El secreto de las piedras blandas

Susana Esteve Susana Esteve, licenciada en Filologa Hispnica, es directora del semanario Valle de Elda y profesora de Geografa e Historia y de Lengua y Literatura en la Educacin Secundaria Obligatoria en el colegio Santa Mara del Carmen de Elda. Ha realizado trabajos para publicaciones locales y provinciales como el libro titulada Valle de Elda 19562006, 50 aos al servicio de la ciudad y la biografa sobre su padre, el pintor Miguel ngel Esteve, en el libro Cuentamontes 2009 . Desde haca mucho tiempo Susana Esteve quera escribir un cuento histrico para explicar a los nios de Elda y Petrer que estas tierras han estado habitadas desde la Prehistoria. Para ella es muy importante que sintamos cario por el lugar donde vivimos y es ms fcil querer lo que se conoce. Susana Esteve Ilustraciones de Elisabeth JusticiaTraducido por Daniel Verd Edita Ediciones Notivalle, S.L. Texto de Susana Esteve Maci Ilustraciones de Elisabeth Justicia Alcocer Traducido por Daniel Verd Soriano Imprime Azorn, Servicios Grficos Integrales Depsito Legal: A-825-2012 ISBN 978-84-616-2294-8 Texto revisado por Francisco Javier Jover Maestre, profesor titular de Prehistoria de la Universidad de Alicante y por Juan Carlos Mrquez Villora, profesor y arquelogo del Ayuntamiento de Elda. Para Miguel y Pablo Me llamo Teco y viv en estas tierras hace ms de cinco mil aos, es decir, en la Prehistoria, cuando todava no se haban inventado ni las letras! La historia que os voy a contar tuvo lugar al comienzo de la Edad de los Metales, un momento decisivo porque unas personas descubrieron piedras muy especiales que transformaron sus vidas para siempre. El Dios de la Luz haba decidido brillar con intensidad sobre nuestro valle aquella maana. Mi amiga Jana y yo bajamos a la ribera del ro para ver los peces de sus aguas transparentes y correr detrs de las lagartijas. Estbamos alegres. Sabamos que los das comenzaban a ser ms largos y el fro se haba marchado para no regresar hasta dentro de muchas lunas. La vida era tranquila y feliz entonces, sobre todo porque los dioses haban sido generosos con nosotros dndonos una cosecha de trigo abundante. El silo del poblado estaba repleto de semillas. Nuestra aldea se situaba cerca de una de las orillas de un ro que nos daba agua. En los corrales que estaban junto a las casas, cribamos cerdos y ovejas que nos proporcionaban carne, leche y pieles para vestirnos. Jana y yo ramos amigos desde pequeos. Nos gustaba jugar juntos, sobre todo en la ribera, nuestro lugar favorito. Disfrutbamos observando a la sombra de los sauces, fresnos y tarais, los pequeos animales que la habitaban, con sus increbles formas y colores. All nos encontrbamos cada da al amanecer para coger agua y llevarla hasta nuestras casas en bolsas hechas de piel. La vida tranquila en el valle Quiet life in the Valley My name is Teco and I lived on this land over five thousand years ago, in the Prehistory, when not even the alphabet had been invented! The story I am going to tell you took place in the beginning of the Metal Ages, a decisive moment because people discovered some very special stones that would forever change their lives. The God of Light had decided to shine bright over our valley that morning. My friend Jana and I went down to the river bank to see the fish on its transparent waters and run after the lizards. We were happy. We knew that days had started to be longer and cold was gone not to be back for many moons. Life was quiet and happy on those days, mainly because the gods had been generous to us, giving us a plentiful wheat crop. The town silo was stuffed with seeds. Our town was located near one of the banks of the river that gave us plenty of water. On the pens by the houses we raised pigs and sheep that provided us with enough meat, milk, and leather to dress ourselves. Jana and I had been friends since we were little. We liked playing together, mainly on the riverbanks, our favorite place. Under the shade of the willows, the ashes, and the tarais, we en-joyed looking at the small animals that lived there, with their incredible shapes and colors. We met there at dawn everyday to fetch water and carry it back to our homes inside bags made out of leather. No s por qu nos llevbamos tan bien: ella era una nia muy alegre mientras que a m me costaba ms sonrer. Sin embargo, tenamos en comn una gran curiosidad por conocer todo lo que nos rodeaba. Patras, el viejo sabio de nuestra aldea, nos contaba que la Madre Tierra tena importantes secretos que iba revelando poco a poco a algunas personas elegidas. Uno de ellos result tan decisivo que revolucion hace mucho tiempo la forma de vida de nuestro poblado: la comida, que tan costosa de conseguir fue para nuestros antepasados y les obligaba a pasar cientos de jornadas caminando, ahora la Madre Tierra nos la regalaba. Por eso pudimos establecernos en el valle para siempre, ya no fue necesario emigrar de un sitio a otro buscando frutos de la naturaleza. - Quin recibi este secreto, -pregunt Jana curiosa al anciano Patras. - Ocurri hace tanto tiempo que ya nadie recuerda su nombre, pero cuando yo era nio, el sabio de la aldea me con t que fue una mujer anciana la que un da acost una semilla en la tierra, la tap, le dio de beber y esper,al poco tiempo naci una planta. - Por qu hizo eso la viejecita -dije yo. - Porque la Madre Tierra le haba dicho que la flor seca tiene dentro su fruto tierno escondido -respondi Patras. I dont know why we got along so well: she was a very happy girl while it was hard for me to smile. Nevertheless, we also had things in common: we were both very curious about learning about everything that surrounded us. The name of the wisest man in our town was Patras, the sage, and he used to tell us that Mother Earth had very important secrets that she used to reveal to a few chosen ones little by lit tle. One of those secrets turned out to be so decisive that a long time ago transformed our way of life and completely changed our town: food, which was so hard to get for our ancestors and made them walk for hundreds of days, was now given to us by Mother Earth and that is why we were able to settle down in the valley; it was no longer necessary to migrate from one place to another in search of the fruits of nature. - Who was the one that received that secret -asked Jana to Patras full of curiosity. - It happened so long ago nobody remembers her name, but when I was a little child, the sage told me it was an old woman who one day laid a seed on the ground, covered it with soil, gave it water and wait ed a little while later a plant was born. - And why did the old woman do that -I asked - Because Mother Earth had told her that the d ried up flower had its tender fruit hidden inside -ans w e re d Patras. Un da, junto al ro, mientras Jana y yo observbamos cmo las hormigas caminaban en una fila enorme para guardar la comida antes de que llegara el fro, apareci un extrao hombre que cambiara el rumbo de nuestras vidas. De repente, surgi frente a nosotros y dimos un respingo del susto. Tena una barba larga del color de la nieve, era alto, vesta ropa de lino muy sucia y llevaba colgada una bolsa hecha de piel. l tambin se sorprendi al vernos, se mostraba desorientado, como si se hubiera perdido. Corrimos sobresaltados a toda prisa hacia la aldea para avisar del peligro. Nuestros gritos los alertaron a todos y los hombres cogieron rpidamente sus lanzas para bajar al ro. El visitante estaba an ms alterado que nosotros y trat de huir, pero no pudo, fue rpidamente acorralado y entonces pudimos verlo de cerca, tena una enorme cicatriz en la mejilla derecha! Los hombres le quitaron la bolsa y le ataron con una cuerda de esparto las