History

In old days long gone by, when traveling to other countries could take a lifetime, when people did not know what form the Earth was and why it danced around the Sun, when the continents interlinked through the caves of giants, when the gods still controlled fate of all living creatures... In short, in those old times there lived an extraordinary girl in a faraway country and her name was Arizona.

Arizona was the daughter of a chief and she was never in need of anything since she was a child. She had the most beautiful outfits, the most elegant silver jewelry, the most delicious food and plenty of clear sweet water. She also had a fiancé – a brave and kind young man who loved chief's daughter with all his heart, and the love was mutual. But Arizona did not enjoy her happy life. Suffering of her people made her restless. With every year their life became harder and harder. There was little water and the sultry wind of the desert destroyed the crops.

Arizona went to the shamans and asked them how to save the tribe from imminent death. The shamans explained that only the gods could help, but the brave one who dared to address them would have to undergo a severe test. None of the people had yet returned alive from the realm of the gods. Arizona discussed this with her fiancé and they decided to take a chance. They had been looking for a path that led to the gods for a long time and finally one priest told them about the sacred labyrinth. When Arizona and her lover had reached the very heart of the labyrinth, they saw an ancient altar. The inscription above it said that one could get the desired only by spilling human blood over the altar. The chief’s daughter looked in the face of her lover. And then she thrust the sword straight into his heart. The blood of the young man flooded the eerie altar and the burning tears gushed from Arizona's eyes... And suddenly the labyrinth’s walls melted, and the girl found herself in the illuminated hall. Gold, silver, gem stones, snow-white columns, exotic birds of various colours singing from the branches of the most incredible plants and the air saturated with fragrance of thousands of flowers... But Arizona saw nothing of this. Because the gods were right in front of her. They had the heads of cats and birds, wolves and hawks. Their bodies were those of snakes, bulls and horses. They had snow-white swan wings. Many-armed, many-eyed, beautiful and monstrously terrible... Gods were feasted at a huge table. When they saw their uninvited guest, they fell silent. And then the bull-headed god who sat at the head of the table said: "Why did you come to us and break our peace?" Arizona answered in a trembling voice: "My people are dying of hunger and drought... Help us, almighty gods!" God with the bull's head said: "We can grant salvation to your tribe, if you guess what we drink." Dozens of vessels immediately appeared in front of Arizona. Orange drink in a crystal glass, scarlet drink in a gold cup, blue – in a piece of ice, transparent – in a wooden bowl, amber in an iron vial... Arizona’s attention was attracted to the wonderful smell of a dark drink boiling in a snow-white cup. It was the drink she chose. "You are wrong!” - a loud voice of the bull-headed god rang out under the vaults of the hall. “This drink can really be called divine, but it has no magic power. Drink of the gods is simple water in a wooden bowl. After all, water is life. We will not help you with your request, Arizona! If you chose correctly, you would have turned into a mighty river and saved your tribe from hunger and thirst. Your country would prosper and the people would be able to stand honorably against the bloodthirsty invaders who will fall upon your land in the distant future. Now your tribe will weaken, the shamans will forget their knowledge, the houses will be empty, and there will be nobody to fight the cunning enemy.

No, you will not perish. You will live in a remote part of the world - infinitely long. Your lover will remain with you, although you will never unite in your world. Your punishment will end when people find out the secret of the drink that destroyed you, your love and your people. May it be so!"

And the gods turned unfortunate Arizona into a tree with small bright red fruits and carried her to a distant warm country where savannah was a home of yellow animals with long necks that wander around and search for sweet bananas in scanty foliage of palms. The gods resurrected Arizona’s fiancé and turned him into a mighty lion.

Centuries have passed. Continents separated further and further, mysterious giants’ caves were swallowed by the ocean, nations disappeared and appeared, fighting with each other and occupying new lands, sciences brought people knowledge that helped to get rid of distresses and illnesses. The mighty gods with the heads of monkeys and hawks, with the bodies of serpents and horses vanished into oblivion leaving tales and stone idols in the memory of people. They were replaced by other gods - just and humane. But people continued to kill their own kind even in the name of these gods... But the tree kept growing on the shore of a silver brook in the unknown deserted wilderness. The faithful lion still lived in the lair by its roots guarding his brutal bride.

One day a shepherd boy named Kaldim was looking for a lost goat and came upon a brook. The goat was eating the leaves of a tree growing on its shore. When Kaldim tried to catch the goat, it behaved strangely: its eyes were sparkling, it jumped along the shore, deftly dodging the shepherd. Neither Kaldim nor the goat noticed the sad lion who was watching them from the bushes. It took a while for Kaldim to catch and calm the goat. When he was leaving, he took some fruits and leaves of an amazing plant with him. He gave them to the abbot of the local monastery. He made a decoction out of them, and since then monks of this monastery have never fallen asleep during their services...

Rumors of a wonderful drink called "coffee" spread through neighboring villages and then other countries. But Arizona and her fiancé never found out about it. As the gods foretold the lovers were finally freed from the curse and their souls joined together beyond the last line.

A few centuries later coffee conquered the whole planet. People drank it everywhere, in a far corner of the world where Arizona’s people once lived as well. By the way, the legend about the brave chief’s daughter who tried to save her tribe is still alive there. This area is now called "Arizona". This word is translated from different languages as "bringing silver", "small source", and even "arid land"...

The legend of a coffee tree that gives a magical invigorating drink and a faithful lion that always protects his beloved has reached us too. We will never find out if this was true or this legend is just a joke of the old gods with heads of hawks and wolves... But when you have a cup of fragrant coffee, you want to believe the most extraordinary stories and unprecedented miracles!

DRINK OF THE GODS

In a faraway country there once lived an extraordinary girl and her name was Arizona. Arizona was the daughter of a chief and she was never in need of anything since she was a child. But she worried about her people who suffered from drought. Shamans advised the girl and her fiancé to go and ask gods for help. The lovers had been wandering for a long time until they finally found the entrance to the gods’ realm. Arizona and her lover descended into the labyrinth and soon they saw an altar. The inscription above it said that one could get the desired only by spilling human blood over the altar. Arizona sacrificed her fiancé thrusting a sword straight into his heart. The labyrinth’s walls melted and the girl found herself in the banquet hall of the gods. Gods with heads of cats and birds and bodies of snakes, bulls and horses, asked her: "Why did you come to us and break our peace?" Arizona asked the gods to help her tribe. But the gods said: "We can help your tribe to survive, if you guess what we drink!" Dozens of different vessels with drinks appeared in front of Arizona. She chose a fragrant dark drink boiling in a snow-white cup. "You are wrong!” – said the gods. “Drink of the gods is simple water in a wooden bowl. After all, water is life”. If Arizona guessed right, she would have turned into a mighty river and saved her tribe from hunger and thirst. But alas... As a punishment the gods turned her into a tree with small bright red fruits, resurrected girl’s fiancé and turned him into a lion. They carried the lovers to a distant warm country where giraffes and rhinoceros lived. Gods predicted: Arizona and her lover could reunite only when people find out the secret of the drink that Arizona chose.

Several centuries later a shepherd boy named Kaldim was looking for a lost goat and came upon a brook. The goat was eating the leaves of a tree growing on its shore and then it started excitedly jumping along the shore. Kaldim took some fruits and leaves of an amazing plant with him. He gave them to the abbot of the local monastery. The abbot made a decoction out of them, and since then monks of this monastery have never fallen asleep during their services...

Rumors of a wonderful drink called "coffee" spread through neighboring villages and then other countries. But Arizona and her fiancé never found out about it. The lovers were finally freed from the curse and their souls joined together beyond the last line.