How the Sun was Rescued

HOW THE SUN WAS RESCUED

A Siberian folk tale adapted by Gabriele Sass
Copyright 2005 Gabriele Sass

In distant days of ages past
An arctic darkness reigned
Across the tundra, icy blasts
Concealed a harsh terrain

The sun lay veiled beneath the earth
Where Evil Spirits roamed
Lay in a bowl, the fiery hearth
And warmed a wicket home

The tundra dwellers, birds and beasts
Found food by touch alone
And stumbled north, south, west and east
Through light-less worlds unknown

“We cannot live in lasting night”,
Said creatures great and small
“We must assemble and must fight,
Bring home the fire ball”

And so it was, one sunless day
They called a council grand
And envoys came from far away
From all across the land

A wise old Raven spoke his mind
“The sun lies in a cave.
Let’s send the Polar Bear to find,
He is quite strong and brave”

“Yes, yes, the Polar Bear is strong,”
The crowd of creatures roared
“No, no,” the Owl cried  “He’s all wrong,
He’ll wander and explore”

“And when he finds a bite to eat,
His kind will have their fill
Forget the mission, go to sleep
Lay snoring, quite and still”

“Hear, hear,” the animals agreed
And Raven then proposed:
“The wolf is fastest on his feet
And has a better nose”

The crowds found this a splendid choice
And screamed a wild hurrah
The Owl, however, came to voice
His absolute dismay

“The Wolf is greedy as you know
Will eat some deer, then rest
Upon the tundra’s powdered snow
Forget about his quest”

This was quite true, one must admit
All creatures argued loud
Who could be fit, who had the wit?
When suddenly the crowd

Could hear a tiny peeping voice
A Mouse who meant to share
“That above all the better choice
Was Quick ‘n Fast, the Hare”

“He leaps and skips, he hops and runs
And is a selfless soul
He’ll bring us back the fire sun,
Which Evil Spirits stole”

The vote was cast and all agreed
The Hare went on his way
He was the quickest on his feet
And left that very day

A Dismal darkness, gloomy night
Spread silently the plain
As Hare ran wildly lacking sight
Through ice entombed terrain

Days went past in doom-filled terror
Hare had wandered far away
‘Till one day he saw a narrow
Crevice, through which sunlight rays

Like a lovely luminescence
Touched the earth above the ground
Could it be the fire’s essence?
Could this be the sunball round?

Creeping closer to the hollow
Ear lobes pricked up in the air
Mr. Hare could spy the fellows
Robed in lavish deer skins fair

Evil Spirits roasting dinner
By the sun inside its bowl
Feasts were set in pots to simmer
Living easy was the goal

Carefully the Hare crept closer
Hid in shadows by the bowl
Keeping low his whole exposure
Daring  not to lose control

And a timely moment later
Hare was seen with sun in tow
Took a leap out of the crater
On his heels the Evil Foes

“Catch the thief,” the spirits bellowed
Chased the Hare and made him run
Came quite close to catch the fellow
Who was stealing back the sun

Hare now panicked, kicked the fire
And the ball broke into two
One flew skyward to retire
And became the silver Moon.

Evil snatching at the sunlight
Hare now kicked the other one
It flee skyward and shone brightly
And became the golden Sun

Now the earth was always lighted
Sun by day and Moon by night
All the creatures were excited
‘Cause the world it was just right.