The Mother River by Austin Mitchell - HTML preview

The Mother River

by Austin Mitchell

 

Once, hundreds of years ago, there was a great river. It

was called the Mother river. Some said that it was in the north

of the island, others said that it was in the middle of the island,

but others disagreed, saying that it was in the west. Although it

was known as the Mother river, people called it the magic

river, the golden river and many other names. One of the main

villages the river passed through was reportedly called

Dunklet. The people of Dunklet worshipped the river. They

depended for their very lives on this river. They bathed, swam

and caught fishes in its waters. They often wondered at the size

of the fishes they caught. They were so big and juicy. They

used its waters to irrigate their fields. From their fields they

got the finest crops. Nobody in Dunklet went hungry as there

was always lots of food to go around.

But there was a reason why the river was also called the

Magic river. Whenever it rained, and the river became flooded,

a lot of precious metals and stones were washed upon its

banks. These the people used to fashion into all kinds of

jewelry to be worn by both men and women. People wondered

where these precious metals came from. Some of them even

tried to find the river head, but got lost and had to turn back.

The first village chief, realizing how valuable this river was

to his people appointed a man named Tull as the caretaker of

the river. Together, he and Tull fashioned out certain rules

concerning the people and the river.

The people were not to dump their refuse in the river, they

were not to dig in the river or its banks looking for precious

metals. They were also not the sell the precious metals.

Some of the people were dissatisfied with the village

chief, Abucadizer and Tull’s ruling. At a meeting in the village

a week later, a man called Neddy got up and asked.

“They are people willing to give us good money for the

precious metals. Why stop us from selling it and making

money?”

A young girl, Yashimaje, remarked.

”We need things to fix up ourselves. We can’t eat the

jewelry.”

But Abucadizer told them that it was the will of the

gods that they not sell the jewelry they found in the river.

Several of the villagers including Neddy and Yashimaje

left the meeting dissastisfied.

Just like how people wondered

when the river came from they were also wondering where it

went when it left the village. They found out that it escaped

into some canyons. Some people believed that after it left the

canyons it went underground and into the sea.

The river also had healing qualities and people came

from far and near to bathe in its waters. Some of the villages

including a man called Lud, a woman called Selmaje and

another young girl named Taroona were dissatisfied with what

was happening. They said that all outsiders should pay to

bathe in the river. However Abucadizer disagreed and said

that the gods would be angry with them if they prevented

people from bathing in the river.

After people like Abucadizer and Tull died others took

their places. But persons from far away lands had heard about

this river and the precious stones that were believed to be in it.

They came in droves. At first they talked to the new

chief, Balcome, but he refused to let them mine the river.

Some of his own people, including Neddy, Yashimaje and

Taroona tried to persuade him to negotiate with the

newcomers but he refused.

But these men were determined to claim the precious

metals they heard was lying at the bottom of the Mother river.

One night with the aid of their friends they raided the village

killing several villiagers including Balcome. They stole all the

precious metals from the survivors and the dead.

They spent the following days digging up the river and its banks, gloating over the precious metals they found. The surviving villagers soon realized the mistake they had made in helping these men to kill Balcome and steal their jewelry. When they told them that the gods would punish them for digging up the river, they laughed and ran them away from them.

A month later when they thought they had mined all the

precious metals, there was to be had, they woke up the next

morning to find the river gone! It was just dry earth they

found! When they went to pack up their bags of precious

metals, it was just ordinary stones they found! Suspicions

immediately fell on the villagers but only their friends were

there as all the others had vanished overnight.

They decided to search all the villages to find the escapees from Dunklet. But to this day they never found the people from Dunklet and the Mother river never returned. People like Neddy, Taroona and Yashimaje went to nearby villages seeking shelder but word has already gone out that had connived with the strangers in what had happened in Dunklet. They thererefore had go to far away places to seek shelter. The miners returned home empty handed. Many people believed that those who fled Dunklet that night might have gone to another part of the island. Legend has it that they found another magic river down there but this has never been

proven.

 

The End.