An African Myth
A very long time ago there was no light anywhere in the world. It was hard for the animals to see. They bumped into trees. They fell into holes. In the dark they even stumbled over each other. This made them very unhappy.
Finally Lion, who was king, called a meeting. “My friends,” said Lion, “we do not have to live in the dark. I know where we can find light. Sometimes when there is a storm the sky cracks open. Above the sky I have seen light. Will someone try to bring this light to earth?”
“I will go,” said Mouse.
“We will go with you,” said Spider and Fly.
First they had to get up to the sky. Spider spun her web all the way up through the clouds. She spun it all the way to where the sky begins. Then Mouse climbed up the web. She chewed a little hole in the bottom of the sky. Spider, Fly, and Mouse climbed through to the other side. Above the sky there was light! All around them was a large grassy plain. There were many sky people cutting the grass. They took Mouse, Spider, and Fly to their king. “O King,” said Mouse, “may we have some of your light to take back to earth?” “O Mouse,” said the king, “I would like to give you some light, but I must ask my people first.” But the king was selfish. He did not really want to share the light. So he called a meeting. It was a long and secret meeting. Finally, the king said. “I know how to get rid of those earth creatures. I will make up a test that they cannot pass. Then I will kill them.” But the king did not know that Fly was listening. When the meeting was over, the king said to Mouse, “There is something you must do for me. I need grass to cover the houses I am building. If you can cut all the grass on this big plain by tomorrow morning, I will give you light.”
When the king had gone, Fly said to Mouse, “I was at the secret meeting. I hid, so no one saw me. The king plans to kill us if we cannot cut all the grass. What shall we do?”
Mouse thought and thought. “I have an idea,” she said. Mouse climbed down Spider’s web. When she got to earth, she called all the ants. That night millions of ants quietly followed Mouse up the web into the sky. They quickly cut all the grass on the plain. Then they stole down the web to earth.
In the morning, Mouse showed the king that the work was done. The king pretended to be pleased, but he was really angry. “Fammot give you light yet,” he said. “I must call another meeting.”
“These creatures must be great and powerful,” he told the sky people. “One test is not enough for them.”
The king called Mouse, Spider, and Fly and said to them. “Now you must pass another test. I will roast a whole cow. If you can eat all of it, I promise I will give you light.” Then the king went away.
But Fly had been at the second meeting too. He told Mouse and Spider the rest of the king’s plan. “The king will kill us if we can’t eat the whole cow,” Fly said. “What are we going to do?”
“Don’t worry,” said Mouse. “I know what we can do.”
That evening the sky people brought many bowls of meat.
“Thank you,” said Mouse. “Tomorrow morning you can come and take the empty bowls away.”
When the sky people had gone, Mouse dug long tunnels in the ground. Then Mouse, Spider, and Fly buried all the meat in them. In the morning when the sky people came, the bowls were all empty!
But still the king would not keep his promise. He had a third meeting. Again Fly hid in the corner and listened.
The king was furious. “We must give them some of our light,” he said. “But I will make it hard for them. I have two boxes. The black box holds darkness. The red box holds light. They will have to choose one.”
Of course Fly told Mouse which box had light in it.
The king called Spider, Mouse, and Fly. “Here are two boxes,” he said. “One holds light, the other has only darkness. Which one will you choose?”
“Let me see,” said Mouse. She pretended it was hard to decide.
Finally Mouse pointed to the red box. “I think I will choose this one,” she said.
Before the king could think of another trick, Mouse snatched the box and slid quickly down the web.
Back on earth all the animals gathered around Mouse, Spider, and Fly. Mouse told them what had happened. She showed them the red box.
“Open the box!” said Lion.
“Yes, open the box!” begged the other animals.
Slowly, slowly, Mouse lifted the lid of the box. There was nothing in the box but a rooster! All the animals started to laugh.
“It’s nothing but a rooster,” said Lion.
“A rooster isn’t light,” said Leopard.
All the animals laughed at Mouse and her box. Poor Mouse! She was so ashamed! She was sure she had been tricked after all.
Then, suddenly, the rooster jumped out of the box.
“Cock-a-doodle-do,” he crowed.
At once the sky began to glow in the east.
“Cock-a-doodle-do,” he crowed again. The golden sun burst into the sky. There was light on the earth for the very first time.
The rooster had called up the sun. And he was called it up every morning from that day to this.
