The Apple Tree in Calabria.

There was once an apple tree that grew in the backyard of an old man who lived in a country town in Calabria. The backyards of the stone houses with orange tiled roofs, all covered in ivy and roses, lay next to each other on a small dirt road and everyone had their backyards pushed up against each other full of tall summer grass and rocks and roots poking up through the land. This old man was a farmer whose name was Eugenio. He had a big beautiful apple tree which grew out of nowhere, right at the edge of his backyard, where four properties came together. This was already a very special occurrence because usually apple trees don’t grow well here in Calabria. But there is more. This particular apple tree grew the most delicious apples. This was not a slight variation of flavor, but an entirely new taste that somehow blossomed from a random mutation of apple DNA. I am telling you; it was incredible. At first, being a farmer, the old man tried to reproduce and cultivate it. But soon he realized that none of the seeds of the tree would sprout. He tried for years, planting every seed from every apple. But none worked. The seeds were infertile. It was a curse, some said. But then he laughed. “How could a curse provide such sweet fruit?” he would reply. And so Eugenio and his family very carefully nourished and cared for that one tree, and the family enjoyed only the delicious apples that tree could grow.

Everyone who tasted the apples agreed that the flavor was the most incredible taste they had ever experienced, and they only wanted more. Eugenio became very popular with friends and relatives who liked to come and sit on the patio in the late afternoon and smoke while they waited for the apple slices and some bruschetta and sometimes ventricina in thick ribbons brought out by his wife with a little smoked olives. But after some time the family grew to suspect were only coming to eat the apples from the apple tree. As the apple tree grew bigger and bigger, Eugenio’s neighbors couldn’t help but notice all the commotion around the apples. People in the neighborhood were curious and everyone wanted to try one. And eventually they wanted more. It became a big problem. Finally Eugenio decided that the apples were beginning to have a bad effect on things, and it was really in the best interests of everyone to not serve the apples to anyone else, not discuss it, and keep them entirely for themselves. This was to avoid the constant requests, whether reasonable or unreasonable, which inevitably resulted in misunderstandings and hurt feelings. And so, after some time, that did improve the relationship with their family and friends and very soon everyone forgot all about the apples.

However, one day when he was out tending to the orchard, Eugenio saw his neighbor, the one who lived to the right side of his property, standing by the tree, picking and eating the apples. He dropped his trowel and ran over to him.

“Stop! Don’t eat those apples!” he said.

“Why? It’s just an apple tree.”

“But those are my special apples. I keep them for ourselves.”

“Yes, they are incredibly delicious!”

“Yes, but it’s my tree” he said. “It’s on my land.” And he was right, for the tree was close to the edge of where his property met three others, but the tree was indeed firmly within his property. So the neighbor took his apple and went home.

The man went to bed that night worried that his neighbor would be tempted to take more apples. So the next day, the man built a small metal fence around the tree. At the top of the fence, he taped a piece of paper that said: “Please do not eat these apples”.

But the next day when the man went outside to check on his tree, not only was the neighbor standing at the fence, but there was another neighbor too, the one from the left side, eating an apple. The apple tree was growing bigger and of course there’s no way to hide an apple tree in Calabria. His neighbors had surely reached across his land to take an apple. Eugenio was very upset. He stormed back into his house.

The next day, he removed the metal fence and the paper sign. In its place he built a sturdy short brick wall, encircling the tree like a hem. And on the brick wall, he hung a sign that said: Do not eat the apples.

But the next day, all three neighbors were at the tree: the one from the right, the one from the left, and the one from behind him. They brought ladders and were reaching high up in the air to pick the apples. It was really the most delicious apple you can imagine. That is why this was happening.

That evening Eugenio went back out and made the brick walls around the tree so tall that there was no possible way anyone could steal an apple. The walls stood even higher than the tallest branch of the apple tree. There was surely no way to get the apples at all. He built himself a locked steel door at the bottom of the wall, on the side facing his own property, to get an apple from his tree whenever he wanted to.

The next day he went back outside to check on the tree. No one was even able to see the tree anymore, because now it was surrounded by a big brick wall. Indeed, when he looked, his backyard was completely empty: no one was there by the apple tree. Finally, Eugenio was satisfied.

The following day when he checked again, his backyard was still empty, and no neighbors were back there trying to get an apple. He was very relieved that he had discouraged them. A few days later, after some thinking, he decided to congratulate himself by eating one of the apples himself. So, he reached for the thick iron key that hung around his belt, and pushed it into the lock of the small door. He turned his wrist, and the door opened with a creak.

When the door opened, he was surprised to find that it was nearly completely dark inside, for the high walls had completely blocked all the sunlight. His hand felt for an apple in the darkness. But when he touched it, it slipped through his fingers like soap. It was soft. He picked another, then another. When he held up a light, he realized with a shock that the apples were nearly rotten. Then he looked up through the branches, only to see that his beloved apple tree was withered, and the apples were spoiled. In his attempts to protect it, he had completely blocked all the sunlight from reaching it. He realized with sudden fright that the tree was nearly dead.

Panicked, the old man ran outside, fearing all his precious apples would be ruined. He had nothing but his own hands, so he grabbed whatever tools were nearby: a claw hammer and an axe. Naturally neither had any effect, since the wall was built so well. But all his banging made such a commotion that his neighbors heard the clamor. When they arrived outside, they saw Eugenio frantically and fruitlessly failing to break down the wall. When Eugenio saw his neighbors, he yelled to them: “Help! I've made a terrible mistake and now the apples are rotting!”

The three neighbors each ran to their garages and tool sheds and took whatever they could. They brought armfuls of drills and saws and crowbars. Working together, the neighbors were able to fracture the wall. Then it turned into a crack. Then, with a large crash, the bricks crumbled to rubble all at once by their feet. Finally, the tree was free.

As soon as the first beams of light touched it, the tree bloomed and stretched itself in the sunlight. But it was almost too late. The once sturdy tree had become so weak, that its thick arms could no longer support their branches, and all three limbs fell to the ground as soon as the wall was removed. Each tree limb had perfectly fallen in each of the three neighbor’s yards. Only the rippled root, its limbs bent over like the curl of a contortionist, was left with the man. But no matter, the apples were worthless. No one dared disturb or cut the branches for fear of further hurting the tree.

And so everyone left it exactly as it was, and over time its health began to return despite the odds, and new, delicious apples began to bloom from these three spots. Each of the fallen limbs grew their own buds and branches. And so the tree started to finally grow, slowly at first but then with speed, to create even more apples than it had before. Twice as many. But now it’s divided into three trunks, and none of them were on Eugenio’s land. Only the root has remained embedded on his property.

Over time the apples got bigger and become colorful. Eugenio wanted to take an apple but ever since the tree fell, no matter how he examined it, not a single apple was hanging over his property.

The next day he came outside to see his neighbor eating the apples.

“Those are my apples.” Eugenio said.

“They’re sitting here on my lawn. If they’re your apples, why are they on my property?”

“They’re attached to my tree.”

“Your tree has fallen over.”

“It’s fallen onto your property, but it’s still my tree.”

“Only the root is yours.”

“Then I will stop watering it.”

“Why? Then no one can enjoy these apples!”

The two men started to argue. They both wanted the apples. After a little while, the two other neighbors come out and join the discussion too. They all want to eat the apples. They spend a few minutes arguing at the corner of their properties in the morning sun. Everyone starts to sweat a little and Eugenio wipes his forehead with his linen cap.