Why Miao People Believe The Rooster Calls Out The Sun
Do you know why roosters crow in the morning? The Miao minority group in southwestern China have an interesting story about it.
A long, long time ago, there were seven suns and seven moons in the sky that appeared by turns to bring people warmth and light. But one year, the seven suns and moon broke up their good relationship after a big fight. Every day and night, they came out together. The heat ruined almost everything. The plants withered, and the rivers dried up.
A man named Nuo Ya decided to save people from this disaster. He made a huge bow and arrow with the trunk and branches of an old tree, then climbed to the peak of the highest mountain to shoot the suns and moons. Before long, he shot down almost all of them. Nuo Ya said to himself: the sun is male, while the moon is female. At least one sun and one moon should be kept to balance the world. So he stopped shooting and went home.
It was immediately cooler without the six suns. But there was a new problem: the sun and moon were so scared that they would be shot, they hid and refused to appear. Without the sun and moon, it was dark and freezing at all hours.
People were very dismayed, and they complained to Nuo Ya, We can’t live like this! Nuo Ya asked them, In this world, who makes the biggest sound? We will let him to invite the sun and moon out. The men answered, A tiger’s voice is the biggest. So a tiger came to roar to the sky like thunder, which only scared the sun and the moon even more.
Nuo Ya asked again to the people, Whose voice is the most sweet in this world? The girls said, songs of a rooster is the most intoxicating. We can ask him to invite the sun and the moon.
After a good sleep, the rooster got up and crowed loudly to the sky. The beautiful songs of the rooster woke up the sun and moon, who blinked their eyes and yawned. The rooster crowed loudly again. Gradually the sun climbed in the sky and appeared at the top of the mountain. The beautiful sunshine warmed everything. People were so happy and excited. They sang and danced around the proud rooster.
But the moon was still timid, so it only appeared in the evening.
Today, almost every Miao family has a rooster in their home.
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