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Once upon
a time...
Long, long ago, far, far away on the other side of the world,
some young men left the camp where they lived to get some food for
their wives and children. The sun was hot, but they liked heat, and
as they went they ran races and tried who could hurl his spear the
farthest, or was cleverest in throwing a strange weapon called a
boomerang, which always returns to the thrower. They did not get on
very fast at this rate, but presently they reached a flat place that
in time of flood was full of water, but was now, in the height of
summer, only a set of pools, each surrounded with a fringe of
plants, with bulrushes standing in the inside of all. In that
country the people are fond of the roots of bulrushes, which they
think as good as onions, and one of the young men said that they had
better collect some of the roots and carry them back to the camp. It
did not take them long to weave the tops of the willows into a
basket, and they were just going to wade into the water and pull up
the bulrush roots when a youth suddenly called out: 'After all, why
should we waste our time in doing work that is only fit for women
and children? Let them come and get the roots for themselves; but we
will fish for eels and anything else we can get.'
This delighted the rest of the party, and they all began to arrange
their fishing lines, made from the bark of the yellow mimosa, and to
search for bait for their hooks. Most of them used worms, but one,
who had put a piece of raw meat for dinner into his skin wallet, cut
off a little bit and baited his line with it, unseen by his
companions.
For a long time they cast patiently, without receiving a single
bite; the sun had grown low in the sky, and it seemed as if they
would have to go home empty-handed, not even with a basket of roots
to show; when the youth, who had baited his hook with raw meat,
suddenly saw his line disappear under the water. Something, a very
heavy fish he supposed, was pulling so hard that he could hardly
keep his feet, and for a few minutes it seemed either as if he must
let go or be dragged into the pool. He cried to his friends to help
him, and at last, trembling with fright at what they were going to
see, they managed between them to land on the bank a creature that
was neither a calf nor a seal, but something of both, with a long,
broad tail. They looked at each other with horror, cold shivers
running down their spines; for though they had never beheld it,
there was not a man amongst them who did not know what it was-- the
cub of the awful Bunyip!
All of a sudden the silence was broken by a low wail, answered by
another from the other side of the pool, as the mother rose up from
her den and came towards them, rage flashing from her horrible
yellow eyes. 'Let it go! let it go!' whispered the young men to each
other; but the captor declared that he had caught it, and was going
to keep it. 'He had promised his sweetheart,' he said, 'that he
would bring back enough meat for her father's house to feast on for
three days, and though they could not eat the little Bunyip, her
brothers and sisters should have it to play with.' So, flinging his
spear at the mother to keep her back, he threw the little Bunyip on
to his shoulders, and set out for the camp, never heeding the poor
mother's cries of distress.
By this time it was getting near sunset, and the plain was in
shadow, though the tops of the mountains were still quite bright.
The youths had all ceased to be afraid, when they were startled by a
low rushing sound behind them, and, looking round, saw that the pool
was slowly rising, and the spot where they had landed the Bunyip was
quite covered. 'What could it be?' they asked one of another; '
there was not a cloud in the sky, yet the water had risen higher
already than they had ever known it do before.' For an instant they
stood watching as if they were frozen, then they turned and ran with
all their might, the man with the Bunyip run- ning faster than all.
When he reached a high peak over- looking all the plain he stopped
to take breath, and turned to see if he was safe yet. Safe! why only
the tops of the trees remained above that sea of water, and these
were fast disappearing. They must run fast indeed if they were to
escape. So on they flew, scarcely feeling the ground as they went,
till they flung themselves on the ground before the holes scooped
out of the earth where they had all been born. The old men were
sitting in front, the children were playing, and the women
chattering together, when the little Bunyip fell into their midst,
and there was scarcely a child among them who did not know that
something terrible was upon them. 'The water! the water!' gasped one
of the young men; and there it was, slowly but steadily mounting the
ridge itself. Parents and children clung together, as if by that
means they could drive back the advancing flood; and the youth who
had caused all this terrible catastrophe, seized his sweetheart, and
cried: 'I will climb with you to the top of that tree, and there no
waters can reach us.' But, as he spoke, something cold touched him,
and quickly he glanced down at his feet. Then with a shudder he saw
that they were feet no longer, but bird's claws. He looked at the
girl he was clasping, and beheld a great black bird standing at his
side; he turned to his friends, but a flock of great awkward
flapping creatures stood in their place He put up his hands to cover
his face, but they were no more hands, only the ends of wings; and
when he tried to speak, a noise such as he had never heard before
seemed to come from his throat, which had suddenly become narrow and
slender. Already the water had risen to his waist, and he found
himself sitting easily upon it, while its surface reflected back the
image of a black swan, one of many.
Never again did the swans become men; but they are still different
from other swans, for in the night-time those who listen can hear
them talk in a language that is certainly not swan's language; and
there are even sounds of laughing and talking, unlike any noise made
by the swans whom we know.
The little Bunyip was carried home by its mother, and after that the
waters sank back to their own channels. The side of the pool where
she lives is always shunned by everyone, as nobody knows when she
may suddenly put out her head and draw him into her mighty jaws. But
people say that underneath the black waters of the pool she has a
house filled with beautiful things, such as mortals who dwell on the
earth have no idea of. Though how they know I cannot tell you, as
nobody has ever seen it.
The Bunyip
from the Brown Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
