Latest / Myths and Legends Around the World - Collection 05 / 011 - Why the Whale Spouts the Starfish is Ragged and the Native Bear has Strong Arms - Australian Aborigi

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011 - Why the Whale Spouts the Starfish is Ragged and the Native Bear has Strong Arms - Australian Aborigi · Myths and Legends Around the World - Collection 05

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  Speaker 1: Why the whale spouts, the starfish is ragged, and the
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  Speaker 1: native bear has strong arms. From Some myths and Legends
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  Speaker 1: of the Australian Aborigines by W. E. Thomas. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Jen Warren. Many years ago, when this old
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  Speaker 1: world was young, all the animals now living in Australia
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  Speaker 1: were men. At that time, they lived in a distant
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  Speaker 1: land across the ocean, and having heard of the wonderful
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  Speaker 1: hunting grounds in Australia, they determined to leave their country
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  Speaker 1: and sail to this sunny land in a canoe. They
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  Speaker 1: knew that the voyage would be a long and dangerous one.
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  Speaker 1: Storms would sweep across the sea and lash the waves
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  Speaker 1: into a white fury. The wind would howl like the
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  Speaker 1: evil spirits of the forest, the lightning flash across the
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  Speaker 1: sky like riding golden snakes, and death would hide in
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  Speaker 1: waiting for them beneath the brown sea kelp. It was
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  Speaker 1: therefore necessary for them to have a very strong canoe
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  Speaker 1: for the journey. The whale, who was the biggest of
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  Speaker 1: all the men, had a great, strong canoe that could
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  Speaker 1: weather the wildest storm. But he was a very selfish
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  Speaker 1: fellow and would not allow anybody the use of it.
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  Speaker 1: As it was necessary to have the canoe, his companions
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  Speaker 1: watched for a suitable opportunity to steal it and start
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  Speaker 1: on their long and lonely journey. But the whale was
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  Speaker 1: a cunning creature. He always kept very strict guard over
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  Speaker 1: the canoe and would not leave it alone for a moment.
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  Speaker 1: The other people were at their wits end to solve
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  Speaker 1: the problem of stealing the canoe, and as a last resource,
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  Speaker 1: they held a great council to consider the question. Many
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  Speaker 1: suggestions were put forward, but none was practical. It seemed
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  Speaker 1: an impossible task untill the starfish came forward to place
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  Speaker 1: his suggestion before the council. Now the starfish was a
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  Speaker 1: very intimate friend of the whale, so when he spoke,
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  Speaker 1: everybody was very silent and attentive. He hesitated for a
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  Speaker 1: moment and then said, unless we get a very big canoe,
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  Speaker 1: it will be impossible to sail to the new hunting grounds.
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  Speaker 1: Where the fire of the sun never dies. The sea
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  Speaker 1: sand is soft and golden, and there is plenty of food.
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  Speaker 1: I shall get my friend the whale to leave his canoe,
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  Speaker 1: and I shall keep him interested for a long time.
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  Speaker 1: When I give you the signal, steal silently away with
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  Speaker 1: it as fast as you can. The other men were
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  Speaker 1: so excited at the proposal that they all spoke at
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  Speaker 1: once and asked, how will you do it? But the
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  Speaker 1: starfish looked very wise and said, your business is to
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  Speaker 1: steal the canoe, and mind to keep the whale occupied
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  Speaker 1: while you do it. Some days later, the starfish paid
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  Speaker 1: a friendly visit to the whale, and after talking for
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  Speaker 1: some time, he said, I have noticed what a great
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  Speaker 1: number of vermin you have in your hair. They must
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  Speaker 1: be very uncomfortable. Let me catch them for you. The whale,
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  Speaker 1: being greatly troubled with vermin in his head, readily agreed
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  Speaker 1: to the kind offer of his friend the starfish. The
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  Speaker 1: whale moored his canoe in deep water and sat on
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  Speaker 1: a rock. Starfish placed his friend's head in his lap
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  Speaker 1: and proceeded to hunt diligently for the vermin. While he
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  Speaker 1: was doing so, he told many funny stories and occupied
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  Speaker 1: the attention of the whale. The starfish then gave the
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  Speaker 1: signal to the men who were waiting, and they seized
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  Speaker 1: the canoe and sailed off. But the whale was very suspicious.
