Gue Basui Adode
I will tell a little of what ‘Falling Rain’ (Gue Basui) did:
They say that one of our forefathers was honey-hunting. He heard the rain. He started toward the rain. He heard it, but they say he was afraid, so he stayed where he was. That’s because he feared what Falling Rain might do.
He shook his head and tucked his pony tail under. [Pony tail under is a sign of not being afraid.] And he said: “This is not a flood.” And he continued to tuck his pony tail under.
And then he reached Falling Rain. Falling Rain was under the tree that he had struck with lightning. They say he came down to earth on a bolt of lightning.
And Falling Rain accompanied our forefather to the camp.
Later, he also went with him into the jungle for honey. And they got thirsty. They say it was the sun that got to him and made him thirsty while he was chopping into tree. He said: “¡Heeeee! I’m thirsty ¡heeeee!”
Falling Rain took off and brought back a “baby” water plant. He dug for it but his thirst overcame him too.
But the man from long ago looked down from the tree and saw what he did.
To get enough water Falling Rain was wringing the hair that grows right by his ear into his gourd cup and it filled with water, but there was a river plant floating on top.
The man who lived long ago said: “I’m hanging out with a supernatural person!”
They arrived back in the camp, and he said to his wife: “Probably I’m accompanying something special.” He knew there was a tiny water plant on top of the water that Falling Rain had wrung from his hair, but he didn’t know where it could have come from.
But the man made a mistake and let Falling Rain stay in the camp the next time he went out hunting.
The man said to his companions: “I think I have made a big mistake. I left Falling Rain in the camp, and he might try to harm you, and that would be the end of you.”
Back in the camp Falling Rain made himself a house. But the children started throwing things at him and taunting him. They said: “Oh, my, he’s got lightning! And they claim that lightning comes from his armpits.”
When he finished building his house, Falling Rain moved his chosen ones into it. When he got them inside his house, he turned against those on the outside. Those he chose he shoved inside the house.
But he pushed out those he hated, those who threw things at him. And immediately they were changed into frogs. Men became frogs. Women became toads; boys and girls changed into various types of tiny frogs and toads, even the babies. Those he threw out became water dwellers. And they cried in the water.
And then there was heat lightning, and Falling Rain accompanied it back up into the sky. This was after he had finished them off. This is the end of the part of the story I know.
Oidabiade – Campo Loro, Paraguay – 1988.
Transcribed and translated to English by: Maxine Morarie.
