The Warau People Discover the Earth
The Caribs were the first people on earth. After them came the Warau from a land beyond the sky, rich in birds of rare beauty but without animals of any kind. No deer grazed on its grassy plains, no jaguar roamed through its scattered woods, no fish swam in its clear, shallow streams. Instead there were large flocks of birds of rare beauty. Some of these the Warau killed for food; and each man made for himself from the feathers of the birds a richly coloured headdress for wearing at great festivals.
One day while a young Warau hunter, Okonorote, was wandering through the fields he saw a bird more beautiful than any he had ever seen. In flight it was an exquisite jewel, the scarlet of its feathers more brilliant than those of the scarlet ibis, its green more vivid than the emerald feathers of the hummingbird. Enchanted by its rainbow loveliness, Okonorote swore not to return home until he had taken the bird. “How splendid a headdress these feathers will make,” he said to himself; “lovelier than any fashioned in ancient times. These feathers will give joy to many. I must have them.”