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  Speaker 1: For a short time, he would forget his canoe, but
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  Speaker 1: then he would suddenly remember it and say, is my
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  Speaker 1: canoe all right? The starfish had cunningly provided himself with
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  Speaker 1: a piece of bark, and tapping it on the rock
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  Speaker 1: in imitation of the boat bumping with the rise and
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  Speaker 1: fall of the sea. He would answer, yes, this is it.
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  Speaker 1: I am tapping with my hand. It is a very
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  Speaker 1: fine canoe. He continued to tell funny stories to the whale.
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  Speaker 1: At the same time he scratched very hard around his
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  Speaker 1: ears in order to silence the sound of the oars
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  Speaker 1: splashing in the water as the other men rode away
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  Speaker 1: with the canoe. After some time, the whale grew tired
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  Speaker 1: of his friend's attention and story telling and decided to
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  Speaker 1: have a look at the canoe himself. When he looked
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  Speaker 1: around and found the canoe missing, he could hardly believe it.
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  Speaker 1: He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Away in the distance,
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  Speaker 1: he could see the vanishing shape of his canoe. Then
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  Speaker 1: the truth dawned upon him. He had been tricked. The
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  Speaker 1: whale was very angry and beat the starfish unmercifully, throwing
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  Speaker 1: him upon the rocks, he made great ragged cuts in
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  Speaker 1: the faithless creature. The starfish was so exhausted that he
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  Speaker 1: rolled off the rocks and hid himself in the soft sand.
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  Speaker 1: It is on account of this cruel beating that even
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  Speaker 1: to the present day, the starfish has a very ragged
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  Speaker 1: and torn appearance, and always hides himself in the sand.
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  Speaker 1: After beating the friend who had betrayed him, the whale
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  Speaker 1: jumped into the water and chased the men in the canoe.
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  Speaker 1: Great white waves rose and fell as he churned his
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  Speaker 1: way through the water, and out of a wound in
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  Speaker 1: his head which the starfish had made, he spouted water
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  Speaker 1: high into the air. The whale continued his restless chase,
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  Speaker 1: and when the men in the canoe saw him, they said,
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  Speaker 1: he is gaining on us, and when he catches us,
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  Speaker 1: we shall all be drowned. But the native bear, who
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  Speaker 1: was in charge of the oars, said, there is no
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  Speaker 1: need to be afraid. Look at my arms. They are
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  Speaker 1: strong enough to row the canoe out of danger. This
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  Speaker 1: reassured his companions, and the chase continued. The voyage lasted
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  Speaker 1: many days and nights. During the day, the hot sun
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  Speaker 1: beat down on the men in the canoe, and at
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  Speaker 1: night the cold winds chilled them. But there was no escape.
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  Speaker 1: They must go on. By day and night they could
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  Speaker 1: see the whale spouting in his fury and churning the
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  Speaker 1: sea into foam with the lashing of his tail. At
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  Speaker 1: last land was sighted, and the men rode very fast
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  Speaker 1: towards it. When they landed from the canoe, they were
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  Speaker 1: very weary and sat down on the sand to rest.
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  Speaker 1: But the native companion, who was always a very lively
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  Speaker 1: fellow and fond of dancing, danced upon the bottom of
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  Speaker 1: the canoe until he made a hole in it. He
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  Speaker 1: then pushed it a short distance from the shore, where
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  Speaker 1: it settled down in the water and became the small
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  Speaker 1: island that is now at the entrance of Lake Illawara.
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  Speaker 1: When the whale arrived at the landing place, he saw
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  Speaker 1: the men on shore and his canoe wrecked. He traveled
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  Speaker 1: along the coast and spouted water with anger as he
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  Speaker 1: thought of the trick that had been played on him,
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  Speaker 1: and of the wreck of his beloved canoe. Even to
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  Speaker 1: the present day, whale spout the starfish is ragged and torn,
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  Speaker 1: and the blackfellow still roams across the wild waste of Australia.
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  Speaker 1: And of why the whale spouts. The starfish is ragged
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  Speaker 1: and the native bear has strong arms by W. E. Thomas,
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Jen Warren