How the World Was Made

There is water. Water everywhere. In the water stands a tall stick. On its top an eagle’s nest. The eagle shares his home with a wolf, a coyote, a panther, a prairie falcon, a hawk, and a condor. When the animals look out of their nest, the only thing they can see is water. Water everywhere.

Sequestered up in the tower, the eagle felt cramped. He begrudged sharing his home. The coyote had too many fleas, the condor was loud and obnoxious, and the panther was just too big for the nest. Something had to be done. But where else could they go? There was only water everywhere.

One morning, the eagle was struck by an idea. They would create land. He called over his neighbor, a duck. This duck wasn’t the brightest. The eagle told the duck he could have a special prize if he would dive down under the sea and bring back some earth. The duck eagerly dove into the water, but the journey was too much for him and he died before reaching his goal.

The eagle decided to cash in a favor. His other duck neighbor owed him one. The eagle sent this duck off on the same perilous expedition. He was much stronger and reached the bottom! But as soon as he did, his strength gave way and he too perished.

The eagle was saddened. He had no more duck neighbors to send to their deaths. Fortunately, the body of the second duck rose out of the water with dirt on his foot. The eagle quickly collected the dirt and put his genius plan in motion, making a mixture and placing it in the water.

All day the animals watched. Nothing. Still water everywhere. Suddenly, the stuff exploded over the water, covering it. The eagle wanted to be rid of his unwanted guests right then and there, but they were wary of this new land. The eagle sighed under his breath and agreed to wait for the land to be tested.

The eagle told the other animals to go down and bring back some dirt. Then they slept. In the morning, the eagle told the wolf to shout. The wolf shouted and the earth fell away! Again, there was water everywhere. Disappointed but not deterred, the eagle took the pieces of earth from the nest and repeated his same process. Things happened just as before, first nothing, then earth spread over everything and they went to bed.

The next morning, the eagle told the wolf to shout again. He did it three times. The earth shook, but it remained. The coyote shouted too, his loudest cry and the earth shook only a little.

The eagle was very pleased. Near his home there had formed a lake. He led all the animals out of the nest to the lake and proclaimed it their new home.

Source:

Mircea Eliade "From Primitives to Zen": THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD