The Old Woman's Story

Once upon a time, such a long time ago, there were no flowers or trees growing from the earth; there was no earth! There were no clouds or birds or even winds in the sky; there was no sky! There were no fish or coral in the sea; there was no sea!  There was no sun, no stars in the heavens; there was no heaven!

Nor was it a long time ago, really, or yesterday or tomorrow for there was no time! Tick! Tock! There was no time!

It was then that the Great Mother, who was very wise, wished to give away her wisdom. So she called to Bird-Woman and Bird-Woman made a great sound. ACK! she cried, and laid an egg.

Two snakes curled round the egg; one went east and the other went west, and this broke the egg open. The top half of the egg became the sky, the bottom half became the earth, and the fluids that spilled from it became the oceans that surround the earth and the rivers that meander down from the mountains.

Great Mother walked upon the earth and came to sit upon her throne. Upon her head she wore a double tiara, a beautiful crown full of twinkling stars. About her shoulders she wore a blue cape and a silver moon shone at her feet.

She called to an undine and as the water spirit stood before her, the Great Mother reached up into her crown and gave to her a star saying:

          “Here is wisdom, lady of the waters. Take this to the ocean and toss it in.”

The undine complied, taking the star to the ocean, she tossed it in. No sooner had it touched the waves when fishes began jumping about, coral and seaweed and strange sea creatures grew and lived within its’ depths. The sea was full of life!

Once again the Great Mother called, this time to a dwarf , and as he stood before her, she reached up into her crown and gave to him a star saying:

          “Here is wisdom, old graybeard. Take this to the molten earth and toss it in.”

The dwarf complied, taking the star to the molten earth and tossed it in. As soon as it touched the ground trees and flowers began to grow and the earth and rocks were filled with colorful gems and stones.

Again the Great Mother called, this time to a sylph and as he stood before her, she reached up into her crown and gave to him a star saying:

          “Here is wisdom, spirit of the air. Take this to the sky and toss it high.”

The sylph complied, taking the star and throwing it into the sky. No sooner had it lifted up when the winds blew all about, clouds gathered far and wide, and beautiful, colorful, feathered birds flew in the great expanse of sky!

It took a long time, but the Great Mother gave away all her stars until her crown was empty. And all the dwarves, undines, sylphs and people came from near and far, so grateful for the beautiful life surrounding them. They wanted to thank the Great Mother.

But what became of the Great Mother when she had given away all her stars? Her eyes were crossed and her crown drooped like a fools cap! She fell from her mighty throne, stumbling and tripping about, bumping into trees – everyone laughed at such a fool as she! She was such a sight; making sounds from her mouth that made no sense at all. Sometimes she made animal sounds: ‘hee haw, c**k a doodle doo’. Everyone was laughing, but then the Great Mother fell to the earth and everyone stopped laughing. She did not move.

“What shall we do?” asked a lion-man.

“We shall return the star wisdom she gave to us, that is what we shall do!” said the waterman.

So the people went into the earth, to the sky and sea. They searched among flowers and trees, into the valleys and mountains, into the clouds and wind collecting all the star wisdom they could find. These they returned and placed into the crown of the Great Mother while she slept and did not move.

Soon the Great Mother awoke, and grateful for the goodness of the people, she went and sat once again upon her throne and in her lap and from her heart a great fire burned. 

Then the Great Mother went away, and as she did her blue mantle became the sky and the fire in her lap became the sun. In the evening hours, when the sun set and the daylight grew dark, the moon that had been at her feet shone like a silvery cup in the sky and all about the moon everywhere in the night sky could be seen the stars.

The pictures from the window lights were so vivid, so real that Asia forgot for a moment where she was. It was the chanting, singing sounds of the children on the raft that drew her attention from the story. The old woman had paused, watching in silent admiration at the children enjoying their simple song:

"We are
We are the children
We are the children of Grandmama . . . "

Asia watched the children as they floated up and then over into the story land in the window lights.

"Do not worry," said the old woman, "that is their home. They belong there. They wished to return to their people so off they went!"

Asia looked around and felt afraid and lonely in the underground cavern. Without the children it was somehow different.

"Do you wish to go home or would you like to see what happens to these children in this land of theirs?" asked the old woman.

"Oh, I'll stay and see what happens to them but I'll have to go pretty soon."

"Very well," said the old woman.

Asia watched as the children ran and played in the new land that their people had found. She watched as they grew older, wandering about in the dense forests, through green, sloping valleys, or climbing about where waterfalls cascaded from the high, rocky mountains. As they wandered through this ancient paradise, they sought within the wild grasslands and the wooded groves the juicy berries, the fragrant leaves, the hidden roots that nourished them. The men would hunt with bow and arrows and spears through the thick underbrush of the marshland or disappear into the forests in pursuit of the wild animals. Some men preferred to seek their food out beyond the land standing upon wooden sailing vessels with their nets and lines cast into the sparkling sea.

The women fashioned the cooking pots from the clay; heating them in the sun till they were hard. They gathered the roots and berries in matted baskets that they wove out of the reeds from the river beds.

Asia noticed that everyone worked for shelter and food from sunup till the sun rolled behind the mountains in the western sky. Even the children helped to weave and cook. Even in their play they took up the sticks and pretended to hunt or, on the beaches, molded the sand into cooking pots.

The old woman did not need to speak. For a long time Asia watched this lively world in silence. Asia looked into this world and loved it. Most of all she loved to follow the movements of a young woman who wandered and worked in this island paradise. She was somehow different from the rest. Sometimes she would stop picking the berries and stare out at the open sky as if in a dream. A sudden shove by an older woman would wake her out of the daydream. Asia loved her beautiful, long blond flowing hair that reached almost to her knees. She loved how her blue eyes would flash when she looked out into the skies.

The old woman on the raft began to speak, her gentle voice sounding like the winds that passed through that beautiful land...