POPULLI I HARRUAR

Nga
Shqipe Malushi
 

        Kosova ishte nje lugine magjike me lumenje e burime, uji i se cileve  kishte aftesi sheruese, drunjet ishin plote me mjalte, pemet perplote me  fryte te jashtezakonshme dhe lulet  lulezonin gjate kater stineve.  Banore e  Kosoves kurre nuk dinin per lodhje, plogshtim apo semundje.  Ata cilsoheshin  te forte si qeliku dhe te shendoshe si dielli.  Vdekja i prekte vetem nga  pleqeria e pashmangshme.  Kosovaret njiheshin si Shqiptare te cilet e qmonin  dhe donin lirine mbi cdo gje.  Ata nuk njihnin asgje qe mund t'i kundervihej  asaj.  Ishin banore aq te lashte te Kosoves sa qe askush num mbante ne mend  se a kishin jetuar ata dikah tjeter pos aty.
        Popujte qe jetonin perreth Kosoves ia kishin zili kesaj toke dhe e  lakmonin per vetvete.  Pas nje kohe ne Kosove filluan te duken ca barbare te  quditshem qe kerkonin ndihme.  Ne fillim ata kerkuan ujra sheruese, pastaj  kerkuan pak mjalte, e me pas ca lule e papritmas, pa kluar shum kohe, filluan  te jetojne aty.
        Mjalta ishte e vetmja gje qe ne se shumti i ngacmonte ardhacaket meqe  ajo krijohej ne drunje e cdohere ishte e gatshme.  Ata as qe leviznin nga  vendi per tu sherbyer me te, sepse shqipetaret ishin ata te cilet iu sjellnin  mjalten perpara e cila mbetej vetem te futej ne gojen e tyre dhe te  gelltitej.  Kerkesat e barbareve per tu sherbyer nga Shqiptaret sa vinin e  shtoheshin.
        Shqipetaret, duke qene nga natyra mikeprites dhe paqesore, i pranuan  ardhacaket me duar te hapura ne vatrat e tyre dhe iu ndihmuan me tere  shpirtin.  Ata shpresonin se barbaret do te ngrejne mjalte, dhe pijne ujra  sherues aq sa iu nevojitet per tu forcuar e pastaj do te kthehen andej kah  kishin ardhur.  Por ata kishin ardhur prej vendeve gurore ku asgje nuk rritej  dhe as qe iu shkonte ne skaj te mendjes te ktheheshin.  Kosova per ta ishte  parajse me mbare begatite e saja te pafund natyrore.
        Me kalimin e kohes ata me teper e me teper gjenin kenaqsi dhe defrim  ne lumenje, ne mjalte dhe vete vendin ashtu qe filluan t'i frikesojne  Shqipetaret e Kosoves.  Pa kaluar shum kohe barbaret i ftuan mbare vllezerit  dhe motrat e tyre per t'iu bashkuar atyre ne luginen e paqes e bukurise.   Plani i barbareve ishte ne sa vijone; Se pari te vijne ne luginen e Kosoves,  te vendosen aty e pastaj te mesojne msheftesite e vendit si dhe banoreve.
Pasi qe pasurohen me tere diturine e lakmuar, t'i shfarosin Shqipetaret nje  nga nje, e ma ne fund token e dhuntise dhe begatise ta pervetsojne per vete.   Por ate cka ata nuk dinin ishte se Kosova ishte toke qe merte fryme dhe  gllaberonte cdokend qe e keqperdorte ate. Shqipetaret e njihnin mire  shenjtesine e tokes se tyre prandaj ata e donin dhe kujdeseshine per te me  teper se per jeten e tyre.  Si shperblim toka iu dhuronte atyre te gjitha  begatite e veta.
        Kur nje numer i madhe i barbarebe e zaptuan Kosoven, aroganca dhe  pertacia e tyre i trazuan regullat e tokes e te lumejve.  Pyjet u prene e u  djegen.  Shpellat u mbyllen me gurina e toka refuzoi te jap me fryte.  Cdo  gje cka ishte e bukur dhe e dhuruar nga Perendia ata e shendruan ne shkreti.   Shqipetaret prisnin kohen kur toka do te hakmirej. Barbaret laheshin ne  lumenje kur larja ishte e ndaluar, hudhnin mbeturina ne lumenje dhe ne toke,  te mirat e popullit si dhe ato te natyres u vodhen dhe u pervodhen.  Por, ate  cka Kosovaret nuk e shihnin dhe diktonin ishte se Barbaret ne te njejten kohe  iu vodhen atyre lirine dhe token.
        Askush nuk dinte se sa gjate barbaret e perdhunuan token e Kosoves  dhe popullin e saj, por, nje dite papritmas, toka e nderroi ngjyren ne te  kuqe.  Shqipetaret e dinin se dita e hakmarjes kishte ardhur dhe se toka do  ta denonte fajtorin. Por ata kishin ra ne pike te hallit se si do ta mbrojne  veten meqe nje gje tetille nuk e kishin patur rastin te bejne me pare.  Nese  ata do ti akuzonin barbaret per ndyrjen dhe keqperdorimin e tokes, toka do te  jete ajo qe do t'i pyet perse Shqiptaret e lejuan nje gje te tille.  Nese ata   do te mbrohen me te verten se nuk paten kurrefare mundesi per t'i penguar,  faji perseri do te bie mbi ta.
        Ne kete apo ne ate menyre veshtire e kishin ta thonin te verteten e  cila ishte perdredh dhe e pergenjeshtruar me aq mjeshtri.  Pafajsia dhe  besimi i Shqiptareve ne te miren i kishte zene ne kurthe e "ruugedalja" e  vetme ishte humbja e lirise dhe e tokes se tyre.
        Toka pastaj, u shendrua ne ngjyre te kuqe qe dukej si nje top zjari.  Nga nje eksplodim i tmershem ajo u nda ne dysh e ne mes te lumenjeve u krujua  nje e carre e madhe.
        Se pari nga brendia e tokes dalengadale u ngrite nje mjegulle e  pastaj nje shtatore e gjate qe nuk i gjasonte as femres e as meshkullit por  nje druri me koke.  Ajo ishte e mbuluar me nje vele bardhe e zi te sterpikur  me njolla te kuqe te cilat dukeshin si pika gjaku.
        "Cka i beret keshtu tokes sime?" pyeti shtatorja.
        Barbaret rene ne gjunje dhe filluan t'i derdhin lotet.
        "Asgje nuk i kemi bere, Madheria e juaj, asgje.  Ne ketu jemi  mysafire e asgje tjeter.  Ne nuk dijme asgje per token tuaj."
        Shqipetaret te qete kryelarte veshtronin se si barbaret thurnin  genjeshtrat e tyre.  Pastaj shtatorja iu drejtua Shqiptarve me te njejten  pyetje.  Por asnje pergjegje nuk doli nga goja e tyre.  Me pase shtatorja u  pervidhe shtatedhjete e shtate here dhe that.
        " Une e dije te verteten por deshta ta degjoj  prej jush."
        Te dy palet shiquan njeri tjetrin drejte ne sy. Barbaret kishin  shfrytzuar te mirat qe nuk iu takonin atyre pa asnje ndjenje fajesije meqe iu  ishte lejuar nje gje e tille...Ata pa fije turpi bredhnin poshte e larte duke  e trazuar jeten e tjerve, duke i dhunuar grate e tjerve para syve te botes, e  mu nje gje te tille perpiqeshin ta benin me grate e Shqiptarve.  Ata tentonin  t'iu vjedhnin Shqiptarve cdo gje te mundshme si dhe vete endrat.
        Shqiptaret kure me pare nuk ishin sprovuar ne kete menyre dhe nuk  dinin se si ta perdornin diturine e tyre per t'i dalur ne krye te ligave qe  burronin nga barbaret.  Ata jetonin me virtytet, doket dhe zakonet e tyre qe  sic dukej ishin me te vjetra se vet malet.  Besa, mikpritja dhe miresia e  tyre ishin te njohura pertej kufijve te dheur te tyre.  Se njerzit e tille te  eger si barbaret ekzistonin ishte nje qudi dhe befasi e madhe per ta.
        Shtatorja pa levizur dhe e heshtur priste pergjegjen e pastaj iu  drejtua Shqiptarve.
        "Populli im, perse i lejuat keta njerez keta njerez ta shkelin token  time te shenjte? "
        Shqiptaret nuk e qelen gojen.  Si do ta mbranin ata veten? Te thonin  se lejuan nje gje te tille ne emer te meshires.  E meshira e tyre tani i  solli ata ne shkatrim cdo pergjegje e tyre pos heshtjes do te dukej torollake.
        "Populli im, kush e shkreterroi token time?" Shtatorja tani iu  drejtua barbareve.
        Barbaret pasi moren pak shpirt kur ajo i quajti ata "Populli im" u  pergjegjen me buzeqeshje.
        "Shqipetaret, Hyjnija e juaj e mbaredijtur e bene ate.  Ata kane  bishta te cilet nuk ju shifen.  Ata i ngrehin bishtat e tyre neper toke dhe  ashtu e ndytsojne ate, e kur jane ne pranin e te tjereve i mshefin bishtat me  mjeshtri.  Ne jemi deshmitare.  Kurre perpara dhe askund tjeter nuk kemi pare  njerez me bishta si ketu.  Keta jane te vetmit."  E perfunduan barbaret me  nje ze duke u betuar se e folnin te verteten.
        Shtatorja Pastaj zbuloi doren e saj nga velo bardhe e zi me njolla te  kuqe dhe nga thellsite e tokes nxorri nje vashez te posalindur.
        "Emri i saj eshte Lirije" that ajo duke ia dorezuar ate Shqipetareve.
        "Me tregoni se cka do te beni me te."
        Nga e njejta thellsi ajo e nxori nje djalosh te posalindur.
        "Emri i tij eshte Liridon,"  tha ajo duke ia dhene ate barbareve.
        "Me tregoni se cka do te beni me te. Une do te kthehem pas shtate  mije e shtatedhjete e shtate diteve. Dhe Kosova do ti takon fituesit," tha  ajo dhe u zhduk ne thellsit e pafund te tokes.
        Te dy palet shkuan ne shtepite e tyre per ta vazhduar jeten.   Barbaret nuk punshonin dite e nate se menduari se si ta fitojne Kosoven.
        Ata vendosen ta zvoglonin numrin e Shqiptarve duke i torturuar dhe  keqperdoruar nje pas nje gjersa ti zhdukin krejtesisht nga faqja e dheut.   Nese Barbareve nje gje e tille do t'ju shkonte per dore, toka e Kosoves pa  dyshim do te behet e tyre;  e fitues do te shpallen ata.  Barbaret vendosen  ta rrisine Liridonin duke e ushqyer ate me mendime te tilla shtu qe kur ai te  rritet do te behet udheheqesi i tyre.
        Shqipetaret, ne anen tjeter nuk e ushqenin koken e tyre me kurrefare  mendimesh.  Ajo ishte toka dhe vendi i tyre e toka e dinte ate shume mire.   Duke besuar se nje dite e verteta del ne shesh ata vazhduan t'i mbrojne  virtytet dhe besimet e tyre me dashuri e perkushtim.  Ata e rriten Lirijen me  kujdese dhe dashuri te veqante, dhe e njoftuan ate me pasurite e tokes duke e  mesuar se si ta nderon.
        Shqipetaret e dinin nje gje shum mire, ate cka barbaret nuk e dinin  se, cdo shtateqind e shtatedhjete e shtate vjet nje dimer i rende e kaplonte  Kosoven, saqe edhe guret i bente te pelcasin nga acari.  Kosovaret i dinin  msheftesite per mbijetuar ate dimer qe dukej se nuk kishte fund.  Ata poashtu  dinin se barbaret nuk do t'i shpetojne dimrit te tille.
        Barbareve as qe iu shkonte nder mend se stinet mund te ndrronin.  Pos  defrimeve dhe qejfit se cilave iu kishin perkushtuar me tere qenjen e tyre,  si dhe mesimit te birit te tyre Liridonit per t'ia zhvilluar aftesite e reja  vrasese, ata nuk mund te mendonin per dic tjeter.
        "Degjo," ata i thonin Liridonit, " ne s'mund te lejojme dhuntia yte  te shkoi huq ne zenjen e lepujve dhe kitrave.  Pse nuk po ia fillon t'i  ushtrosh aftesite e tua ne Shqiptaret.  Pos se gjithash numri i tyre eshte me  i madh se i vet lepujve."
        Ata e mesuan dhe e sterviten ate se si ta perdore shigjeten, se si te  helmon njerzit, se si te vjedhe, te dhunoj e me ne fund se si te vrase.   Mbare keto aftesi ai duhej t'i perdori ne Shqiptaret e gjumosur.  E pastaj  barbaret do te mund te kremtojne fitoret e tyre ne Kosoven e pushtuar.
        Liridoni e kaloi cdo sprovim me besnikri.  Me ne fund ai mesoi te  pije raki, te haj mish derri te gjalle, t'i  dhunoi femrat para syve te te  tjerve, to lual bixhoz dhe te meshefi  kufomat e viktimave te tij duke ia  mveshur fajin elementeve jo existuese.  Ai zbuloi se asgje s'ishte me lehte  se shfarosja e Shqiptarve.
        Barbaret vazhduan t'i zbatojne planet e tyre: t'i zhdukin mbare  Shqiptaret perveq Lirijes, ajo duhej ti takone Liridonit.  Bukuria e saj  ishte e dalluar dhe e pashoqe.  Ishte bukuri e heshtjes se amshueshme.  Por,  para se t'ia fillonin vrasjeve te paramenduara, ata sollen vendimin qe ato te  ndodhin para syve te popujve te vendeve te tjera.  Keshtu, ata derguan  kasnecet e tyre ne kater anet e botes me mesazhin: "Ne jemi ne rezik.   Njerezit me bishta na kane zaptuar token tone te begatshme.  Ata jane nje  fare race e ralle dhe e rezikshme.  Bota nuk ka pare krijesa te tilla.  Ata  po na shkaktojne ankthe dhe ngasherime.  Ju lutem na ndihmoni ta shpetojme  token nga keta njerez.  Ata po shumohen me shpejte se fara e hithit, e se  shpejti do ta kaplojne boten mbare.  Ne jemi ne rezik per t'i fituar edhe vet  bishtat. Ju lutem na dnihmoni."
        Kasnecet e barbareve ftuan vezhguesit e te gjitha mbreterive qe te  vijne ne Kosove per t'i pare njerzit me bishta dhe per t'i deshmuar vuajtjet  e tyre.  Sic flitej, te gjitha mbreterite derguan lordet e tyre ne token e  shenjet te Kosoves te pushtuar nga njerzit me bishta.  Kur vizitoret me ne  fund arrijten, barbaret se pari i gostiten me te gjitha te mirat e mundshme,  i dehen mire e pastaj ua leshuan grate e tyre qe t'i argetojne me pasione te  shfrenuara. Me ne fund nikoqiret iu presentuan mysafirve Shqiptaret te cilet  ishin duke e punuar token, grate e te cileve ushqenin foshnjet ne gji.   Femijet duke ku ndihmuar babajve te tyre te rindertojne ate cka barbaret  kishin shkatruar.
        "A po jo shifni bishtata?" pyeten barbaret.  "Ato bishta po iu rriten  aq shume, sa qe aty ku po e prekin token bari nuk po bihet me."
        "Shih, shih, kurre nuk paskem pare njerez te tille me bishta. Sa te  neveritshem e te friksuar.  Sa te gjate e te ndyte bishtat e tyre qenkan,"  lordet e mbreterive pohonin pa pare ne te vertete asgje, por vetem e vetem  per t'iu bere qejfin nikoqireve.
        Ne fund, kur vizita e tyre perfundoi, ata ia dhane Liridonit dhe  barbareve lejen per ta shfarosur popullin me bishta.
        "Vrajini te gjithe,"  thane ata me vendosmeri ne mledhjen e mshefte."  Askush nuk ka nevoje per ta, e as na vete.  As neve e askujte, keta njerez me  bishta nuk do t'i hujne ne perdorim.  Ata memzi po i ngrehin bishtat e tyre."
        Barbaret me nje ze u pajtuan dhe kur pane se edhe te tjeret bene nje  gje te tille, u shliruan. Ne kete menyre atyre iu shkoi per dore ta japin me  sukses provimin e dredhnise dhe dinakerise.
        Pasi qe mysafiret shkuan, barbaret ia filluam misionit te tyre.  Meqe  numri i tyre nuk ishte aq i madhe, ata friksoheshin t'i zbatojne vrasjet  haptazi, ashtu qe ata shfrytzonin rastin kur Shqiptaret ishin ne gjum.  Kur  ata ia dolen ne krye t'i dobesojne forcat e kufizuara te Shqiptarve, ata i  okupuan malet, bjeshket, lumenjte, burrimet dhe rruget.  Tejkalimi i rrugeve  si dhe pirja e ujit u ndalua per cdokend.  Barbaret helmonin femijet me nje  gaz te panjohur qe e nxjernin nga thellesite e tokes.  I dhunuan grate dhe  femijte, byten, prene dhe masakruan jo vetem njerzit por edhe mbare token.
        Shqiptaret perpiqeshin te duronin meqe Dimri i Madhe afrohej.  Ata  shpresonin se nese do te shpetonin do te mbijetonin dimrin e ashper.

        Gjate kesaj seance te njeanshme, nje dite, Liridoni duke u kthyer ne  shtepi pas gjyetise me koken e ariut nen sjetull, e takoi Liriejen e cila  ishte duke mledhur lule ne fushe.  E veshur me fustan te bardhe, e kredhur ne  mendime ajo dukej si nje engjellushe e humbur ne fushen plotngjyreshe.
        "Sa e hijshme qe je!" tha ai duke iu afrua nga prapa.  Ajo u trondit  nga prania e tij dhe u tmerrua nga koka e ariut.
        "A din ti kush jame une?" E pyeti Liridoni.
        Edhe pse ajo e dinte se kush ishte ai, nuk u pergjegj.
        "Ja mere kete," tha ai duke ia ofruar asaj koken e arriut," dhurate  prej meje."
        "Jo, te falemnderit," u pergjegj ajo. "Vdekja nuk me sjelle kenaqsi."
        " Por e dashur," vazhdoi ai, "Kjo s'eshte vdekje.  Kjo eshte fuqija e  bukurise e cila duhet te pushtohet."
        "Per mua jeta eshte bukuri."  Tha Lirija para se te largohej.
        Ate nate Liridonin nuk e more gjumi tere naten.  Gulfitej nga  terbimi.  Ai nuk mund te besonte se si ishte e mundur qe populli i tije akoma  nuk arrijti ta bente Lirijen tijen.  Ai nuk mun te kuptonte se cka ata  pritnin.  Liridoni ishte si femij lastuc qe cdo gje qe donte ose lakmonte e  donte tia sjellnin pernjeherit.  Por ate cka ai nuk kuptonte ishte se populli  i tij planifikonte t'ia sjellnin Lirijen atij, por se pari donin to  shfarosnin mbare Shqiptaret, ashtu qe asnje shpirt i gjalle te mos mbetej per  t'i akuzuar apo ndjekur eliminuesin.  Nese ata deshironin ta sundonin Kosoven  perhere, ky plan sipas tyre duhej te zbatohej me maturi dhe perpikeri.  E  gjersa Lirija ishte e lire populli i saje nuk do te dyshonte  ne pregaditjen  e ndonje krimi nga barbaret.  Gjersa ajo merte fryme ata Shqiptaret  shpresonin se nje dite do te kurorezohen me fitore.  Por, durimi i Liridonit  ishte i shkurte.  Ai me cdo kushte dhe sa me pare e deshironte Lirjen prane  vedit.  Barbaret, nje nate u detyruan ta grabisnin Lirijed dhe t'ia sjellin  atij.
        "A do behesh e imja?" Liridoni e pyeti ate me kureshtje.
        "Jo!" u pergjegj ajo prerazi dhe ftohtesisht. "Me pare do vdisja si  ariu yte se sa te behem e jotja."
        "Do te beje timen me deshiren tende" tha ai.  "Do te me lusish ne  gjunje te behesh e imja kur do te shohish se cka do t'i beje popullit tende."
        Pas kesaj orvatje te deshtuar ai dha urdherin qe Liria te vehen ne  prangat me te renda dhe te varoset shtate kate nen toke. Kur puna do te  kryhej me popullin e saj, atehere ai me ngadalesi dhe me lezet do ta  nenshtron ate.
        Liridoni me krenari e sendertoi planin e tij te fundit: Ai ndertoi  kurtha mijshe, dhejete-mije here me te medha se ato te mijve. Kur i dha fund  vepres se vet, kurtha dukej si nje labirinth me mure te tejdukshme.  Ai e  vendosi ate mu ne mes te Kosoves, i besimit se tere Kosovaret do te zihen ne   te.  Shqipetaret nuk ia mbushnin syrin atij si njerez te zgjuet ashtuqe sipas  tij ata lehte do te bijne ne te, bile pa e hetuar ate fare.  Keshtu shumica  prej tyre do te vdesin vetvetiu.  Liridoni nuk kishte durim te shpenzonte  shum kohe as ne pasionin e tij, qe ishte vrasja.
