Do you want to know how evil came into our world? Well, I have a great story to tell you.
A long long time ago, before the world we knew existed, when our planet was mostly covered in water, there was a small little island right at its center.
It was a funny little island, shaped like a perfect circle, and on it lived three funny people. I don’t mean funny ha-ha, but strange. Even mysterious. No one knows where they came from. They didn’t know themselves. But what they did know was that they were tired of living on their small circular island.
Atum was the oldest, and he had the loudest voice. This was important, because these strange, mysterious people knew a magic language. When they told stories in this magic language, the things they described came to be. So Atum, in his deep, booming voice, told a story about land. He described enormous chunks of land, covering the planet. They would all be of different shapes and sizes. Some would be rocky, some would have caves and some would have pointy mountains. And so, he created the continents.
Shu, was the youngest, but she had the most beautiful voice. This was important, because when she spoke, Atum had to stop and listen. She decided that Atum had created enough land. Boring old brown land. So she used their magical language and told a story to spruce this world up a bit. She talked about green grass, tall trees, blue lakes and rivers. She described colorful flowers and fruits. She told of wonderful, beautiful animals. And so, she created our flora and fauna.
There was still a lot more to create but Atum and Shu decided to call it a day. They decided they would come back to this small, circular island once a month to create anything else they might need. Thrilled with the world they had created, they ran off to explore it, leaving Min behind.
Min did not have the loudest or the most beautiful voice. He was shy, so he spoke softly. He liked to think, so he spoke slowly. He got nervous, so he sometimes had a lisp. But no matter, he would use their magical language next month and create something of his own. Maybe something that could fly. Maybe something with stripes.
But month after month passed, and Min never got a chance. Atum and Shu would talk over him. Sometimes shush him. Finally, they told him he didn’t have what it takes. The magical language wouldn’t work for him. He wasn’t creative enough. Wasn’t loud enough. His words were weak.
Angry and hurt, Min decided to tell them a story they couldn’t ignore. It was an awful thing, filled with chaos and rage. He described all the bad things that would happen in their world, disease, war, slaughter and mayhem. When the telling was done, Atum and Shu were scared. They apologized.
“Your words are not weak. You can help us create if you want,” they said. “But what you told just now – that was dreadful. It didn’t sound good at all. We don’t want that in our new world. Take it back. Call that story back.”
But sadly, it was too late. Already regretting his outburst, Min tried and tried to call back his words. But it didn’t work. He couldn’t take it back. For once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is set loose in the world.
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Sharing my version of Leslie Silko’s story about how evil came into our world was a very dynamic experience for me. It was impossible to be verbatim and I noticed that I would automatically modulate my inflection and tone according to the listener at the time.
I came up with this version with children in mind and my first listeners were an eight and nine year old. It was interesting because they made a lot of interruptions – asking for back-stories (How did they come to the island? Why was the island a circle?) and character motivation (What did Min want to create? Why didn’t they like him?) Their questions actually led me to add to my story. One or two details I added were actually their invention. Sharing the story with adults was different – my parents listened in silence till the end, I didn’t have to work as hard to keep their attention.
When I shared the story with a friend of mine, (who had taken the same ‘Religion in Ancient Egypt’ class at UBC as I had), she immediately recognized the names in my story were borrowed – from one version of the ancient Egyptian creation myths (See pages 81-83.) But the gods Atum, Shu, Min are quite different in my story. This got me wondering about how authorship worked in oral storytelling. At the end of all his stories, Thomas King says “Take it, it’s yours. Do with it what you will,” (29). So who do oral stories belong to? The storyteller? Or the listener?
WORKS CITED
King, Thomas. The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative. Toronto, ON: House of Anansi, 2003. Print.
Leeming, David Adams, and Margaret Adams Leeming. “Egyptian Creation.” A Dictionary of Creation Myths. New York: Oxford UP, 2009. Oxford Reference. Web. 24 Jan. 2015.
Hi Tarana,
Thanks for sharing your story! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially took note on the fact that Shu and Atum did not want to listen to Min’s story. But because it was a strong and captivating story, it caught the attention of these two. This is important to me because it sheds light on the fact that some stories are ignored because they are not as strong as others. Is this a bad thing? I don’t think so. In fact, I think all stories are strong. It is almost bothersome that a book like “The Hunger Games” can catch so much attention because of it’s violent and surreal setting. Meanwhile on the other hand, many books in genres such as biographies are looked passed. While I understand that books need to be captivating for their audiences to sell, I think that all stories are important. Whether they are interesting to you or not is not significant. Each story is it’s own and is special in it’s own way. While I may not see the importance of a story about some regular Joe’s life, you may read it and take much more out of it. To answer your question, I think that the oral story is both the listener and the tellers. It is just as much the listeners as it is the tellers because the listener takes what he or she will from it and allows it to affect or relate to his or her own, individual life. I never thought of stories or books as being weaker than others, but thanks to your post it sheds light on the reality of things and how certain stories are perceived as weaker than others. Thanks again!
