In those days when Butulga the crane married Gunar, the dart kangaroo, there was no fire in their country. The food was eaten raw or dried in the sun.
One day, when Butulga was rubbing one piece of wood against another, a spark and a little smoke appeared.
“Look,” he said to Gunar, “what happened when I rubbed one piece of wood against another.” It would be nice if we could get a fire and cook food without waiting for the sun to dry it.
Gunar looked and, seeing the smoke, said:
“It will be a great day when we can light a fire.” Split your stick, Butulga, and put bark and grass in the hole so that the spark can light the fire.
Understanding the wisdom of these words, Butulga did as she advised. After prolonged rubbing, a small flame appeared in the hole. As Gunar said, the spark lit the grass, the bark smoldered and smoked, and thus Butulga the crane and Gunar the dart kangaroo discovered the art of making fire.
“We will keep this a secret from all the tribes,” they decided. “When it is necessary to light a fire to fry the fish, we will go into the coniferous bush.” There we will light a fire and cook food in secret. We will hide our fire sticks in the cones of coniferous trees, and we will carry one stick with us, hidden in a bag made of kangaroo skin - cambi.
Butulga and Gunar fried the first fish they caught and found it very tasty. Returning to the camp, they took with them some of the fried fish. Daenas noticed that their fish looked different than dried in the sun, and asked:
- What did you do with this fish?
“It was dried in the sun,” they answered.
“This is not so,” they objected, but Butulga and Gunar insisted that the fish was dried in the sun.
Day after day passed, and after catching a fish, these two always disappeared and returned with food that looked different from the others. Having achieved nothing, the tribe decided to watch them. Balural the night owl and Uya the parrot were assigned to follow them and find out what they would do.
After another fishing trip, when Butulga and Gunar headed into the thickets, Balural and Uya followed them. When they disappeared into the coniferous thickets, Balural and Uya climbed a tall tree and saw how Butulga and Gunar put the fish on the ground, opened the kambi and took out a stick from it. They blew on a stick, placed it in the middle of a pile of grass and leaves, and now a flame flashed, into which they threw large sticks. When the flames died down, they placed the fish on the coals. Balural and Uya hurried to the camp of their tribe and reported their discovery.
The Daens began to make plans on how to take possession of the fire wand cambi when Butulga and Gunar returned to the camp. In the end, it was decided to organize such a corroboree, which rarely happens and which the youth of the tribe had never seen. The old men suggested surprising Butulga and Gunar so that they would forget about their precious cambi. As soon as they get caught up in the corroboree and forget about the wand, someone will grab the cambi, steal the fire wand, and light a fire for everyone. After all, many people really liked the fried fish and wanted more.
Biaga the falcon had to pretend to be sick, tie his head and lie down near Butulga and Gunar while they watched the corroboree. Watching them all the time, he must choose a time when they will forget about everything except the corroboree and kidnap the cambi.
Having made this plan, everyone began to prepare for the big corroboree. All neighboring clans were notified, inviting them to a corroboree. They especially asked the Brolga, who were famous for their wonderful dance, to come. Their dance will certainly attract the attention of Butulga and Gunar.
All the tribes agreed to come, and soon everyone began making grand preparations. Each decided to outdo the others in the whimsicality and flamboyance of their corroboree livery.
Every family that arrived was admired. Never before have young people seen such a variety of colors and patterns.
Bila - a genus of black cockatoos came with bright red-orange spots on their black skin. The pelicans appeared white; only in places, where the paint had worn off, did the black skin show through. The Daens polished their dark skin so that it shone like satin. Then came the Millia, beauties from the family of dart-flying kangaroos who lived in the rocky Morilla Mountains. After them came the Bakkandi family of cats, painted in dull colors, but in a very fancy way. Mei-pa also arrived, hurrying to take part in the great corroboree. Behind them, slowly advancing, came the Brolga. They looked very important and held their red heads high, so painted in contrast to their gray bodies, which they considered too dull for such a cheerful event.
Among the many genera were the pink and gray colored Gala cockatoos, the green and crimson colored Billam parrots; they were the brightest colored of all—the bodies the color of green grass and the sides bright crimson. For this they received the name Crimson Wings. Small, bright Gijerigars also appeared.
A lot of people had already gathered when the crane Butulga and the poison dart kangaroo Gunar arrived. Butulga warned Gunar that they should only watch and not take active part in the corroboree in order to guard their cambi. So Gunar sat down next to him and threw the bag over her arm. Butulga once again asked her to be careful and not to forget that she had a bag. But as the corroboree went on, she became so carried away that she forgot about the cambi, and it slipped from her hand. But Butulga saw this and put the bag back. This prevented Biage the Falcon from grabbing the bag, although they did not pay attention to him, considering him to be terminally ill.
Biaga fell to the ground again and groaned, but nevertheless did not take his eyes off Gunar and was soon rewarded for his efforts.
Meanwhile it was the turn of the Brolga to dance. All eyes except Biaga's were glued to them as they slowly entered the circle. First they stepped forward, bowed and retreated. They repeated this several times, and each time their movements became faster and faster, bows giving way to pirouettes.
They bowed their long necks and made such movements, performing dance figures, that they made everyone shake with laughter. They themselves maintained a serious appearance, thereby enhancing the effect of their antics.
Then came the opportune moment for Biaga's falcon. Carried away by dancing, Gunar and Butulga forgot about the kambi. They began to clap, along with everyone else, Gunar fell back, exhausted by laughter, and the bag slipped from her hand. The sick Biaga jumped up, grabbed the bag, cut it with a stone axe, pulled out a fire stick and ignited the prepared pile of grass with it before the two realized their loss.
Realizing that the priceless cambi was missing, Butulga and Gunar jumped up. Butulga rushed after Biaga, but he ran first, ran faster and got ahead of his pursuer. While running away, he set fire to the grass with a fire stick.
Convinced that he would not be able to catch Biaga, and seeing fire everywhere, Butulga abandoned the pursuit. He realized that it was useless to continue to keep the secret, which had become the property of all the families gathered here.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru