It was a long time ago, when there were no people in the world. The gods then often visited the earth. So one god settled on the plain and began to plant trees. It was hard work, and he ordered his wife and seven sons to come down to earth. His wife immediately got to work - she cooked well and worked tirelessly. And the sons were not like their father and mother: they only knew what to play with their tops *. They played all day long and did not even want to lift a finger to help their old people.
Spinning a top is a favorite pastime of the Toraja people. Competitions are held in which the winner is the one whose top spins longer than the others or knocks down all the others.
One day their mother asked them:
- Which of you goes down to the stream by water? I have a lot of work to do these days.
“We also have no time today, mother,” answered the seven sons. “We want to compete and see who can spin his top the best.”
The mother did not say anything and herself brought water from a distant source.
But in the evening, when the seven brothers were sleeping, she took their tops and hid them. In the morning they looked for them everywhere, but did not find them - their mother hid them so well. Then they ran to the forest - they thought that their father had taken the tops with him.
Meanwhile, the mother wrapped the tops in palm leaves and laid them out in a row - seven bundles one after the other - in the place where her sons were accustomed to take their lunch without her. Then she went into the forest, grabbing food for herself and her husband. On the way, she sees that her sons sat down on the shore of the pond to fish - they, of course, did not find their tops in the forest. The mother walked past without saying a word, they didn’t even notice her.
But the sons did not catch a single fish that day. They sat with fishing rods by the lake until the older brother said:
- How long are we going to hang around here? We didn't even catch a crab... We went home, mother had already prepared lunch for us. We'll have lunch and then look for our tops at home; my mother probably hid them somewhere. Get ready quickly - we need to look for them before she returns!
“I don’t believe that mother hid our tops,” said the youngest brother. “Probably while we were sleeping, father took them to heaven, because we did not help him work.”
But the other brothers began to laugh at him.
“If father had taken our tops to heaven, someone would have noticed,” they said. - He doesn’t even care about them!
They came home and found lunch packages in the usual place. Oh, how angry they were when they unfolded the leaves and saw their tops instead of lunch! They were very hungry, but there wasn’t even a banana at home. Then the elder brother suggested:
- Let's leave our parents, since they don't let us eat. Why should we stay here and starve?
-Where are we going to go? – asked the younger one.
“We will return back to the land of the gods, to heaven,” the elder brother decided. – It’s much better there than here on earth!
- Shall we take our tops there? – asked the younger brother.
“No, let them stay on the ground,” answered the eldest. - Why do we need them there?
– What will we do in heaven? – the younger one asked.
“Everyone must choose something to do,” said the elder. “We won’t be idle anymore in heaven.” We will show our elders that we are the true children of the gods. We can only work in heaven, not on earth.
– You can’t think of anything better! – others agreed. They climbed from the mountain top to the sky. When they got there, the elder brother said:
– We must choose our activities. But only - to each his own. I'm the eldest - I should start. I want all people on earth to hear me. If I speak, there will be a roar on the ground, an echo will awaken in the mountains, and everyone, even our old people, will be afraid of my voice.
Second brother said:
“Before I tell you, I’ll sparkle my eyes.” The shine will be so strong that our old people will tremble with fear.
“And I’ll breathe so hard that everything on the ground will shake,” said the third brother, “even the trees.” I will breathe so hard that waves will go through the water, the sand will rise up, and my father and mother will become scared.
“When you die, I will spew out so much water on the ground that streams and rivers will not be able to contain it.” Our old people will say that it’s raining badly, it will make them feel terrible,” said the fourth brother.
“I will also pour water on the ground,” the fifth one stepped forward. “There will be so much of it that it will uproot my father’s trees and carry them away.” And the house will also be carried away. My parents will see that the rivers have overflowed their banks and will ask me to stop.
“And when you hear this, brother,” said the sixth, “I will begin to shake the earth so hard that it begins to shake.” Clefts and cracks will appear everywhere, trees will fall into them, and the old people's house will also fall through. Fear will take over them and they will return to heaven.
-Who are you angry with? - the younger brother intervened. – Why scare our parents? Why do you want to drive them away from the earth? - they feel good there.
“We looked everywhere for our tops, and mother gave them to us instead of dinner,” said the elder brother.
“That’s true,” agreed the younger one, “but they are our parents.” Let's leave them alone since we're back in heaven.
“Well, no, we won’t give up on ours,” the six answered him.
So they did. The first brother became thunder, the second - lightning, the third - a storm, the fourth - rain, the fifth brought floods with storm and rain, and the sixth caused an earthquake. Only the younger brother did not hold any grudge against his parents in his heart. He was a kind son and did not want the old people to be afraid of him, but he promised his brothers that he would also choose an occupation for himself, and so he became a rainbow.
Meanwhile, the father and mother missed their children and began to look for them. They searched for them for seven days and seven nights. On the seventh night in the forest they were frightened by lightning, and behind the lightning came thunder. Then the pouring rain poured down, and the storm began to walk through the forest. The bad weather was clearing up. Leaves fell on the old people, as if someone was tearing them off. The wind bent and broke branches and uprooted trees. Rivers and streams swelled and overflowed their banks, washing away everything in their path. By dawn the storm had subsided, but then a dull roar was heard in the mountains. The father and mother trembled when they saw that the high mountain behind the forest had split open and everything that was on it had fallen into the crack. Then they looked at the sky and saw a multi-colored rainbow stretching across the entire sky.
It seemed to them that the face of their youngest son could be seen in the rainbow. And they heard his voice: “We have all returned to heaven, come to us too!” Only then did they realize that their seven sons had ascended to the land of the gods.
They remained on earth for some time, but then they missed their sons, and one day, when the rainbow appeared in the sky again, they climbed up to the sky.
The six brothers were still angry with their parents, but the youngest persuaded them to make peace with the old men. Since then, they have lived together in the land of the gods peacefully and happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru