6
GREAT BIMO
Awo Shubu
In the ancient past,
on the vast land lived the
Spirit Ddebbu Ahly.
Ddebbu Ahly
was sent to see Awo Shubu
about planting living things.
Afterward, Awo Shubu
led the heavenly steed Ami Hlo1
while wearing a hlymido ritual hat,
carrying a bag of ritual texts;
wearing the jjiejjiehli ritual clothes,
shouldering the shuvytu ritual ghost-catcher,
holding the kuhlevo ritual fan.
He brought all his in-laws,
returning to the foot of Nyuni Mountain.2
The earth had no trees,
so he returned to the sky and got
the seeds of three kinds of trees,
and spread them across the wide earth;
forests grew in nine places.
Among the trees, the fir is most valuable.
The fir forest had no living creatures,
so he led deer into the forests.
The fir trees then brightened up,
as the fawns happily played.
Thus, the fir forests had living creatures.3
There were no green grasses on the earth,
so Awo Shubu
returned to the sky and got
the seeds of three kinds of grasses,
and spread them across the wide earth;
grasses grew in nine places.4
The flatlands are where grasses grow,
but the flatlands had no living creatures.
So he took sparrows to the flatlands;5
so the flatlands brightened up
as the sparrows trilled;
he brought a pair of grasshoppers
to be their food.
So the flatlands had living creatures.
There was no flowing water on earth,
so Awo Shubu
returned to the sky to draw the waters forth.
He got ahold of three rivers,
and sent them to the wide human world,
so waters flowed in nine places;
broke apart the stones so the waters could flow.
The waters seemed alive,
but there were no living creatures in the waters.
So he drove otters into the water;
the water had green ripples,
and the otters glistened as they swam.
But the otters had no food,
so he drove a pair of minnows into the water
to become the otters’ food;
thus the water had living creatures.
The wide earth had no stones,
so Awo Shubu
returned to the sky to get them,
and grabbed three kinds of rocks,
and spread them across the earth.
Nine layers of rocks were formed.
Crags are the hardest part of rocks,
and the cliffs had no living creatures;
so he drove the bees to the cliffs,
so the cliffs brightened up.
The bees buzzed about,
but the bees had no food;
so he caught a pair of yomy fly larvae6
to become the food of the bees;
thus the cliffs had living creatures.
The creator of living beings
was the spirit Awo Shubu.