        Por, mu ne kohen kur ai e vendosi kurthen, papritmas Dimri i Madhe ia  behu dhe e kaploi Kosoven mbare.  Kosovaret qe kishin patur fatin t'i  shpetonin vdekjes ishin pregaditur pa humbur kohen.  Per tu mbrojtur nga  acari ata e kishin lyer trupin e tyre me nje shtrese dyelli dhe te tubuar  ashut dolen ne mes te fushes se Kosoves  te rrethuar nga kurtha e zbrazet,  per ta pershendetur Dimrin.
        Dimri i ashper ngriu cdo gje, bile edhe vet ajrin dhe zogjet ne  fluturim.  Barbaret, duke pare se cka po ndodhte, menjehere iu hypen  karrocave dhe filluan te ikin.  Ata te cilet kishin mbetur prapa ishin ngrire  apo ne ikje e siper ishin zene ne kurthen e tyre.  Kur barbaret u larguan mbi  Kosoven asnje ze nuk u degjua me.  Pastaj bora billoi te bie.
        "Do te kthehemi kur dimri do te mere fund," Liridoni i premtoi  popullit te vet para se ata te largoheshin.
        Kur barbaret kaluan bjeshket dhe arrijten ne trojet e tyre te  verteta, asgje nuk kishte nderruar.  Gurinat dhe shkambijte ishin duke i  pritur zoterinjte e tyre per tu kthyer.  Ata u vendosen ne shtepite e tyre  dhe vazhduan te jetojne si me pare duke pritur qe Dimri i Madhe te kaloj dhe  atehere te kthehen ne token e tyre te mjaltit.
        Lirija akoma gjendej shtate kate nen toke, e lidhur ne pranga te  renda, e veshur ne robe te leckosura, e rahur dhe e torturuar gjer ne prag te  vdekjes.  Ajo ishte vendosur ne nje ode hekurinash te ftohet, ku vetem mijte  mund gjalleronin.  Ajo flente ne kembe dhe priste qe nje dite ardhmeria e saj  te vendosej.  Nje nate ajo pa nje ender:
                Ne pike te nates binte bore.  Jashte cdo gje ishte  mbeshtjellur ne te kalter.  Malet e Kosoves, dhe ajo mbare, si dhe vete  populli i saje, cdo gje, ishte ngjyrosur ne te kalter. Lirija ecte neper  male, ne drejtim te shtepise se saj duke e ndie vedin si nje fjolle bore.  Papritmas, bora dhe yjte qe rane nga qieli e qendisen dhe e stolisen fustanin  e saje te nusnise.  Ajo vazhdoi se ecuri pa te ndale gjersa arrijti ne Kosove  nee hyrjen e se ciles nje dere prej kristalesh te kalter ishte ndertuar.
        Nje muzike e lehte si cicerime zogjesh degjohej nga brenda.  Dera u  hap ane e mbane e nje kale i bardhe, balli i se cilit shkelqente si hena e  plote iu afrua asaj.  Lirija i hypi kalit dhe se bashku ia behen kah brendia  e lugines ku populli i saj ishte duke e pritur.
Ata te gjithe mbanin ne duar femijet e tyre te posalindur.  Populli iu lut  asaj qe t'i prek femijte me dore te saj.  Duke kaluar, Lirija i vente nga nje  ylle ne balle te gjdo femije.  E pastaj ajo iu drejtua popullit te vet qe dukej sikur zhdukeshin ne bore, dhe ofshau:
        "O, populli im, populli im. Ja, u ktheva ne shtepi."
         Atehere, nga dikaj Lirija degjoj zerin e Liridonin duke thene:
        "Largohu nga aty.  Ai eshte vendi im, toka ime.  Largohu.  Ajo eshte  toka im."
        Pas kesaj Lirija nxitoj per ta mbyllur deren dhe tha:
        "Askush nuk do ta na trazoj me ketu.  Me mbani ketu."
        Populli i cili dukej se ishte krijuar nga mjegulla ngadale filloi t  ezhduket.  Hena dukej se ishte deshmitarja e vetme e piktures se kalter dhe  te zbrazet ne te cilen Lirija ecte e vetmuar duke kerkuar popullin e vet.
        Lirija u zgjua nga gjumi me lot ne sy dhe me malle te pakufijshem per  shtepi.
        Pas kesaj enderre, Lirija u semua rende.  Asgje nuk e mbrante ne jete  me.  E tere fuqia e kishte leshura.  Nje semundje e panjohur e kishte kapluar  per te cilen askush nuk dinte se nga vinte.  Kush e prekte ate, apo  i  afrohej ose vetem e shiqonte, vdiste mu ne vend.  Semundja nga e cila ajo  lengonte ishte shetesuese dhe e tmerruese.
        Nje dite nje njeri i quditshem hyri ne dhomen e saje.  Trupi i tije  ishte i mbeshtjellur ne qarshaf te bardhe.  Ai nxori thiken dhe zuri t'i  prere zingjiret rreth fytit dhe trupit te Lirijes.
        "Kush je ti?" e pyeti ajo e befasuar nga se vdekja nuk e preki ate si  te tjeret.
        "Une jame Qendrimi," u pergjegj ai. "Tani je e lire!"
        "A je nga radhet e barbareve?" vazhdoi ajo.
        "Jo," tha ai. "Ne te dy i takojme te njejtit popull.  Kur barbaret te  arrestuan, une u mesheha prapa tyre per te zbuluar se a mos do te shkaktojne  diq te lige ty. Kur ata iken nga Dimri i Madhe nuk paten kohe te me vrajne.   Thane se do te bejne ate me vone, pasi qe te mesojne nga une ca gjera qe nuk  mund ti mesonin nga populli yne.  Por, kur ti u semure, ata me  harruan mua.  Une e shfrytzova semundjen tende per te te liruar ty dhe vedin.
        "A nuk po frigesohesh nga semundja ime?"
        "Jo," tha Qendrimi. "Semundja yte nuk eshte semundje.  Ajo eshte  dhunti e fuqise.  Ajo buron nga qendrimi qe e kemi trashiguar nga te paret  tone.  Per ta mbrojtur vedin kur nuk kemi rrugedalje tjeter neve e  shfrytzojme qendrimin.  Ne rastin tende, rrugedalja e vetme per ty ishte qe  edhe ti te bejsh nje gje te tille. Vetem tjeret vdesin nga fuqia e saje meqe  nuk mund te perballojne.
        Lirija dhe Qendrimi u larguan nga bjeshka e barbareve.  Gjate rruges,  semundja e Lirijes, sic quhej nga barbaret, filloi te shperndahet sirufe duke  i mbytur ata pothuajse te gjithe me radhe.  Me ne fund Lirija u gjet ne  dhomen e Liridonit.
        "Me lejo tani te te puthi per lamtumire!" ajo iu drejtua atij.
        Por ai duke e pare ate te semure shume rende dhe me qe kishte degjar  per mortajat e shumefishta qe semundja kishte shkaktuar, ate e zuri tmerri.
        "Mos mu afro. Mos mu afro, se perndryshe..." fillio te bertiste ai.
        Por ajo me buzeqeshje ne fytyre ngadale zu t'i afrohej.
        "Ja ku jam.  E jotja jam e tera.  Perse nuk me merre tani?"
        I trullosur, i terbuar dhe duke mos qene ne gjendje ta kontrollon  situaten, ai u hodh nga dritarja, ra ne shkambije te bjeshkes se tij, dhe  vdiq mu aty.  Populli barbare i Liridonit, tani i katandisur dhe i plogshtuar  nga semundja iu afruan kufomes se tij dhe me pezmatim filluan ta peshtyjne:
        " I mallkuar qofsh!" thonin ata te mllefosur. "Ti na premtove se do  te na shpetosh, a?! E shiqo tani!"
        Brenda nje kohe te shkurt, ata nje pas nje dhane shpirte prane trupit  te "udheheqesit" te tyre.  Per nje kohe bkur si te gjate sorrat e bjeshkeve  te barbareve u zene ne pune.
        Lirija dhe Qendrimi moren rrugen per ne shtepine e tyre.  Kur u  gjenden para Kosoves, nje mjergull e kishte mbuluar ate.  Ajo si dhe e tere  populli i saj ishin ngrire.  Asgje nuk levizte.  Asgje nuk merte fryme.  Para  se te hynin, Lirija verejti se perreth Kosoves ishte krijuar nje dere e re  nga akulli, e cisa shendriste si briliant ne diell.  Ne mes te fushes,  njerzit qendronin te kristalizuar mu ne ate gjendje sic i kishte zene Dimri i  Madh.  Te gjithe ishin shendruar ne kristale shumengjyreshe shkelqyese me  koka te drejtuara kah qielli sikurse pritnin dic.  Bora vazhdonte te binte  sikurse donte t'a mbulonte popullin me mbulesen e saj te bardhe e te dlire,  pe t'i ngrohur dhe per t'iu ruajtur nga te ftoftit bukurine e tyre te vertete.
        "Njerzit me bishta, ku jane tani ata?" Lirija iu drejtua Qendrimit me  buzeqeshje.
        "Kane ra ne harrese me ne fund." u pergjegj ai.
        Duke qendruar ne mes njerzeve te kristalizuar, ne fushen e mbuluar  plot me bore, qe te dy u perpoqen ta rikujtojne te kaluaren.
        "Kush e shpifi ate se ata kishin bishta?" Lirija vazhdoi.
        "Eshte nje tregim i lashte, me i lashte e me i vjeter se une dhe ti,  " u pergjegj ai.
        "Per perse rane ne harrese?"  vazhdoi se pyeturi ajo.
        "Harresa qe e vetmja gje qe i shpetoi ata," u pergjegj ai.
        "Harresa e te tjereve i shpetoi ata...Harresa e tyre ishte si nje  ender qe kure nuk kishte ndodhur."
        Si ne nje bote enderrash, Lirija dhe Qendrimi ne perqafim te njeri  tjetrit filluan te vallezojne.  Ne vallezim e siper ata i afroheshin qdo  njeriu te kristalizuar dhe i preknin me dore. Nen prekjen e tyre, akulli iu  djegete duarte.  Vallezimi i tyre vazhdonte dhe ata mu a†´nate, ne mes fushes  se mbuluar me borre, dukeshin se gjendeshin ne nje bote perrallore.
        Prej asaj kohe kur Lirija kishte lindur dhe prej asaj kohe kur toka  dhe qielli e kishin harruar poppullin e saje,  shtatemije e shtateqinde e  shtatedhjete e shtate dite kishin kaluar.  Kur, papritmas, toka e mbuluar me  shtresen e bardhe te borres u shendrua ne te kuqe dhe dukej sikurse ishte  mbuluar me gjak.  Ajo perseri u nda ne dysh, sikur para shum kohesh qe memzi  mbahej ne mend.  Nga brendia e saj u ngrite shtatojra e gjate ne forme druri  me koke te mbuluar me nje vele bardhe e zi e sterpikur me njolla te kuqe qe  dukeshin si njolla gjaku. Populli i harruar i kristalizuar qendronte si  mirazhe qelqi gjersa shtatorja u ngrit gjer ne qiell. Lirija dhe Qendrimi, si  cdo gje tjeter perreth tyre, u bene pjese e heshtjes se amshueshme.
        "O, populli im, populli im," shtatorja e larte ofshani duke zbulura  se cdo gje pereth saje ishte shkreteruar dhe ngrire.  Asgje nuk ushqehej me  frymen e jetes ne ate lugine ne nje kohe aqe pjellore.
        "Ngrite velen nga Kosova dhe liroje popullin tim,"  Qendrimi me plot  guxim kerkoj nga shtatorja. Por ajo, sikur nuk degjonte dhe vazhdonte te  ofshane:
        "O, populli im, populli im."
        Perpos Qendrimit i cili e kishte humbur durimin asgje nuk levizte.   Ai papritmas u hedh me vrull dhe e largoi velen nga shtatorja.  Quditerisht,  ajo nuk kishte trup. Nen vele meshefej nje drite e papare qe tani filloi te   shkelqeje dhe te liroi ngrohtesi mbi mbare fushen e Kosoves dhe mbi popullin  e harruar.  Ngrohtesia e saj e shkriu akullin ane e mbane. Populli sikurse te ishte zgjuar nga nje ender e gjate, i shkundi pikat e  fundit te ujit te ftofte duke mos mbajtur ne mend se ata i kishte zene dhe  ngrire Dimri i Madhe.  Kristalet qe iu kishin burgosur shpirtin dhe trupin  papritmas u thyene dhe u shkaperderdhen ne mijera copa duke e mbuluar token  dhe duke krijuar reflektime magjike shumengjyreshe.  Toka u gjet e mbuluar me  kristale te ralla e gure te qmueshem qe u derdhen ne lumenjte dhe male.   Lirija dhe Qendrimi mbanin njerezit ne duart e tyre. Kur femija i fundit i  popullit te harruar  u zgjua dhe perseri u kthye ne jete, drita ngadale  filloi te zhduket ne thellsite e tokes.
        Lumenjte e Kosoves u rriten e u bymuan si kurre me pare.  Malet u  begatuan me tere pasurite.  Prej andej ndegjohej kenga e zogjeve dhe e jetes  qe pershendete popullin e vet.  Bora u shkri dhe nga toka lulezuan te gjitha  llojet e luleve me te bukura dhe me te harreshme se kuredohere me pare. Ato sikur donin te deftonin lumturine e tyre qe e ndajshin me popullin e tyre  dhe me token e tyre te dhuntishme.
        Tani, Lirija me krenari vezhgonte popullin e vet qe filloi te kthehet  ne vatrat e tyre te zbrazta.  Ajo kurre nuk i kishte pare ata me te lumtur si  ate dite kur u zgjuan nga ngrirja, dhe syte e tyre per here te pare e e  veshtruan ate.
        "O, je kthyer ne shtepi, je kthyer!" e perseritnin keto fjale me  lumturi.
        Ajo kurre nuk kishte ndie dashuri me te madhe e me te fuqishme se  tani, ne mesin e popullit te vet.  Qendrimi i cili qendronte prapa saj  perjetonte te njejtin gezim dhe lumturi.  Ai ngadale i pershperiti Lirijes.
        "Mire se erdhe ne vatren tende!"
        "O, populli im, populli im!" Liria vazhdonte te ofshane
        Dhe siq ishte zene ne goje, Shqipetaret e fituan Kosoven dhe e  rivendosen lirine e tyre, dhe vazhduan te jetojne ne lumturi duke ju treguar  femijve te tyre peralla dhe tregime.
