Because Doliger is young and naive, he has a few assumptions which Garutan has to work out of him. In the process, and over a few days' meals, Garutan relates the story of the forefather of falconry, a demi-god named Vendak. There were several siblings, along with Vendak, who were given gifts to speak to certain parts of the world and help them flourish: beasts, the land, the air (weather) etcetera. Vendak was given the ability to talk to the birds. His siblings wanted him, along with them, to use the ability to help men fight wars against one another, but Vendak refused. Perceiving his actions as weakness, they chained him high in the Endolin mountains and left him to die. The story picks up at this point:
“Though the siblings had gotten rid of the forefather, the art of falconry continued among men. Often they wondered where their teacher had gone, but they continued in the ways he had taught them, at least for a time. As is often the way of men, their methods became corrupted. They taught their falcons to carry messages; then they used them to carry messages in war. Soon they taught them to fight in war. Within two generations, Vendák was forgotten by men.”
Doliger gathered the empty plates and took them outside to scrub them with snow. Garutan stoked the fire a little more, settling the logs and adding several from the box. When Doliger came back, Garutan was still seated in a shadowed red glow before the fire; Doliger set the plates aside and took his own seat further in the darkness that had descended on the cabin. The wind was picking back up outside, and the lone window occasionally rattled with its force.
“Though man had forgotten Vendák, the birds had not. One breed – the Humri – could manage the high altitudes of Vendák’s imprisonment, and daily brought him food and water. They were unable to free him, for the chains would daunt even men; but they could keep him alive until fate could bring a change.
“Below, the fates of men continued to spiral downward: a great war began, pitting brother against brother. Streams and rivers ran red; death waited in daylight and in midnight. The great warriors who had once fought for order and justice were felled by arrows from the bows of peasants and thieves. Even the siblings fought one another, bringing death to beast, to sky, and to land.”
In the crimson-edged silhouette, Garutan’s head sank to his chest in thought. Doliger sat with arms folded on the table, waiting for him to continue, until his deep, even breaths told Doliger that sleep had come. With a quiet sigh, Doliger arose and undressed silently, crawling into bed in anticipation for the next morning.
He awoke again to Garutan’s call, but proceeded without instruction in his duties. As Garutan prepared breakfast, he continued as if he had never left off.
“There were those who tried to escape the wars: whole groups of men devoted to the God, who could not find a way to stop the wars and so sought wisdom in isolation. One monk traveled deep into the Endolin regions, hoping in the most remote place, the place farthest from men, he might find wisdom untainted by men. What he found was Vendák: chained, broken, and under-fed, but alive. The pins holding the chains to the mountain slope had weathered, and the monk was able to pull them free. Over several days, and with continued help from the Humri birds, the monk was able to bring Vendák to the lower regions, and to feed him and bring him back to vitality.
(After this, Vendak pursues vengeance against both his siblings, and his parents who allowed the siblings to do what they had done. A small measure of peace is brought back to mankind, and Vendak dedicates Humri Island to the birds that helped him. To this day, the Humri bird cannot be tamed, because Vendak promised they would never be forced to work for man.)
See you Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment