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It seemed like weeks had passed since the last story from our storyteller, but really it had only been a few days. The children began swarming around the storyteller's fire. It was unfortunate, but he had become very ill. One of the older children took up his post to rekindle the fire and boil the water for the cocoa mix. The elderly man smiled with appreciation.
"Ah, children, I am glad that you are here." He looked around him seeing the anxiousness turn to concern for his well-being.
"Are you going to be okay?" asked one of the children.
The elderly man smiled, "Of course, of course." Although he didn't want to worry the children, he thought to himself that his illness was getting worse and that he might not tell many more stories.
"Well, which story shall it be today?" another child chimed in.
"This one you will find is very much like Noah's tale, but with a twist." He smiled and continued. "There is an ancient religion, called Hinduism, that tells us of a great God capable of being born again and again as different people or even as an animal." Many of the children were familiar with the word Hinduism, but not the story itself and he could see the recognition on their faces as he spoke the word, 'Hinduism'. "Well, children, let's hear of Matsya, the fish, and how he saved a great king of men."
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| Matsya was actually a great God
who decided to give himself an earthly form in order to make contact
with the king of a great city called Dravida. They say the
kingdom of Dravida
might have stretched from Africa as far as Australia. This king
was washing his hands in the river and Matsya, a small guppy-like fish
at the time, swam into his hands and begged the king to save him.
The king took him home and put him in a jar. Soon, the fish grew too large for the jar. The king moved the fish to a large tank and soon the fish grew too large for the tank. The king took the fish to the river and thought, 'Surely the fish will not be able to outgrow this river.' The fish did, however, and the king had to move the fish to the ocean. Once Matsya was in the ocean, he told the king, "Look, there is going to be a great flood in seven days. You must build a boat and take your family, all of the animals and seeds from all the plants that you can. You will all take your boat to rest on top of a mountain." At this, the children practically swooned and one commented, "That is almost just like the other stories. Each time they knew. And we brought a bunch of seeds with us too!" "That is very true," replied our story teller. "We were notified by scientists, weren't we? Then, we were able to prepare just enough to help us get by while here in our camps." With that, the elderly man coughed and continued his story. So, the king did exactly as Matsya asked and when the rains came, Matsya returned to the king and told him to gather his family and all the things he had prepared and get into the boat. Matsya propelled the boat to safety on top of the mountain. After that, the rains lasted for seven days. The king, his family and the animals stayed on the mountain top for seven years until the waters subsided and they were able to leave the mountain and seek out new lives in the world. |
One of the younger children pondered, "I
guess with stories like these, it isn't so weird that a fish is
talking." All of the children along with our story teller laughed
at this.
The elderly man responded, "This was no ordinary fish, though, remember? This was a God. So, you should expect all sorts of fantastic things."
An older girl spoke up, "I liked this one the best, so far. I bet the fish was beautiful and he was there the whole time."
A lot of the other children seemed to agree with this.
The elderly man looked at everyone sweetly, and said, "Next time?"
The many anxiously nodding heads of the children reassured him.
The elderly man responded, "This was no ordinary fish, though, remember? This was a God. So, you should expect all sorts of fantastic things."
An older girl spoke up, "I liked this one the best, so far. I bet the fish was beautiful and he was there the whole time."
A lot of the other children seemed to agree with this.
The elderly man looked at everyone sweetly, and said, "Next time?"
The many anxiously nodding heads of the children reassured him.
At
that, the older girl gave our story teller some water.
She gently tucked him in and told all of the other children that it was
time to head back to work. The camp had begun planting small
crops
of vegetables and every able body was needed.
Author's
Note: Again, the children have a story
almost identical to the story of Noah. I made the story pretty
simple and tried to make it fun for the kids and also tried to tie in
some of the story with things that our story tellers brought with them
to their mountain tops. I also made up a few things. I
don't know that in the original story the number seven was all that
significant; but, for our purposes, it is. Although it has no
real meaning, it is just a recurring number. And, no, I was not
trying to equate scientists with Gods. I was just being
practical. It
would be the scientific community that would no doubt have some sort of
warning for us. Also, I am thinking our story teller is really
old and there has been a lot of dampness during the rains. He may
have had a pre-existing condition for all we know. I am not sure
if he will be with us on our next story. I know it is sad, but
maybe it is something that makes this whole experience with our story
teller that much more valuable and precious.