        "Dikur na ishim nje popull i harruar," ia fillonin ata tregimet e  tyre," ashtu qe te tjeret shpifnin shum tregime dhe genjeshta per ne.   Cdokush mendonte se ne ishim njerez me bishta, gjersa ne ishim njerez qe  tregonin tjereve tregime, dhe kishim dhjete gishta si ata.  Ky ishte nje  keqkuptim i vogel."
        Lirija dhe Qendrimi u pergaditen per martese.  Fustani i saje i  nuserise i bardhe ishte i mbuluar me yje te mbaruara nd dore nga grate  puntore Shqiptare.  Cdo yll ishte thurrur nga lotet e ngrire te popullit qe  ishin derdhur gjersa e pritshin Lirijen te kthehet ne vendlindjen e saje.  Me  pare, Lirija u drejtua kah fusha e Kosoves per ta takuar Qendrimin, dhendrin  e saj per te lidhur kurore para tokes se shenjte.  Nje muzike e lehte qe  buronte nga tingujte e fyellit si dhe kenga e lirise kenduar nga populli i  saje i percjellnin ata.  Lirija u be nusja me e bukur qe ndonjehere kishte  ecur mbi token e Kosoves.
 

Shqipe Malushi eshte poete/shkrimtare dhe jeton ne New York.
e-mail: malushi@aol.com

 
KOSOVA THE CRADLE OF THE PAST:

The Forgotten People
by
Shqipe Malushi
 

          Kosova was a valley of magic with rivers and healing powers, trees with honey, plenty of unusual fruits, and flowers throughout the four seasons.  People who lived in Kosova never got tired, sick, or weak. Everyone in was strong and healthy.  The Kosovars, known as the eagle people only died from old age. They loved peace and knew not about its opposite. They have been living there since their beginning.
The people surrounding Kosova envied the land and wished it for themselves. After a period of time, strange barbaric people started coming to Kosova asking for help.  At first they asked for healing waters, then they asked for some honey, then they asked for flowers, then suddenly in no time they started living there.
         Honey was the one thing that excited the newcomers most , since it formed on the trees and was always there. They didn't have to do anything to get it.  These barbaric people didn't even get the honey themselves.  They would ask the eagle people to get it for them, so  all they had to do was eat it.
        Eagle people, being of peaceful nature and believing in hospitality, accepted the newcomers and helped them with whatever it took. They hoped that the barbarians would eat enough honey and drink healing waters  until they got strong and went back to their land from where they had come from.
        But the Barbarians had come from a place made of rocks where nothing grew, and they didn't have any intention of leaving.  In Kosova, they didn't have to do anything but  indulge in the riches of nature, which the eagle people supplied for them.  This was a paradise.
        As time passed, they enjoyed the rivers, the honey and the land more and more , and the frightened eagles  as they called the Kosovars. Then the newcomers called all their brothers and sisters to come and join them in the valley of peace and beauty.
         Their plan was first  to come to the valley and settle there, then to learn the secrets of the land and its people, and after they knew everything, kill the eagle people and keep the gifted land for  themselves. What they didn't know was that Kosova was a land that breathed and swallowed people if they took advantage of it.  The eagle people knew the sacredness of their land and they loved and cherished it beyond their lives.  In return the land gave the people all its gifts.
        When a large number of barbarians  inhabited  Kosova, the order of the land and the rivers was broken from their arrogance and their laziness. The forests were cut down, and burnt. The caves were filled with rocks, and land refused to give fruits. The barbarians took everything beautiful and gifted and turned it into straw. The eagle people waited for the revenge by the land.
The barbarians bathed on the rivers when it was forbidden to bathe,  threw waste on the land and on the waters, stole people's goods as well as nature's goods. What the Kosovars didn't see was that the barbarians were also stealing their freedom and their land at the same time.
        No one knows how long the barbarians' abuse lasted over the land of Kosova and its people, but one day the land suddenly turned red.  Eagle people knew that the day of revenge had come and the land would take the guilty ones.  But they didn't know how they were going to defend themselves since they had never had to do that before.  If they said that the barbarians had dirtied and abused the land, then the land would ask why did you let them do it. If they said they couldn't stop it, that there was no way out of it, then guilt felt upon them.
     They had a hard time thinking how to tell their truth which had been twisted.  They had been caught by their innocence and belief in good for which they lost their freedom and their land.  Then the land got so red that it looked like a burning fire.  It split into two halves creating a fearful explosion and a wide crack between the rivers.
          From inside the earth mist rose gently after which followed a tall figure which was neither a woman nor a man. It looked like a tree with a head.  This figure was covered with a black and white veil sprinkled with red stains all over as though made of blood.
     "What did you do to my land, my people?" the figure spoke.
      The barbarians bent on their knees and cried ," Nothing Lord, nothing. We are just guests here.  We don't know anything about your land."
         The eagle people stood tall and silent on the other side watching the barbarians twist in their lies. The figure again asked the same thing, turning to the eagle people, but no answer came out of them.  Then the figure spinned seventy-seven times.
         "I know the truth, " it said,  "But I wanted you to tell me."
      Both peoples looked at each other.  The barbarians had enjoyed someone else's goods, without feeling guilty for taking them since they were allowed to take them. They shamelessly walked around, entering in other people's lives.  They possesed their women in front of other people and tried to do the same with eagle women.  They tried to steal everything they could, including the eagle people's dreams.
        Eagle people had never been challenged like this before and didn't know how to use their knowledge for their benefit.  They lived with their virtues and rituals which seemed older than themselves.  Their word and hospitality and kindness were known far beyond their land.  And, they were surprised that such people as barbarians existed.
          The figure stood there waiting for their answer in  silence, then it turned to the eagle people. "Why did you let these people in my sacred land, my people?" it asked them.  But, the eagle people remained mute. What could they have said?   Because they were compassionate?  And now this compassion had brought them to disaster.  Any answer besides silence seemed very stupid.
         "Who destroyed my land my people?" the figure asked again, turning to the barbarians.
         The barbarians felt a little warmer after hearing the figure call them,"my people." Then, they turned to the figure with a smile, " The eagle people, all knowing, Lord.  They did it.  They have tails.  You just can't see them.  These people drag their tails through the land and dirty it, then when others come out they hide their tails.  We have witnessed this.  They are the only people with tails we have ever seen." They finished in one voice, swearing they were telling the truth.
        The figure then drew its hand from under the black white veil covered with red stains and somewhere from deep within the depths of the earth, pulled a newborn girl.
        "Her name is Liria," (Freedom),  it said,  giving her to the eagle people.
"Show me what you will do with her."
    A  newborn boy  was pulled from the same depths, "His name is Slobodan," (Freedom Wish), it said, giving him to the Barbarians. "Show me what you will do with him."
         "I'll be back after seven thousand and seven hundred and seventy seven days.  The winner will have Kosova land," it said and vanished into the depths of the earth.
        Both people went back to their homes to continue their lives.
      The barbarians thought day and night about how to win Kosova.  They decided to reduce the number of the eagle people by killing them one by one until they were all gone.  If they managed to get rid of them, the land without question, would be theirs,and they would be the winners. The barbarians  decided to raise Liridon with these thoughts so when he grew up he would be their leader.
        The eagle people thought of nothing.  This was their land and the land knew that.  They continued  to maintain their virtues and beliefs with love and compassion,  believing that the truth would  prevail in the end.They raised Liria with their love and gentility, telling her about the gifts of the land, and teaching her to honor it.
Kosovars knew what barbarians didn't,  that every seven hundred seventy seventh year a great cold winter felt upon Kosova, The people had secrets for surviving during that winter which  lasted long.They knew that  the barbarians would never survive such a winter, even the rocks cracked from the cold.
      The barbarians didn't even suspect that the seasons would ever change. They were indulging themselves far too much to think otherwise.  They were also teaching their son Slobodan new skills of killing.
         "Listen," they said to him," let us not waste your talent on rabbits and squirls.  Why not start practicing your skill on Kosovars?  There are far too many of them."
    They taught the boy how to hold an arrow, how to poison people when they least expected, how to steal, how to rape and finally how to kill.  They had him practicing on sleepy eagle people. Then the barbarians would go to their homes to celebrate.
        Slobodan faithfully passed every test they taught him.  Finally he learned to drink, to eat raw pig's flesh, to lustfully take women before eyewitneses, to gamble, and to hide the bodies of people he killed, placing the blame on some non-existing element.  He discovered that it was easy to kill the sleeping eagle people.
The barbarians  started to do what they had intended to:  kill all the eagle people except for Liria. They wanted to keep her for their son.  She possessed the  rare beauty of eternal silence. But before they started the actual killing, they decided to kill these people in the eyes of other lands.  So they sent  messengers  all over into the far distant lands saying: "We are in trouble.  People with tails have invaded our gifted land.  They are a very rare and dangerous species.  No one has ever seen such creatures.  They are our nightmare.  They oppress us. Please help us we must save the earth from these people.  They multiply faster than the rain and in no time they will take over the earth. We are in danger getting tails ourselves.  Please help."
    The messengers  invited all the kingdoms to visit them in Kosova, and see people with tails,  and the misery they were suffering from them.  As it was told, all the kingdoms sent their lords to see the sacred land of Kosova, invaded by the people with tails.  When they finally came ,  first they  were hosted and intoxicated by the barbarians, than  lustfully seduced by their women.  Finally, the eagle people were shown to them working on their fields quietly,  women nursing their babies;  children silently helping their fathers trying to rebuilt what it was destroyed.
        "Do you see their tails?" the barbarians asked. " They're getting so long that no grass grows were they fall."
         "Oh, we have never seen such people with tails.  They're dreadful, frightening.  Their tails are so long and dirty," the lords of other kingdoms said, seeing nothing actually,  but saying that to please their hosts.
        Finally, on the last day of their visit, Slobodan  gave himself the permission to kill the eagle people.
        "Kill them all, " they said in a secret meeting. "We don't really need them, no one does.  What use could these people with tails be to us or any one else. They can barely drag their tails behind themselves."
        The  barbarians  agreed  in one voice and were relieved to find others in agreement.  With this gesture they passed every test of shrewdness they had ever learned.
         After the visitors, left the barbarians began to fulfill their mission.  They were frightened to do anything in the open since they were not too numerous, but  when the eagle people were asleep, the actual killing began.  Then when they weakened the eagle people who resisted only as much as they could, the barbarians took over the mountains, rivers, wells, and roads. They forbid anyone to cross the roads, or drink the waters. They  poisoned the children with a strange invisible gas which they pulled out from the earth.  They raped the women and children and killed, killed killed not only people but the whole land itself.
      The eagle people tried to endure.  The Great Cold winter was close. If only  they could survive the winter, they would be saved, they thought.
        During this one sided seance, Slobodan coming back from hunting one day with  a bear's head under his arm,  met Liria, who was in the fields picking flowers.  She was quiet in her white dress, deeply in thought, looking like a lost angel in the colored field with blood.
          "You are so beautiful, " he said, coming from behind her.
    She jumped, surprised by his presence, and frightened from the bear's head under his arm.
          "Do you know who I am?" he asked her.
          Even though she knew who he was, she didn't answer.
        "Here, take this," he said to her, giving her the bear's head.  "A gift from me."
         "No, thank you." she said. " I take no joy in death."
          "But, my dear, " he said, "This is not death.  This is the power of beauty that must be possessed."
        "Beauty, for me, is life," she said before departing.
        That night Slobodan couldn't sleep.  He became inflamed with rage. He couldn't believe that his people couldn't get Liria for him.  He didn't understand what they waited for. He was like a spoiled child who wanted things immediately.  But what he couldn't wait impatiently was his people's plan to bring Liria to him, but first they wanted to eliminated totally the Kosovars, so they wouldn't ever be haunted by them, and no one else would ever  blame them for their disappearance. This had to be carefully done if they wanted to reign in  Kosova forever. And while Liria was free, people didn't suspect any ultimate crime from the barbarians.  As long as she was alive, they hoped to win someday.
         But  Slobodan wasn't a patient man.  He wanted Liria for himself and that was all he cared for. The barbarians had to steal Liria one night when she was asleep and bring her to him.
         "Would you be mine?" he asked her.
         "No," she answered calmly. "I would rather die like your bear."
        "I will have you willfully," he said. "You will beg me to take you when you'll see what I will do to your people."
        Then he ordered her to be chained with heaviest chains and buried seven stories down under the ground.  When he would be done with her people he would calmly,  and with appetite,  seduce her.
         Slobodan worked on his final plan:  building a mousetrap, ten thousand sizes bigger than for a mouse where he would bury thousands of bodies.  When he was finished with it, the mousetrap looked like a labyrinth with invisible walls.  He then placed it on the edge of Kosova valley to trap all the eagle people in it.  To him they were so stupid that they wouldn't even notice that there was a mousetrap before them. That way  most of them would be caught and killed easily.  He hated to work too much even in his passion for killing.
        But, just when he placed the trap, the Great Cold winter fell upon Kosova unexpectedly.  The surviving Kosovars had already been prepared.  They poured wax over their bodies to protect them from the cold. And all went outside in the middle of Kosova valley to greet the winter, surrounded by an empty mouse trap.  The winter froze everything, even the air and the birds in the flight.
    The Barbarians  immediately  jumped in carriages and escaped.  Those who were left behind were frozen or trapped in their own mouse trap in their panic to escape.   No sound was heard over Kosova when the barbarians left. Then  it started to snow.
         "We'll be back one day, when the winter is gone," Slobodan promised his people before leaving.
        When they arrived beyond the mountains from where they had actually come, nothing had changed. Their rocks were still there waiting for their masters to come back.  They settled back to their own houses and continued to live as they had before, waiting for the Great winter to pass so they could go back to their land of honey.
         Liria was still  seven stories under the ground, chained with heavy chains, wearing ripped off clothes, beaten to death, and bruised.  She was placed in a cold metal room, where only a corpse could fit.  She slept while standing and waiting for her future to be decided.
        One night she had a dream:
         In the depth of the night it was snowing,  outside all was blue. Her mountains, Kosova, her people, all had been painted with blue color. Only the moon shone over the blue painting.  She walked down the mountains toward her home feeling like a snowflake.  Sudenly, the snow embroidered a bridal dress around her body and the stars felt from the sky and decorated her dress.  She walked and walked until she came to Kosova before which a blue crystal door had been built.  Soft music like a whisper of birds was heard from inside. The door opened wide and a white horse with the reflection of the moon on his forehead came in front of her. She rode the horse inside the valley where her people had been waiting for her.
              They all held  new born children,  asking her to touch them. As she rode, she placed a star on  the forehead of each child.  Then she turned to her people, who seemed as though vanishing in the snow, and whispered, "Oh! my people,  my people, I am back home,again."
        But from somewhere she heard Slobodan's voice saying, " Get out of there. That's my  land. They are forgotten people. Don't wake them up.  Get out of there.  That's my land."  Liria then walked toward the doors and locked them.  "No one will ever see us here. "  Then she said to her people, "Don't ever let me go away again."  The people, as though made of mist, gently vanished. The moon  seemed to be the only witness of  the empty blue painting where Liria walked all alone searching for  her people.  She woke up longing and crying for her home.
               After this dream Liria got very sick.  She no longer held onto anything. She had let go of her strength.  A strange sickness had captured Liria and no one knew its origin.  Whoever came close to her got sick and died.  Whoever touched her or looked at her died instantly.  She became gravely ill.
        One day a strange man came to her room.  He was wrapped in a white cloth around his body. He held a knife and cut the chains around her neck and body.
         "Who are you?" she asked him, seeing that he didn't die looking at her.
    "Qendrimi (Endurance)" he said. " You are free now."
          "Are you one of the barbarians?" she asked.
         "No," he said." We both are from the same people.  When they captured you, I hid behind them   trying to see that they won't hurt you. When they ran away from the Great winter, they had no time to kill me, so they said they would do that later after they used me to learn what they couldn't from our people.  But you got sick, and they had no time to think about me.  I used your sickness to free us."
        "Aren't you afraid of my sickness?" she asked him again.
         "No," he said." It is not a sickness. It is a gift of strength.  It comes from our endurance inherited from the eagle people.  We use this only when we are pushed to the end to protect ourselves.  In this case, you were pushed to the end.  Only other people die from it, because they can't handle its force."
        Liria and Qendrimi left the mountain of the barbarians.  As they walked around, what barbarians thought was Liria's sickness spread fast, killing almost all of  them.  Liria walked into Slobodan's  room.
        "Let me kiss you, good bye, now!" she said to him.
    But seeing her gravely ill, and having heard about the poisonous death that she spread, he became petrified.
         "Don't come close.  Don't come close to me, " he screamed,  "or else?"
        But she walked slowly toward him, smiling.
        "Here I am. You wanted me.  Why not take me now." she asked.
        Petrified, and unable to handle the situation,  Slobodan jumped from his window and killed himself on the rocks of his own mountain just as his parents had done it before him.  His people, who were gravely ill, came before his dead body and spat at him.     "Cursed be!" they said to him.
        "You said you would save us," they cried. "And now what?"
        Then, one by one they began dying near him.  The vultures that surrounded the mountain of the barbarians were busy for a while.
        Liria and Qendrimi headed back to their home and their people.  When they arrived in front of Kosova, a veil of mist covered it.  Kosova and the eagle people were frozen. All  was still. Before entering,  Liria  saw that ice had made a new door around Kosova that shone briliantly in the sun. People stood in the middle of Kosova valley, crystalized in the position they had been caught when the Great winter came.  All of them turned into shining colorful crystals with their heads turned up toward the sky as though had been waiting for something.  It was still snowing, as though the snow wanted to cover the people and warm them with its shiny white winter coat to protect their genuine beauty from the cold.
       "People with tails," she said to Qendrimi smiling. "Where are they?"
      "Forgotten." he said.  " They are finally forgotten."
     As Liria and Qendrimi  stood in the snow among the crystalized people all alone with no living soul around them, they tried to think  of how  it all started.
      "Who said they have tails?" she asked him first.
        "It's an old story, older than you and I," he answered.
        "Why are they forgotten?" she asked.
         "Because that was their only way to be saved ," he said. "Forgetfulness of others saved them. Their forgetfulness is like a dream that never happened."
      As in a dream, the two of them,  Liria and Qendrimi,  danced throughout Kosova,  holding each other in their arms. They went near every  crystalized person and touched them with their hands.  As they touched them, the ice burned their hands, and they looked as though they were in long dream  in the middle of the valley on that snowy night.
   It had been seven thousand seven hundred and seventy seven days since Liria was born, and since her people had been forgotten by the land and by the sky.  The land, although covered by snow, suddenly got red covered by blood.  It again split into two halves like it had long time ago, barely remembered. And from the depths of the earth  rose a tall figure in the  form of a tree,  with a head covered by black and white veil sprinkled with red stains as though made of blood.  The forgotten people stood,  looking like glass mirages, crystalized in ice,  while the figure rose all the way to the sky.  Everyone stood before it silently.  Liria and Qendrimi, close to each other.
     "Oh, my people, my people," the tall figure cried, looking around and seeing nothing but the bare land covered with snow. All the forests were stripped of their trees.  People and their homes were destroyed. Nothing was alive in the middle of that  most living valley.
          "Lift up the veil from Kosova and free my people," Qendrimi asked the figure fearlessly.  But the figure, as though it didn't hear him, repeated the words, "Oh! my people, my people!"
         No one moved except Qendrimi,  who had become impatient.  He suddenly pulled the veil off the tall figure, which uncovered no body at all.  Under the veil was a hidden light.  A strange warm light started shining throughout the valley of Kosova again over the forgotten eagle people.  Its warmth melted the ice and the frost from all of them.
         People, as though had just awakened from a long dream, shed their cold drops of water not remembering that they had been caught by the great winter, and frozen in it. Crystal that had imprisoned their souls and bodies suddenly broke to thousands of pieces covering the ground and creating magical colorful reflections. Suddenly the land was gifted with rare crystal stones that poured into the rivers.
        As the light brought back life into the rivers and the mountains, Liria and Qendrimi held people in their arms.  When the last child of forgotten people was awakened, the light shrank inside the depths of earth again.
         The rivers of Kosova grew bigger than ever before.  The mountains became even more wonderful from where the sounds of the birds and life greeted people. Snow melted from the land and all the flowers appeared again brighter than ever, as though  happy to be among their people and their gifted land.
         Liria watched her people move back to their empty homes that had been waiting for them for a long time.  She had never seen them as happy as this day when they awakened and first laid their eyes on her. "You're back. Oh! You're back!" they sighed.
     She has never felt more loved than on this day when she returned to her people.  Qendrimi, who stood behind Liria, felt the same way. " Welcome home," he whispered to her.
   "Oh! my people," she sighed, "My people."
        As it was told, the eagle people restored Kosova and its freedom and lived happily thereafter, telling stories to their children.
        "We were forgotten people in time once," they said in their stories, "so other people made tales about us, spreading lies. Everyone thought we were people with tails, while we were only people telling tales. Just a small misunderstanding "
         Liria and Qendrimi got married.  She had a white bridal gown covered with stars that women had made by hand.  Each star was made of frozen people's tears that they had shed while waiting for her to come back home. Then she walked down to Kosova valley to meet her groom, Qendrimi, and get married before the sacred land. Soft music of flutes and the  people's song of freedom followed her. She became the most beautiful bride that had ever walked Kosova's land.

 (Shqipe Malushi is an Albanian/American poet/writer living in New York.)
(212) 675-4380 ext. 351
E-mail: Malushi@Aol. Com;

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