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Adam Guillain |
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Story Title: The Great Bird Click on icon to hear The Great Bird |
The Great Bird There were once two sisters whose names were Irma and Bella. They lived with their mother in a small house at the edge of a large rainforest. The house was simply built, but it was warm and dry inside and you could always be sure that something very tasty would be cooking over the fire. Irma and Bella were good girls, helped their mother with the housework and always tried their best at school. What they didn’t know, was that their mother had lived many lives and had experienced the joys and sorrows of parenthood, not only in her human form, but also as a Great Bird. Every since the girls had been babies their mother had put them to bed with a story and a peck on the cheek – “I love you Irma.” she would sing. “I love you Bella.” “We love you too Mama,” the children would chirp. But she’d already be gone. Gliding quietly away, back to the work that awaited her. For every night, after the children had finally drifted off to sleep, she would reach under her bed for her bag of feathers and pull out her pride and joy. Bringing her little secret into the kitchen she would throw some wood onto the fire, perch herself on her high stool, and continue with her sewing. In this task, as with every other, she truly was a superlative mother. It so happened that in a previous life the mother had been a Quetzal. A magnificently colourful feather-winged creature of such grace and resplendent beauty that she had been admired by all who set eyes on her. She’d lived out all of her many lives in the Great Rainforest. Consequently, even as a human, she knew the beauty of its glades and the seductive sound of its rivers and waterfalls better than any of the creatures who lived in the lower-canopies. While her birds-eye view had made her an expert on geography and animal habitats, it had also made her sad. She saw the men who butchered the trees and hunted the monkeys and the jaguars, killing them just for the excitement of the hunt. From all of this, she protected Irma and Bella throughout their infancy. “You can play outside as long as you don’t stray out of sight.” she would say, or: “Remember not to wander over the brook and into the forest.” “Don’t worry Mama, we promise.” her loyal and loving children would say. But as much as Irma and Bella loved their mother, they wanted to know what lay beyond. One day, against her better judgement, the mother decided to pay a flying visit to an old friend who lived in the city. Leaving the children with strict instructions to play indoors, she promised to be home in time for tea. “Oh… and don’t forget to tidy your bedrooms. And Irma, be a good girl and help Bella with her homework.” Both children would be finishing and leaving school in the summer if they did well in their exams. As she flew out the door the children waved goodbye and went to tidy their bedrooms, for they loved their mother and would always do things to please. After their jobs the children settled down with a glass of water for a cosy chat in the gentle breeze that wafted in from the open widow. It was then that they heard the voice. At first they thought it was the birds singing, but then… “Irma…Bella…Where are you? Come. There are some lovely ripe berries.” Thinking it was their mother, Irma and Bella grabbed their baskets and ran after the voice. But the closer they got to its simple melody, the further away it appeared to be. Pretty soon they were over the brook and heading deeper and deeper into the forest. Once they’d lost sight of the house, the children began to feel confused. There were so many sounds it was difficult telling one from another. They decided that they had best be getting home, but everywhere they turned seemed to be taking them further away. They were soon lost. Surprisingly, neither Irma nor Bella felt scared, for after all, they had each other. Their mother wouldn’t let them come to any harm no matter where she was, and anyway it was nearly time for tea. Bella and Irma took it in turns to play follow the leader and in no time at all they reached a clearing where the trees stood back to reveal the splendour of the skies and the reddening light of the afternoon sun. “What a beautiful place Bella,” said Irma. “Do you think we’ve found heaven?” It was Bella who saw the shimmering light in the undergrowth first. “Irma!” she gasped. “Look!” Clambering through the undergrowth the children pulled back the vines and bushes to pull out two enormous pairs of Quetzal wings. “Wow!” said Irma. “Look at these.” She already had hers on and it came as no surprise to either of them that flying was as easy as walking. At first they took short flights across the glade, but it wasn’t long before they were both soaring through the sky playing ‘tail tag’. “Look at me!” squawked Bella doing a somersault in mid-air before tagging her sister with her imaginary beak. “This is the best flying game ever!” Finally, after many amazing new tricks had been practised and perfected, Bella completed her final back-flip and declared, “I’m hungry. Lets take these home to show Mama. She’ll love them. You know how much she adores birds.” The children flew, following the gentle summer breeze with great excitement. Below them, the world threw up so many spectacular sights that the children had completely forgotten about their homework. “What’s that?” said Bella, pointing a wing down to a magnificent temple rising out of the rainforest. “Why, that must be the temple of Tikal” said Irma, delighted. “It’s one of the old wonders of civilised world. I can’t wait to tell Mama.” It seemed like only a few magical minutes to Irma and Bella, but