The Myth of the Toucan
On a gusty, spring day, a stunning young woman with flowing hair the color of chocolate stalked a huge buck through a forest near Mt. Olympus. Her name was Adriana and she was a huntress of Greece. She kneeled to the ground while the buck drank from a sparkling pool of water. Just as she was to shoot the arrow out of her hand, something bright caught her eye. She turned her head slightly, as to not frighten the buck, and spied through the long blades of grass to her left.
Among the dewy leaves was a long slick stone the color of a thousand rainbows. Tenderly, she reached out to the stone, but a sudden gust of wind startled her and a yelp escaped her lips, surprising the male deer and making him prance off deeper into the trees. She turned back to gaze at the stone once more, but in its place was Artemis, the royal goddess off hunting.
Astounded by her presence, Adriana was silent as Artemis spoke, "Is this what you were looking for?" In Artemis's hand lay the colorful stone that had ruined Adriana's shot. Adriana reached out to grab the stone, but the stone mysteriously disappeared.
"Ah, ah, ah," teased Artemis, "For this stone you must do something for me."
"I will do anything for that stone, you must believe me," begged Adriana.
"Very well, Adriana. I see the want in your eyes. For this stone, you must fetch me that buck you were after. Prove to me that you can hunt as well as you are beautiful, and this stone will be yours…but not in the way you would expect it," Artemis said mysteriously. Adriana didn't ask what she meant. Instead she shot up from the ground where she was kneeling, and sprinted in the way she last saw the bull.
Adriana spotted the buck about after an hour's worth of hunting. It was unsuspectingly nibbling on grass near the top of a monstrous hill. She took an arrow from her pack and slid it carefully into position. She aimed her bow ever so slightly, towards the oblivious buck, and let go of the slim dart. A second's passage was all but needed to drive the arrow through the buck's chest.
Adriana was like a cat ready to pounce as she watched the magnificent buck fall. She sprung to her feet, and was about to start dragging the beast to Artemis, but found that she had appeared, like before, out of thin air.
Artemis looked down at the girl with a pleased grin on her face and praised, "Adriana, you have fulfilled your pledge. And, like I promised, you may have the stone that I captured." Adriana just now noticed the strange bird perched upon the goddess's bare shoulder. It cawed loudly as to make a point and Artemis continued, "I see you have spied this bird. As I said before, I will give you the stone in a way non-suspecting." The goddess whispered to the bird, and it flew onto Adriana's slender forearm.
The bird bore the same colors as the precious stone Adriana had once glimpsed. Black, white, yellow, orange, and blue; the colors were exactly the same as the rock. In place of the grooves and scratches of the rock, long, slick feathers covered the beautiful bird. But the one thing that did resemble the rock in the bird was his enormous beak. It stretched to almost the size of its whole body. It was as striking, if not more, as the stone had been.
"Oh, thank you Artemis!" cried Adriana, "Surely it is the most beautiful bird I have ever laid eyes upon." She stoked the bird gently and asked, "But what shall I call it?"
Artemis responded, "For its long beak, I have named it Rhamphastos. I trust you to take care of him," and with that, Artemis disappeared into the beckoning forest.
For the next week, Adriana ran with her bird as it flew by her side during hunts, all the while Artemis was observing her creation from the heavens. She was pleased with her work and often found herself gazing down upon the two when boredom encased her.
On a dark and lonely night, Adriana asked the bird to deliver a message to her brother on the other side of Olympus. The bird took the scroll in its beak, and flew off towards the North.
Meanwhile, a great hunter was running underneath the blanket of trees, the bird above him was oblivious to his bow and arrow. Mistaking the bird for a giant eagle, he swung his bow towards the heavens and shot the bird down in one try. The bird was sent spiraling downward, as the scroll drifted downward out of sight.
Artemis, watching this whole phenomenon from her palace in Olympus, gasped in horror and flew to the dying bird as quick as one of Zeus's lightning bolts. The bird was dead by the time she brought it to the ground.
Without speaking, Artemis flew to where Adriana sat, the dead bird laying lifeless in her gentle hands.
"I am terribly sorry, young Adriana." She sadly lifted the bird into Adriana's shaking arms, and made her another promise, "Because of your bird's death, I am putting him with the other great constellations in the stars. This new bird has fulfilled its life well." Adriana stroked the still beautiful bird one last time before it disappeared into the heavens, where it sparkled in the night sky with pride. Artemis formed this constellation so never again would anyone shoot a bird of this kind, and to warn about the dangers that would come for upsetting this fine work of nature.