a folk tale from Mountain -Gilgit Baltistan
During summers, I used to sleep with grandmother out in the open air. I was little and grandma took me in her lap and told me stories. The night air was pleasant to breath, being heavy with the scent of flowers that had sprouted out in our little garden. On a clear night sky, as was the case when we decided to sleep outside, the glittering stars, the dark sky, and, occasionally, the moon were wonders to me. I was new to the world, so everywhere I looked, nature did not fail to amaze me. Upon whatever I set eyes, I discovered. Such were the good, old, innocent days.
On one such night in the lap of Grandma, before falling into the realm of sweet dreams, I glanced up into the sky and got lost in its beauty and wonder. Eyes widened, mind raced and thoughts jumbled in a joyous swirl. For one split second, my innocence seemed to behold the Creator in his creation. It was only when a kind hand started thumping my little head, did I realize my presence with grandma.
“Wow, grandma, look!” I pointed up into the sky. “There are a lot of stars there. They make a group.”
She looked and smiled.
“That is the path of the Bull and the Horse.” She spoke in the sweet voice of hers, which I always associated with wisdom and antiquity. But when she uttered those words, I was perplexed. She then traced the cluster of stars from behind the Eastern Mountain, to the Western.
Certainly, it was a path, I observed, but one could not understand how it was taken by two huge animals without falling down onto the earth. I said so.
She then explained that it was a very, very long time ago when all beings could talk and were able to perform miracles; running across the sky being one of them. She then went on with the story.
It so happened one day that the proud Horse, being so vain of its speed, challenged the stout Bull for a race. The Bull was humble, yet had a resolute will. It accepted the challenge of racing the horse from one end of the Heavens to the other. So, on the appointed day, the two met at the rendezvous place up in the Heavens to decide who was the faster of the two.
When the race began the Horse sped past the bull like lightning and disappeared into the misty cosmos, while the Bull began slowly.
The Horse saw the Bull lag behind and knew it was to be the victorious. But it did not anticipate correctly the vastness of the Heavens. The Horse tried its best, but couldn’t maintain the speed with which it had begun the race. Thus getting really tired the Horse had to stop at many places, taking a nap here, stopping for a drink there. Finally, after what seemed like an aeon, the Horse realized that the end was near. Still confident of its victory, the Horse happily trotted towards the end, for it did not see the Bull anywhere near him. So naturally, it thought that the Bull was miles behind. Upon reaching the end, however, the Horse was dumbstruck by what it saw there. The Bull was already there before him! The humble, resolute Bull had won the race!
But this wasn’t to be the end of the story. It so happened that the bull and the horse weren’t the only beings interested in this race. The Creator had witnessed all of it from start to finish and He was impressed by the Bull’s character. Therefore, he decorated that path with stars to honor the Bull’s victory.
That path is still there, and it reminds mankind that humility, a strong will, and persistence always triumph over natural ability, talent, and overconfidence in the long run.
Towards the end, I was hearing grandma say; “What we are witnessing up there is not just a group of jumbled stars, but a divine lesson embedded in those celestial objects as well.”
When she finished the story a peaceful silence fell upon me and I went into the realm of Dreams. This time, I saw a huge Bull running across the sky. It resembled a giant bird, beautiful in color and happily soaring. Wherever it stepped majestic stars were made and lit up the universe with a brilliant light.
