The Silent Library Presents
Big Raven Tales
Narrated by me Hubertus
Big Raven has been around since the beginning of time.
He's known so many people and he's been to all corners of the world.
He was in India in the times when the gods lived on the mountains.
He was in China when white rabbit arrived from the moon.
In Arizona he taught coyote how to fish.
and Big Raven even knows where Skunk got his scent.
Many Big Raven tales are funny as Big Raven can be full of mischief.
Sometimes Big Raven gets into trouble, but he usually wins in the end. But not always.
You probably know a Big Raven story, but then again, ALL stories belong to Big Raven.
And now... Episode 1 - The House Crows
A pyre of coal-eyed house crows lay burning in the fields outside of Red Village.
Passers-by on their way to the village were surprised to see the fires still raging.
Three days before, all the crows of Red Village, who never left the comfort of its winding stone streets, flew out of town
and gathered in a nearby sugar cane field.
The crows tore cane from the ground and made crow music by hitting the cane stalks together. Some crows had wide canes making deep tones.
Others had thin canes, making high tones. They sang along in their crow voices. Everyone knows only crows like crow music.
While drinking soma atop Tall Mountain, high above the cane field, Big Raven and his friend Ape were watching the crows dancing around the field
making their music. Ape held his hands over his ears and bore his teeth in pain from hearing the crows song. Men may dislike crow music,
but apes have a peculiar hatred of their squawking tune.
Big Raven dearly loved his friend and could not bare to see him suffer. Fortified with a belly filled with soma and a head filled with soma, Big Raven
looked to the heavens and had a thought.
At once, a great thunderbolt crashed upon the fields below causing the musical crows to catch fire. The crow music stopped and the world grew
silent once more. Big Raven frowned to see it happen, but when he saw Ape's face relax drinking his soma and eating his ripe bananas, he smiled.
"Did you do that Big Raven?", Ape asked.
"I think I did", said Big Raven.
"Could you not just bring them back and send the birds to a far off field? Must they die in such a terrible way?"
"I cannot", said Big Raven, "I must wait. I think there is something else happening here. Something that even I could not foresee"
The sickly sweet scent of sugar cane and burning feathers soon blew over Red Village.
The head of the village, ANET, which means leader, sent his son DURGA, meaning unattainable, to investigate the smell.
DURGA soon returned to the village and told his father what he had seen -- A burning pile of house crows as high as Ganesha's ears. While viewing
the terrible scene, Durga had spotted something catching the light at the edge of the pyre. He carefully approached and saw it was a feather of
shining stone. When he picked it up, it was strangely cool to the touch. He put the silver treasure in his pocket and headed home.
After relating the tale to his father, Durga gave the feather to him. Anet told him it must have fallen from a crow's tale and turned to silver
when the great thunderbolt struck the ground.
Being a good son, ANET(?) believed his father. Anet took the feather to the temple where it was placed on the alter on the East side of the room.
To honor, and be nearest to Tall Mountain, the place where the gods sat and saw all that happened below.
Durga placed sugar cane next to the silver feather and prayed to the gods that the house crows stayed away until the end of time.
At dusk, on the ninth day, the fires went out and the farmers cleared away the ashes. Even now the field lay silent and barren and not a single house
crow will set foot in Red Village.
As the fires went out below Tall Mountain, Ape asked Big Raven, "Why must the crows go?"
"They did not leave my friend", said Big Raven reaching beneath his raven coat. He showed Ape the single silver feather, he held it up and blew gently
upon it. The feather floated out as if it were light any other feather. It tilted back and forth in the breeze and in the blink of an eye
all the ash crows emereged from the feather, lively once more.
In a great spiral they flew up, one by one they circled the mountain. They began to sing as they dispersed in all directions, like the waves
of a pebble dropped in a pond. The two friends watched as the crows disappeared along the horizen as far as they could see.
"How far will they go", asked ape?
"Until they find their way home", said Big Raven as he handed Ape the flask of soma and leaned back against the mountain. Ape look puzzled,
but took the flask and leaned back next to Big Raven.
Breathing in the crisp fresh mountain air, Big Raven sighed and decided to take a nap.
