Chapter 1. Once Once was a very long time ago, when the wind blew, rain fell, and the sky was purple. Once there lived an old man and his daughter in an extremely old village. They were extremely old and weak. The only friends they had were a young man and his daughter. So one day, the old man called the young man and his daughter. He said, "My daughter has been ill for a long time. I need some medicine for my daughter. But I do not have any money, I'll pay you for the medicine with my land. I'll give you my land. If you will find the medicine, then I will give you my land." The young man was extremely proud of himself, he thought he was very smart. He said, "Sure, I will find this medicine!" Then he took the land and said, "Sure! I will find the medicine!" He used to go to the forest every day to look for medicine, because he thought the land was very valuable. One day the old man, who was very weak, told his daughter, "I am so sick and tired of this land. I don't care if I never see it again." "Father, you can't give up your land," she said. "It is very valuable. You were going to give it to that young man because he said he would find the medicine. But how will he find it? Even we do not know where it is. How could he find it?" The old man was surprised by his daughter's cleverness. He laughed and said, "You're right. I was so stupid. Let's go and bury the land in the forest. It won't bother us for so many years." "Sure!" replied the daughter. "That is a good idea." The old man decided to hide the land. When the other village people were not around, he dug a deep pit and buried the land. The old man even dug a deep pit. The old man and his daughter left the village. In the forest, she said, "Father, where will we live? We don't have any food." "Oh, we have the land to live on," said the old man. His daughter said, "So what are we going to do now? We have nothing." "I will catch some fish," said the old man. "We have no fishing gear," said his daughter. "I will pick some mushrooms," said the old man. "We have no knife," said his daughter. "I will learn to walk on two legs," said the old man. "We can't use that, can't we," she said. "I know," said the old man. "I will work hard. I will start working right away." So the old man and his daughter lived in the forest, where they built a little cabin. The old man used to catch fish with his bare hands. The old man and his daughter lived very well in the forest, with the land, their only friend, helping them. There is one year, and there is one night. It was a bright night, a full moon. Then the old man looked at his daughter. The daughter looked back at her father. "Father," said the daughter, "do you want to live with the wind?" "What are you talking about? I want to stay right here in the forest," said the old man. "Why, Father? Why? You and I will be alone, and we will starve. The land will die, but not us. We'll starve together," said the daughter. "There is one year, and there is one night, but there will never be another moon like the moon tonight. The day will come when that young man will come looking for you. When he finds the medicine on that land, he will come here to this village. We will be there, waiting for him." "What are you talking about? You talk too much," said the old man. "I am tired of this land. I will not care if I never see it again." "My land? My land!" said the daughter. "I will chop down the tree and break its branches. You do not need the land anymore. You can die right here on this spot." The old man looked at his daughter. Then he looked at the sky and the moon. Then he looked at his daughter. Then he looked at the sky and the moon. Suddenly he became very sad. He said, "I am old and weak. But my land has helped me for many years. It has been supporting us for a long time. But now it is time for it to rest and rest forever." The old man turned to his daughter. "My daughter," he said, "you may live with the wind." "No, no, no," said the daughter. "You will come with me to the other side of the forest and I will live with the wind. You will die right here in this spot." She ran to the forest and began to run. The old man followed, but he was very slow. The daughter ran faster, until she finally disappeared in the dark. "My daughter, my daughter," cried the old man. "My daughter, my daughter." But his voice was drowned by the sound of the forest. The old man fell to his knees and wept. "Father," said the wind. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" "My daughter has gone and left me. She has gone to the wind," cried the old man. "Father, you are going to die," said the wind. The old man cried, "I am old and weak. I am old and weak." And the wind said, "Don't be sad. You were kind to me. We were friends." Then the old man said, "I want to die. I want to die." And the wind said, "I will help you die." The old man's blood poured out, but his strength was gone. He was afraid and started crying. "My daughter, my daughter," cried the old man. "What have you done to me? What have you done to me?" The old man looked at the sky and the moon, then he looked at his daughter. The daughter came back to him, she lifted him up, and she said, "My father, your land has come back!" "Where is my land?" asked the old man. "It is back in the village. Your land is right there," she replied. She then started to cry and to weep. "Father," said the old man, "what are you going to do now?" The daughter answered, "I am going to the world beyond." "What are you going to do there?" asked the old man. "My father, I will stay there," said the daughter. "I will be a star." "I want to go there, too, to the world beyond," said the old man. "I want to go there, too, to the world beyond." And so the old man and his daughter went to the world beyond. He is very old and weak now. But he sees that the old trees in the forest are very green. "Mother," said the old man, "your green trees are still green." Then the old man died and the wind is very sad. Then the wind came down and stood by the river. The sun was out. The old man had gone away forever. Then he came back to the other side of the river. The rain came, covering the body of the old man. "Father," he called. "Father." But his voice was gone. So the tree branches grew over the old man's body, and covered his body, and watered him. And he is asleep there in the forest, in his home. And he will never come back. But in that river lives the fish, and in the river is the water, and in the water is the earth. And there is no one to take care of the forest. And that is how the story ends. Once, the land was here. It was always green. Then one day, the wind died, and the old man and his daughter died. But the land is still green. But every once in a while, there is a dry spell, and the water comes up. The fish swim on the land. They get very sick, and they die. The earth starts to die. Then the green plants, who are very strong, start to come back. References Category:Malagasy mythology