A certain park, in the midst of which were the Sun and Moon, and
round about them a guard of priests of the Sun and Moon. And there stood
the two trees of which they had spoken, like unto cypress trees; and round
about them were trees like the myrobolans of Egypt, and with similar fruit.
And I addressed the two trees that were in the midst of the park, the one
which was male in the Masculine gender, and the one that was female in the
Feminine gender. And the name of the Male Tree was the Sun, and of the
female Tree the Moon, names which were in that language Muthu and
Emausae.[2] And the stems were clothed with the skins of animals; the
male tree with the skins of he-beasts, and the female tree with the skins
of she-beasts.... And at the setting of the Sun, a voice, speaking in the
Indian tongue, came forth from the (Sun) Tree; and I ordered the Indians
who were with me to interpret it. But they were afraid and would not," etc.
(Pseudo-Callisth. ed. Mueller, III. 17.)
The story as related by Firdusi keeps very near to the Greek as just
quoted, but does not use the term "Tree of the Sun." The chapter of the
Shah Nameh containing it is entitled Didan Sikandar dirakht-i-goyara,
"Alexander's interview with the Speaking Tree." (Livre des Rois, V.
229.) In the Chanson d'Alixandre of Lambert le Court and Alex. de
Bernay, these trees are introduced as follows: -
"'Signor,' fait Alixandre, 'je vus voel demander,
Se des merveilles d'Inde me saves rien conter.'
Cil li ont respondu: 'Se tu vius escouter
Ja te dirons merveilles, s'es poras esprover.
La sus en ces desers pues ii Arbres trover
Qui c pies ont de haut, et de grossor sunt per.
Li Solaus et La Lune les ont fait si serer
Que sevent tous langages et entendre et parler.'"
(Ed. 1861 (Dinan), p. 357.)
Maundevile informs us precisely where these trees are: "A 15 journeys in
lengthe, goynge be the Deserts of the tother side of the Ryvere Beumare,"
if one could only tell where that is![3] A mediaeval chronicler also tells
us that Ogerus the Dane (temp. Caroli Magni) conquered all the parts
beyond sea from Hierusalem to the Trees of the Sun. In the old Italian
romance also of Guerino detto il Meschino, still a chapbook in S. Italy,
the Hero (ch. lxiii.) visits the Trees of the Sun and Moon. But this is
mere imitation of the Alexandrian story, and has nothing of interest.
(Maundevile, pp. 297-298; Fasciculus Temporum in Germ. Script.
Pistorii Nidani, II.)
It will be observed that the letter ascribed to Alexander describes the
two oracular trees as resembling two cypress-trees.
