“THE TRAGEDY OF SOPHIE AND CINDERELLA”- Shishir Aryal

 “THE TRAGEDY OF SOPHIE AND CINDERELLA”

Bada-Dashain is approaching. The schools have been closed. People are returning back to their hometown for celebrating the festival. 

"Momma, where are my chocolates?", little Saumya yells.

"Inside the topmost drawer", Samana shouts as she is packing her clothes in a suitcase.

"Hurry up, sweety. It's getting late. We ought to reach the buspark before 7:30."

"I know momma. Saumya is a big girl now."

"Oh, is it?", Samana gives a surprise look.

It's 7:28 pm. Dodging and colliding with the hustling and bustling crowd, Samana finally finds her bus. The bus was just starting to leave the buspark. She looks at her ticket and tells Saumya, "There's our seat on the left."

The engine starts to roar. Louder and louder. The journey to Nepalgunj begins. 

"Sweety, wear this. You might catch cold", Samana hands yellow jacket to Saumya.

"Wanna eat something?"

"No, momma. My tommy is full."

"Oh, then go to sleep. Put your head on my shoulder."

After a couple of minutes, Saumya lifts her head and says, "Momma, I can't sleep. Please tell me a story."

"No, baby. It will disturb other people. Look how's everyone sleeping."

"Please momma. You can say the story in a low voice. Momma, please..."

"Okay, okay. Stubborn kid!"

"Once upon a time, there lived a shepherd in a village. He had 26 sheep in his flock. He used to take them for grazing in the day and at night, captivate them in a pen built next to his hut. He was earning a handsome sum of money by selling wool and meat of the sheep. 

Among all the sheep, there was a ewe named Sophie who had just given birth to a female lamb. She was named as Cinderella. Sophie had great affection for her child.  She wouldn’t let Cinderella go away from her sight not even for a single minute. She would pour all her love and affection to Cinderella while nursing. 

Few months passed. Cinderella became quite familiar with all the members of the flock. She was everyone's favourite. She was loved and cared by all. 

It was a cold windy night. Every sheep was asleep. The shepherd was drinking wine in his hut. Suddenly, he heard the noises of sheep freaking out. He hastily ran out of the hut and peeked through a hole in the door. 

What he saw blew his mind, two sheep were on fire. Others were bleating like hell. He instantly opened the door. The whole flock ran out of the pen helter-skelter. The body of the those sheep were completely burnt by fire.

Cinderella was shocked. What she saw left her stunned. She was shedding tears of grief. Cinderella tried to calm her down, “Calm down, cutie. Nothing will happen to us.” She was leaping with fright. “Mummy, what will happen to them?”, she asked. “Nothing, cutie. They will be alright”, Sophie tried to pacify her, “And why do you panic? Your momma is with you everytime.”

But nothing was going to be alright. Both sheep eventually died. Sophie knew about it but didn't reveal it to Cinderella. One plight had just gone away and another plight knocked the door of the flock. 

The shepherd was going to slaughter Cinderella to sell her meat to the landlord. One sheep heard about it and told about it to Sophie. Sophie felt dizzy. The pain was like needles that had been dipped in alcohol had been jammed through her skin, like her arm had been replaced with ice and electricity wired straight into her spine. She couldn't utter even a single word after that. She exclaimed with anguish, “Oh, God! How ruthless you are. How ruthless these people are who are going to kill my innocent child. What will those men get by killing my Cinderella? At most, only their devilish hunger will get satisfied by the flesh for ONLY ONE MEAL. ONE MEAL, God! For a single meal, they are destroying thousands of my dreams! For satisfying their hunger, they are strangling my happiness! How will I live without Cinderella! Oh, God! What is the fault of Cinderella? Is bringing smile in the face of others sinful? Or is being born in this bloody planet as an animal is sinful? Is it ,God? Is it? Look at those humans, God! They say they are creatures with emotions. They boast of their wisdom and intelligence. Oh pity! Such a shame, God! Such a shame! Maybe it's not their fault. Maybe it's not your fault. Maybe it's not Cinderella's fault. It's my fault. I should have killed her when she was in my womb eagerly waiting to see how outside world looks like! Or I should have pushed her from the cliff when we were taken for grazing in the hills soon after her birth. Yes! That what I should have done! Forgive me, God! Now, next time you send a soul in my womb, I am going to redeem myself for the mistake.”

Every other sheep in the pen tried to calm her down but there was no stopping to her tears. And how could she be able to pacify herself? She inched a step towards Cinderella who was in a deep sleep. Her mesmerizing face was radiating with a hypnotic smile. In the meantime, the shepherd entered in the pen and searched for Cinderella with his vulturous eyes. All the sheep gathered in front of Cinderella hiding her. Cinderella was still sleeping. With watery eyes, everyone looked at the shepherd. Please! Show mercy! Show mercy! Their eyes were pleading. As the shepherd began penetrating the flock to reach to Cinderella, every sheep started bleating. Louder and louder! Cinderella's dream broke up. Oh, how happy she was in her dream! In her dream, she was in a heavenly place grazing with her mother. There were plenty of green grasses all around. She was happy, very happy! That happiness couldn't last long! Her eyes opened due to the noise. As soon as she stood up, she was snatched rudely by the shepherd. Cinderella yelled. “Mummy, mummy!”, she shouted. She agitated violently and convulsed. The shepherd held her more tightly. She was in pain, both physically and emotionally. She didn't know why she was being carried so heartlessly and where he was taking her and why. As the shepherd was moving towards the door, the sheep were climbing upon the shepherd. They were bleating loudly and scratching the shepherd’s legs.

 “Mummy, mummy!”

Cinderella's voice couldn't reach to Sophie. She had no senses. She was at the corner of the pen motionless. Black thick lines were seen below the eyes because of excess tears. She was helpless. And so was, Cinderella.”

Sapana looks at Saumya. Saumya was in tears. Saumya moves closer to her and embraces her. And she says a great thing, “MOMMA, I WON'T EAT MEAT AND I WILL TELL PAPA NOT TO KILL GOAT IN DASHAIN FOR MEAT.”

Killing innocent animals is an inhumane act. Dashain signifies the victory of good over evil. Giving sacrifice of animals in the name of GOD is utter nonsense.

By : I am Shishir Aryal. Currently, I am studying B.V.Sc. & AH in the first semester at Paklihawa Campus, Bhairahawa.

Happy Reading!