Yusa and Redeka-spirit

This is the story of Yusa and Redeka-spirit, and how the Azu-nah came to have only three toes, as told by Eraan. I've translated it as directly as possible, with Kohric's help, and any grammar failings are my fault. Some of their syntax still gives me trouble.

"It is a strange thing, that all Azu-nah have four fingers on a hand, but only three toes on their feet. It was not always so. Once, in the days when Sukil and Yusa lived on the earth, the Azu-nah had four toes. There is a story of how we lost the fourth.

I will tell you the tale as it was told to me:

One morning, in the time of the First Azu-nah, the sun shone brightly, and the world was alive with many colors and sounds. On this bright morning, clever Yusa was out hunting. East Wind-spirit had not yet shown the Azu-nah how to make m’kek (atlatls), and so Yusa carried only a knife made of chestha bone.

The hunting was poor that day, and while Yusa had been clever and quiet and quick, she had been unable to make a kill. Yusa's belly had become uncomfortably empty, but she and Sukil were wise and had saved dried fruit and meat for times when the hunting was bad. She could return to their lair and eat.

She turned and decided to go home when she caught a pleasant smell on the wind. Yusa followed the scent to a clearing in the grass where an uku* lay killed. She looked around carefully, wondering if it belonged to another, but there was no one near, and no marks staking claim. Yusa became excited and began to cut the kill into pieces so she could take it home.

But she had not cut more than a hand-and-tail before Redeka-spirit came bursting through the leaves, snorting in anger.

"Thief!" he roared, "Scavenger! This kill is mine! I will not let you take any of it!" He slashed the air before Yusa with his claws and bellowed his rage.

But Yusa was bold and did not back away. "Where are the marks to show this kill as yours? Perhaps I killed it myself!"

Redeka-spirit was furious. "I am the greatest hunter in all the world. You dare to question my kill? I will eat you along with it!" And he leapt at Yusa, his jaws wide.

Yusa ran away across the grassland, with Redeka-spirit chasing behind, and planned how to trick him into losing her trail. She stopped at the first stream to cross her path, and went upstream to mask the scent of her passing. "Redeka-spirit will never find me now," she thought to herself. But Redeka-spirit's yan-azuku** was powerful, and he find her scent on the tiniest breeze from across the whole plain. He soon caught up to her and gave chase again.

Yusa ran further, this time stopping in a patch of strongly scented nakaio plants. She quickly chewed the leaves to paste and rubbed them on her skin to hide her scent. Then she hid in a cluster of plants to wait for Redeka-spirit to pass her by. But Redeka-spirit could still catch a hint of her scent in the wind, and headed straight for her hiding place. "You can never hide from me!" Redeka-spirit roared, "I can smell you no matter where you go!"

But Yusa was clever. She ran once again, this time into a stand of trees. She bundled together many branches into the shape of an Azu-nah and placed it in the top branches of one of the trees. Then she took her hunting knife and cut off the fourth toe from both of her feet. It was very painful, but Yusa was strong, and she used her yan-azuku to stretch the flesh of the severed toes to cover the bundle of branches; now it looked like a living Azu-nah. Yusa then quickly bound her bleeding feet and climbed down the tree. She ran away from the stand and hid in a small pond.

Redeka-spirit soon came and sensed the smell of Azu-nah blood and flesh in the tree. “Foolish!” he bellowed, “To think you can hide from me so easily! I will eat you and then eat my kill as well!” He climbed up the tree, and it shook with his great bulk. He laughed in satisfaction when he reached the false Azu-nah and quickly ate it all in a few gulps. But he soon recognized the taste, and knew he had been tricked. Redeka-spirit’s rage was greater than the mountains. He roared his fury, and the sound was so loud it shook the top of what is now Broken Fang Mountain until the top cracked away and fell to the ground. It has been so ever since.

Redeka-spirit climbed down the tree, intent on catching Yusa and eating her! But the Creator made him to eat flesh, only, and the leaves and branches he had eaten made him very sick. He rolled on his side and held his aching belly, still roaring his anger and pain to the sky.

