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Ari and Orfi

There was once a great chieftain called Adomi, the last in a line of mighty monster slayers, who bestowed freedom to the people and harmony to the land. His wife was a sorceress called Lavana, who gave birth to twin sons called Ari and Orfi. After they were born an old seer appeared in the village and asked if he could bless Adomi’s sons. The seer placed his hand upon Orfi’s head and declared, “This child will inherit his father’s spear; his life depends upon it.” With those words he turned and began to walk away. Adomi was outraged. “Come back,” he cried! “You have mistaken the lastborn for the firstborn!” The seer replied, “It is you who are mistaken! Was not Orfi’s head the first to see the light of day? He would be heir to the Lionspear if his brother had not grabbed him by the heel and pulled him back into his mother’s womb.” “But what about Ari,” asked Adomi? “Why haven’t you blessed him?” The priest replied, “Have one of your own people do it. His future is not hard to see!” And with those words the seer was gone.

Now, it was customary for the eldest son to inherit his father’s spear, but Adomi had no intention of giving it to Orfi who was a weak child, always clinging to his mother. On the other hand, Ari was strong and confident. You couldn’t take your eyes off Ari for a moment without him getting into mischief. And so Adomi ignored the words of the old seer, and as the twins grew, he would take Ari into the forest and taught him to hunt, while his brother stayed at home with his mother. Lavana taught Orfi her own skills, but as he grew into a young man all he could think about was his father’s spear. Many of the people remembered the words of the old seer, and told Orfi that it was he, not his brother, who was destined to be firstborn. And so thoughts of the spear and hatred for his father and brother began to consume him.

Lavana greatly feared for her son’s future, who had become quite unteachable, and she began to wonder if the old seer was right after all. Early one morning she told Orfi that he must kill his father and claim his birthright. “But how,” he asked? “I’m no match for father, and Ari is always by his side.” Lavana replied, “I have prepared a sleeping potion which I will mix into that soup your brother loves so much. Before he and your father go hunting, I will call him to my hut and he will eat the soup and fall asleep before his spoon touches the bottom of his bowl. Then you will take your brother’s place. wait until you are deep into the forest and when your father’s back is turned, you must kill him, and claim the Lionspear which is rightfully yours. Now go and find your brother.”

Orfi went to his brother’s hut and told him that mother had prepared some soup for him. Ari didn’t waste any time and soon he was sitting at his mother’s table eating his favourite meal. Only a few minutes had past before the potion took affect and, true to Lavana’s word, he was unconscious before his spoon touched the bottom of the bowl. Orfi took his brother’s spear and upon approaching his father, Adomi called out, “Where’s Ari?” Orfi explained that he was ill and mother was taking care of him. “Look father” he said, “I have my brother’s spear. Today I will take his place.” Adomi agreed, and they both set off into the depths of the forest.” They followed the tracks of deer and were soon far from the village. As soon as Adomi’s back was turned Orfi pieced him through the heart with his brother’s spear. As his father lay dying on the ground he took the lionspear from his hand. Orfi was too afraid to return to the village for fear that his brother would take revenge, and so he set off in the direction of a neighbouring town to seek his destiny. When neither his father or brother returned from the hunt, Ari instinctively knew what his mother and brother had done, and he searched the forest for his father’s body. When he saw Adomi’s body fatally wounded with his own spear, he let out a cry and wept. He carried his father back to the village and after the funerary rites were performed, he cursed his mother and left the village forever.

Orfi married a woman called Palindra, but despite the Lionspear, he was a terrible hunter, and so the couple starved. After years of living in poverty, news reached the townsfolk of a great king called Ari in the west who had established a wealthy kingdom, and was soon to marry the most beautiful woman in the world. “Huh,” grumbled Orfi, “even without the spear, the gods smile upon my brother!” Palindra insisted that her husband must go to his brother and ask for a share of the riches, but Orfi was still afraid of him, and instead of travelling west, he went east, taking the spear with him.

Meanwhile in Ari’s kingdom, preparations were being made for the royal wedding. The night before the ceremony, Yari, Ari’s bride-to-be, dreamed that she was in a forest and gave birth to twin boys who were then snatched away by a gigantic lion and devoured. The following day she told Ari her dream and refused to marry him until he had found the terrible lion and killed it. He asked his advisers if they knew of such a beast and they replied that it must be the lion of Olam, the last of the mighty beasts that none of the great heroes of the past had succeeded in killing. Ari then summoned all the seers in the land; “surely one of them must know a way of killing it,” he thought. Eventually, a very old seer was brought before the king. “This old man claims to know how to kill the lion, but when we asked him he refused to tell us,” said the guards. “Greetings, majesty,” said the seer, “you have indeed become a great man, as I knew you would.” “You know me,” asked Ari? “We met once when you were a child,” replied the seer. “I could tell you how to kill the lion of Olam, but you will never sleep with your bride!” Outraged, the King demanded that the old man be arrested. As they led him away, the seer laughed saying “the only weapon capable of slaying the beast is the Lionspear, the weapon of your father and his father before him. The cause of the wound is also the cure!” When Ari heard this his heart sank.

When Ari told Yari, she told him that he must find his brother and the Lionspear. “As long as the lion lives I will never marry you,” she said. And so Ari left his kingdom in search of his brother. Finally, he came upon the home of his brother and his wife. Palindra told her brother-in-law that she hadn’t seen her husband for months. That night they slept together. The following day Ari left Palindra some money and continued searching for his lost brother.

By this time Orfi had himself reached the land of Olam. Many times he had almost sold the Lionspear for a scrap of food, if it were not for the seer’s prophecy:

“This child will inherit his father’s spear; his life depends upon it.”

The people of Olam took one look at the mighty spear and thought he had come to slay the giant lion. “If you kill the beast for us, we will make you our king,” they said. “At last,” he thought to himself, “the words of the seer are coming true.” Orfi agreed and set off into the forest in search of the lion’s lair. After many days roaming the forest, Orfi was tired and hungry and almost ready to give up. He sat upon a cliff and looked down into the forest and saw a mango tree. hastily he began to descend the cliff when he slipped and fell upon the Lionspear which pierced his thigh. He fell to the bottom of the cliff and lay there unconscious and bleeding until nightfall.

By this time Ari himself had reached Olam and decided that he would try to kill the lion with or without the help of the Lionspear. He was a good hunter and soon found the lion’s tracks. As he made his way through the forest he saw a shining light high upon a cliff. He climbed up to see what it was and discovered it was his dead father’s spear standing upright at the edge of the cliff and shining like the sun itself. He pulled it out of the ground and laughed.

Orfi awoke in agony, cursing the old seer for his misfortune. He heard a noise and grasped in the darkness for the spear, but could not find it. Suddenly the gigantic lion leaped out of trees, as did Ari, who threw the Lionspear with such force that it pierced the lion’s skull and passed through the beast’s rear. The lion fell to the ground dead.

Ari knelt down beside his wounded brother, who was himself close to death. “Brother,” said Orfi, “forgive me for killing father. My heart was poisoned by the false words of the seer.” “I forgive you,” said Ari, tears pouring down his face. “We are together at last, but cruel death is already here to separate us once more.” Then Ari remembered the last words of the old seer:

“The cause of the wound is also the cure.”

He fetched the spear and placed the point on his brother’s injured thigh and instantly the wound healed. Ari helped Orfi to his feet and together they walked back to town.

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