A Kenjian creation myth, collected by Richinoda Uruka, Grand Historian to the Agent, in “The Mouse’s Cries: Creation Myths from Around the World.” Since Uruka died before he reached Kenji, this myth’s veracity is greatly suspect. Supposedly he heard it from a Bridget sailor staying in Chith-oo-bra. In his own words, the sailor “looked like she had crawled out of the Glowworm Lakes themselves, a pale-eyed, pale-skinned heathen with a love of gambling.” Based on the holes and unanswered questions in this story, (which cannot be found anywhere in Kenji’s mythological archives) one can only guess that either it’s part of a much larger mythology that Uruka didn’t know about, or he omitted parts of the story.
Back in the days when all animals could fly and fire and water fought it out below, Black Cat, Black Raven and Black Mouse gamboled about on the high winds, enjoying the show. The three weren’t friends. They were just tricksters who enjoyed watching other animals get caught in the waves and flames.
Back in the days when all animals had two tails and the Sun and Moon were lovers, Black Cat, Black Raven and Black Mouse ran and flew among the hills together, teasing the celestial bodies about their affair. The three weren’t friends. They were just tricksters who enjoyed seeing the Sun blush and the Moon grow pale.
Back in the days when fungus consumed the south and glowworms consumed the north, Black Cat, Black Raven and Black Mouse curled in the recesses of the earth, avoiding the plagues. The three weren’t friends. They were just tricksters who had thrown Black Rabbit out of her burrow to save themselves.
But then the plague came to them.
Black Rabbit, in a panic, drove them from her burrow again and then died of a broken heart. The three escaped together. They weren’t friends; they just didn’t want to die.
Fire and water fought around them, and they were forced to take to the skies to escape, the plague behind them. But the plague rose up to meet them, and both Raven and Cat threw Mouse back to save themselves. With a scream, Mouse fell back into the fighting fire and water.
Cat and Raven saw this in horror. “If the fire got him,” Cat said, “he’s doomed, for he will be burned up, and as I am made of water, I cannot enter the fire to save him.”
“And if the water got him,” Raven replied, “he’s doomed, for he cannot swim, and as I am made of fire, I cannot enter the water to save him.”
The two, bonded by this terrible experience, decided to leave the world behind and seek other shores, so they flew up to the Stars together, leaving the Mouse behind in the waves of fire and water.
Photo by Yunu Dinata on Unsplash
I love how dark this is. BWAHAHAAHHAA
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