Thank you for joining me for, "The House Crows -- Episode One of Big Raven Tales"
Far away from here, in Siberia, there stands a forest unlike any other in Russia. From outside the forest is filled with fine strong fir and pine trees, they stand guard over small cranberry and birch. But if one travels onward they’ll find something not usually found in the Russian wood. Hidden inside this great forest there grows a circle of fruit trees of all sorts - juicy pear, delightful buddha’s hand, crisp apples, tart cherries and yes - sweet juicy mangoes. The inhabitants of the forest and surrounding area all visit the grove to gather the fruit. When they arrive they greet each tree by name, bow, thank it by name again and pick the fruit. “Mango, thank you for sharing your fruit with me, I am grateful to you my friend”. The tradition of giving thanks to the trees goes back longer than anybody can remember. They know the names of all the trees except one. In the center of the forest is the tallest, lushest tree in the grove, its limbs sag heavy with deep reddish purple fruit that smells sweeter than any other in the grove. Whenever one walks through the forest they’re sure to see somebody staring at the tree but never taking its fruit for nobody knows the tree’s name. Now it’s not that the tree doesn’t have a name but that it’s name long has been forgotten by all those living in the forest. But some say there is one person who knows that tree’s name.
One day Fox was walking through the forest and saw Hare sitting staring up the Nameless tree.
“Hare, what exactly are you doing?” asked Fox.
“Oh, hello Fox!” replied Hare. “I am talking to the Nameless Tree. And I think that if I talk long enough to it, it would talk back to me and might tell me its name.”
“That will never work, Hare. There is only one way to find out the name of the tree. You must visit the old woman on the other side of the forest, the one they call Grandmother. And be sure to take her something to eat when you visit her.” said Fox.
“What should I take to Grandmother?” asked Hare.
“Most would take fruit from the trees from the hidden orchard but maybe you should take her something special” says Fox.
Fox stands and thinks a while and a plan begins to take shape in his clever mind. He will send a cake to Grandmother and then give her Hare as well. For, though he would never tell Hare, Grandmother is actually the witch Baba Yaga, well known for luring guest into her house and then baking their bones into soup. And that is why nobody’s ever returned with the name of the fruit tree. If he gives her Hare, not only would he be rid of the annoying little fuzzball but surely she would give him the name of the tree and he would be the first to taste it’s fruit.
“I will bake you a cake and you can take that to her. She is quite the cook herself so I’m sure she would appreciate something made fresh just for her” says Fox. “Stop by tomorrow morning on your way and I will have it ready for you.”
“Thank you, Fox, you’re a good friend. But Fox why won’t you come along with me to visit Grandmother and we can both find out the secret name of the tree and we can enjoy the fruit together.”
Fox stares up at the beautiful fruit of the Nameless Tree and thinks again - if he goes along with Hare he can make sure that Hare doesn’t mess up his plan.
“Okay, Hare, I will go with you to visit Grandmother. I shall bake a cake tonight and we can leave tomorrow morning and walk across the forest to Grandmother’s house.”
“Thank you Fox!” says Hare hopping away.
That night Fox bakes a cake using raspberries and lemons from the hidden grove. When he finishes, he makes a delicious frosting and frosts it with the words “Baba Yaga a tribute to you from Fox”. In the morning Hare stops at Fox’s house to pick him up and sees the cake. “What a beautiful cake you’ve made for Grandmother, Fox!” he says. “But what does it say on it? I can’t make out the words.”
“That’s because it’s written in an old language that Grandmother understands, my friend. She doesn’t read the language of the forest. It says - A gift to you from Fox and Hare.”
“Oh such a good idea, Fox!” says Hare.
The duo head down the path through the forest toward the Grandmother’s house. Hare hops several meters ahead of Fox, pausing occasionally to let him catch up. Fox whistled a song along the way.
Several hours later Fox says “Hare I think we should stop and rest for a bit, we’ve been on the road for a very long time.”
Hare turns to him with a frown. “Do we have to? I really want to get there Fox.”
“Yes Hare, we really need to rest for just a while, this is when I have my afternoon nap and I mustn't miss it.”
Sighing heavily Hare agrees and the two find a nice grassy spot beneath a mighty fir tree to rest. They share a water flask and then Fox quickly falls asleep. When Hare sees that he’s snoring he takes the cake box out and goes on the other side of the tree. He opens the box and looks down at the frosted letters on the cake. Hare does not want to take credit for making the cake. Since it was Fox’s idea to bring it he wants Fox to be the one to find out the Tree’s name and to be the first to taste the fruit. Hare stares at the frosted words. Using his paw he swipes off the letters he believes that say “hare” so it will read “A gift to you from Fox”. Little does Hare know he actually made it say “A gift to you a Fox”.
Meanwhile on the other side of the forest in a dimly lit kitchen atop an ancient butchers block a cleaver chops an onion, and a wooden spoon like a small oar stirs a pot of broth as two cole-black eyes look upon. And an iron tooth is framed in a crooked grin.
Back beneath the great fir tree Hare has packed up the cake and is pretending to nap. After an hour or so Hare can no longer wait, so he taps on Fox’s arm until he wakes up. An irritated Fox eventually gets up and the two head out again. They walk again for a very long time through the tunnel of trees before the forest path opens up and the branches littering the ground turn from green and leafy to brown and crunchy, to black and brittle and finally to pale white. Hare seems oblivious to the fact that the white branches are actually bones and he doesn’t flinch when he crushes the small skull of a robin. And he hopped happily over what he thought to be a large root crossing the path, which actually resembled nothing more than a large chicken’s foot.