muecas. l no se resisti. Registraron su bolsa, pero solo encontraron piedras, entonces lo llevaron al pequeo redil que tenamos junto a nuestra casa. Lo empujaron hasta tirarlo al suelo y le volvieron a amarrar con otra cuerda los tobillos. Mi padre, que era el jefe del poblado, le pregunt quin era y qu quera, pero no pareca entender bien sus palabras, solo temblaba. Mi madre le acerc una tortita de trigo, l la cogi como pudo y se la comi de inmediato. Estaba muy hambriento. Me fij en un curioso colgante que penda de un cordel de su cuello. Tena la forma de una punta de flecha, pero no era del color de las piedras, sino del fuego; su brillo tambin era descono cido para m, solo lo haba visto en el caparazn de algunos animales pequeos. l se dio cuenta La llegada del extranjero The arrival of the foreigner One day by the river, while Jana and I were looking at some ants walking on a long line, saving food before the cold came, a strange man showed up that would change the course of our lives. He suddenly appeared right there and startled us. He had a long snow-colored beard, he was very tall, was dressed with very dirty linen clothes and he was carrying a leather bag. He was also startled when he saw us and he looked disoriented, as if he were lost. We run scared as fast as we could towards the town to tell everyone about the danger. Our yelling alerted everyone and the men got their weapons to go down to the river. The stranger was even more terrified than we were and he tried to run away, but he couldnt. He was quickly sur rounded and only then were we able to see him up close. He had an enormous scar on his right cheek! The men took his bag and tied his wrists up with some esparto grass rope. He did not show any opposition. They searched his bag but they could only find stones, so they took him to the small enclosure we had by our house. They pushed him in until they threw him on the floor and used another rope to tie his ankles. My father, who was the town chief, asked him who he was and what was it that he wanted, but he did not seem to understand his words, he was just shaking. My mother gave him a piece of wheat bread, which he took and ate immediately. He was very hungry. I looked at a curious pendant hanging from his neck on a string. It had the shape of an arrowhead, but it was not the color of stone, but of fire; its brightness was also unknown to me. I had e hizo ademn de ensermelo, pero mi padre no dej que me acercara. El resto del da permaneci all sentado, mientras las mujeres y los nios de la aldea se pasaban por nuestro corral para observar al visitante con ojos de curiosidad. l no mostraba enfado a pesar de verse tratado como una bestia ms; al contrario, sus nicos gestos eran sonrisas que nos diriga a los nios. Pareca que el miedo se le haba pasado. As transcurrieron los das hasta que ya nadie repar en l. Sin embargo, para Jana y para m el visitante constitua un enigma y por ello tratbamos de pasar el mayor tiempo con l. Le llevbamos agua, peces del ro o nuestras ricas habas. Cuando nos vea, dibujaba con un palito una onda en la tierra, pero nosotros an no entendamos el significado de este gesto. Despus de muchos das, los hombres comprendieron que el visitante era inofensivo y decidieron soltarlo. only seen it on the shell of some small animals. He realized I was staring and tried to show it to me, but my father did not let him come any closer. He remained seating there for the rest of the day, while the women and children of the town went by our house to look at the foreigner with their eyes full of curiosity. He was not showing any anger even though we had treated him like a beast; on the contrary, his only gestures were the smiles he directed towards the children. It seemed like his fear had passed. And this is how days went by until no one noticed him anymore. However, for Jana and me, the visitor was a mystery and we always tried to spend more time with him. We gave him water, fish from the river, or some of our delicious beans. Every time he saw us he traced some kind of wave on the ground with a stick, but we could not understand what he was trying to say. After many days, the men in the town understood the foreigner was harmless and decided to release him. Podra haber regresado a su aldea, pero el extranjero decidi quedarse a vivir en una de las cuevas del monte cercano. Estaba claro que nadie lo echaba de menos, puesto que a nuestro poblado no lleg grupo alguno preguntando por l. Jana y yo queramos conocerlo de cerca, todo en l nos pareca misterioso, especialmente su colgante rojo y brillante. Cada da le llevbamos comida a su gruta y l nos acompaaba al ro. Poco a poco fue entendiendo nuestras palabras y comenz a contarnos, con la ayuda de gestos, algn detalle curioso de los animalillos que veamos. As nos fuimos haciendo amigos. La revelacin de su secreto comenz una maana al sealarnos el monte con forma de cabeza de lince que presida nuestro valle. A continuacin, dibuj su silueta en el aire con un dedo y al instante reconocimos la onda que haba trazado en el suelo del corral. Esa misma tarde nos llev hasta la ladera del monte y sac de su bolsa varias piedras de color rojo! Hizo una hoguera frotando dos palos sobre un montn de hojas de pino, escogi la ms grande de todas y la coloc sobre un pedrusco liso que estaba junto al fuego. Ante nuestros ojos atnitos, vimos la piedra ablandarse por los bordes como si fuera un trozo de arcilla tierna. Nunca habamos visto nada igual, era verdadera magia!, el extranjero poda ablandar las piedras! El viejo Patras nos haba enseado a fabricar arpones de hueso para pescar, a sacar hebras del lino para hacernos la ropa, y a tallar y pulir piedras que cortaran, pero aquello no lo habamos visto nunca ni tampoco nadie de nuestro poblado. Al regresar, buscamos a mi padre muy excitados para contarle lo que habamos presenciado. El secreto de las piedras blandas The secret of the soft stones He could have returned to his homeland, but the foreigner decided to stay and live in one of the mountain caves. It was clear that nobody would miss him anywhere, since nobody came to our town asking for him. Jana and I wanted to meet him up close, everything about him seemed mysterious to us, especially his bright red pendant. Every day we would bring food to his cave and he came with us to the river. Little by little he started learning our language and he began to tell us, with the help of gestures, small curious details about the little animals we saw. Thats how we became friends. The revelation of his secret started one morning when he was pointing at the mountain with the shape of a lynx head presiding over our valley. Next, he drew its silhouette in the air with a finger and we immediately recognized the wave he had traced before on the ground. That same afternoon he took us to the mountainside and took from his bag several stones, and they were red! He made a fire rubbing two sticks together over a pile of dried pine tree needles; he chose the biggest piece and placed it over a flat stone that was by the fire. Before our astonished eyes, we saw the stone softening around the edges like a tender piece of clay. We had never seen anything like that, it was real magic! The foreigner could soften stones! Old Patras had taught us to make fishing harpoons out of bone, to get the flax fibers and create linen to make clothes and carve and polish our cutting stones, but neither us nor anybody in our town had ever seen anything like that. As we returned we were very excited to find my father and tell him what we had witnessed. Al principio no nos crey, pero ante nuestra insistencia, decidi ir a ver al viejo Patras, pues ni Jana ni yo ramos menti