H U G O' S L I T E R A R Y U N I V E R S E
Kids section: Short Stories and Rhymes
THE SPIRIT OF THE VOLCANO
"One of those evenings --very rare nowadays in Mexico City—on which the skies are blue and there is no pollution in the air, I headed, worried, to Mr. Aureliano’s house. Mr. Aureliano was, more than an old man, a man who had seen everything. His hair was white and dense, he had a big white moustache, and the wrinkles on his face were more than I could count. He wasn’t very tall, he had a big belly that evoked delicious and abundant meals, and walked, if slowly, still firmly. He liked to sit on afternoons, on a chair just outside his house, to enjoy some fresh air and watch people pass by. And that’s how he had spent the last years of his life: watching life pass. That is why, I headed that afternoon to the porch of his house to pose to him the question that troubled me so much."
--Good afternoon, Mr. Aureliano, --I said when I found him on his chair, as every afternoon.
--Hello, young man, --he answered with a smile, and I noticed he opened a bit his little blue eyes to greet me—How have you been?
--Fine, thank you –I answered timidly --. Excuse me, Mr. Aureliano, may I ask you something?
--Of course, son, what is it?
--Well, nothing, Mr. Aureliano, its just that since this morning I have seen that black smoke, coming up from there, and it’s not air pollution since the sky is so blue. Do you know what it comes from? Look, it’s very black, much more than any other smoke I had seen.
--Oh, the smoke, --he said to me, laughing—it comes from the volcano, from the Xitle (the name of the volcano).
--Can the volcano erupt? I always thought it was inactive!
--No, young man, no--he said to me, trying to calm me down--. The smoke comes from inside the volcano, but it’s not its smoke. It’s an ancient story. Would you like to listen to it?
--Yes Mr. Aureliano, -- I said with surprise and disbelief at the same time--. I like your stories.
Mr. Aureliano sighed deeply and nostalgically, as someone who evokes nice memories from his childhood, and started to tell his tale.
"Many years ago, so many that I can’t remember the number, we used to watch from this town of San Miguel Ajusco, how clouds of that black smoke came out of the Xitle. But there was no lava or eruptions or earthquakes. And for days it kept coming out in such quantities, that the air of our town started to burn our throats and to make breathing difficult. So serious the situation became that we decided to conduct an investigation, and the local assembly decided to send a young man to the volcano to report back on his findings. And of course, such task was entrusted to me. But don’t think that I was entrusted with it because I was strong or brave. It’s just that I didn’t attend the meeting, and since none of the neighbors would want to go, it seemed easy for them to pick me."
"So I took a staff and headed, through the woods, to the volcano. The road was difficult, there was much vegetation and animals everywhere. I walked many hours before I reached the rim of the crater. After climbing up the last rocks, I leaned on and looked into it. What I saw then, made the fear I already felt become panic: among the rocks I could see the body of a serpent, with brown, green and golden scales. Its legs and feet had sharp claws and showed strong muscles that would help it to use the claws in the best way. The tail and the head were ornamented with blue, red and yellow feathers. It was, truly, a feathered dragon that blew very black smoke out of its nose. I stood there for a while, looking at it, and even though I was afraid of it, I thought it was beautiful."
"Suddenly, the dragon turned its head to where I was standing and looked at me with its eyes, which were turquoise colored. It asked me: --Who are you? What are you doing here?—Its voice was hoarse and deep."
"I didn’t know what to answer, and I thought that if it hadn’t been for the rocks that were scratching me and for the burning in my eyes, I could have believed it be a dream."
--My name is Aureliano, --I answered, after brief moments, bringing myself to be brave. And in the middle of that, I decided to try to run away from the danger. But I had to be careful--. I came to meet you, --I said to it--.
--Those who once knew me, have forgotten me, --it answered.
--I have come so that you are not forgotten again.
"I jumped over the rocks on the rim of the crater and looked at it, trying not to hesitate. I started by asking it about its origins, and it, surprised, told me its story. It had broken the eggshell he was inside of at a time when this land was inhabited by indigenous, ancient people. When it grew up a little, it explored the villages nearby several times with disastrous results. Crushed houses and people, fires everywhere, and a great feeling of loneliness were the consequences of such visits. Nevertheless, there was something he started to like. Among cries of fear and anger, and the smell of burned wood that was left where it has gone past, it started to notice that its scales became golden. As the damages and the suffering of the people increased, its body covered more and more with a bright golden color. That’s why it visited all the villages in the area, and spread destruction all over our land. To do evil would please him because that made it look beautifully golden."
"As I listened to such story, I wanted to slowly go back on my footsteps, so I could run away as fast as I could as soon as possible. When it saw me moving, the dragon, instead of killing me off, said to me: —I have lost part of my beauty. I will visit your village at dawn."
"I went back to the village and told the assembly what I had seen. It was a great danger, no doubt, and they discussed for a long time about what had to be done. Again, it was decided to choose someone to face and distract the dragon, while the local authorities evacuated the village, because it was not known how to face such threat. They chose me for it because I had been able to establish a dialogue with it and we needed to gain time, but I did not know exactly what to do."
"We had less than twelve hours to do something to prevent the dragon from bringing destruction to our village. So I went to visit my grandfather and told him about what had happened asking for a solution. I was desperate. It was then when my grandfather rose up and slowly walked towards a big trunk he had at his bed’s feet. He opened it and brought out an object that immediately gave to me."
--This mirror will make it face itself. You must make sure it looks at its own face on the mirror. God will tell you at that moment what you must tell the dragon, ---my grandfather said, who he was a man of great wisdom and experience--.
"I had little sleep that night. I had to face the dragon at dawn, before it would hurt anybody. I was afraid, but it was my duty to protect my people. Thinking of this, I got up, got dressed, and I went to the village’s church, hoping to find among the images of saints and of the Virgin, the courage I needed to execute this task. I asked God to grant me the gift of doing the right thing at the right time."
"I was at the church for about two hours. When the first sunrays began to light up the hills, I came out with the mirror in my hands and hope in my soul. I headed towards the border of the village, where one could see the Xitle clearly. I waited there for the dragon, standing up completely, staring at the volcano and ready to make use of my "weapon".
"Suddenly, I heard the sound of flapping wings, and the dragon, which was flying high, landed softly before me. –I will start with you, -- it told me--."
"But when it was about to burn my body with a blaze, I took the mirror right above my head, showing it to the dragon. The dragon looked at the image and stood there without moving. Its turquoise colored eyes became opaque red and a great sadness fell upon it. I knew then that in its mind the dragon could hear the voices of all those people it had caused to suffer, it had realized that none of them existing anymore on the face of the earth, and it felt a great loneliness inside. And God really put the words in my mouth."
--I spoke to God this morning, --I told the dragon--. And He gave me a message for you. He tells you not to harm these people, even if that pleases you. You can respect them and be their friend, and that way, you will not feel lonely. Everybody will remember you.
"The dragon stood there, thoughtful, and after a prolongued silence, it said:
--I will lose my beauty, but after long centuries without any companion, I value more a good friendship than my own appearance. I accept your offer. I will come from time to time and I will like to talk to the people and give the children a ride on my back.
And the dragon went away flying, to the volcano. "
"From then on, for a long a time, it visited the village and spent time with the people. Every kid loved the dragon. Because of its generosity, God gave the dragon scales with many and varied colors as well as many and beautiful feathers. Its eyes became turquoise colored again and happiness came back to its face."
"That smoke that you see, young man, is surely the dragon’s, preparing to visit us one of these days."
THE END
© 2001 Hugo. All rights reserved.
Kids section: Short Stories and Rhymes Index
