She was right, the script on the parchment resembled the one in that Man’s notes. She showed Boaz the book who then showed it to Varun the Merchant who was visiting.
On seeing the book he held it with great care and touched it to his forehead and read some leaves to himself.
Varun came by a few times after that and taught them the script which he called Sanskrit. He even left a Sanskrit to Syriac phonetic script so Ruth would read on. And in the days that followed she lived the exile and celebration and the dangers of the great war from that book.
David was back in the present. And before his eyes Goliath morphed into Raavan, that fearsome king from the great war. David felt the tug of his purpose. He told those around him that he would fight Goliath. His brothers shooed him and asked him to go on home. But, David was in no mood to relent. One of the soldiers took him to King Saul.
Saul dismissed him at first but when David persisted he let him go out to face Goliath. He even gave him his Armour to wear and his sword. David walked on to the place of battle. He found he couldn’t walk wearing that Armour. So he removed it and laid the sword down. Saying a prayer under his breath as he set out on his task. He walked into the clearing that reverberated with the bellowing voice of the giant. David shivered involuntarily at the sight.
Goliath looked more fierce than when he saw him from a distance. He took a deep breath and spoke out loud, the quiver in this voice visible in the words he spoke: “You… you… taunt us with sword and spear… I have come to you in the name of my God, by this strength I… I challenge you”. Taken aback for a moment by the diminutive size of the young boy he opened his eyes wide to take in the scene. He threw his head back and laughed aloud. The hills around shook, and a few soldiers perched on rocks fell off their seats. The trees fell back a few paces and took root again. Goliath’s mirth ended abruptly as it had begun.
He stretched to his full height and started towards David. David meanwhile had steadied himself. The quivering ground below him filled him with unlikely courage. His feet were now firmly on the ground, and his veins throbbed but his mind was clear and calm. He reached into the pouch at his waist and pulled out three pebbles. He rolled them around his fingers and picked one which felt perfect and put the other 2 back into the pouch. Goliath was making giant strides towards him. David with his left hand pulled out the sling from his belt and swung it in the air. The collective gasp from the Israeli army behind him was louder than Goliath’s sneer. David was calm. He placed the pebble that the water over years had smoothed. He placed it in the sling. Goliath was now about 200 yards from him and fast eating up the ground between them.
David swirled the sling above his head. It was a whirl, his hand seemed to move as a wind gale, and the speed of his arm was like a swishing cloth.
The hills and the trees danced through the screen that David’s frantic arm motion created. Eliab, David’s elder brother closed his eyes tight to clear his vision. There was a great silence and in a moment a thud that shook the earth as if struck by a quake. Goliath lay sprawled on the ground. It had happened so suddenly that the mind had to play it back to the eyes again.
David gauged the distance of Goliath’s run. And when he had the measure right he tugged and unleashed the pebble from the sling. His lips moved constantly in a whispered prayer. The pebble travelled at the speed of a falling star and hit Goliath bang in the middle of his forehead. It knocked him down. The stone entered his skull and took his life breath away. The Palestinians were now running away from the battlefield. The Israelis chased after them and killed many of them that day. The war was won.
Later that day, Saul rode with David in a victory procession all over Israel. The rejoicing and celebration continued for days.
postscript: This was something i wrote about 10 years ago. it was an attempt to retell the story and bring in a mix of mix of cultures into the story telling... oh yes. it did end up as a short piece. And in these times of rewritting histories by the new victors they attempt is to delete and lie... but this is just a story not retelling history. well... that needn't be said... but the obvious in these times are fairy tales.
whispers,rants and murmers 