"I flew to the treetop to lay my eggs," sang the bird, "but a wind blew the tree down. Then the wind was blocked by a hill, and inside the hill a rat dug his tunnels. The rat became food for a dog, and the dog obeyed his master's commands. Then his master was felled by a spear; a rock smashed the spear, and then floodwaters flowed over the rock, and over the floodwaters I flew to the treetop to lay my eggs, but a wind blew the tree down..."
And around goes the bird's song again, around and around.
[a story from Madagascar]
Inspired by: "The Bird Who Could Find No Place to Lay Her Eggs" in Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folktales of the Malagasy (published in Folklore) by James Sibree, Jr., 1883.
Notes: You can read the original story online. The story is told in a highly abbreviated form here, but it is recognizable as a chain with some familiar chain tale sequences also.
No comments:
Post a Comment