[https://i.imgur.com/LzyNTbQ.jpg]

The next day, as promised, Liide took me to the other side of the Three-Heads, where another band from their tribe was residing. There he introduced me to the shaman named Pashaide, who met us inside a clay house on the outskirts of the settlement.

Sun was already nearing the horizon when we entered that house. We were not offered food or water despite us having made a long way, which was unusual to my liking. We sat beside a fire inside the house, as the shaman kept sorting sheaves of grasses in silence; Liide, whose leg hurt from the walking – you could see in the way he moved and in the way his face was frowning – did not bother the shaman, and so neither did I.

When the shaman was done with his grasses, he addressed us. He asked me who I was and where I was from, to which I answered. He then asked why I was there, which I explained. He asked me to describe the stranger that made this request of me, which I did.

“And you just took it all for granted?” he asked suddenly without looking at me.

“I…” I stumbled as I was not sure how to answer. “I was thinking of going away anyway. At the very least, his proposition gave me a purpose for my trip. And he gave me the miraculous orbs, which made me trust him. He was very kind.”

“You should be wary of strangers who are being kind,ˮ he interrupted me. He did not elaborate, and I wasn’t quick enough to ask him to do that.

“Show me the orbs,” he said, and I passed the four crystal orbs to him – a grave mistake, as I figured later.

“So what stories have you recollected? ˮ he asked then, and I told him the tales that I knew myself and the ones that I’d heard on the way. I told him our “Originsˮ, and I told him about the first Humans and about the Eleven Dogs. I told him about the Sun and the Moon, and I told him about the Raven. I told him about the Hunter in the sky, and I told him about the four tribes during the drought. I told him about the Hunter who could not escape the Snake, and I told him about a hunter who was deceived by his family and sacrificed to the Fire Spirit.

As I was finishing my last story, he spat to his right – another unusual trait of local customs. For some time we then sat at the fire in silence; then he quickly got up and, without saying a word, left the house. Liide signed me that we follow him, and so we did.

We went outside of the settlement and into a small ravine nearby, where, among the steep slopes, there was a round place with a high wooden pole. It was a clear night, and the Moon was full and bright, so I could see it quite well. It was engraved with numerous pictures of animals and curly lines, all arranged in scenes from top to bottom. At the very top of it, there was a carved-out figure of an oryx in the jumping pose. It was a beauteous thing, and I was amazed looking at it, for there was nothing like it in our lands.

Pashaide approached it and signaled me not to move closer. Liide disappeared into one of the cavities in the slopes and returned with a bunch of firewood. Together they laid fire and performed a ritual dance, which I, to say it honestly, watched in fear, for I could not say what it meant. They chanted several hymns in a language that was unlike their own and unknown to me. Then Liide went to me and took my arm, and told me to say a certain line in that language, which I repeated, and then another line, which I also repeated. He lead me closer to the fire and there we recited five more lines – I was happy to realize that none of them sounded like “wallawa-ma”.

We sat down, and with his back straight and his face raised, Pashaide began his tale.

***

Long ago it happened, long before everything existed. The Holy Antelope was a beautiful animal, with fiery hide, glistening obsidian eyes, and magical hoofs, that roamed the Primal Earth in all its directions. Once, it struck a flintstone, and a sparkle produced by this caused a huge fire, which engulfed the Earth and went on for forty days. The fire was so huge it reached the sky and set one of its places on fire too. This place burns to this day, and we call it the Sun.

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When the fire stopped, the Earth was black. Soon, gembil covered all of the ashes, as it is the one grass that always grows first. A Sky Bird descended from the Sky and started pecking the gembil. It pecked and pooped, and from its feces grew all other grasses, and then from grasses grew shrubs, then from shrubs grew bushes, and then from bushes – trees. The

And then every grass and every tree gave birth to an animal, and each animal gave birth to another animal or bird, or fish. From one of those animals came a giant creature Olde; he was big and chunky, and he was so high he bumped his head into clouds. From one of those primordial birds came Bird Shyen* – a big and clunky bird that was so heavy it could not fly. And from one of the first fishes came Serpent Niqh** – a creature that was not so big as it was disgusting, and not so virtuous as dangerous.

The world was full, but it was also in chaos. Everything was mixed up, all ate all, all copulated with all; the world was a mess and everything was out of order.

The Holy Antelope once again struck a flintstone with its hoof, and another huge fire started and went on for forty days. All creatures, plants and animals, and spirits, and giants spread away and ran off, and tried to hide from the fire. Olde jumped to the sky, Niqh jumped into the sea; Bird Shyen ran up the highest of the Dry Mountains, but the flames caught up with it. The Bird died there from burns.

Then the fire ended, and once again the Earth was black. And once again gembil covered all the ashes, and once again the Sky Bird descended and started pecking it, and from its feces grew grasses, and from grasses – shrubs and bushes, and from them – trees, and from all the plants – new animals.

While it was all happening, from the dead body of Bird Shyen rose Raven and Vultures. The Vultures started eating the carrion, while Raven saw the Sky Bird ascending back and flew after it. He chased it down and caught it; he killed it, and shook the corpse of the bird with his beak, making its feathers flow down to the Earth. Once down, they turned into spirits called weidefia***.

The new world was better. Now things were closer to order: birds were with birds, fishes – with fishes, plants with plants, and spirits with spirits. But the Holy Antelope struck its hoof again, and for the third time the world was engulfed in fire, and for the third time, many living things died.

For the third time, the Earth was black, and for the third time it was covered in gembil, but this time it was not the Sky Bird, but its feathers – weidefias – that ran around and ate the gembil. Each weidefia ate its portion of gembil and pooped, and from their feces came different grasses. Those grasses then were eaten by weifefias too, and from them came other plants, which then were eaten and pooped as well, and so on, and so on. In the same intricate way from Tarragon came birds, from Iris – dogs, from Lillies – fishes, and other animals came from other grasses. Then the process reversed, as the newly born animals started to hunt the weidefias. One of the dogs caught a weidefia and ate it, and turned into a Human. One of the fish caught and ate a weidefia and turned into a Snake. One of the birds caught and ate a weidefia and turned into an Eagle.

Many other transformations happened that Pashaide mentioned and which I'd like to omit here, if the dear reader doesn't mind, because it would make a tremendously complex picture and create unnecessary confusion. I would only point out that after all the transformations the world settled down, and everything in it was in fine order, and it is this world that we live in today. Every creature in it has a remnant spirit of the Fires, and so everybody should be careful with the fire because it triggers those spirits and makes them seek freedom, thus causing damage to the body.

After all the transformations ended, many creatures, including humans and wolves and leopards and wild dogs, started chasing the Antelope, for it was known: there might come a time when it might hit a flintstone again, and for the fourth time, the world would be set on fire. The chase went on for a long time until the Holy Antelope jumped up into the sky, where nobody could reach it. To this day this animal roams the Sky Planes (Jupiter), and sometimes it is seen, but sometimes it is not, and it is believed that in those times when it is not seen it descends to the Earth. For we Humans, it is the time of antelope hunting.

***

Thus went the first story that Pashaide told me in that ravine. That night we were done though; we put out the fire and went back into the settlement, where we finally were given food and water and lay down to rest until the morning.

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Footnotes:

* - /ʃjɛn/

** - /nik/

*** - /wɛjdɛˈfiə/