When Warrunna returned to his tribe after one of his journeys, he brought a weapon that the people had never seen before. He said that the weapon was made in a country where only women live. They gave it in exchange for a possum skin bedding and said:
“Bring more bedding and we’ll give you more weapons.”
The people of the Varrunna tribe liked the weapon, and they agreed to go with it to the sacred mountain Ubi-Ubi, to the country of women, taking bedding for exchange.
When they gathered, Varrunna warned everyone that they would encounter various dangers on the plain, for he was sure that these women were spirits.
The women told him that in their country there is no death or night and the sun always shines.
Warrunna said:
“When darkness leaves our country, it does not go to their country, where the sun Yi, being a woman, goes to rest. The darkness goes underground and remains there until it is time to return. The smell of the country of women conceals death, although they said that death did not come to them. We would do well to smoke ourselves before we emerge from the darkness onto the plain.
Warrunna decided that he would go to the opposite side of the plain and light a fire to fumigate the people of his tribe as soon as they came from the valley. Then no evil will stick to them, and they will not take it to their tribe. If they were late, he would let them know it was time to leave. He made a whole plan for this case.
Warrunna decided to take his two brothers with him. He was a great virinun and with his charms he could turn them into large water birds. There were no birds on the lake and they were easy to spot. As soon as he lights the fire, he turns the brothers into birds and sends them to swim against the camp of women. Seeing the birds, women will forget about everything. And at this time people will go out onto the plain and take what they wanted.
Varrunna ordered everyone to take an animal with them and, if the women began to interfere with them, to release the animals. The women will then take care of them, and this will enable people to hide in the dark. And here the women of the country, where it is always light, will be afraid to pursue them.
Each of the tribe took one animal - possums, cats, flying squirrels, various rats - and they set off.
When they came to a place where the darkness was curled up at the edge of the plain, they stopped. Warrunna and his two brothers hurried through the bushes, around the plain to its opposite side.
Varrunna lit a fire, took out a large crystal magic stone of Gabber and, turning to his brothers, quietly sang some kind of song. His brothers cried out: “Bibo! Bibo! - and turned into large white birds, which the Daen call Bayamul swans.
On the opposite side of the plain, the men lit a fire and smoked themselves with its smoke. The women saw smoke spreading across the plain, and, armed with spears, rushed there shouting: “Wee-ballu! Vi-ballu!”
But then one of them screamed in surprise, the others turned around and saw two large white birds swimming on the lake. The smoke was forgotten, they rushed to a new miracle, and the men ran to the camp they had left behind for weapons.
The women noticed the men and, turning away from the swans, walked towards them in a rage. Then the men released the animals. Opossums, marsupial rats, and cats scattered across the plain, and the women chased them screaming. The men left the possum bedding, took up their weapons and headed towards the Warrunna smoke signal.
Having caught one of the animals, the women remembered the men and saw that they, armed, were leaving the camp. Screaming angrily, they rushed after them, but it was too late: the men entered the darkness and smoked themselves from the evil of the valley in the fire of Warrunna. When the women approached and saw the smoke, they shouted: “Wee-ballu! Vi-ballu!” They feared fire as much as they feared darkness; both were unknown in their country.
Then the women turned again to where the strange white birds were, but they had already disappeared. The women were so angry that they began to quarrel and quickly moved from words to action. Their blood spread and stained the western sky, where their country was located. Since then, when tribes see a red sunset, they say:
- Look at the blood of the women of Vi-ballu. They're probably fighting again.
The men returned with weapons to their country, and Warrunna went alone to the sacred mountain located in the northeast of the land of Vi-ballu. He forgot about his brothers, although they flew after him and shouted: “Bibo! Bibo! - to attract his attention. But he did not want to make them people again and climbed the stone steps carved into the sacred mountain for Baiame’s descent to earth.
Tired swans sank at the foot of the mountain onto a small lagoon. Messengers of spirits flew by - falcons, hurrying to convey a message. Seeing two strange white birds in their lagoon, they rushed down in anger and plunged their huge claws and sharp beaks into the unfortunate swans. They grabbed them and flew south across the plains and mountain ranges. From time to time, in a furious rage, they tore out shreds of swan feathers, white as the ashes of an acacia tree. These feathers slid down along the slopes of the mountains, fell between the rocks, and blood dripped near them.
Finally the falcons flew to a large lagoon near the sea. On one side of the lagoon there were rocks. They threw the swans at them, and then descended themselves and began to ferociously peck at the remains of their feathers. When they were already plucking the last feathers on the swan's wings, they remembered that they had not conveyed the message of the spirits, and, fearing their anger, they left the swans and flew away to their country.
The poor Bayamul brothers, almost without feathers, frozen and bleeding, huddled together. They felt like they were dying away from their tribe.
Suddenly a cloud of feathers rained down on them and covered their shuddering bodies. Having warmed up, they looked around. High above them in the trees they noticed hundreds of mountain crows, which they sometimes saw in the country of the plains and considered harbingers of misfortune.
Ravens said:
- Falcons are also our enemies. We saw how they left you to die, and we decided not to let that happen. We sent our feathers with the wind to warm you, give you strength to fly away to your friends and laugh at the falcons.
Black feathers covered the swans, only a few white feathers remained on the wings and the down under the feathers remained white. And red blood stained their beaks forever.
The white feathers of swans, plucked by falcons while flying over the mountains, took root where they fell, and delicate white flowers grew from them.
The Bayamul swans flew to the camp of their tribe. Warrunna heard them shout: “Bibo! Bibo! - and realized that it was the voice of his brothers, but, looking up, he saw not white, but black birds with red beaks. No matter how sad Varrunna was to hear their sad cry, he could not turn them back into people. He was deprived of the power of the Virinun because he dared to go to the heavenly camp of Baiame ahead of time.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru