| Spanish Essay, Research Paper
The Gift of the Goddess Moon
In a very remote time the Gods and the Goddesses lowered from the sky to enjoy the beautiful territories of the Indian Guaranies, with their thick forests, great rivers of clear waters and full meadows of flowers.
One of these celestial visitors was the Moon Goddess who came very frequently, always during the day. Her companion was the Cloud Goddess. In order to freely walk by the fields and the forests without anyone recognizing them, the Goddesses took the form of two Indians Guaranies.
The Goddesses were so happy gathering beautiful flowers in the forest that they forgot the night approached. Suddenly, when the dark shadows covered the Earth, the Moon Goddess exclaimed:
–We must return right now to the sky or I will arrive late for my duties!
–One moment more requested the Cloud Goddess. I see some very pretty white orchids there and I want a bouquet to take to the sky.
They walked rapidly towards the orchids when suddenly they gave a shout of terror. In front of the girls appeared a tiger, the biggest they had seen in the land. It s eyes were brilliant and it had it s very big mouth open. The goddesses were so frightened that they forgot to change their Indian forms to their celestial forms.
The tiger, giving a strong roar, jumped towards the girls, ready to devour them. But, to the surprise of the two, an arrow drove into his body and the animal fell to the ground, bellowing with great shouts for the pain of his wound.
In that moment, an old Guarani with his bow and arrow emerged from his hiding place from behind a tree.
–Run! he shouted to the goddesses. Run to save your lives!
But the goddesses, paralyzed by fear, were as immobile as the trees that surrounded them.
Suddenly the tiger rested on his injured paw and jumped again toward the women, but the old man fired another arrow and it drove into the heart of the animal who fell mortally wounded.
–It is dead and now there is nothing to be afraid of said the old Guarani, looking toward the place where he had seen the two women. But there was no trace of them. When seeing themselves free of danger, the goddesses took their celestial forms and rapidly rose up to the sky.
As the night extended its black cloak upon the forest and meadows, the Indian climbed a tree to spend the night in. Satisfied by his good deed, the Indian could deeply sleep. And it happened that in his dreams he saw the figure of a woman with brilliant eyes like two stars that he had seen before in the woods. He also heard her clearly say:
–I am the goddess of the moon, protector of the good people. Putting your life at risk, you have fought valiantly to save my life and the life of my companion, the Cloud Goddess.
The Indian, surprised, wanted to say something, but was not able to. The goddess continued speaking to him.
–The good men always receive a reward for their noble actions. You will receive yours because your goodness and your valor deserve it.
–What will be my reward? asked the Indian, while looking at his guardian goddess. The answer was not made to hope because the deity continued:
–In this forest there will be born for you and for your village a very useful plant that you will take good care of called yerba mate. When the leaves turn brown you can prepare a tea that serves as food for all of those that are hungry. It also quenches the thirst of all who drink it. You will find this plant tomorrow in the place where I visited during the day.
With this said, the goddess disappeared. What a strange dream! said the Indian when he woke the next day.
He got down from the tree, and hurried to the place indicated by the goddess and there a beautiful new plant, with brilliant, green leaves, appeared before his eyes.
The old man gathered some leaves and carried them to town where he recounted the story to the tribe and showed the reward the Moon Goddess had given to them.
At once, the Indians roasted the leaves over the fire and prepared the tea. Quickly it calmed the hunger and the thirst, like the goddess had promised.
That same night, the Indians knelt down on the earth and, raising their faces to the sky, gave thanks to the Moon Goddess for the marvelous gift of the yerba mate.
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