Mitos y Leyendas: Three Birds and the Birth of Fire

• Mitos y Leyendas shares with you a version of the birth of fire featuring three cunning birds.
• One of them accidentally stumbled upon a clue about the heat of fire and hurriedly went to inform their little friends.
• The three then ventured to discover the mystery behind this flaming enigma.

Near the place where the majestic Orinoco River is born, lived the monarch of the alligators, known as Babá.

His life companion was a huge frog, and together they shared a deep secret, a mystery that was hidden from both the other inhabitants of the animal kingdom and human beings.

This mystery was guarded in the jaws of the imposing alligator Babá.

The couple took refuge in a cave and threatened death to anyone who dared to enter, claiming that a god devouring everything lived inside, and only they, the sovereigns of the waters, had the right of access.

A Partridge Makes a Discovery

One day, a partridge, hurriedly building its nest, inadvertently entered the cave. While searching for twigs for its nest, it found charred leaves and caterpillars, as if a celestial fire had left its mark there.

The partridge tasted the toasted caterpillars and discovered they had a much more delicious flavor than when consumed raw.

Excited, it flew low to the ground to share its discovery with Tucusito, the red-feathered hummingbird.

Soon after, the Silly Bird joined the group, and the three began to devise a plan to unravel the mystery behind the delicious cooked caterpillars.

The Plan to Obtain the Fire

The cunning Silly Bird hid in the cave, taking advantage of its dark plumage, while the frog released the caterpillars held in its mouth and Babá the alligator opened his, which was imposing, revealing bright red tongues.

Unaware of Bobo’s presence, the couple enjoyed the caterpillars and finally fell into a satisfied sleep. At that moment, Bobo ran out to share with his friends what he had witnessed.

The next day, the three conspirators planned how to snatch the fire from the alligator without risking their lives. The opportunity had to come when the alligator opened its mouth to laugh.

In the afternoon, while all the animals were gathered by the river chatting and drinking, Bobo and the red partridge began to perform acrobatics, causing laughter in everyone, except Babá.

Tucusito Snatches the Fire

Bobo threw a mud ball into the frog’s mouth, who, because of the laughter, choked. When the alligator saw the difficulty his companion was facing, he burst out laughing.

At that moment, Tucusito, watching from the air, dove down and, with the tips of his wings, snatched the fire. As he rose, he brushed against the dry branches of a huge tree, which immediately caught fire.

King alligator realized that although the fire had been stolen from them, others would benefit from it and the other animals would be consumed by the flames, while Babá and the frog would live forever at the birthplace of the great river.

Having said this, they submerged in the water and disappeared forever.

The Guardians

This three birds celebrated the theft of the fire, but no other animal knew how to make use of it.

The human beings who lived near the Orinoco took possession of the embers that burned for many days in the dry forest, learning to cook their food and to gather around campfires to talk during the nights.

Tucusito, the Silly Bird, and the red partridge became their guardians and protectors for having given them the precious gift of fire.

Mitos y Leyendas bids you farewell for now. We hope you enjoyed this legend of the birth of fire. See you next time!