rosos. Desconozco de qu hablaran, pero lo cierto es que ambos decidieron que lo mejor era reunir al poblado. - Id a buscar al extranjero para que nos haga su magia, -nos dijeron. Mi padre toc el cuerno que sonaba para convocar la asamblea en las ocasiones im portantes, por eso deban venir todos. Entre comentarios de sorpresa, los hombres, las mu jeres y los nios fueron llegando hasta el centro del poblado y se sentaron formando un crculo. At first he did not believe us, but he decided to talk to old Patras, for he knew neither Jana nor I were liars. I do not know what they talked about, but the fact is they both decided it was best to gather everyone in town. - Go find the foreigner so he can do his magic - they told us. My father blew the winding horn that sounded to summon everyone on special occasions, and everyone knew they had to come. Among comments of surprise, men, women and children gathered around the center of the town and they all sat in a circle. Jana y yo fuimos a buscarlo a su cueva, donde nos hizo una revelacin inesperada con una seriedad desconocida en l hasta entonces: - Voy a mostrarle a vuestro poblado la magia de las piedras blandas, pero el secreto de las piedras lquidas -coment agarrndose con fuerza su colgante-, solo os lo ensear a vosotros. Nos quedamos muy intrigados porque desconocamos a qu se refera. Ese da no concret nada ms y sigui adelante con los preparativos de su demostracin en la aldea por lo que meti en su bolsa una piedra roja del tamao de una nuez. Le acompaamos hasta el poblado donde todos ya aguardaban sentados. Mi padre le orden que se colocara en el centro. El murmullo inicial se fue transformando en silencio cuando pidi entre palabras y gestos un molino de piedra de los que utilizbamos para moler el trigo. Una mujer lo trajo mientras l haca una hoguera. El extranjero cogi la piedra grande del molino, la puso junto al fuego y coloc el mineral rojo encima. Cuando ste estuvo muy caliente, empez a golpearlo con la otra piedra con una fuerza increble, como si quisiera romperlo. Pero para nuestra sorpresa, la piedra roja iba creciendo a medida que reciba ms golpes. El poblado exclam al unsono un gran y prolongado: Oooooohhhh!, y luego enmudeci viendo cmo el hombre terminaba su trabajo, pues la piedra, que haba sido pequea y gruesa, creci y creci hasta convertirse en otra fina y grande; ms sorprendente an fue que su blandura de arcilla se haba transformado en la dureza de una roca firme. Qued claro para todos que el extranjero era una de las personas escogidas por la Madre Tierra para revelarle sus secretos. Desde ese da, el extranjero pas a ser alguien importante y nosotros tambin por tratarse de sus amigos. El viejo Patras al principio lo miraba con recelo, pero luego reconoci su gran sabi dura. Jana and I went looking for him to his cave, where he made an unexpected revelation with a severity unknown to us until then: - I am going to teach your people the magic of the soft stones, but the secret of the liquid stones -he said taking hold of his pendant- I will only reveal to both of you. We were very intrigued because we did not know what he was talking about. That day he did not mention anything else, and he continued preparing his demonstration for the town, so he placed a red stone the size of a walnut inside his bag. We walked him to the town where everyone was gathered, and my father ordered him to stand in the center. The initial muttering transformed into silence when he asked, using words and gestures for a grindstone like the ones we used to grind wheat. While one of the women went to fetch it, the foreigner made a bonfire. Then he put the biggest grinder stone very close to it and placed the red mineral on top. When it was very hot, he started hitting it incredibly hard with the other stone, as if he wanted to break it. But to our surprise the red stone started growing as it re ceived the blows. The village exclaimed in unison a large and prolonged Oooooohhhh!, and then they were all speechless waiting for the man to finish his work since the stone that had been small and thick, grew and grew becoming big and thin; and even more surprising was that its clay-like softness had transformed into the hardness of a firm rock. It was clear to all that the foreigner was one of the people that Mother Earth had chosen to reveal its secrets to. Since that day on, the foreigner became someone important and so did we for being his friends. At first old Patras looked at him suspiciously, but in time he acknowledged his great wis-dom. Cuando lleg el fro, el poblado ya haba aprendido a fabricar objetos con las piedras del extranjero. Instrumentos que hasta entonces hacamos de piedra o hueso como agujas para coser, eran ahora ms fuertes y resistentes. Adems, creamos bonitas pulseras rojas y brillantes. Mi curiosidad y la de Jana hacia el extranjero era cada vez mayor, adems, esperbamos que un da nos revelara el secreto anunciado. Este suspense nos mantena muy unidos, sin embargo, nuestros cuerpos se iban diferenciando progresivamente: ella se haba ondulado como la cumbre de nuestro monte; mientras que yo haba crecido muy rpido de estatura y mi espalda se haba ensanchado. Cada da, al terminar las tareas en el campo, ayudbamos a nuestras madres: mi amiga daba de comer a las bestias y yo traa lea con la que encender fuego en casa para calentarnos y cocinar. Despus, al acostarse el Dios de la Luz, aunque estbamos cansados, encendamos una antorcha y nos bamos hasta la cueva del extranjero. Conforme pasaron las lunas, aprendi muy bien nuestras palabras y pudimos entender sus enseanzas sobre las estrellas, las costumbres de los animales o los remedios para curar con plantas. Se llamaba Ibu y, aunque no le gustaba hablar sobre su vida, nos cont que proceda de un poblado que distaba tan solo dos das de camino en direccin al Gran Lago, ese terrible lugar del que tanto nos haban hablado nuestros antepasados, donde el agua era salada y se mova de forma misteriosa formando espuma blanca. La amistad entre los tres fue creciendo como un rbol alto y fuerte. Nuestro amigo Ibu Our friend Ibu When the cold weather came, people in the town had already learned to make objects with the strangers stones. Instruments that we had always made with stone or bone, like sewing needles, were now stronger and harder. We also created beautiful red and shiny bracelets. Janas curiosity towards him kept growing and so did mine; we also expected that one day he would reveal us the secret he had announced. This expectation kept us very close to each other, while at the same time our bodies grew progressively different: she had become wavy as the sum mit of our mountain, while I had grown rapidly in stature and my back had widened. Every day, once we had completed our work in the fields, we helped our mothers: my friend would feed the animals while I brought in wood to light a fire for warmth and cooking. Then, when the God of Light went to bed, and even though we were tired, we would light a torch and go to the foreigners cave. As moons passed by, he learned to speak our language and we were able to better understand his teachings about the stars, the habits of animals and the remedies that can be made with different plants. His name was Ibu, and even though he did not like to mention anything about his life, he told us that he came from a town that was only two days away in the direction of the Big Lake, that terrible place we had heard so much about from our ancestors, where the water was salty and moved in strange ways forming a white frothy foam. Friendship between the three of us grew as big and strong as a tree. Era una persona solitaria que no tena ni mujer ni hijos y a quien desde nio le gust la soledad porque pensaba que as podra escuchar mejor los secretos de los dioses, cosa que deseaba con todas sus fuerzas. - Por qu viniste a nuestro poblado- le espet un da Jana con naturalidad. Nuestro amigo no se esperaba esa pregunta, pero contest con franqueza: - Mi aldea viva en paz, pero cuando la Madre Tierra me hizo la primera revelacin sobre las piedras rojas, me convert en el nuevo sabio y el anciano mago se enfad mucho porque le haba quitado su lugar. Entonces convenci a los hombres y las mujeres de que si utilizbamos es tas piedras, los dioses se enfadaran. Y tena razn. He was a loner who had no wife or children and who had always enjoyed being alone because that way he thought he would be able to better listen to the secrets of the gods, which he wished with all his might. - Why did you come to our village - Jana snapped naturally one day. Our friend did not expect this question, but he answered openly: - My village lived in peace, but when Mother Earth showed me the first revelation on the red stones, I became the new sage and the old ma gician became very furious because I had taken his place. Then he convinced all men and women that if they used those stones the gods would be angry at them. And he was right. - Por qu dices eso -le pregunt sorprendido. - Algunas personas empezaron a cambiar, sobre todo una, que se apoder de la montaa donde estaban las piedras. Los dems protestaron diciendo que nadie poda poseer a la gran Madre Tierra pues ella era generosa y nos daba todo lo que tena. Pero este hombre no hizo caso y nos oblig a todos a darle trigo o animales si queramos las piedras y as se fue transformando en una persona cada vez ms poderosa. De esta manera, se convirti en el nuevo jefe del poblado. - Qu hiciste entonces -pregunt Jana. - Me enfrent a l y me atac cortndome la cara con su cuchillo -dijo muy triste sealndose la mejilla-, as que decid marcharme. He vivido durante muchas lunas por los montes, pero ha merecido la pena. S que los dioses me han perdonado ya que la Madre Tierra me revel otro secreto: el de las piedras lquidas. Se le iluminaron los ojos, pero en seguida baj la mirada y continu: - No quiero cometer el mismo error, as que solo revelar este secreto antes de morir a quien sepa esperar a que llegue el momento adecuado, porque no solo traera la discordia, sino tambin la guerra. En nuestro poblado desconocamos qu era la guerra, pero los viejos nos contaban una terrible historia ocurrida antes de que nosotros nacisemos: una noche llegaron gentes que bajaron sigilo sas por la ribera del ro para quitarnos nuestras tierras. Era un grupo pequeo y, aunque los nues tros pudieron hacerles frente y los invasores terminaron huyendo ro abajo, al poblado le qued un recuerdo de violencia y tristeza porque algunos de sus amigos fueron asesinados. - Why do you say that -I asked surprised. - Some people began to change, especially one that seized the mountain where the stones were. Many protested saying that no one could own great Mother Earth as she was generous and gave us everything she had. But this man did not listen and forced us all to give him wheat or ani mals if we wanted the stones. This way he became more and more powerful until he became the new head of the village. - What did you do then -Jana asked. - I faced him and he attacked me, cutting my face with his knife, -he said in a very sad voice pointing to his cheek- so I decided to leave. I have lived in the mountains for many moons, but it was worth it. I know that the gods have forgiven me since Mother Earth told me another secret: the one about the liquid stones. His eyes lit up, but he quickly looked down and continued: - I do not want to make the same mistake twice, so I will only reveal it before I die to whoever can wait until the right moment comes, because it would not only bring disputes, but also war among your people. In our village we did not know what war was, but the old ones told a terrible story of a time long before we were born: a group of people came silently one night along the riverbank to try to take our land from us. It was a small group, and even though our people were able to confront them and make them run away down the river, they were left with very sad and violent memories because some of our people were killed. Ahora que ha pasado el tiempo, creo que Ibu quera asegurarse de que Jana y yo estbamos preparados para saber el secreto de las piedras lquidas, por eso nos puso varias prue bas para comprobar nuestra paciencia y nuestras dotes de observacin. Primero nos dijo que prestramos atencin a la naturaleza y descubriramos si algn ser poda vivir solo sin la ayuda de los dems. Jana estaba entusiasmada con el reto y en los das siguientes observamos la vida de los animales de la ribera: cmo eran realmente, qu coman, dnde vivan; pero tambin nos fijamos en las plantas y los lugares en que crecan; en la forma del ro y de las nubes; en el color de las piedras Cuando tuvimos la respuesta, fuimos a verle: nos habamos dado cuenta de que los pjaros necesitaban de los rboles para hacer sus nidos; que los peces solo podan nadar en el agua; que el ro formaba su camino en la tierra y creca con la lluvia; que todas las criaturas necesitaban al Dios de la Luz; que incluso las piedras nacan de las montaas. Ibu se mostr satisfecho con nuestras conclusiones, sin embargo, no entendimos por qu nos haba hecho esa pregunta, pues l mismo siempre vivi solo sin una esposa y sin la bendicin de los hijos y, sin embargo, los dioses le haban elegido. Lunas ms tarde decidi darnos otra pista: - Lo diferente es necesario y nos atrae, como Jana y t, ella precisa de tu calma y t de su energa. Escuchando a la Madre Tierra Listening to Mother Earth I think, now that time has gone by, that what Ibu wanted was to make sure that Jana and I were ready to learn the secret of the liquid stones, that is why we had to undergo several tests so he could check our patience and our powers of observation. First he told us to pay attention to nature and find out if any being could live alone without the help of others. Jana was excited about the challenge and in the following days we paid a lot of at tention to the lives of animals of the riverbanks: what they were really like, what they ate, where they lived, but we also looked at the plants and how they grew, the shape of the river and the clouds, the color of the stones... When we had the answer, we went to see him: we had noticed that the birds needed the trees to make their nests; that fish could only swim in the water; that the river made its way into the ground and grew with the rain; that all creatures needed the God of Light; that even the stones were born out of the mountains. Ibu was satisfied with our responses; however, we could not understand why we had been asked that question: he himself had always lived alone, without a wife or the blessing of children, and despite this, he had been chosen by the gods. Moons later he decided to give us another clue: - We are attracted to whatever is different from us and at the same time we need it, just like Jana and you: she needs your calm and you need her energy. Ambos notamos un gran calor en la cara, pero sabamos que tena razn. Nuestro amigo prosigui: - La Madre Tierra ensea sus secretos a quien sabe escucharlos: ella une lo blanco y lo negro en el da y la noche; lo rpido y lo lento en el curso de los ros; lo bello y lo feo en sus criaturas; lo bueno y lo malo en el mismo fuego; lo fugaz y lo eterno en la vida y la muerte. Todas las criaturas de la tierra nos necesitamos y ninguna puede vivir sola. A lo largo del da, mientras andaba metido en mis tareas cotidianas o descansando en la ribera del