Ancient Mayan Legend
Deer Fur
The legend explains how deer happen to have that discreetly camouflaged golden colour in their fur. Before, it was beautifully radiant and they were easy prey. But a chance encounter helped them lead much calmer lives.
A very long time ago, before there was day and night, people lived in absolute darkness.
Their only source of light was from the small, tidy fires they kept burning in special nooks in their caves. The sparkles of the flames filled the caves and shone so brightly that you could see it from outside, so hunters always knew when they were getting close to home. When they saw the light of the fire, they knew that they would soon be safe from the dangers of the dark jungle.
The caves the people lived in were very cold and damp, because water from the bubbling mountain streams high above them seeped deep through the layers of rock and soil. The cavemen liked to decorate their stone dwellings with paintings on the walls. They would take hot embers that had jumped out of the fire, let them cool off and then use them to paint the walls with beautiful animals and designs.
One day, a hunter picked up a hot ember which flamed up and settled right inside the palm of his hand. When he opened his fingers,, the buried ember started shining brightly and the whole cave was suddenly light and warm like never before. When the hunter closed his hand, the cave turned pitch-black again.
After that, the hunter with the shining ember in his palm always walked first to show the others the way. Wherever he was, there was brilliant warmth and light, but everywhere else was still scary, dark and cold.
One fateful day, the hunter climbed up a high hill and opened his palm on its top. The whole valley suddenly filled with light and everyone could feel the joy of the heat! Every day after that, he would walk to the…