289 tale 12
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Son of the water
It was morning and the
monkey was woken up by the singing birds in the neighbourhood. He thought a
cold bath would bring him totally to his senses. Under the tree where he
slept there used to be a small river and every morning he jumped straight
into it. With half closed eyes he went forward on the biggest branch and then
jumped. But he was very surprised when he found himself not swimming in fresh
water but sitting in deep mud. He opened his eyes and looked around. Nearly
all the water had disappeared, only two or three fish had saved themselves in
some smaller pools.
The sleepy mouse came out
of her hole with a towel over one arm, put her hands down where she thought
the river to be and with a quick movement poured the content of her hands
over her head. She had a very puzzled expression in her face when mud ran
down her face.
The monkey in the mud
having followed the scene gave a big laughter. So, the mouse being angry took
some mud in her hand and threw it at the monkey. A small mud battle began and
the birds in the trees watched with their beaks forming an ever bigger grin.
As the morning went on,
many other animals came to the river to drink, bath and wash, and at the
beginning they all laughed at the monkey and mouse covered with mud, but
after a while they began to think what might had happened to the river and
its water.
Then the beaver arrived,
“I can solve the problem,” he said. Everybody looked at him with surprise.
“Wait till tomorrow and you will have water in the river again!”
The next morning the
animals gathered at the river shore and in front of their eyes, the water
level grew. Everybody jumped into the water, drank and washed. Then the
beaver appeared and the animals thanked him for his goodness. “I’m the son of
the water,” he told them, “and I can make the water appear and disappear. You
must build me a temple and praise me there.”
The animals built him a
temple and everyday brought fish and fruit for their son of the water. Only
the monkey did not participate, instead he went up the river to see what had
really happened. A bit up the river at the foot of the mountain chain, the
beaver had built a dam. The monkey thought it a good idea because that way
the quantity of water running down the riverbed could be controlled. In times
of flood, some water could be held back and in times of drought, water could
be released. The monkey agreed that the beaver should be paid for his effort
in form of fish and fruit, but he disagreed with the beaver being praised as
a god. He didn’t tell the other animals anything about his discover because
they wouldn’t have understood it anyway, as they wanted to believe in
something supernatural.
Then one day when the
beaver was at work, a tiger appeared behind him and wanted to attack him.
Accidentally, the monkey being around saw it and quickly threw a liana around
the tiger’s neck. Of course, the tiger could free himself of the liana but
the beaver had had enough time to reach the river and bring himself out of
danger.
Then the monkey went up
to the beaver, “Will you now build me a temple and praise me there?” The
beaver felt very ashamed but before he could say anything, the monkey had
turned around and walked away. From that time on, the beaver served the
valley and always paid attention that the river had the right quantity of
water.
The monkey did neither
expect the beaver building him a temple to praise him there, nor told the
other animals about the truth. He knew the beaver needed recognition and the
animals needed to believe in a higher power, he only hoped that one day all
of them would grow up to realise that they all needed each other’s help and
solidarity.
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Friday, 18 October 2019
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