Before people appeared, only birds and animals lived on earth, and all of them were much larger than now. In those days, only the moon and stars shone, but there was no sun.
One day, Dinewan Emu and Brolga the Crane quarreled and fought on a vast plain near the Murumbidja River. An angry Brolga rushed to Dinevan's nest, grabbed a large egg and threw it into the sky with all his might. There it crashed against a pile of wood, the yolk spilled, the wood caught fire, and this fire, to the surprise of all creatures, illuminated the world. Everyone was accustomed to semi-darkness and were blinded by this bright light.
The good spirit who lived in heaven saw how bright and beautiful the earth looked, illuminated by this fire. He thought it would be good to light such a fire every day, and from then on he began to do so. All night he himself and his spirit assistants collected and piled firewood. When the pile became large enough, they sent the morning star to warn those living on Earth that a fire would soon be lit.
But the sleeping earthly creatures did not notice the morning star. Then the spirits decided to announce the sunrise with some sound and thereby wake up the sleeping ones. For a long time they could not figure out who could be entrusted with this.
One evening they heard the laughter of the mockingbird Gu-gur-gaga ringing through the air. “This is the sound we need,” they decided.
The spirits told Gu-gur-gaga that every day, as soon as the morning star goes out, he should laugh as loudly as possible in order to wake up those sleeping before sunrise. If he does not agree to do this, then they will not light the sun-fire and will forever leave the earth in twilight.
But Gu-gur-gaga agreed and saved the light for the world. He agreed to laugh loudly at dawn and since then every day he has filled the air with loud sounds: “Gu-gur-gaga, gu-gur-gaga, gu-gur-gaga!”
When spirits light a fire, it does not produce much heat. But in the middle of the day, when the entire pile of wood is engulfed in flames, the heat becomes intense. Then the heat gradually subsides, and when the sun sets, only red coals remain. They also quickly fade away, except for those that the spirits preserve. They cover these coals with a cloud to light a pile of wood prepared for tomorrow.
Children are not allowed to imitate the laughter of Gugur-Gaga, so that when he hears them, he will not stop laughing in the morning. If the children imitate his laughter, an extra tooth will grow above their eye tooth, and they will bear this mark as punishment for their ridicule. After all, the good spirits know very well that if Gugur-gaga ever stops laughing, announcing the sunrise, the time will come when there will be no more daens on earth and darkness will reign again.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru