A folktale from Peru, retold for www.ecokidsplanet.com
When she was born, her mother looked into her eyes and saw that
they sparkled.
“She is called Collyur – morning star,” said her mother. Collyur
grew happy and strong in her village home, high in the mountains of Peru.
But that was a long time ago. Now her Mother was crying;
Collyur had disappeared and no one had seen her for days.
***
In a cold mountain stream, lived a little frog. As she grew
from an inky black tadpole, she noticed she was different – one of her legs was
longer than the other. Her brothers and sisters teased and laughed at her so Frog
would swim upstream to hide her tears from them.
Frog sat in shady waters near the gaping mouth of a cave. It
was Condor’s cave and he swooped in and out on his great black wings each and
every day. But Condor did not live alone. As night turned to day and the
morning star appeared over the mountains, a young girl left the cave, carrying
vicuna skins which she would begin to beat into blankets. There was a long
sinew of rope around her ankle that kept her tied close to Condor’s cave. Frog
could see tears glistening in the girl’s eyes and saw that whenever Condor flew
over, the girl would wipe the tears away so he would not see her cry.
“She is like me; we are sisters,” thought Frog.
One day, Frog heard the girl and Condor talking.
“I must wash my clothes. Let me down to the stream.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Condor croaked “You will run away
and I will have no one to serve me.”
“You will be able to hear me beat my clothes against the
rocks. I could not escape.”
“Ok, but if I
cannot hear the beat of your washing for even a second, I will swoop down and
you will be punished!” he rasped.
And so the rope was loosened and the girl ran down to the
stream.
“Hey! Hey! Girl! Over here!” Frog shouted.
Collyur turned and saw a little frog with one long leg.
“Let me help you. I will beat your clothes so he will not
realised you have escaped.”
“Why would you help me little frog?” she asked in amazement.
“Why wouldn’t I help someone in pain?”
So Frog climbed out of the stream and took Collyur’s clothes
in the toes of her long leg and with all of her strength, the tiny frog began
to beat the clothes against the rock.
“Run sister! Run!” Frog
cried.
Collyur paused, smiled and kissed the little frog on the
forehead and then she turned and ran as far and as fast as she could down the
mountains and back to her village.
***
Condor could no longer hear the sound of his prisoner
cleaning her clothes. Furious, he flapped his wings and soared down to the
stream. His keen eyes looked here and there, but all he could see was the
shadow of a long-legged frog swimming through the water.
Frog returned to her home. When she arrived her brother and
sisters stared in wonder, for where Collyur had kissed her there was now a
shining jewel. Frog felt a swelling of pride and joy in her heart. Her brothers
and sisters never teased her again.
Back in the village, Collyur’s mother sat weeping. Just
before sunrise as the night drew back her cloak, Collyur appeared at the door.
Her face was stained with tears, but her eyes glistened with joy.
“My morning star!”cried her mother. They embraced and sobbed
and laughed and Collyur told them the whole story.
And from that day to this, the people of that village leave
tiny frog statues by the streams and on the mountain tops to thank the
long-legged Frog and ask for her help in all that they do.
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