At the Ark at Eight
Flood Myths
Around the World
Table of Contents
The People of the Moon (Liberia)
The Old Man and the Fish (India)
The Love of Earth and Sky (New Zealand)
The Man Who Lived Peacefully (Ancient Sumeria)
The People of the Moon
Long ago, in what is today the nation of Liberia, there lived a people without a ruler. They had many gods, but there was chaos in their world, since they had no one to help them lead their lives. They had three gods: the Sun, the Darkness, and the Rain.
"We need someone to be our king," the people appealed to their three gods, "just one of you."
"I'll volunteer," said the Sun.
The people were overjoyed. The sun made things beautiful. Flowers bloomed, clothing dried out quicker on the line, and spirits were lifted. So they accepted the Sun's offer.
And then things went terribly wrong. The sun was so strong that it became very hot, and all the rivers and lakes dried up. All the flowers died because there was no more water, and everyone was thirsty all the time. Their clothing that was drying burnt to a crisp, and it was so bright outside that people could barely see. Since it was bright all day and night, the people had trouble putting their children to sleep.
"This is not working," said the people to the Sun, "we do not want you as our king anymore. We want Darkness to be our king; the cooling, calming, soothing Darkness."
"As you wish," said the Sun, and he retreated back into the sky. Darkness appeared and thanked the people for choosing him as their king.
The Darkness cooled down the earth, and the people were grateful and happy. But only for a few moments. Soon, the Darkness became so powerful that it was no longer soothing, it was cold and terrifying. Because it was dark all the time, the people could not plant crops, see each other, or even see their own hands in front of their faces. People bumped into one another in the streets, and walked into walls and pieces of furniture. Children got scared because they could not find their parents. Since nobody could see anything, people started stealing because nobody could tell who did it. And all the terrifying beasts with better night vision than humans - the wolves, the hyenas - came out and attacked the humans and ate their food.
"This, too, is not working," said the people to the Darkness, "we do not want you to be our king, it's dangerous out here. Give us the Rain, so we can drink clean water and be soothed by its soft touch."
"As you wish," said the Darkness, and he went back from whence he came. Rain took Darkness's place, and hoped that the people would keep him as their king forever.
And then, the Rain started. And it rained, and it rained, and it rained some more, stronger than the shining of the Sun or the deepness of the Darkness. What was left of the crops was washed away, so the people had no food. The lakes and rivers overflowed their banks, and soon destroyed homes, drowning the people and their possessions. Whole villages were wiped away, and the few who survived lost everything but the clothes on their backs.
The survivors gathered on the top of the highest piece of dry land as the waters rushed around them. "Enough!" said the people, "Rain, go away! You are not a good king!"
Upon hearing this, the Sun and the Darkness returned and stopped the Rain. The people were angrier than ever, and they still did not have a king.
"What do you want?" said the Sun to the people. "All three of us have tried our best to be your king. I was the brightest Sun I could be, yet you disliked my heat. Darkness did his best job, and you were cold and scared. And the Rain sent you his strongest flood, yet still you were not satisfied. What else is there to do?"
"Maybe we don't need a king," said the people. "What we need is a queen. How can we find one?"
"Perhaps I can help," said a small, sweet voice that appeared to come from behind the Sun.
"Who are you?" the people replied to the mysterious voice.
Out came a beautiful white orb. "I am the Moon," she said. "Nice to meet you all."
"What can you do for us?" said the people.
"If you make me your queen, I will try to be fair and equal, and lead by example," said the Moon.
"Well, okay," said the people, "we'll give you a try."
"Splendid!" said the Moon, her bright eyes lighting up.
And so the Moon became the people's queen. She danced across the sky during the day, keeping the Sun from shining too brightly. At night, her light glowed in the Darkness, so people could still see and children would no longer be too scared to sleep. And every day, she harnessed the Rain, keeping the tides at bay, so they gently licked the shores and the riverbanks without overflowing. The people learned how to balance their lives. The Moon proved to be the perfect queen, and the people were happy.
The Legend of Nu Wa
Long ago, in China, lived a beautiful woman named Nu Wa. She loved taking long walks outdoors, among the flowers and plants. She loved animals, and spent her days taking care of her many pets; she had cats and dogs, colorful parrots and cuddly pandas. Most of all, she loved art. Her artistic abilities ranged from painting still lifes to inking intricate Chinese letters on scrolls. Her favorite medium, though, was clay. Her home and her garden were filled with sculptures, large and small, animals, people, and objects.
One day, two gods got into a fight; Gong Gong, the god of water, and Zhu Rong, the god of fire. Zhu Rong was clearly overpowering Gong Gong. Ever the sore loser, Gong Gong threw himself against a mountain in anger. Little did he know, that mountain was Mount Buzhou, the highest mountain in all the land, and that Mount Buzhou was actually a pillar that held the sky above the earth. The mountain cracked in two and broke, causing chaos. Fierce dragons, poisonous spiders and angry scorpions were released from their hiding places, attacking people. Lightning struck, fire fell from the sky and water shot up from the ground. Those who were not killed by thunderbolts or falling fireballs were drowned in the flood, fueled by the anger of Gong Gong.
All of this made Nu Wa very sad and angry. All her friends, the animals and people of the earth, were gone, and her home and garden were ruined. She decided she had to do something, so she tried to fix it herself. She gathered what was left of the stones and clay sculptures from her garden, and used some fire to melt them down, making a poultice. She killed a giant turtle as well, and cut off its sturdy legs. Taking her pot of poultice and her turtle legs to the mountains, she climbed up as high as she could and used the legs to make a strong, tall pillar. After climbing the pillar, she used the sticky clay and stone poultice to patch all the holes in the sky that had been torn by Gong Gong. She caught and killed a giant dragon, scaring all the beasts back to their hiding places. The fire stopped, and she took what little remained and burned reeds and sticks. Spreading the ashes over the waters, the floods receded, and she returned home.
