A Quality of Light (48 page)

T
he People tell a story of how light came into the world.

In the Long-Ago Time there was only darkness. The Animal People moved around within it casually and unafraid. They spoke to each other quietly with honor and respect, for no one saw each other’s differences and there was nothing to fear.

One day a strange and eerie glow appeared on the horizon to the east. The Animal People gathered to see if any of them had knowledge of what this mystery might be. No one knew. Owl, the wise one, volunteered to investigate the nature of this mysterious glow in the sky. He flew off, and the Animal People knew that if anyone could comprehend this thing, it was Owl.

He was gone for several days. As each day passed the Animal People grew more worried for their brother, fearful that the glow to the east had captured him and that he had paid with his life for knowledge of the mystery. Then, suddenly, Owl landed, safe and secure, in the boughs of a great pine tree. The Animal People cheered and gathered around the tree to hear Owl’s tale of the glow in the sky.

But there was something strange about him. Owl had possessed the vision of the eagle before he left and now he sat in the darkness, blinking and blinking as though his eyes were failing him.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” the Animal People asked.

The story he told amazed and hushed them all.

Owl had flown directly east towards the strange glow. As he flew nearer the glow had become brighter and brighter. Finally, he flew right into it and the illumination was so great that it very nearly blinded him. That is why, to this day, Owl feels more secure and hunts more successfully at night and why he still sits high in branches of trees blinking and blinking, trying to comprehend the mystery.

Needless to say, the Animal People were filled with wonder. After a great long talk they decided that someone must go and return with some of this glow.

Beaver made the first attempt. She swam along the creeks and rivers towards the east. When she reached the glow she grabbed a pawful and placed it on her broad flat tail and began the long swim back.

But the glow was so hot that it began to burn her tail. Beaver bore as much of the heat as she could until finally she slapped her flat tail against the water in alarm to quell the flames and dove beneath the water. The glow had burned all the beautiful fur from her tail. And that is why, even now, Beaver slaps her tail against the water and dives whenever she’s alarmed.

Raven volunteered. In the Long-Ago Time, Raven was a bird of brilliant plumage, but when he returned from the east he was burned to the black pitch he still wears today.

Many of the Animal People tried and failed. That is why there are members of the Animal world that prefer the safety of the night and darkness.

Finally, a tiny spider crawled forward and volunteered to try. The Animal People had great respect for bravery but they could not figure how a tiny fragile spider could accomplish what her stronger brothers and sisters could not.

“I will spin a strand from this tree to the east. If I am blinded I can follow the strand back to you and if the heat becomes too much, I will cool it with my tears,” Spider said, and all the Animal People were humbled by her courage.

They did not see her for a long time. Many days passed and the Animal People were convinced that Spider had failed.

But one day the glow to the east seemed larger. Morning by morning the glow became bigger and bigger, brighter and brighter, and the Animal People sensed a great change was coming to their world. Soon the glow filled up almost the whole of the sky and runners were sent to investigate. They returned saying that it was indeed Spider following the strand she had spun and bearing the gift of the mysterious glow on her back.

When Spider finally made it back too, the world was filled with the bright glow she carried.

“Oh, that must be so heavy!” they exclaimed.

“No,” said Spider. “It’s Light.”

She told the story of how difficult it had been to get to the Light. How fearful she had become and how much she wanted to quit and return to the safety of the darkness. But she sensed that Light was a great thing and she wanted to share it with everyone. So she had scooped a tiny bit onto her back and begun to return along her woven strand. The longer she kept the Light with her, the brighter it had become. Her tears had indeed kept it cool and soon she felt happy about the arrival of the Light. That is why, in the mornings when the Light arrives from the east, you can still see spiders’ tears clinging to their webs in celebration of the coming of the Light.

The Animal People looked around themselves suddenly. They could see each other for the first time and they were scared. They ran off in many directions, and it was a long time before they learned how to trust each other again and to live with each other’s differences. The coming of the Light meant that they had more to learn of each other and their world. But they learned it and they continue to pass on these teachings to each other, and especially to Man, the newest and strangest of the Animal People.

And that is how Light came into the world.