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Authors: Benedict Patrick
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This idyllic paradise was shattered when a great darkness enveloped the sky above the forest. Man, woman, fox and frog alike threw themselves to the dirt and wailed for the Magpie King to protect them.
"What is causing this?" the Magpie King demanded of his subjects. "What is happening to the sun?"
"It is Gluscabe, the black squirrel," they responded, writhing in unison into the dirt at the thought of the world ending. "He is eating the sun to teach us a lesson."
The Magpie King shielded his eyes with his hand and raised them up to the sun. Sure enough, there was Gluscabe, balancing high on a fir tree, with the sun in his paws and daylight dripping like syrup from his mouth.
I should tell you now that squirrels back then were not like squirrels are now. For a start, there was only one of them - Gluscabe - and he was in a permanent state of anger, for he believed that the other animals were constantly laughing at his bushy tail. Our squirrels in the forest, when they appear, are small and weak, and frightened of their own shadows. Not so was Gluscabe, in the dawn of the world. He was huge - taller than three stags perched atop one another - and incredibly strong. The Magpie King was still learning about his own abilities, but even then he knew he was no match for Gluscabe, at least physically. Unlike the fiery red coats of the squirrels of our forest, Gluscabe's coat was a wiry black. Black as the anger that gnawed at his soul.
"Raise yourselves, gentle creatures," the Magpie King bade the mourning animals. "I shall seek an audience with our friend squirrel and see if he cannot be appeased." So the Magpie King set off to meet with Gluscabe, the black squirrel.
It was a journey that itself is worth many stories. Gluscabe had made his home deep in the forest, at the top of the tallest tree. It took many years for the Magpie King to find and reach his quarry. In that time, he learnt how to sing, found and then lost a dear friend, and forgot how to smile. The dark figure who finally reached the top of that fir tree was an uncanny shade of the man he had been when his journey had begun.
"Gluscabe," the Magpie King bellowed, a cloak of black and white feathers that had been gifted to him by the Great Magpie during the previous winter flowing behind him in the strong wind. "Put down the sun and speak with me."
Gluscabe still had the sun in his grasp, but that once-fiery orb had diminished greatly in size and its juices stained the squirrel's maw. The black squirrel turned to the Magpie King to regard him with its red eyes, and the creature simply opened its jaw to scream at the man who had dared to disturb him.
"Mine. Sun belongs to Gluscabe. Animals not laugh at Gluscabe any more. Too busy screaming."
The Magpie King's lip curled and he took a leap closer to his target. He nodded in agreement with the squirrel. "Yes, oh great squirrel, you have truly shown us the error of our ways. Won't you come down to the forest with me so that all creatures can beg your forgiveness?"
The beast snarled again at the Magpie King, and turned back to the sun to sink his teeth into it once more. The sun did its best to pull away from its attacker, straining to lift itself back onto its celestial path, but the muscles in the squirrel's forearms bulged and the sun was held firm.
An almighty rumbling grew the Magpie King's attention to its source, and as his eyes fell upon Gluscabe's distended belly, a plan formed in his mind.
"Oh great Gluscabe," he began humbly, "it pains me you have dedicated yourself so passionately to our deserved education that you have neglected your own needs. We all know that feasting only on the sun for the past year and five days will not have satisfied your hunger. A sun is composed of warmth and light, and not much else - hardly a fitting meal for one of your stature. Please, allow me to seek out more adequate food for one such as yourself while you continue to chastise the rest of the forest."
The black
This idyllic paradise was shattered when a great darkness enveloped the sky above the forest. Man, woman, fox and frog alike threw themselves to the dirt and wailed for the Magpie King to protect them.
"What is causing this?" the Magpie King demanded of his subjects. "What is happening to the sun?"
"It is Gluscabe, the black squirrel," they responded, writhing in unison into the dirt at the thought of the world ending. "He is eating the sun to teach us a lesson."
The Magpie King shielded his eyes with his hand and raised them up to the sun. Sure enough, there was Gluscabe, balancing high on a fir tree, with the sun in his paws and daylight dripping like syrup from his mouth.
I should tell you now that squirrels back then were not like squirrels are now. For a start, there was only one of them - Gluscabe - and he was in a permanent state of anger, for he believed that the other animals were constantly laughing at his bushy tail. Our squirrels in the forest, when they appear, are small and weak, and frightened of their own shadows. Not so was Gluscabe, in the dawn of the world. He was huge - taller than three stags perched atop one another - and incredibly strong. The Magpie King was still learning about his own abilities, but even then he knew he was no match for Gluscabe, at least physically. Unlike the fiery red coats of the squirrels of our forest, Gluscabe's coat was a wiry black. Black as the anger that gnawed at his soul.
"Raise yourselves, gentle creatures," the Magpie King bade the mourning animals. "I shall seek an audience with our friend squirrel and see if he cannot be appeased." So the Magpie King set off to meet with Gluscabe, the black squirrel.
It was a journey that itself is worth many stories. Gluscabe had made his home deep in the forest, at the top of the tallest tree. It took many years for the Magpie King to find and reach his quarry. In that time, he learnt how to sing, found and then lost a dear friend, and forgot how to smile. The dark figure who finally reached the top of that fir tree was an uncanny shade of the man he had been when his journey had begun.
"Gluscabe," the Magpie King bellowed, a cloak of black and white feathers that had been gifted to him by the Great Magpie during the previous winter flowing behind him in the strong wind. "Put down the sun and speak with me."
Gluscabe still had the sun in his grasp, but that once-fiery orb had diminished greatly in size and its juices stained the squirrel's maw. The black squirrel turned to the Magpie King to regard him with its red eyes, and the creature simply opened its jaw to scream at the man who had dared to disturb him.
"Mine. Sun belongs to Gluscabe. Animals not laugh at Gluscabe any more. Too busy screaming."
The Magpie King's lip curled and he took a leap closer to his target. He nodded in agreement with the squirrel. "Yes, oh great squirrel, you have truly shown us the error of our ways. Won't you come down to the forest with me so that all creatures can beg your forgiveness?"
The beast snarled again at the Magpie King, and turned back to the sun to sink his teeth into it once more. The sun did its best to pull away from its attacker, straining to lift itself back onto its celestial path, but the muscles in the squirrel's forearms bulged and the sun was held firm.
An almighty rumbling grew the Magpie King's attention to its source, and as his eyes fell upon Gluscabe's distended belly, a plan formed in his mind.
"Oh great Gluscabe," he began humbly, "it pains me you have dedicated yourself so passionately to our deserved education that you have neglected your own needs. We all know that feasting only on the sun for the past year and five days will not have satisfied your hunger. A sun is composed of warmth and light, and not much else - hardly a fitting meal for one of your stature. Please, allow me to seek out more adequate food for one such as yourself while you continue to chastise the rest of the forest."
The black
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