ro, intentaba con todas mis fuerzas es cuchar en el silencio a las criaturas de la Madre Tierra: las piedras, las montaas, las plantas, el agua, las estrellas, los animales We both felt a great deal of heat in our faces, but we knew he was right. Our friend continued: - Mother Earth teaches her secrets to those who know how to listen: she puts together the black and the white in the day and the night; the fast and the slow in the course of the rivers; the beautiful and the ugly in her creatures; the good and the bad in the same fire; the brief and the eternal in life and death. All creatures on Earth need each other, and no one can live without the rest. Throughout the day, as I was doing my daily chores or resting on the bank of the river, I tried with all my might to listen in silence to Mother Earths creatures: the rocks, the mountains, the plants, the water, the stars, the animals... Jana y yo no volvimos a hablar de lo que haba dicho sobre nosotros, pero Ibu tena razn, cada vez me gustaba ms estar a su lado y me atraa con una fuerza desconocida hasta entonces, a pesar de que al verla, me senta agitado y nervioso: ella era diferente a los chicos y chicas de mi aldea. Las estaciones del fro y de las lluvias fueron pasando y, al mismo tiempo, Ibu pareca apagarse como el fuego. Uno de los ltimos das que lo vimos pareca triste y cansado, apenas poda hablar, pero nos dio la pista definitiva: - La piedra blanda necesita unirse a otra muy distinta para ser mejor. Si estis preparados para comprender esto, los dioses os revelarn el secreto. stas fueron las ltimas palabras de Ibu. Aquella noche no pude dormir bien porque tena el presentimiento de que algo iba mal, as que nada ms despertarme, corr hacia su cueva para saber cmo se encontraba mi amigo, pero era tarde. All ya no haba nadie. No volvimos a saber nada de l. Estoy seguro de que se fue junto a su verdadera esposa, la Madre Tierra. Nos dej como recuerdo su bolsa de piel, en la que quedaron pequeas piedras rojas y otra grande, blanca, con una punta de flecha tallada. Jana and I never talked about what he had said about us, but Ibu was right. I liked being with her more and more every day, and she attracted me with a force I had never felt before, even though I felt agitated and nervous whenever I saw her: she was different from the other boys and girls in my village. Seasons of cold and rain went by, while Ibu seemed to be slowly fading away like a fire that is running out of wood. One of the last days we saw him he looked sad and tired and could barely speak, but he gave us a final clue: - The soft stone needs to join another one to be better. If you are ready to understand this, the gods will reveal the secret. These were Ibus last words. That night I could not sleep well because I had a feeling that something was wrong, so as soon as I woke up I ran to his cave to see how my friend was doing, but it was too late. There was no one there. We never knew anything else about him. I am convinced that he went with his real wife, Mother Earth. He left us his leather bag as a keepsake, in which there were several small red stones and a big white one with a carved arrowhead on it. Nuestro amigo Ibu nos haba dicho que su secreto se esconda en las piedras rojas, as que las buscamos donde nos seal: en el monte con forma de cabeza de lince. Pero all no estaban, por eso l las haba trado, en su bolsa, desde la tierra del Gran Lago salado. ramos muy jvenes para ir hasta ese lugar donde exista la guerra y otros peligros desconocidos. Entonces, qu podamos hacer si no probar a calentar las rocas que nos daba nuestro monte Confibamos en que el espritu del lince nos guiara. Primero calentamos pequeas rocas de diferentes colores en el horno de cermica de la aldea, pero algunas se rompan y ninguna se ablandaba. En el poblado nos tomaban por locos, pero nuestros padres nos dejaban continuar porque saban que estbamos creciendo y todas aquellas horas de libertad se acabaran pronto con nuevas obligaciones. Me fij en el brillo de los ojos de Jana cuando andbamos metidos en nuestros experimentos, pareca el de las estrellas en mitad de la noche. Uno de los das que fuimos a la montaa, nos adentramos en una de sus pequeas cuevas y, de repente, Jana lanz un grito: - Teco, Teco! He visto algo que brilla! All haba algo que titilaba como sus ojos. Era una pequea piedra verde que destellaba igual que los peces del ro. La met rpidamente en mi bolsa de piel y bajamos corriendo hasta el Siguiendo las pistas Following the clues Our friend had told us that his secret was hidden within the red stones, so we looked for them where he said: in the lynx-head shaped mountain. But they were not there, that is why Ibu had brought them in his bag from the land of the Great Lake. We were too young to go to that area where there was war and many other unknown dangers. What could we do but to try to heat up the rocks that our mountain gave us We hoped that the lynx spirit would guide us. We first tried heating up small rocks of different colors in the town kiln, but some broke down and none of them softened. In the village they thought we were crazy, but our parents let us continue because they knew we were growing up and soon all those hours of freedom would end with new grown up obligations. I noticed the sparkle in Janas eyes as we made our experiments; it looked like the brightness of the stars in the middle of the night. One day when we went to our mountain, we walked into one of its little caves. Suddenly Jana cried: - Look, Teco! Ive seen something shiny! There was something there that twinkled like her eyes. It was a small green stone that flashed with light like the fish in the river. I quickly put it inside my leather bag and ran down to the village kiln, where a neighbor had just lit up the fire to bake her clay pots. horno del poblado, donde una vecina acababa de preparar el fuego para cocer sus cacharros de arcilla. La mujer nos dej a regaadientes utilizar el horno. Introdujimos en l la nueva piedra y esperamos un largo rato mientras observbamos cmo decoraba con un punzn unas vasijas de barro an sin cocer. Transcurrido un rato, fuimos a sacar la roca, pero ya no estaba!, haba desaparecido!, se haba ido!, pero dnde, con quin si no nos movimos de all! Decepcionados, nos marchamos sin decirnos nada a la ribera del ro, donde siempre los problemas nos parecan ms pequeos. Me tumb boca arriba buscando una respuesta en las nubes: Por qu la piedra se haba ido, igual que hacan ellas Entonces me di cuenta de que Jana no estaba a mi lado, me incorpor y la vi pintndose como hacan las mujeres del poblado. Acababa de preparar una mezcla de cenizas y agua y con ella se iba cubriendo los brazos y la cara. Estaba muy guapa. Se haba peinado de una manera diferente, recogien do su cabello con un hueso de marfil. En aquel momento supe que tambin nosotros cam bibamos, aunque yo an me viera como un nio. Cambiar, transformarse, crecer Entonces record al bueno de Ibu y sus enseanzas: los contrarios se necesitan e, inmediatamente, pens que la pista que faltaba era esa: todo cambia. Emocionado, llam a Jana: She reluctantly let us use the oven first. We put the new stone there and waited for a long time while we watched how the woman decorated the uncooked clay vases with a burin. After a while, we went to get the rock, but it was not there, it had disappeared! It was gone! But where With whom We had been there all the time! Disappointed and without saying anything, we left towards the river, where problems always seemed smaller. I lay on my back looking up to the clouds for an answer: why had the stone disap peared just like the clouds did Then I realized that Jana was not beside me. I sat up