Yusa laughed at Redeka-spirit, and ran all the way back to the uku kill. She quickly cut it all up and took it away home. She and Sukil ate well for many days, and the good food allowed them to have many other adventures. But ever since that day, no Azu-nah has been born with more than three toes on their feet. And now Redeka-spirit’s children still anger that they were tricked by Yusa They have tried many times to kill and eat the Azu-nah, but those tales will have to wait until another night.




*An uku is a four-legged grazing creature with a sharp beak and thick skin. I have never seen one. Kohric had to describe it for me.

**Yan-azuku translates as "spirit power/strength", but I believe is interpreted almost in the same sense as the Native American concept of "medicine." It's a spiritual energy or magic that allows one to do more than is naturally possible.

Creation Story

I was feeling kind of emotionally ragged after making up with Nandi and Eyani. That and I still wasn’t feeling entirely comfortable with the entire clan. Their endless torrent of questions at dinner didn’t feel like they were prizing apart my very being like before, but it was still kind of a chore. Nandi mentioned something about helping me later. Hopefully that will work out.

So, I ended up going to bed pretty early and woke late to Nandi shoving his nose in my side. He babbled something about needing too much sleep, but I wasn’t awake enough to translate it in my head. I did see Nandi’s gesture to the front of our cave. Kohric was waiting politely at the threshold (note to self: the polite wait-until-the-person-comes-out protocol doesn’t include one’s roommate. Dammit).

Kohric carried me off immediately, pausing only long enough to let me snatch breakfast. I tried not to be greedy with my grabbing, and shoved several extra morsels into my jacket pockets for later. Hey, the Azu-nah have no concept of lunch, and dinner was a long way away!

It turns out I was to attend school. With the kids.

Now, this sounds really embarrassing on paper, and when Kohric first told me what was going to happen, I can’t say I was thrilled; but now that I’ve actually sat through a session I think Kohric my be on to something. The kids are more at my level. I admit it. Their vocabulary doesn’t stump me as much, and they’re still awkward and foolish in their own way. Other than the fact that I tower over them, I actually almost sort of fit in.

Eyani was there, as were Oshtik, Nyarno, and two other somewhat older (pre-teen?) Azu-nah that I didn’t know. Ghee arrived much after everyone else had arrived and settled. She still seems withdrawn. I was debating whether it would be incredibly insensitive to ask her if Nanahan was doing okay, since I hadn’t seen even a hair of her since we’d arrived. Oshtik beat me to it, though, and asked almost as soon as Ghee had arrived. Ghee seemed to bristle, but said “Nanahan eats well but cannot walk. She still sleeps much.” Kohric, clearly eavesdropping, seemed happy with that answer, and then called for the student’s attention.

Saying it was “school” is actually probably too formal a term. It’s more like a collection of small, unofficial lessons and fable-like stories to teach morals and what-not. It’s actually fascinating from an anthropological view.

For example: from what I can tell, the Azu-nah are more or less entirely illiterate. They have symbols and glyphs that stand for things, and I think they may be able to write numbers, but for the most part it’s the literary equivalent of drawing hearts and smiley faces to communicate. Kohric, though, clearly does know some form of writing. He actually used me as an example. The kids were curious about my taking notes on my computer pad. Kohric explained that I was “turning words into shapes,” and then drew a few characters in the sand. Thus went a very rudimentary writing lesson.

At the end of the lessons, Kohric said he would reward us with a story, and as a bonus we could choose which. There were immediate shouts for different story titles, but one, “The Creator’s story” seemed to get the most votes.

I was fascinated.

I cornered Kohric and made him help me transcribe it after. I wanted every word perfect. It took about an hour, but I finally got it. I think it’s fairly accurate, too. Though, a little of the meaning may have changed because I had to translate some very odd grammar bits. Here’s more or less a direct transcription

I will tell you the tale as it was told to me.

In the days before the Azu-nah, when the night sky was dark and without the stars, the Great Creator looked out over the expanse of all that was. The round world lay below and bare earth shone in many beautiful colors. But this was not enough for the Maker of All Things. There were no other creatures with reason or thoughts of their own, and this made Creator sad enough to weep many tears. Creator scattered the fallen tears into the sky to become the stars. Each star was given a name and a spirit. One of the stars was named Sukil, and he was filled with curiosity.

