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This is the tale of how stories came to be. Once, a very long time ago, there lived a woman named Manza. Her husband was named Zen. Manza and Zen lived in a small village and had many children. Their lives were happy, except for one thing. They had no stories. Every night, when Mazna put the children to bed, they would cry: "Tell us stories! We want stories!"
Manza thought as hard as she could, but she couldn't conjure any stories. Neither could Zen. They asked their neighbors and friends, but to no avail. Over time, the children's cries for stories seemed to become louder and louder.
One day, Zen could take no more. He pulled his wife aside. "Manza, you must go in search of stories. I'll look after the house and children."
Manza agreed. She kissed her children and husband good-bye, and headed off to find stories. Her strategy was to ask all the creatures she met if they had stories to share. The first animal she saw was a rabbit. Even though the rabbit had a reputation as a trickster, Manza asked if it had any stories anyway. |
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"Why, yes I do!" said the rabbit. "I have millions of tales, actually."
"Can I have some?" asked Manza.
"I have no time for this right now," snapped the rabbit, and he hopped away.
Unfortunately, Manza had similar luck with a baboon, an owl, and an elephant. No one had any stories to share.
Manza was about to give up when she caught sight of an eagle soaring overhead. "Birds fly above everything," she thought. "Surely, the eagle will have some stories!" She cried out to the eagle, starling it so much that it dropped a fish from its mouth.
"I'm sorry I made you drop your dinner," Manza said. "But I am desperate for stories. You see everything. Do you know where I might find some stories to tell my children?"
"Well, I only know what is on the earth. You need someone who knows even the mysteries of the deep oceans," the eagle said. "You need the sea turtle. I'll try and find him for you."
"Oh, thank you!" Manza said.
 Before long, the eagle returned with the sea turtle. "Climb onto my back and hold tight to my shell," the turtle advised Manza. "I will bring you to the rulers of the deep." And the turtle jumped into the ocean.
Manza had never seen anything like the beautiful sights that greeted her underwater. When they reached the thrones of the King and Queen of the Deep, Manza bowed down before them.
"We understand that you are looking for stories," said the King. "We have many tales. But we want something from you, too. We are curious about life on land. So we want you to bring us pictures of your home and your people."
"Yes, I can do that." Manza said. "Thank you!"
She returned to her family and told her husband what had transpired. Zen, a master carver, set to work immediately. He carved lovely pictures of their family, village, and community into wood. When the pictures were finished, Zen summoned the sea turtle and tied the wood carvings to its back.
Manza accompanied the turtle back to the sea kingdom. The King and Queen were delighted with Zen's work. They gave Manza a gorgeous necklace made of seashells to thank her. Then they gave her the most important gift of all—a magical seashell.
"Whenever you want to hear a story, just put your ear to the shell," the Queen said.
Manza thanked them profusely. Then she went back to land. Manza's family and the people of her village were waiting for her. "Tell us a story! We want a story!" they cried.
Manza put the shell to her ear. Then she began. "Once upon a time... ."
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