and saw her painting herself, just like the women of the village did. She had just prepared a mixture of ashes and water and she was covering her arms and face with it. She was very pret ty. She had a different hairstyle, holding it back together with an ivory bone. At that moment I knew that we were also chang ing, although I still saw myself as a child. To change, to transform, to grow ... Then I remembered good old Ibu and his teachings: opposites need each other. I immediately thought that the clue that was missing was exactly that one: everything changes. Very excited, I called Jana: - Jana, Jana!, Y si la piedra est ah Y si ha cambiado Ella me mir, estaba radiante, se le iluminaron los ojos de nuevo y fuimos corriendo hasta el horno. Cuando llegamos, la mujer se haba ido ya. Con una gran emocin y a la vez miedo, met la cabeza en el horno y, a travs del humo, pude ver un lquido espeso sobre las brasas an calientes. - Jana, la piedra no est, pero hay otra cosa! -exclam muy contento. Cuando Jana se asom, dijo contrariada: - Pero no era el fuego el que haca ms fuerte a la piedra En cambio, la ha transformado en lquido!, de qu sirve entonces Tena razn, cuando pareca que nos aproximbamos al secreto y casi lo podamos tocar con la punta de los dedos, se nos presentaba un nuevo problema. Despus de un largo silencio, dimos un paso ms en la buena direccin: observamos que el lquido se haba endurecido formando pequeas bolitas rojas. Eran como las que trajo Ibu!, rojas como el fuego! Habamos aprendido que las piedras verdes se convertan en rojas y que las rojas se hacan lquidas con el fuego. Intrigados por este doble descubrimiento, nos preguntamos si habra algo que pudiramos hacer con este lquido. De nuevo, estbamos ante un dilema y, otra vez, sin respuesta. - Jana, Jana! what if the stone is still there What if it has changed She looked at me, she was radiant, her eyes lit up again and we went running back to the furnace.When we arrived, the woman had already left. With great excitement and fear at the same time, I stuck my head in the oven and, through the smoke I saw a thick liquid over the cooling coals. - Jana, the stone isnt there, but there is something else! -I exclaimed happily. When Jana looked in she said annoyed: - But, wasnt the fire supposed to make the stone stronger Instead it has transformed it into liquid! Whats the point then She was right, when it seemed that we were getting closer to discovering the secret and that we almost had it at our fingertips, a new problem showed up. After a long silence, we took another step in the right direction: we noticed that the liquid had hardened forming small red beads. They were exactly like the ones Ibu had! Red like the fire! We had learned that green stones became red, and that red stones became liquid with fire. Intrigued by this double discovery, we wondered if there was anything we could do with this hot liquid. Again we were confronted with a dilemma and, again, we had no solution for it. Pasamos varias lunas sin poder pensar en otra cosa. El calor lleg de nuevo y fue entonces cuando mis padres me recordaron lo que yo haba olvidado por completo, que me estaba haciendo mayor y pronto tendra que pasar la prueba para convertirme en un hombre: cazar un jabal o un ciervo. Los nios de mi edad se entrenaban con sus padres, ya que fracasar significaba que no eras lo suficientemente fuerte. Pero yo andaba tan preocupado con las piedras, que no haba tenido tiempo para cazar. Jana y yo decidimos volver a la cueva de Ibu en busca de su espritu para que nos ayudara a resolver el misterio. Al abrir su bolsa, vimos la piedra blanca e inmediatamente recordamos el colgante rojo porque la piedra tena tallado un hueco con la forma de una punta de flecha. Pero cmo era eso posible, ya sabamos que la piedra roja se derreta, pero cmo unirla con la piedra blanca, cmo podra la piedra blanca darle su forma, acaso no seran esos los contrarios de los que tanto nos habl Ibu - Los contrarios se necesitan, pongmoslos juntos -dijo Jana. Estbamos tan entusiasmados que nos abrazamos con fuerza y sera imposible explicar con palabras el estremecimiento que sent por todo mi cuerpo. Me separ rpidamente de ella para que no notara los intensos latidos de mi corazn. Cog el molde de punta de flecha y corrimos hasta el horno. All rescatamos las piedrecitas rojas de entre las cenizas. Estbamos convencidos El espritu de Ibu nos ayuda Ibus spirit helps us We spent several days unable to think of anything else. Heat came back and that was when my parents reminded me what I had completely forgotten; that I was getting older and that I would soon have to pass the test to become a man: hunting a boar or a deer. Kids my age trained with their fathers because failing this test would mean you were not strong enough. But I was so con cerned with the stones I had had no time for hunting. Jana and I decided to return to Ibus cave in search of his spirit so he could help us solve the mystery. As we opened his bag, we saw the white stone and immediately remembered the red pendant because the stone had the shape of an arrowhead carved on it. But how was that pos sible We already knew that the red stone melted, but how could we join it with the white stone Wouldnt those be the opposites Ibu had talked so much about - Opposites need each other, lets put them together -said Jana. We were so thrilled that we hugged tightly and it would be impossible to put into words the excitement I felt all over my body. I quickly moved away from her so that she would not notice the intense beating of my heart. I took the arrowhead mold and we ran to the oven. There we took the red stones from within the ashes. We were convinced they would change and melt again. We needed a place to hold them, so Jana run home and brought a small stone bowl. de que volveran a fundirse, a cambiar. Como necesitbamos un recipiente, Jana corri a su casa y trajo de un pequeo cuenco de piedra. Mientras hacamos el fuego, fuimos preguntndonos nerviosos cmo podramos sacar el cuenco caliente de all. Y despus, cmo verteramos el lquido ardiente en el molde Record que mi padre guardaba las varas de madera que los hombres utilizaban despus de cazar para colgar sus presas y traerlas hasta el poblado. Colocamos el recipiente con las piedras rojas dentro del horno y Jana se qued avivando el fuego mientras yo iba corriendo a casa. Mi madre estaba en la puerta tejiendo y me mir con sorpresa al verme salir con los palos de la caza. While we were lighting the fire up, we were nervously wondering how we would be able to get the hot bowl out of there. And then, how would we pour the burning liquid into the mold I remembered that my father kept the wooden poles which men used after hunting to hang their prey and bring them to the town. We placed the bowl with the red stones inside the oven and Jana stayed stoking the fire while I went running back home. My mother was at the door weaving on the loom and she looked surprised to see me coming out with the hunting poles. Despus de un rato, utilic uno de los palos para sacar el cuenco del horno. El metal se haba derretido otra vez! Ahora quedaba verter el espeso lquido en el molde de punta de flecha. Jana y yo agarramos las dos varas por los extremos con ambas manos. Entonces movimos los palos cuidadosamente hasta que el crisol rebosante qued justo en el centro y, tras levantarlo con mucho cuidado, pudimos echar el metal en el molde. Mientras contemplbamos absortos cmo el lquido tomaba la forma del hueco del molde, yo senta los latidos de mi corazn con tanta fuerza que pareca que se me iba a salir por la garganta. Haba muchas emociones dentro de m y estaban muy mezcladas, el abrazo de Jana y