Next day, the brothers changed themselves into giant kangaroos, and
decided to kill Thoorkook and his savage dogs. They hopped about in
sight of Thoorkook's camp, and, when the dogs scented them, they gave
chase. With great bounds the kangaroos hopped away, and the dogs
followed, but one ran faster than the rest. When it was a long way from
the pack, the kangaroos turned, and one of them struck the dog a heavy
blow with its paw, which ripped the body from head to tail. They then
carried the body and threw it in a deep water hole.
The kangaroos continued to hop away, and the dogs followed fast; red
foam flecked their mouths and lolling tongues, the cruel white fangs
glistened in the sun, their lean sides panted, and the noise of their
deep, hoarse barking echoed through the bush like distant thunder. One
dog again ran faster than the rest in this relentless chase. The
kangaroos ran slower, as though they were growing tired, and, when the
leading dog came within striking distance, they suddenly turned, and,
with one swift stroke, ripped it from end to end. This terrible hunt
continued until one by one the dogs were killed.
The kangaroos again changed themselves into men and went to
Thoorkook's camp to kill him. When he saw them approaching he seized his
weapons and prepared to fight. They, however, made the sign of peace by
placing their spears in the ground, and he did likewise.
The elder brother then spoke to him, saying: "While we were hunting,
you crawled like an adder in the grass and killed our children with your
dogs. We have killed your dogs, and the crows are whitening their
bones. I am now going to kill you, not as you kill children, but as men
kill men, and, when you are dead, I will change you into a bird that
will live forever in the darkness of night, and never see the sun."
Thoorkook did not answer; he knew that he would have to fight for his
life. Picking up his spears and a wooden shield, he followed Byama to a
clear space in the bush where the trial of skill was to take place.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/aus/mla/mla05.htm
The Bullroarer is a primitive instrument used by the aborigines at
initiation and other ceremonies. It is a thin oblong section of wood,
attached to a length of string through a hole at one end. When it is
swung rapidly through the air it produces a peculiar humming sound. It
is held in sacred veneration by the blacks, and is never seen by the
women of the tribe under penalty of death.
In a rocky place in the mountains there lived two brothers named
Byama. They were both married, and each man's wife had a son named
Weerooimbrall. One day the brothers, accompanied by their wives and
other members of the tribe, went far into the forest in search of food.
They left the children alone in the camp to await their return.
Close to the camp there lived a bad man named Thoorkook, who had a
number of very savage dogs. So terrible were these animals that no man
dared to approach them. Thoorkook hated the brothers Byama, and was
always planning to injure them. Through the trees he watched them going
to the hunt, and his thoughts were evil. Some time later he heard the
laughter of the boys at play in the camp, and, as he listened, a
terrible thought was born in his wicked mind. He would wreak his
vengeance on the brothers by killing their children, whom they loved
more than life.
With this intention he loosed the dogs and sent them to the camp.
When the brothers and their wives returned to the camp, they were
surprised to notice that the children did not run to meet them as they
usually did, and that no sound could be heard.
The elder brother said: "I cannot hear the voices of the children;
surely they have not wandered into the forest alone; they will be lost.
The wild dog; will eat them, or they will die of thirst."
But the other brother laughingly replied: "No. We have hunted far
to-day; when we left the camp the breath of night was on the trees, and
now the sun is growing cold. They have grown weary with waiting and have
fallen asleep. We will find them together like two little possums."
When the brothers entered the camp, they found the two little boys lying
very cold and still. They called to them, but the boys did not
answer-they were dead. And by the marks on their bodies, the brothers
knew that they had been killed by Thoorkook's dogs. When the women saw
their dead children, they were moved by a frantic grief that was
heart-rending to behold, and, all through the night, could be heard the
sound of their wailing.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/aus/mla/mla04.htm
In the dream time, many ages ago, the cluster of stars which we now
know as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, were seven beautiful ice
maidens. Their parents were a great rugged mountain whose dark head was
hidden in the clouds, and an ice-cold stream that flowed from the
snow-clad hills. The Seven Sisters wandered across the land, with their
long hair flying behind them like storm clouds before the breeze. Their
cheeks were flushed with the kiss of the sun, and in their eyes was
hidden the soft, grey light of the dawn. So entrancing was their beauty,
that all men loved them, but the maidens' affections were as cold as
the stream which gave them birth, and they never turned aside in their
wanderings to gladden the hearts of men.
One day a man named Wurrunnah, by a cunning device, captured two of
the maidens, and forced them to live with him, while their five sisters
travelled to their home in the sky. When Wurrunnah discovered that the
sisters whom he had captured were ice-maidens, whose beautiful tresses
were like the icicles that drooped from the trees in winter time, he was
disappointed. So he took them to a camp fire, and endeavored to melt
the cold crystals from their beautiful limbs. But, as the ice melted,
the water quenched the fire, and he succeeded only in dimming their icy
brightness.
The two sisters were very lonely and sad in their captivity, and
longed for their home in the clear blue sky. When the shadow of night
was over the land, they could see their five sisters beckoning to them
as they twinkled afar off. One day Wurrunnah told them to gather
pine-bark in the forest. After a short journey, they came to a great
pine tree, and commenced to strip the bark from it. As they did so, the
pine tree (which belonged to the same totem as the maidens) extended
itself to the sky. The maidens took advantage of this friendly act, and
climbed to the home of their sisters. But they never regained their
original brightness, and that is the reason why there are five bright
stars and two dim ones in the group of the Pleiades. The Seven Sisters
have not forgotten the earth folk. When the snow falls softly they loose
their wonderful tresses to the caress of the breeze, to remind us of
their journey across our land.
When the Seven Sisters were on earth, of all the men who loved them
the Berai Berai, or two brothers, were the most faithful. When they
hunted in the forest, or waited in the tall reeds for the wild ducks,
they always brought the choicest morsels of the chase as an offering to
the Sisters. When the maidens wandered far across the mountains, the
Berai Berai followed them, but their love was not favored.
When the maidens set out on their long journey to the sky, the Berai
Berai were grieved, and said: "Long have we loved you and followed in
your foot steps, O maidens of the dawn, and, when you have left us' we
will hunt no more." And they laid aside their weapons and mourned for
the maidens until the dark shadow of death fell upon them. When they
died, the fairies pitied them, and placed them in the sky, where they
could hear the Sisters singing. Thus were they happily rewarded for
their constancy. On a starry night, you will see them listening to the
song of the Seven Sisters. We call them Orion's Sword and Belt, but it
is a happier thought to remember them as the faithful lovers who have
listened to the song of the stars from the birth of time.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/aus/mla/mla03.htm
