On the origin of rainbows.

[redben]

Once upon a time there was a little god who lived on the shores of a lake at the foot of a hill near a waterfall. The little god was happy living on his own but also loved to have visitors come and stay. The little gods favourite guests were the dragons. The first dragon to visit the little god was the white dragon; he brought stories of the tundra and showed the little god how to sculpt from marble, glass and wood. When it came time for the white dragon to leave the little god was sad and thanked him for his company. The white dragon placed some gold pieces into an empty jar as payment for the little gods’ hospitality and told him that if the little god had enjoyed his company then he should invite his brother the green dragon to come and stay, but on no circumstances should the little god invite his brother the rainbow dragon. The white dragon told the little god that the rainbow dragon was lazy and irresponsible and would not make a good house guest.

So the little god invited the green dragon to be his house guest. The green dragon brought tales of the forest and showed the little god how to play the pipes, the drum and the flute. When it came time for the green dragon to leave the little god was sad and thanked him for his company. The green dragon placed some gold pieces into an empty jar as payment for the little gods’ hospitality and told him that if the little god had enjoyed his company then he should invite his brother the blue dragon to come and stay, but on no circumstances should the little god invite his brother the rainbow dragon. The green dragon told the little god that the rainbow dragon was lazy and irresponsible and would not make a good house guest.

So the little god invited the blue dragon to be his house guest. The blue dragon told him the legends of the seas and showed the little god how to dance in time to music. When it came time for the blue dragon to leave the little god was sad and thanked him for his company. The blue dragon placed some gold pieces into an empty jar as payment for the little gods’ hospitality and told him that if the little god had enjoyed his company then he should invite his brother the black dragon to come and stay, but on no circumstances should the little god invite his brother the rainbow dragon. The blue dragon told the little god that the rainbow dragon was lazy and irresponsible and would not make a good house guest.

So the little god invited the black dragon to be his house guest. The black dragon told him the myths of the mighty mountains and showed the little god how to make jewellery from precious stones and metals. When it came time for the black dragon to leave the little god was sad and thanked him for his company. The black dragon placed some gold pieces into an empty jar as payment for the little gods’ hospitality and told him that the little god had now invited all the dragons on the earth to come and stay except for his brother the rainbow dragon. The black dragon told the little god that he should not invite the rainbow dragon to come and stay with him as he was lazy and irresponsible and would not make a good house guest.

Months went by and every day the little god thought of how wonderful it had been to have the white dragon, the green dragon, the blue dragon and the black dragon come and visit him. He missed the dragons terribly but always followed their advice and did not invite the rainbow dragon to come and visit him.

One day, while the little god was in his garden, the rainbow dragon arrived unexpectedly. ‘Little god,’ said the rainbow dragon, ‘I have heard you that have had my brothers come and stay with you and knew that as surely as night follows day that I would be the next to invited. So I have decided to rescue you from the bother of issuing a formal invitation and I have brought myself to you.’

The little god was concerned and unsure of what to say. Each of the rainbow dragons’ brothers had warned him against having the rainbow dragon visit him but the little god could not turn a visitor away. Anyway, he thought to himself, the rainbow dragon cannot be as bad as his brothers portray him, each of the other dragons was such wonderful company and I miss them so much, I am sure the rainbow dragon will be a wonderful house guest.

So the little god invited the rainbow dragon to stay. It did not take long for the little god to realise that the rainbow dragons’ brothers had told him the truth. The rainbow dragon brought him no stories and taught him no skills; instead he lay around all day and insisted the little god wait on his every whim. The little god was unhappy with his new house guest but being a good host he could not ask him to leave. Instead the little god decided to wait out the month that laws of hospitality decreed the rainbow dragon would stay.

The month came and went but the rainbow dragon did not leave. He instead became lazier and more demanding. The little god was forced to neglect his other responsibilities to wait on the rainbow dragon. A second month went by and still the rainbow dragon did not leave. The little god began to drop hints as to the departure date of the rainbow dragon, as much as good manners would allow, but if the rainbow dragon understood them he ignored them.

Another month passed and the little god began to despair that his unwelcome house guest would never leave. He woke early one morning and went to visit his friend the waterfall for some advice. ‘Why do you not just ask the rainbow dragon to leave if he is so terrible a guest?’ asked the waterfall.

‘I cannot do that,’ said the little god, ‘lest I gain a reputation as a poor host and no-one will then come visit me.’

‘Well then,’ said the waterfall, ‘you must trick the rainbow dragon into leaving your home of his own accord.’

‘I am a simple soul,’ said the little god ‘and fear that such subterfuge is beyond me.’

‘Fortunately for you,’ said the waterfall ‘I am of such an element that is expert in subterfuge and can aid you with your problem. Every new moon, the human travels past your house and up the hill to pray to the sky and ask him to be favourable to his crops. Each month the sky requests a tribute from the human but because the human has no possessions and the sky will not be favourable to his crops the human has nothing to give it. If you want to remove the rainbow dragon as your house guest then this is what you must do.’

The waterfall proceeded to detail the plan to little god who went home and waited for the day of the next new moon. When the morning came the little god told the rainbow that he had to leave for a day on some business he could no longer put off. He told the rainbow dragon he had prepared enough food for the rainbow dragon to eat whilst he was away and had also set a hammock in the rainbow dragons’ favourite spot in the garden for him to relax on.

‘I have only one request of you while I am gone’ said the little god.

‘Name it.’ Said the rainbow dragon, ‘you have been such a wonderful host that I could not deny you.’

‘After each of your brothers left me they placed some gold coins in a jar in gratitude for their time here. The jar is now full and I fear that someone may try and steal it when I am gone.’

‘Have no fear little god,’ said the rainbow dragon, ‘I swear I will never take my eyes from it the whole time you are gone.’

The little god thanked the rainbow dragon and left on his journey. The rainbow dragon ate the breakfast the little god had left for him and went into the garden to lay in his hammock, taking the jar of gold pieces with him so they would always remain in his sight. Eventually the rainbow dragon fell asleep as the little god knew he would for the rainbow dragon was lazy and irresponsible. The new moon replaced the sun in the sky and the human came past the little gods’ house on his way to petition the sky. The human saw the rainbow dragon sleeping in the hammock and saw the jar of gold pieces next to him. The human quietly entered the garden and took the jar. The human climbed to the top of the hill and said,

‘Sky, each new moon I visit you and beseech you to be favourable to my crops but each time you send me away and tell me not to bother you until I have sufficient tribute. This time I have brought you a jar of gold pieces, will you not now look favourably upon me?’

‘That is indeed sufficient tribute,’ said the sky to the human, ‘what you must do is spilt the jar of gold pieces in half and give one half to the sunshine so that he may shine on your crops when you need it and one half to the rain so she may water your crops when you need it.’

The human did as he was instructed by the sky, splitting the jar in two and giving one half to the sunshine and one half to the rain. The next day the little god returned and saw the rainbow dragon asleep on the hammock and the jar of gold pieces missing from the garden. He smiled to himself before waking the rainbow dragon and asking what had happened to the jar.

‘Oh no,’ said the rainbow dragon ‘I must have fallen asleep and some rogue has stolen it. I swore I would protect your jar and have not done so. Instead I vow I will never stop searching until I find the miscreant who stole your jar and return it to you.’

The rainbow dragon left the home of the little god and went to the waterfall.

‘Waterfall, you must have seen who took the jar? Tell me so I can return it to our friend the little god and make right the wrong I have given him.’

‘Yes I did see who took it,’ said the waterfall ‘it was the human and he gave half to the sunshine and half to the rain. You will never see the jar whole again lest the sunshine and the rain come out together.’

‘Even if it takes me until the circle of time comes round to this point again I will not rest until I have recovered the jar of gold pieces for the little god.’ Said the rainbow dragon and true to his word, each time the sunshine and the rain come out together the rainbow dragon is there to meet them but each time they are gone before he can recover it and that is why the legends say that if any man may reach the head of the rainbow dragon before the sunshine and the rain are gone he may have the opportunity to best them and take the gold for himself.

[Zee]

Good story!

[redben]

Thank you very much

[cinatsra]

I personally think that he planned to hold up a liquor store or gas station or something like that.

[Jimbo]

Wen i started reading this i thought it was a little bit too fairy tale esque for me. But i ended up really enjoying it. A really interesting take on the idea and mythology of rainbows. Thanks alot for sharing it.

[Magno]

That is a great story. You should do some artwork for it and make it into a kids book.

It could do well, its a neat story with a little moral truth.