Story The Eight Suns: adaptation of the ancient legend of Laos.
Thousands of years ago, our planet did not revolve around a single sun as it does now, but around eight suns.
As you can imagine, the heat and light were so intense that they made life on earth almost unbearable.
It was very difficult for humans to farm because almost all the seas, rivers and lakes had evaporated, leaving the fields completely dry.
The animals no longer found trees to shelter in or grass to eat. Unfortunately, there were no habitable places left to migrate to in order to survive. The scarcity of food and water was so great that our wonderful blue planet was becoming a desert planet in which the little life that remained was about to become extinct.
One day, in a place in Asia, a group of men decided that the situation was really desperate. Eight suns illuminating and heating the earth were too many!
They talked at length about how to put an end to this terrible situation and came to the conclusion that the best thing was to scare seven suns and keep only one.
The idea was good but… How to do it?
It occurred to a young man that they could call the most skilled archer in the town to shoot at the suns and hide forever. Everyone thought it was a great option and, without wasting time, they went in search of it.
The archer felt very flattered and happily accepted the proposal. He chose the seven sharpest arrows he had and went up to the top of a mountain. He drew the bow, sharpened his aim and fired at the first sun. The brilliant star, upon receiving the impact, cowered and hid forever. Then he did the same with the second, with the third, with the fourth, with the fifth, with the sixth and with the seventh sun.
Until then, the plan had gone perfectly, but something happened: the eighth sun, upon seeing what was happening, was afraid and decided to disappear from the sky before one of those pointed arrows hurt him in the depths of his heart. .
Frightened, he slipped behind the horizon. Automatically, light and heat disappeared, darkness took over the planet and an immense cold spread across all continents.
The men of the village hugged each other in terror and began to cry without stopping to look at the sky. They could not live without the eighth sun!
They met again to deliberate because the situation was critical and a quick and effective solution had to be found.
One boy suggested that perhaps if the sun heard the animals’ call for help, it would feel sorry and return. The others looked at each other and without saying anything else, dispersed at full speed to warn members of different species. As expected, the animals understood the need to collaborate and went up the mountain to try to contact the sun.
A cow mooed, an elephant trumpeted, a tiger roared, a horse neighed… Each one without exception called on the sun with all their might, but nothing was achieved. The sun was so scared that it refused to return.
When they had lost all hope and a blanket of ice began to cover all the valleys as far as the eye could see, a small rooster arrived determined to lend a hand. He reached the top of the mountain and wrapped in the gloom, shook his feathers, stretched his neck and began to sing with all his might.
The pitiful kikiriki of the little animal echoed in space and reached the ears of the eighth sun. The great star felt a lot of tenderness and then she understood that she had nothing to fear. Deep down, he was aware that without his great presence, life would disappear in a matter of hours and the earth would end up being a horrible gray ball covered in dust and stones.
And that’s how, timidly, the beautiful and incredible sun began to rise in the distance before the astonished gaze of all living beings. Humans and animals began to applaud with excitement and feel how the warmth warmed their icy bodies again.
The light spread to the last corner, the ice melted like butter on the fire and the fields bloomed suddenly with the sudden spring. Finally the earth was shining again in all its splendor!
Since then, and thanks to his feat, the rooster has the honor of waking up with his song to the sun every morning, just in case he falls asleep.