However, all was not well. The population of humans and animals had been greatly decimated, and those who remained were suffering from loneliness and starvation. All Nu Wa had left was her supply of clay. Diligently, she worked the clay into sculptures of the humans and animals that had been lost, and gave them life, repopulating the land of China and the earth.
The Old Man and the Fish
Long ago, in India, there lived an old man in a house by the river. Every day, he went down to the river to pray and gather water. One day, he dipped his small bucket in the water as usual, and a tiny fish swam into it.
The man was about to dump out the water so the fish could swim back to his home, but before he could, the fish spoke to him, saying "Don't put me back in the water! The bigger fish will eat me!"
So the old man brought the bucket with the fish back to his home. The next morning, however, the fish had grown too big for the small bucket. "I need more room!" said the fish. So the old man put him in a bigger bucket.
A few hours later, the fish had grown so big it filled that bucket, and cried out to the old man, "Help! I need more room!" So the old man put him in the biggest pot he had.
Still, the fish grew. "Help!," said the fish, "I need even more room!" So the old man tipped the pot into a pond. The fish kept growing, however, so the old man dragged him out of the pond and to a lake, and then to the ocean. By this time, the fish was gigantic. The old man was tired and started to leave, but heard the fish yell behind him, "Don't leave me here! The giant sea creatures will eat me!"
The old man turned around, angrily. He was about to tell the fish that he could not help him anymore, but to his surprise, the fish had turned into Vishnu, one of the gods. Shocked, the old man fell to the ground as Vishnu started to address him. "In one week," said Vishnu, "the earth will be destroyed. Gather all the herbs, seeds, and animals that are needed for life to continue, and wait on an island, and I will bring a ship to rescue you.
So the old man did just that, and seven days later, the rains started and the ocean rose, just like Vishnu said. Vishnu kept his promise, and to repay the old man for being kind to him when he was just a tiny fish, he sailed a giant ship to the island where the old man was waiting. The old man brought all that he had gathered onto Vishnu's ship, and with the giant fish leading the way, survived the storm.
The Love of Earth and Sky
According to a legend from the Maori people of New Zealand, the world came from the love of the Sky and the Earth. The Sky loved the Earth so much that he held her tight enough to block out all light from reaching their six sons: the Prince of the Ocean, the Prince of Farming, the Prince of the Forests, the Prince of Humanity, the Prince of Wind and Storms, and the Prince of Wild Animals. The sons were unhappy, so they decided to hatch a plan to separate their parents and allow light into their home.
The Prince of Humanity took a warlike approach, saying "We should kill them both, then they will part." The Prince of the Forests suggested that they merely part them, so that they can see both the Sky and the Earth. All of the others agreed, except for the Prince of Wind and Storms, who was sad that his parents were going to be separated.
Together, the six tried many ways to tear their parents apart, but the Prince of the Forests eventually came up with a plan that worked. He attached roots to the Earth and limbs to the sky, and pried them apart so that light could cover the Earth. When separated, the Earth and the Sky cried out angrily, and, seeing them torn apart, the Prince of Wind and Storms became angry as well. His rage caused the seas to swell and rain to fall, flooding all the land. When the Earth and the Sky stopped crying out for each other, the Prince of Wind and Storms made the winds calm and the waters recede. Upset at all the grief they caused their parents, the six brothers began to fight with one another. Their fighting still exists today: Wind and Storms sometimes destroys Forests and Wild Animals; and Ocean sometimes rises, drowning Humanity and flooding all of the Farming they have done.
Earth and Sky still love each other. At night, Earth sighs for her lost Sky, sending her breath up to the sky in the form of mist. And in the early morning, Sky weeps softly for his precious Earth, crying tears of dewdrops.
The Man Who Lived Peacefully
In the Euphrates river valley of Ancient Sumeria lived a people who were vain and quarrelsome. The land was fertile, and its natural resources had made the people rich, but also careless. They started fights for no reason and thought only of themselves. So, one day, the God of the Great Mountain decided to punish the people for their wicked ways.
One man who lived in the valley, however, did not fight with his neighbors and taught his children how to live in peace. The God of the Waters came to him one day, telling him to build a boat and fill it with animals, plants, foods, coins, precious jewels, and of course, himself and his family members, for the God of the Great Mountain will soon bring a flood to destroy the earth. He did so, and the others asked what he was doing and why. He replied, "We will be punished, and I am entrusting my fate to the merciful God of the Waters to seek refuge."
As predicted, the storm came. The winds were so fierce that the other gods got scared and retreated into their own hiding places. The storm went on for six days and six nights.
On the seventh day, the man opened a tiny window in the boat, and sunlight streamed through. Through his tears of joy, he saw that the world was barren and muddy, but the rains had stopped and the sun was shining. The man released three birds to fly out over the water in search of dry land suitable for life. The first bird, a dove, returned to the ark, for it could not find any dry land. The second bird, a swallow, did the same. But the third bird, a raven, never returned to the boat. The man and his family rejoiced, because this meant that the raven had found somewhere dry to live. Finally, the humans on the boat let out all the animals, and then started their own lives anew, with a prayer and a promise that they would continue living in peace.
However, the God of the Great Mountain was angry that this man and his family had escaped the flood. He meant to destroy everything. The God of the Waters argued that all the wicked people were gone, and the peace-loving people should not be punished on their behalf. So the God of the Great Mountain reconsidered, blessing the man, his wife, and his family with the knowledge of the mysteries of life to pass on to future generations.
All flood stories have been adapted from:
Krishnaswami, Una. Stories of the Flood. Niwot, CO: Roberts Rinehart, 1994.