Creator was content with the company of the stars, and returned to building the world. Sukil stayed close to Creator, curious to know all that was happening.

When Creator asked the star named Sun to watch over the earth. Sukil asked why the world needed watching.

“Wait and watch,” said Creator, for the Maker of All things prefers that we learn for ourselves. So Sukil watched as Sun was given great size and strength with which to provide warmth and light for the earth, and separate night from day.

“Why create more light when we provide it to the sky?” asked Sukil.

“Wait and watch,” said Creator.

Creator waved one long hand and sent stars showering down onto the earth. The stars became rivers and oceans. Some became clouds that sprang from the water as Sun warmed the air, and rain fell down onto the brightly colored earth.

“Why create three different worlds within one?” asked Sukil.

“Wait and watch,” said Creator.

With the other hand, Creator sent stars showering down again. Those that touched the water were born into the sea beasts and river creatures. Those that touched land became those creatures that ran on feet, and stars that played amongst the clouds turned into the winged ones to master the winds.

Sukil was filled with curiosity. “What will they do now that they dwell on the earth and not the heavens?”

“Wait and watch,” said Creator.

Creator wished for all the world to be interconnected, and so Creator sent yet more stars to earth, forming the plants and the trees, the roots and mosses, and bid that they should provide food and shelter for the beasts, just as the beasts would provide for the plants with their bodies, and the earth must provide for and be nurtured by all.

“Why must they be bound to eachother?” asked Sukil.

Creator smiled this time. “This one thing I will tell you; if each needs the other, then no one creation will become greater than the rest. Each respecting the other will create balance, and all will flourish. Each creation must always remember the Balance.” Sukil was careful to remember this lesson.

One day, after Creator had filled the world with life, one of the stars that had fallen to earth cried out that she longed to return to the night sky. Creator felt compassion and released her from her flesh and allowed her to return to the heavens.

“Who will stay on the earth if the stars all return?” asked Sukil.

“Wait and watch,” said Creator, and another star leapt down from the sky to take the other’s place.

Creator watched the world with contentment, but Sukil’s questions never stopped. Always Sukil remained with Creator, asking why a creature was named so, or why a plant’s leaves were shaped thus. Creator became annoyed and took Sukil in one hand.

“You are so full of questions,” Creator said, “I have given you a mind to reason with. Go down to the world and satisfy your endless curiosity with it.”

And so Creator flung Sukil down from the heavens to land on the earth. Sukil’s bright glow was suddenly shrouded by flesh. Creator gave Sukil long ears for listening to all sounds, hands and a tail for grasping new objects, a long, sensitive nose, and keen eyes for observing his new world.

Sukil knew great joy, for at last he had endless things to learn and understand. Each answered question granted him knowledge, which then led to more questions. Sukil explored the world, watching the great Balance of all the world’s spirits and learning much. But as he watched the other creatures of the world, Sukil began to feel sorrow, for there was a question in his mind he could not answer.

Sukil turned his muzzle to the sky and plead his question to the Creator. “Maker of All Things,” said Sukil, “All the living creatures have others of their kind to share company. Yet I am alone. Are there no others like me in the world?”

Creator smiled. “You have been wise and responsible with the knowledge you’ve gained, Sukil,” Creator said. “You have earned a place in the world.” And to Sukil’s great joy, Creator sent a star named Yusa down to the earth, and she become another of Sukil’s kind. “Your kind will now always be a part of the earth. Remember to keep the Balance with the other spirits, and never forget that all were once stars.”

So Sukil and Yusa named themselves the Star People, Azu-nah, in honor of the Creator’s wishes, and together they explored the world and flourished. They had many adventures together, such as when Yusa stole the lights from a glow-bird so she could see in the dark, or when Sukil raced with Blue River Spirit, or when both Yusa and Sukil returned to the heavens.

But those are all stories for another night.


I can’t wait to hear another story.