The Turquoise Story Book: Stories and Legends of Summer and Nature
General
The Turquoise Story Book: Stories and Legends of Summer and Nature
Nature -- Juvenile literature; Summer -- Juvenile literature
(AUSTRALIAN)
Long, long ago the great Byamee left the earth and went to dwell in the
far-away land of rest, which was beyond the tops of the Oobi Oobi
mountain. The earth became a dull and desolate place after he left it,
for all the flowers that brightened the plains and hillsides ceased to
bloom.
And since there were no blossoms the bees could no longer make honey for
the earth children. In all the land there were but three trees where the
bees lived and worked; and no one ever touched these sacred trees,
because they belonged to Byamee.
The children cried for honey, and the mothers took little bark baskets
into the woods to search for the sweet food. But they returned with
empty baskets and said, "There is no honey except on the sacred trees.
We will never touch Byamee's honey."
This obedience pleased the Great Spirit very much and he said, "I'll
send the earth children a food as sweet as the honey for which they
hunger. It shall flow from the Bilbil and Goolabah trees."
Soon were seen white, sugary specks on the shining leaves of these
trees, and then came the clear manna, which ran along the branches and
down the trunks, and hardened into sugar. The children were delighted
with the sweet food, and all the people were thankful for Byamee's gift.
But they were not satisfied, for they still wished to see the plains and
hillsides covered with blossoms. So deeply did they long for the
beautiful flowers, which had left the earth, that the wise men finally
said, "We will travel to the land of Byamee, and ask him to brighten the
earth again with flowers."
They kept the plan and purpose of their journey a secret from the
tribes, and sped away to the northeast. On and on they journeyed until
they came to the foot of the great Oobi Oobi mountain, whose summit was
lost in the clouds of the sky. They walked along the base of its rocky
sides, wondering how they could scale the steep ascent when suddenly
they spied a foothold cut in a rock, and then they noticed another step
and still another. Looking carefully upward, they saw a pathway of steps
cut as far as they could see up the mountain side. Up this ladder of
stone they determined to climb. On and on they went, and when the first
day's ascent was ended the top of the mountain still seemed high above
them. They noticed, too, that they were climbing a spiral path, which
wound round and round the mountain. Not until the end of the fourth
day's climb did they reach the summit of this mighty mountain.
And from a basin in the marble there bubbled forth a spring of clear,
sweet water, which the wise men drank eagerly. Their hard journey had
almost exhausted them, but the cooling draught filled them again with
new life. At a little distance from the spring they saw a circle of
piled-up stones. They walked to the center of it, and a voice spoke to
them. It came from a fairy messenger of the Great Spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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