One day, Mary the Sun invited his younger brother Ari the Month to shoot with a bow in order to decide which of them was more skilled in this sport. Ari agreed, and they began to compete, bragging to each other about their dexterity. But Mary was stronger and more agile, he shot better and laughed at his brother’s mistakes. Then Ari got angry and took the challenge seriously. He wanted to show that he was a good shooter, but it all ended with Ari mortally wounding his brother the Sun.
Having come to his senses, Ari tried to help Mary as best he could, but it was all in vain: Mary died. Ari could not leave his brother for a long time, he kept hoping that Mary would come to life, but this did not happen. And then Ari, crying, went into the forest.
In desperation, he wandered without a road, at random, until he came to a village of Indians from the Bird Tribe. But he was received poorly. The villagers did not want to help Ari, but began to throw stones, twigs and scraps at him. Only one of them kept saying:
- Be careful! Maybe he's a spirit from the underworld.
And the people from the bird tribe heeded his words and decided to leave Ari alone. He left the village and built himself a hut in the forest. All day long Ari thought about his dead brother. One day, when he saw a flock of macaws flying past the hut, he called them, hoping to find out something about him. Ara replied that Mary would follow them.
Several days passed, a flock of green parrots flew past the hut, Ari asked them about his brother, but received the same answer.
Finally, a flock of kuddoros - black parrots - appeared, and with them the revived Mary. Seeing Ari, Mary left his companions, took on human form, but so that his brother would not recognize him, and went into the hut. They began to talk, and Mary, seeing Ari so thin, pale and sad, asked him what had happened to him. Then Ari told how badly he was treated in the village and how hungry he was. Then Mary told his brother to take a bow and arrows and they went to the river. Coming ashore, Mary told his brother:
“Stay here and stay alert.” If a fish swims by, shoot an arrow at it. And I'll go and wander along the shore.
Mary moved away and, when his brother could no longer see him, turned into a fish with golden scales. Ari listened to his brother. He didn't have to wait long; and as soon as the golden fish appeared, and it swam slowly, slowly, Ari shot an arrow and pulled the prey out of the water. Then Mary appeared and asked:
“Did you kill that beautiful fish that swam by?”
“Yes,” said Ari, “here she is.”
They returned to the hut.
Ari was so poor that he didn’t even have a knife in his house to clean and gut the fish. Then Mary said to him:
- Go to your grandfather, the stork jabur, and ask him for a knife.
Ari wanted to refuse: he was afraid to go to the birds, but then he went anyway. And he was not afraid in vain: Ari did not take Jaburu well, threw the knife at him, without ceasing to grumble and threaten. When Ari was already leaving, the stork shouted after him:
- Return the knife quickly, and bring some fish oil and the head!
Returning to his hut, Ari told Mary how the stork grandfather had treated him. Mary did not answer anything, and when they cleaned the fish, he ordered Ari to take the knife back, but he told him:
“I’m scared to go there again.” Who knows what grandpa will do...
But Mary encouraged his brother and said:
- When you arrive, throw the knife on the floor so that Jaburu can pick it up, because he himself did the same to you. Go and don't be afraid.
Ari had no choice but to go. Arriving at the stork, he threw the knife on the ground, the old man became terribly angry and chased after Ari, and he, frightened and choking, ran to his home. Seeing his brother, Mary came out and stood at the entrance to the hut. When Jaburu appeared, Meri said:
- That's great... You came to throw a knife at Ari, didn't you? Well, then quit quickly. Let's see how you can do it.
The old Jaburu was dumbfounded, frightened and even tried to smile, he spoke in the sweetest voice he could:
- What are you saying, Mary! I'm not angry with Ari at all... And I certainly didn't intend to harm him!
And he left, embarrassed, and Mary turned to everyone who offended his brother, he said:
“You are so bad that I don’t even want to live near your village.” My brother and I will go to the other side of the river.
And they went to the other side.
Some time later, Mary, deciding to avenge his brother, sent wind and rain on the bird-people, which extinguished all the fires in the village. The Indians were dying of cold and asked Mary the Sun for fire to warm them up, but Mary answered them:
- Come here for fire. Take as much as you need.
But the Indians, fearing Mary, replied:
- And you throw us fire across the river.
Mary took coal from the fire and threw it, but in such a way that it fell into the river and went out.
The Indians saw that there was nothing to do, they would have to go for the fire themselves, they rushed into the water and swam to the shore where the brothers lived. Mary gave the villagers each a piece of coal, and so that the coals would not get lost and go out while the people were crossing the river, he tied them to everyone’s head. For those who were kind, he made the bandage looser, and for the evil ones he tied the coals tightly.
The Indians entered the water and swam to their shore, trying to keep their heads high so as not to extinguish the smoldering coals. It was then that Mary sent a strong wind at them, which fanned the flames. The Indians' hair caught fire. Feeling the burns, they began to tear off the bandages. The good ones tore them off easily; their hair was only slightly singed. But the evil ones, whose bandages were tied tightly, could not get rid of them, and the fire burned their hair and scorched their necks. Mary and Ari, seeing all this, laughed until they dropped.
This is why condors, urubu and jaburus have bald heads. But the good birds kept the feathers on their heads.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru