07 - Asian Folktales/Fairytales
"I will tell you the tale the way it was told to me.
"There was once a Crow named Mai. This Crow had been chosen by the Dragons for being the most clever and dangerous bird in the sky. 'Be our servant,' said the Dragons, 'and we will give you everything you want. Gold and riches and lands will be yours. You can hunt the skies as you will and take whatever prey you want.' The Crow named Mai was not interested in any of these things, but she knew the Dragons ate the birds who refused their offers, as well as their entire flocks, so she bowed before the Dragons and pledged her service.
"The Dragons sent her to hunt their enemies. She stole her enemies' shining trinkets and threw sharpened feathers at them. She let her mocking caws echo through the lands as she blotted out the sun with her glistening black wings. She watched as the Dragons ate those they deemed traitors, even other Dragons, and made sure she never gave anyone cause to wonder about the taste of roast Crow.
"There are many stories that are told about the Crow named Mai. In some she becomes the Queen of the Dragons. In others she flies away to secret lands to make a new nest and live in peace. In some she migrates to a far away island with a Hummingbird. In many, she dies.
"In this one, a Dragon Princess leads the Crow named Mai, along with their friend the Hummingbird, to hunt and devour a Monkey. The Monkey wanted to free the world from the Dragons, so they declared him their enemy. The Monkey was accompanied by a Penguin who yearned for freedom from the Dragons, and they were of one heart. They were both protected by a Wolf Pup who followed them everywhere, the Penguin's older brother. He barked warnings about the dangers they encountered and growled at the enemies who wanted to devour them. His teeth were not very sharp, but he had a strong bite, and always fought to protect those he loved.
"Like the Crow, there are many stories about the Wolf Pup. He was named Sokka. In some stories, he marries the Moon and becomes Prince of the Sky. In others, he becomes the pet of a mighty Badgermole and scouts before her in all her travels. In some, he even tames a Dragon. In many, he grows up into a fierce Wolf Chief. In a few, he loses his pack and becomes a lone hunter of evil. Always he is a protector, in some form or another.
"Most of the Wolf Pup's stories, though, are stories about other people. When no one is watching, he often sneaks into new stories as a funny Dog who barks jokes to make the telling better. If you ever hear a story and there is a loyal and clever Dog in it, one who is sometimes a hero and sometimes a fool, then it is likely that Sokka has found his way into another tale.
"This story about a Crow named Mai did not used to have a Wolf Pup in it. When the tale was first told, it was just a story about Birds and Dragons. I think the story about the Monkey did not used to have a Wolf Pup in it, either. But now all those stories are one, and perhaps Sokka brought them together.
"The Crow named Mai followed the Dragon Princess with their friend Hummingbird, and when they found the Monkey and the Penguin, a might battle began. Sokka tried to protect his family as a good Wolf Pup should, but the Crow taunted him from the sky, throwing her sharpened feathers at him and staying far away from his bite. In the old versions of this story, the Crow named Mai sometimes killed Sokka, although he survived long enough to let his family escape. I think they changed the old tales because they were not very happy, and Sokka likes happy stories.
"So in the story told to me, Sokka carved a boomerang with his teeth and thew it at the Crow named Mai. It knocked her from the sky, but before he could bite her and break her neck, she spread her wings and bowed before him.
"The Crow named Mai said, 'I have seen how to defeat the Dragons. In trade for your boomerang, I will slay this Dragon for you so your family can save the world.'
"Sokka was suspicious, so he sniffed the air and smelled the truth on her words. He listened with his raised ears and heard the honor in her heart. So he traded her the boomerang, and promised, 'If you betray your word, the boomerang will come to life and strangle you.'
"In some stories the Wolf Pup's boomerang could do that, but in others it was just a trick. I do not know which kind this story is, for the Crow named Mai was true to her word.
"She alighted to the Dragon Princess's head, where she perched as the final attack on the Monkey and the Penguin began. With the Hummingbird at her side and the Dragon Princess watching, the Crow named Mai threw the boomerang as if attacking the Dragons' enemies. She had never thrown a boomerang before, but she knew wings and winds and distances. The boomerang turned just before it could strike the Monkey, and curved back to smack the Dragon Princess right between the eyes. The Hummingbird, who was more a friend to the Crow named Mai than the Dragons, carried her companion away as fast a flash.
"The Dragon Princess was killed by the strike and she exploded into fire. Sokka danced beneath the rain of flames, perhaps in victory, but I think he might have just been dodging the embers and had his tail burned. That is much funnier.
"The Monkey and the Penguin went on to save the world from the Dragons, and Sokka and the Crow named Mai followed them to protect them on their journey. There are many tales of their continued journeys, so many that all them could not have happened together. In the time after, Sokka and the Crow named Mai remained friends. As the tale was told to me, the Crow named Mai taught the Wolf Pup to fly, allowing them to never part, and so they married and had many children and that is how the world has wolfbats. There are others versions of the tale, but I do not care for them.
"And so, my child, the story comes to an end. There are many things we can learn it, but as it was told to me, the most important is that the trade between Sokka and the Crow named Mai was fair, and so the boomerang properly belongs to her.
"And that is why Nanna Mai has a boomerang, and she doesn't have to ever give it back to Aataq Sokka, no matter how much he complains or tells tales."
END
