Jinji warnu rdukurduku tirirtiri kirli

15 November 2010

Story of the Crimson Chat
In the Dreamtime, when all the birds and creatures were all people, there lived a lady with two sons. One day they all went out hunting, gathering yams and other things to eat. Then their mother told her two sons not to go south to the big swamp or the monster would get them.

While they were hunting, the two boys were amazed by a bird who was whistling. Never before had they heard such a lovely sound. They came closer. Then the bird flew away to another tree and another. The two boys kept on chasing the bird deep into the heart of the swamp. They didn't realise they were being lured by a magaical monster. He grabbed hold of them and took them down under the water. The two boys started yelling and shouting.

Meanwhile their mother heard a faint whisper in the air. Then she looked around and saw that her two boys were missing. She ran to another woman and asked her, "Did you see my two boys?"

The woman said, "No, I haven't seen them."

The mother then thought to herself, "Perhaps they are at the water." She ran to the swamp and saw the blood in the water. Then she saw big bubbles on the water. She burst into tears and went home crying. She hit herself with a digging stick until the blood came running down her chest.

After a while the broken-hearted mother died of grief. Then she turned into a beautiful red-breasted crimson chat. you can see the blood stain on that bird's breast even today.

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An audio book produced from a Warlpiri reader developed by the Yuendumu Bilingual Resources Development Unit.

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