by the human clock, many hours had passed. By the time they looked down upon the small scattering of houses where they would descend to rest, it was way past teatime. No sooner had they landed, they were surrounded by a crowd of happy villagers, eager to hear news from the other side of the forest. Irma and Bella felt overwhelmed by their kindness. Leaving their wings at the foot of an old willow tree, they followed the villagers into town. In the market square the sisters were showered with such hospitality that it felt like a homecoming. As they drank and ate with their new found friends, they were both filled with the strangest feeling of belonging. After supper the girls felt refreshed and returned to the willow tree only to find that their wings had gone. In their place a small Mayan woman, dressed in her traditional robes, lay on the ground, sobbing. “Why are you crying?” Irma asked kindly, putting her arm around the lady. “What makes you so sad?” “Sad, my dear child?” queried the woman. “I’m crying because I’m so happy. The second my two boys saw those wings, they were off. I’ve never seen them look so excited. They will not need for me now and I am glad.” “But they were our wings!” cried Bella. “Were they?” asked Irma, doubtfully. It was Bella who started to cry first. But it wasn’t long before Irma too broke down and the sound of their cries drifted across the rainforest. Back at the house Irma and Bella’s mother had just returned to hear her daughters’ cries drifting in through the open window. She knew at once that the moment she had been waiting for had finally come. With her eyes full of tears she took a last look at herself in the mirror before discarding her human form for the last time to transform herself into the resplendent Quetzal she had always been. Spreading her wings, she set off in search of her daughters. As Irma and Bella sat by the old willow tree gazing at the shooting stars as they darted across the midnight sky, a great bird few into the tree above them and started to sing. The children fell to sleep with its song dancing around their hearts. Irma and Bella stayed in the village. Bella became a respected teacher at the local primary school while Irma became a much admired musician. Irma would often entertain the locals in the evenings with her beautiful marimba playing while Bella and the children would sometimes, when the mood took them, dance and sing to Irma’s percussive beats. Each day Irma would meet Bella from school and go down to the tree where they had fallen asleep that first evening and spend some time in the company of the resplendent Quetzal. The Great Bird would sing her songs and listen to the two women discuss all that had happened that day. Irma and Bella would eat their tortillas and chat for as long as they liked. Of course, they would talk about their mother and reminisce about their youth, but something inside them made them feel at peace with what had come to pass. Their mother was such a part of them, she could never be too far away. One day, they would see her again. The two sister often lingered under the old willow tree until the sun went down, making plans for the future, in true companionship with each other. Needless to say, the Great Bird never went hungry. Both Irma and Bella grew up and married happily. In time, they both had children of their own. Each night, after they had put their young ones to bed, they both spent a little time putting a few stitches into the pair of wings they kept hidden under their beds. By the end of the evening, as they put them away, they would both shed a tear in the knowledge that these wings would be found one day by their own sons and daughters. Because one thing they knew for certain was that children will always find their wings. In the end. Background The Maya believe that every living thing in the world has a ‘Nahual’, an animal twin. Each must look out for the other. They are family. The Mayan Indians draw their own maps based on historic territories. Western Countries print maps with borders showing Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, but the Maya don’t recognise these. As the global plight of Indigenous People around the world increasingly grows with the technological advancement and wealth of one half of the world, the gap in our understanding of these people, their desires and spiritual beliefs, becomes ever wider. The truth is, in our endeavours to build better gadgets – digital TVs, DVDs, mobile phones etc, we have forgotten many of the things that help make us happy. We forget the importance of the physical world around us. Our relationship and connection with all living things, the animals, even the trees. The Maya haven’t. It is part of the Mayan philosophy that as part of their ambition and vision for the future, all cultures need to listen and learn from each other. Across cultures morality tales have always been a feature of folktales. This particular story, The Great Bird, is about a Mayan family from the Quiche tribe and in particular, the passage of the children into adulthood. At the heart of the story, are some fundamental beliefs which I’m sure you will enjoy unravelling. Oh yes – the Quetzal? A magnificent and truly beautiful and resplendent bird. The supreme symbol of light and life to the Aztecs, Toltecs and the Maya. Even today, it is the image of national unity and the name of Guatemala’s currency. And the marimba? Why you probably even have one in school. A melodious and percussive instrument made of wood and hit with rubber ball at the end of a sick. It’s the most important instrument of the Maya. I hope you enjoy the story. Published Work | CV | Sound Files | Contact Details | Home |
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Copyright © 2003 Adam Guillain |
