An Aboriginal Legend
Artist, Patricia Blee
A very long time ago, there was Crocodile. He was not so nice and not so courteous. He had the control of fire. Fire was very important for living. It was giving you light during the night and keeping you warm when you were cold. What can you do when you deal with a mean, ill-mannered crocodile? Many animals pleaded with Crocodile, but the more they begged, the meaner Crocodile would get.
One day even a little kangaroo pleaded with Crocodile, “Please give us some fire.”
You know what was Crocodile’s response? He exhaled some fire from his throat, scaring little kangaroo.
High up on a tree, there was a very nice Bird, who was observing everything. The Bird Woman also suffered from the lack of fire. She didn’t like eating her food raw. So, Bird Woman also pleaded with Crocodile to give some light not only to the animals, but also to the people.
“Please share some light with others,” begged Bird Woman on many occasions.
Once, Crocodile blew some fire at Bird Woman, almost burning her feathers. Another time, it snapped, “What do you need the fire for?”
“Well, for example, to cook our food,” she was nicely explaining to Crocodile.
“Eat it raw,” retorted Crocodile.
“Well, it tastes so much better, when it’s cooked,” continued Bird Woman.
“I will cook you with my fire, if you don’t disappear right now,” Crocodile replied angrily.
So she flew away not to anger Crocodile even more.
However, Bird Woman continued to observe Crocodile from her house in the tree. She was patiently watching and waiting. Then, one early morning, Crocodile was still half asleep, stretching and yawning. At his last yawn, he opened his jaw so wide that it took him quite some time to close it.
During that time, Bird Woman quickly flew down, snatching the fire-stick.
Before Crocodile realized what had just happened, Bird Woman was already flying up with the fire-stick. She flew around each tree putting fire into tree’s core. This way a tree could be used as wood to create fire. So people could cook their food, stay warm, and light their way through darkness.
This creation was very magical. It looked as Bird Woman was creating a rainbow with the yellow fire, flying around green trees and with the blue sky shining on her.
“Now, the people can have fire,” said Bird Woman proudly.
Bird Woman flew back to Crocodile and warned him, “From now on, you need to stay in the swamps. Don’t you dare to come out on land or I will light you up.”
The scared Crocodile now stays deep in the swamp. From time to time, he only ventures with his eyes above the water, curious what is going on with the other animals on the land.
So now you know why crocodiles live in the swamps and why the heroine bird is called Rainbow Bird.
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Source: Rainbow Bird: An Aboriginal Folktale from Northern Australia by Eric Maddern.
An Aboriginal fire legend of the Dalabon people of Beswick Reserve, telling how Bird Woman stole fire from Crocodile Man, and at the same time, turned herself into the beautiful Rainbow Bird, a dreamtime myth.