Jessica P
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for the feedback! You’re quite right – it seems like people are drawn to stories of violence and tragedy. It’s kind of like driving past a terrible accident; everyone’s straining to catch a good look. To be honest, I really enjoyed reading the first ‘Hunger Games’ novel – I think it was because it gave me a safe space to imagine how I would react if I faced such atrocious, life-and-death situations. So it was sort of a disturbing yet enlightening read. I was also just plain curious when I read the summary. (I mean, a bunch of kids forced to fight each other to the death…for entertainment – what would that even look like?) I think since stories often help us deal with the unknown, it makes sense we’d be drawn to stories like this.
I do agree with you that some stories just aren’t heard and this makes me wonder why and how certain stories circulate much more easily and manage to grip the collective imagination. Thanks again for your comments!
🙂
Hi Tarana,
Fantastic story! Like Jessica mentioned, I love this idea of hierarchy between the storytellers. I think what Atum and Shu does happens way too often in real life. Not only did I read this as a great creation story, but I also read it as a cautionary tale, and a reminder for us to listen to the smaller voices around us.
It’s interesting that the kids you told this story to asked so many questions. I didn’t find myself invested in characters that had just been introduced, so I was perfectly okay with the abstraction. I want to say that my mind can subconsciously fill in the gaps with my own imagination, but I’m not sure that’s true.
I wonder if, as adults now, we’ve lost that sense of curiosity and involvement in these stories. For my own story, my 18-year-old sister seemed incapable of taking my story at surface level and explore it with questions. Instead, she seemed to be looking for a lesson I’m trying to teach her, or some deep metaphor I’m trying to cleverly disguise.
Hi Florence,
Thanks for your insightful comments! It’s funny but when I was creating the story, I didn’t consciously mean it to be a reminder to listen to other voices, but it certainly works! It’s fascinating how alternate meanings can be found in any narrative, even if they were unintended. It really makes me aware of how powerful stories are. You raise an interesting thought there at the end. My 17-year-old sister had a similar non-reaction. She didn’t get the story; she wanted me to just tell her what the ‘moral’ was. (However, I think this was mostly because she hadn’t paid attention, she was watching something on youtube.) But I don’t know if we can just chalk it up to being an adult, I think it really depends on person to person…
Hi Tarana,
I think its interesting what happens to a story when you retell it. For me I struggled with the first telling but as I got more confident with the story you can relax and tell it the way you think it should be told…a little emphasism here and/or a softer tone there. You can really manipulate what you wish the audience to pay attention to with your behaviour. I really enjoyed your story. I have two easy questions for you:
Why did they feel they had to go back to the island to continue creating the new world around them?
how did they react to a story that wasn’t in a book or on a screen supported by colurful visuals?
Thanks for a great story!
Stuart Fleming
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for reading! To answer your questions, I had the three characters return to their island each month to create a sense of ceremony. That little island was their first home, it was where they first began creating, it sort of made sense to me that they would consider that place sacred and return. Also I thought it made sense logistically, it’d be easier for the three to meet at a place they all knew.
As for the second question – do you mean how my audience reacted or the characters themselves? For the former, I tried to make the story stimulate their senses so that even without visuals, they could ‘see’ the continents being created in their mind. The imagery seemed to work all right for most of them. I also think it helped that the story is so familiar to many of us – we’ve all felt ignored or rejected like Min was and I think this helped my audience connect to the story.
Hi Tarana!
Great story!
I think, much like a child, I have difficulty focusing on the bigger picture and often get sidetracked by little tid-bits of information. The first thing I did as soon as I got to the name “Atum” was google its origins and boy, did that ever lead me on an exploration into deities from Egyptian Mythology! Even without the use of a hyperlink, the use of such interesting names sent me into a search to know more! So thank you, for adding such an element of richness to your story.
To answer your question regarding who stories belong to (the storyteller, or the listener), I personally think the story belongs to both the storyteller and the listener, if the listener is to become the storyteller. While the story is being told, it is the teller who owns it and gives it slowly to the listener. The listener can choose to take it as is, and allow the storyteller’s power to remain over the story OR the listener can alter parts of it, taking some ownership of it and how it will be told later. I think, it is the process of making the story yours that gives you ownership of the story. I hope that answer makes sense! I read your story earlier, and write this to you now after returning from a groggy little snooze. Thanks again for sharing your great story!
Hi Shamina,
Thanks for answering my question! I liked how you suggested that the listener has a choice – to take the story as is or alter parts of it to suit them. I suppose how the listener interprets the story also factors into this. And I’m really glad you enjoyed exploring ancient Egyptian mythology! Its truly fascinating stuff given it’s the best-documented and longest spanning ancient religion. Plus its influence can still be traced in some of our religious myths today. Thanks again for the feedback!
A great re-telling and interesting reflections and questions – thanks 🙂