One caboclo settled with his wife on the shore of a lake in a thatched adobe hut. The family's life was happy, without any special worries or worries; the generous nature that surrounded them provided everything they needed. All that remained was to take what was offered.
The husband hunted, fished and planted cassava, and the wife prepared delicious dishes from cassava flour. Healing herbs grew around the hut - they always helped if anyone fell ill.
So the days passed, similar to each other and equally happy. In the mornings, the husband went fishing, and when he returned in the evening, his wife, busy with housework, greeted him with a warm smile and affection.
He often thought about taking his girlfriend fishing with him: it was fun for her, and it was nice for him to have a companion who would help relieve boredom and while away the long hours of patient waiting. He even promised his wife to take her with him, but he did not say when this would be.
One day, when the husband woke up at dawn, he heard the song of a toucan, and this was a good omen, and so he decided that it was time to take his wife fishing with him.
- The toucan is singing. This is a good sign. Today we will go fishing together.
- How good! — the wife was delighted. “I’ll go and prepare what I need.”
Although her husband's words took her by surprise, Kabokla quickly baked some flat cakes to have something to eat, and soon they went fishing.
The first rays of the sun found the fishermen already in a canoe in the middle of the lake, they were heading to the fishing grounds.
Both were so happy and engrossed in fishing that they did not notice how the weather suddenly changed. The sky darkened and a strong wind blew. Caboclo could no longer cast the net: large waves rose on the lake and the light canoe was thrown from side to side. At first the woman tried to hide the fear that gripped her and pretended to be calm. She tried not to interfere with her husband’s work, but, sensing imminent danger, she began to ask:
- Let's land on the shore and wait out the bad weather! However, it was too late to think about salvation: a terrible storm was raging, blinding lightning tore the sky, gusts of wind raised huge waves on the lake.
Clinging to her husband in a fragile canoe, which was bravely struggling with the giant waves, Kabokla prayed to the gods to soften her anger.
Suddenly the heavens opened up and spewed out flames that engulfed the fisherman and his wife and turned them into plants. She became the Urikuri oil palm, and he became the ficus.
But even after becoming plants, they did not loosen their grip. From birth to death, the ficus wraps its flexible branches around the trunk of the Urikuri.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru