Sunday, January 31, 2010

A fable of old (1)

This story is about the anceint tribes of Dirka. They occupied the territories between the two great rivers, which were one, of the world. The rivers had the same origin and the same end, but in the middle they strayed from each other. Like two lovers matched in heaven and then set on their separate paths at birth until their destinies brought them together.
But that was not what was peculiar about the rivers. Legend has it that one, Gurchak, flowed upstream while the other, Gurcham, flowed downstream. The land between them was called Dirka or 'The eye of a Whirlpool'.
Each river served a divine purpose. Gurchak, the river that flowed upstream, was used for fishing or fish hunting. The fish, swimming against the current, was strong and was good meat. It is what these tribes of warriors fed on.
It was forbidden to fish-hunt in Gurcham, for the fish flowing harmlessly with the current were considered innocent. Gurcham was for disposing the head-less dead.
Dirka spread far and wide. With mountains, forests and gorges abundant. The people of this tranquil though, did not lead a tranquil lifestyle. They were warrior tribes who seldom made peace. During peace they prepared for war.
This story is about one such war between the Dun and the Hur and Mok tribes. Tribal custom had it that the daughter of the Chief was heir to the throne in Dirka. She was the law maker and law enforcer. Any man could aspire to be Chief. But in order to become Chief, he would have to bring to the Queen the head of the Chief of another tribe after having killed him a hand battle.
It ensured that the best warrior was always leading the army. And it provided the Queen with a man more manly than the last. This practice did not usually result in war. But not always.
The daughter of the Queen of the Mok tribe was probably the most beautiful woman in the land. It seemed as if the heavens had conspired to mock the earth by sending to earth a woman whose grace far outgraced the mountains, whose eyes would make the sun blink, whose face the lakes would be reflected in, whose voice the winds would fall silent for. And for whose hand, the Chiefs of all other tribes had doubled their ration of fish from Gurchak.
Her mother, the Queen, was old and would not last another two moons. And so the tribe of Mok would soon need a new Chief.
Rumours of her beauty spread throughout the land. Many men came to confirm these rumours and to win her hand. But the Chiefs of all the other tribes had been eating alot of the fish.
One young man, son of the Queen of Hur, though was resolute.
On the day of her crowning, a young man brought to the (to-be) Queen of Mok the head of the Chief of Hur, his own father. The tribe of Mok had gained a Queen and a Chief in one day after loosing her mother the night before.
The Queen of Hur, though aware of the peculiarity of the situation had embraced her new position of seeking-Chief and at the same time, due to the inter-marriage between the ruling households of the Mok and Hur tribes, she declared a treaty and an alliance between the two. History was made in Dirka.
How, then, did the war begin between Dun and the Mok-Hur alliance?

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