Raven
and the Whale
an
Inuit (Eskimo) story
In
the very beginning of time, the Inuit people say, Raven made the world.
Raven was both a god and a bird with a man inside. After Raven created
everything, he decided to remain on the earth. He loved the people and
the animals and he was curious about them all. Even though he had made
the world, he did not know everything there was to know.
Raven
liked to paddle his
kayak out into the sea. One day he saw a large whale.
He said, "I wonder what it looks like inside the belly of a whale."
Raven waited until the whale
yawned. When its mouth
was wide open, he rowed right in. He tied his kayak to one of the
whale¹s teeth and started walking deeper inside the
whale¹s body. The
mouth of the whale closed behind him and it grew dark. Raven heard a
sound like a drum or distant thunder. He walked until he came to the
belly of the whale. The white bones of the whale's ribs rose up around
him like ivory pillars.
In
the center of the whale¹s
belly, Raven saw a
beautiful girl dancing. She had strings attached to her feet and hands
stretching to the heart of the whale. Raven thought, "She is so
beautiful. I would like to take her out of this whale and marry her."
So
he said to her, "I am
Raven. I made the world. Will you come with me into the world and be my
wife?"
The
maiden replied, "Raven, I
cannot leave the whale.
I am the heart and the soul of the whale. But if you want to stay here
and keep me company, that would make me happy."
Raven
threw back his beak,
revealing his human face.
He tossed back his wings and sat with his hands on his knees. He
watched the girl as she danced.
When
she danced quickly the
whale soared through the
water. When she danced slowly the whale floated calmly. Soon, the girl
danced so slowly that she stopped moving and her eyes closed. Raven
felt a cool wind from the world blow through the spout of the whale. He
thought again of taking the girl with him into the world. He felt human
desire. And, he forgot what she said.
Raven
pulled his beak back
down over his face and
covered his arms with his wings. He grabbed the girl. He heard the
strings snap as he flew with her out of the whale up into the sky.
As
he flew, Raven heard the
whale thrashing below in
the ocean. He watched the whale¹s body as it was tossed by the
waves
onto the shore. The whale was dead and the girl in his arms grew
smaller and smaller and disappeared.
Raven
realized that
everything that is alive has a
heart and a soul and everything in the world is born and dies. He was
overcome with great sorrow. He was so sad that he landed on the sand
beside the body of the whale. For weeks he cried and cried. Then Raven
began to dance. He danced for weeks. Then Raven began to sing. He sang
for weeks and weeks until his heart was soothed. Then he flew back up
into the sky.
He
promised the humans and
the animals that he would
always return to this world as long as we cared for one another and
understood that everything in this world lives and dies, and everyone
human and animal has a heart and a soul. Raven¹s tears were
the first
tears. His dance and his song of grief and healing were the first song
and the first dance.