Finally before them, atop a strangely shaped hill sits a small hut, seemingly older than the forest itself. They arrive at the gate in front of the house. Fox opens the gate and motions for Hare to go through.
“Thank you, Fox!” says Hare with a smile.
“Here Hare, you hold the cake, you can give it to her, it was your idea to visit her and you should be the one to hand it off.” says Fox grinning his sly Fox smile.
Fox steps in front of Hare, knocks three times short and two long on the door. Then he sneaks back behind him. After a moment he knocks again and once more returns to his second place in line.
“Patience! Patience!” says a voice muffled by a heavy door. The door opens and before them there is an old human woman, taller than Hare expected, bird-like, wide eyed like a surprised owl. Her mouth a thin line beneath her beakish nose.
“What have we here,” asks Grandmother “A young Hare with a box. What are you doing here Hare?”
“Oh it’s not just me Grandmother, Fox’s come to see you, too” says Hare, glancing over his shoulder.
Fox is standing a few feet back from Hare, smiling his big fox grin.
“Well then, two visitors, how nice. But my house is only big enough for one visitor at a time. So why don’t you stay out here Fox while Hare tells me what he’s after.”
“Oh no no!” says Hare “You should see Fox first, here Fox, you give her this, I’ll wait out here.”
“No Hare you first, I-I can’t.”
“Yes Hare, you come in, I can see Fox in a minute.” says Grandmother.
Hare looks back at Fox and then at the box and finally hops in behind Grandmother. She grins a steely grin at Fox when she shuts the door.
“Wait here Fox, you are next.”
Grandmother shows Hare to a rough hewn table and motions for him to sit.
“Grandmother, I have this for you, but really it’s not just mine to give.”
“Okay, let me see, my dear.” says Grandmother taking the box from Hare. She carefully lifts the lid and sees the writing in the frosting. “Oho, I see, I see! Clever! Such a clever bunny you are.”
Hare smiles and nods his head.
“In return will you share the name of the Nameless Tree?”
“Oooh so that’s why you come to visit. I see. Hmm.. Well, since you seem to have brought me a great tribute, I will give you the name of the Tree. I’ll write it on this piece of parchment and you can take it with you.”
Grandmother writes something down on a small piece of ancient paper, folds it and hands it to Hare.
“Now, you hold on to this until you get back to the grove. Don’t open it until you arrive. You must go now, and since you have left me such great tribute you may go home the fast way.” says Baba Yaga with an iron grin.
“But Grandmother, what about Fox?”
“Oh, I’ll take care of Fox, don’t you worry clever bunny. You run along, I’ll make sure he finds his way.”
Hare walks through the door, blinks and find himself in the middle of the road just outside the hidden tree grove. He looks down at his paw and sees the folded piece of paper. He shakes his head to try and clear it then hops down the path toward the Nameless Tree.
At the same time Fox is shaking his head as well, he’d been sitting and waiting impatiently to go inside the hut when he saw Hare take one step outside the door and vanish.
“Where is that bunny off to” he said to himself.
Now the front door opens and he turns to see the face of Grandmother smiling at him. But her face is changed, her mouth too big somehow, her eyes like pits of coal. She’s no longer the friendly Grandmother she seemed, she is Baba Yaga for sure. And Fox loses his nerve. “Come inside, Fox, I’m ready for you now. I think it’s nearly time for dinner.” says Baba Yaga.
He turns as he sees her and prepares to run when he hears the bell coming from inside the house. Just as he begins to realize that bell is in the hand of Baba Yaga his face relaxes. He grins slightly and completely forgets about Hare. He smiles at Grandmother as he enters the hut and heads towards the kitchen. As Baba Yaga shuts the door behind him, her house begins to shake as it’s uprooted from the ground by a pair of giant chicken legs rising from beneath it. The house begins to slightly spin atop the chicken legs as it rises to walk off into the great forest.
Back at the secret grove a large raven with a top hat flies over, watching Hare as he unfolds a piece of paper before the great unnamed tree. He listens as Hare tries his best to pronounce the word Grandmother wrote down on the page.”Greetings, Manga-Stani!” he says, bowing deeply to the tree. He then hops up and picked one of the lower hanging fruits and thanks the tree again.
The Raven caws three times from above, two times short and once long and he watches Hare take a bite from the reddish purple fruit and he smiles. He changes direction and flies towards the far side of the grove. As a Raven swoops down and greets the mango tree he wonders for a moment what happened to Fox, but only for a moment.