el nuevo descubrimiento! En uno de los momentos ms emocionantes de mi vida, saqu la flecha del molde, era perfecta! A continuacin, cort unas hojas de esparto con una facilidad pasmosa, como si fueran de queso. Pareca increble, el nuevo metal cortaba ms que las hachas de piedra pulida y mu cho mejor que las piedras blandas. La Madre Tierra nos haba revelado uno de sus misterios!, a Jana y a m! Por fin conocamos el origen del misterioso colgante de Ibu. Nuestra alegra era enorme. En cuanto pude pensar con claridad, le pregunt qu bamos a hacer. Recordamos las palabras de nuestro amigo y decidimos no decir nada. Estaba claro que ramos los elegidos, pero desconocamos si nuestra gente estaba preparada para saber el secreto, ya que estas piedras haban transformado a las personas en la tierra de Ibu. Este silencio nos uni todava ms. El temor a la guerra hizo que callramos al principio, pero la Madre Tierra haba confiado en nosotros y no podamos defraudarla. As que despus de varias lunas, cuando el calor se haba instalado de nuevo, decidimos hablar con mi padre. Era ya de noche y mientras le contbamos todo lo sucedido, su cara fue cambiando: pas de la sorpresa a la admiracin; se estaba dando cuenta de que ya no ramos unos nios. Habamos crecido. After a while I used one of the poles to take the bowl out of the oven. The metal inside had melted again! Now all that was left was to pour the thick liquid in the arrowhead mold. Jana and I took the two long poles at the ends with both hands. Then we carefully moved the poles until the overflowing melting pot was right in the middle and, after lifting it with great effort, we were able to pour the metal into the mold. While we stood there observing how the liquid took the shape of the mold I could feel my heart beating so hard I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. There were many emotions inside of me, and they were all mixed up: Janas embrace and the new discovery! In one of the most exciting moments of my life, I pulled the arrow from the mold. It was perfect! Then I took some esparto grass and I cut it with ease, like cheese. It was incredible, the new metal cut better than our polished stone axes and even better than the soft stones. Mother Earth had revealed one of its secrets! To Jana and to me! We finally knew the origin of Ibus mysterious pendant! Our joy was enormous. As soon as I could think clearly, I asked her what we were going to do. We remembered the words of our friend and we decided not to say anything. It was clear that we were the chosen ones, but we did not know if our people were ready to know the secret yet, since these stones had transformed the people in Ibus land. This silence united us even more. The fear of war made us keep quiet at first, but Mother Earth had trusted us and we could not disappoint her. So after many moons, when the heat had settled in again, we decided to talk to my father. It was already dark and his face changed as we told him everything that had happened: it went from surprise to admiration; he was realizing that we were no longer kids. We had grown up. Mi padre tom la decisin de convocar nuevamente al poblado para decidir entre todos qu debamos hacer. Al da siguiente, antes de comenzar nuestras tareas, sopl su cuerno de ceremonias para anunciar la celebracin de una asamblea importante. Todos fueron llegando en medio de una gran inquietud y, cuando ya estuvieron sentados, mi padre se limit a cederme la palabra. Me sent sorprendido y orgulloso porque me estaba tratando como un hombre, dndome una importancia que nunca haba tenido antes. Aunque yo estaba bastante nervioso, inform al poblado de que la Madre Tierra haba confiado en Jana y en m para revelarnos el secreto de las piedras lquidas. Se form un gran murmullo y uno de los hombres ms jvenes rompi el hielo: - De qu nos van a servir estas piedras Yo respond con rapidez: - Estas piedras son capaces de cortar como ninguna de las que conocemos: podremos elaborar herramientas mejores para segar el trigo y para cazar. - Entonces, si las piedras van a ayudarnos, dnde est el problema, -continu. La solucin The solution My father decided to summon everyone in the village again so that we could all decide what to do. The next day, before we started our chores, he blew his horn to announce the holding of an important meeting. People were arriving amongst great concern and, once they were all seated, my father simply gave me the floor. I was surprised and proud because he was treating me like a man, giving me an importance I had never had before. Although I was quite nervous, I informed the town that Mother Earth had trusted Jana and me with the secret of the liquid stones. A great buzz was formed and one of the younger men broke the ice: - What are those stones good for I quickly answered: - These stones can cut better than anything else we know: we will be able to develop better tools to harvest the wheat, and also to hunt. - Then, if the stones are going to help us, where is the problem -he continued. El viejo Patras le contest por m: - Si alguien fabricara armas y se hiciera fuerte, podra aprovecharse de los dems y forzarlos a entregarles toda la cosecha. Esto cambiara nuestra forma de vivir, puesto que los asuntos ya no se resolveran en asambleas como sta, sino que el ms fuerte decidira segn su voluntad. - Pero si otras aldeas conocen tambin ese secreto, podran tener armas, atacarnos y seguro que nos venceran!, as que debemos fabricar ar mas!, -exclam otro hombre con determinacin. Uno de los ancianos le contest: - Si creamos armas, el problema lo tendremos entre nosotros mismos, pues la paz en la que vivimos desde siempre se acabara. Realmente estbamos en una encrucijada. Jana no haba hablado todava y, aunque no era frecuente que interviniera una mujer en la asamblea, era la elegida por los dioses, as que se sinti con fuerzas para hacerlo: - Teco y yo hemos observado las criaturas y sabemos que cada una de ellas cambia constantemente, nada se para: el Dios Sol sale cada da y si el agua se queda estancada se pudre. No tenemos ms eleccin que seguir hacia adelante, con todos sus riesgos. El viejo Patras apoy la propuesta: - No podemos contrariar a la Madre Tierra que nos ha hecho su revelacin, Old Patras answered for me: -If someone were to make weapons and become strong, he could take advantage of others and force them to give him their harvest. This would change the way we live, since our problems would not be resolved at meetings like this one, but the stronger man would be the one deciding what to do according to his will. - But if other villages also know that secret, they could have weapons, and they could attack us, and they would surely win! So we must make weapons! -cried another man with determination. One of the elders answered: - If we create weapons, we will have problems among ourselves, and the peace in which we have always lived would end forever. We really were at a crossroads. Jana had not spoken yet, and although it was rare for a woman to speak in the assembly, she had been chosen by the gods, so she felt up to it: - Teco and I have been observing the creatures and we know that each and every one of them changes constantly, nothing ever stops: the Sun God rises every day and if the water remains stagnant, it rots. We have no choice but to move forward, assuming all the risks. Old Patras supported the proposal: - We cannot go against Mother Earth after shes given us her revelation, but pero s podemos ponerle freno a la avaricia de las personas. No dejaremos que nadie se apodere de las armas ni de la montaa de cabeza de lince donde estn las piedras verdes! Mi padre zanj el debate: - Teco y Jana tienen razn, debemos dejarles trabajar con las piedras lquidas; si obedecemos a los dioses, ellos sern buenos con nosotros. As fue como Jana y yo nos dedicamos a fabricar objetos con estas piedras: punzones para perforar las pieles, agujas con las que coser tejidos y cuchillos y puntas de lanza para cazar. Adems, creamos joyas como anillos, brazaletes y adornos para nuestras ceremonias. Entretanto, haban pasado muchas lunas y yo me haba convertido en un hombre. La prueba de mi madurez ya no admita ms tardanza, as que mi padre me habl una noche a solas y me dijo que deba cazar un animal salvaje dos das despus. Al despertar, me prepar la lanza con una afilada punta de flecha roja que haba fabricado en el horno junto a Jana. Cort la rama de un sauce y la pod hasta dejarla delgada y ligera. Le pegu con resina la punta a su extremo y luego las at con una cuerda de esparto para terminar mi lanza. Cuando lleg el da, los hombres del poblado me acompaaron al amanecer al monte de cabeza de lince. Mientras caminbamos hasta all, ped al espritu de este animal que me ayudara de nuevo, como hizo con las piedras verdes. Subimos hasta la cima y nos ocultamos tras una roca. Los animales no tardaron en llegar. Eran ciervos que venan a comer. En cuanto tuve a mi alcance uno de ellos, calcul la distancia y dispar mi lanza. Estaba nervioso bajo la mirada atenta de aquellos expertos cazadores. Pero acert, el animal cay al suelo de inmediato al recibir el impacto en el corazn. Nos acercamos al ciervo herido mientras la manada hua. Saqu la lanza bajo el gesto orgulloso de mi padre, mien tras los hombres ataban las pezuas del animal ya muerto y lo colgaban de un palo para llevarlo hasta el poblado. Aquella noche, mi padre me regal su preciado collar de caracolas y piedras de mbar. we can put a stop to peoples greed. We will not let anyone take possession of the weapons or the lynx-head mountain where the green stones are! My father settled the debate: - Teco and Jana are right, we should let them work with the liquid stones; if we obey the gods, they will be good to us. Thats how Jana and I dedicated ourselves to create instruments with these stones: we made awls for piercing leather, sewing needles to stitch material together and knives and spear tips for hunting. We also made jewels like rings, bracelets and other ornaments for our ceremonies. Meanwhile, many moons had passed and I had become a man. The test of my maturity could wait no longer, so my father came to me one night and told me I were to hunt a wild animal in two days time. As soon as I woke up, I prepared a spear with a sharp red arrowhead that I had made in the oven with Jana. I cut a willow branch and pruned it until it was thin and light. I used resin to glue the spear tip to the shaft and then I tightened it with a rope of esparto grass. When the day came, the men of the village came with me at dawn to the lynx-head mountain. As we walked up there, I asked the spirit of this animal to help me again, as he had done with the green stones. We climbed up to the top of the mountain and hid behind a rock. Animals did not take long to show up. They were mostly deer that came to eat. As soon as I had one of them under my reach, I calculated the distance and shot my spear. I was nervous being under the watchful eye of all those skilled hunters. But I was right on target and the animal fell to the floor immediately after being hit in the heart. We approached the wounded deer while the rest of the herd ran away. I pulled the spear under my fathers proud eyes, while the other men tied the dead animal hooves and hung it from a pole. That night my father gave me his precious necklace made of shells and amber stones. Jana y yo continuamos toda nuestra vida juntos. Nuestra casa se convirti en un autntico taller. Construimos un horno ms grande y crisoles para fundir metales que luego vertamos en moldes de muchsimas formas. Trabajamos mucho, pues la mayora de las nuevas herramientas no salan bien al primer intento y necesitaron de varias pruebas. Con la prctica, mejoramos nuestra tcnica, ya que las piedras verdes se fundan mejor si primero las triturbamos con un molino de piedra hasta convertirlas en polvo. Cuando ya fuimos viejos, enseamos a un grupo de jvenes discpulos lo que habamos aprendido de la Madre Tierra. Entre ellos, estaban dos de nuestros hijos. Nunca olvidamos a Ibu, quien comparti con nosotros su secreto y nos gui hasta el descubrimiento de las piedras rojas. Su espritu nos acompa siempre. En nuestras ltimas lunas de vida, cremos escuchar un nuevo secreto de los dioses y, aunque nuestros odos estaban ya viejos, pudimos percibir un susurro que nos hizo observar, con la misma curiosidad de cuando ramos jvenes, la respuesta del agua quieta del ro cuando la tocas levemente. Nos dimos cuenta de que tomaba la forma del Dios de la Luz y de las piedras de la ribera que ruedan ro abajo Pero eso es otra historia. EPLOGO EPILOGUE Jana and I continued together for the rest of our lives. Our house became a real workshop. We built a bigger oven and pots to melt metals that we then poured into many different molds. We worked very hard, since most of the new tools needed several tests and did not always come out right the first time. With practice we improved our techniques, since we noticed that the green stones melted better if we crushed them first to a fine powder with a stone mill. We also took a group of young disciples to whom we taught what we had learned from Mother Earth. Among them there were two of our own chil-dren. We never forgot about Ibu, who shared with us his secret and guided us in the discovery of the red stones. His spirit stayed always with us. One day, in our last moons of life, we thought we heard a new secret from the gods and, though our ears were old, we could feel a whisper that made us observe, with the same curiosity that we had when we were young, the response of the still water in the river when you slightly touch it. We realized it took the shape of the God of Light and the rocks of the riverbanks that roll downhill But thats another story. Nota histrica. En la Cueva del Hacha, cercana al ro Vinalop, justo en el paraje del Pantano, se han encontrado los restos de un enterramiento de tres personas. A los pies apareci un ajuar formado por dos hachas de piedra negra pulimentada, peque os trozos de slex, fragmentos de cermica y dos punzones de cobre. Esta cueva pertenece a un asentamiento conocido como La Terraza del Pantano y se encuentra al pie de una loma que dista de la presa unos 50 metros. El lugar debi de proporcionar abundante caza y pes ca que el poblado combinaba con sus propios cultivos y animales. Puede que los restos de estas tres personas sean los de nuestros protagonistas, es decir, que Teco y Jana encontraran con los aos los huesos de Ibu y se los llevaran a su cueva; puede que en el poblado que existi en nuestro valle, vivieran dos nios que se hicieron muy amigos y que un da llegara un extranjero para ensearles grandes secretos de la naturaleza. Historical Note. In the Cave of the Axe, near the Vinalop river, right in the place that is now known as the Pantano, the remains of a three people burial were found. At their feet a dowry, consisting of two black polished stone axes, small pieces of flint, pottery fragments and two copper punches, was also found. This cave is part of a settlement known as the Terraza del Pantano and lies at the foot of a hill that is about 50 meters from the dam. The place must have provided the people with abundant hunting and fishing that they combined with their own animals and crops. Maybe the remains of these three people are those of our friends, which means that Teco and Jana found over the years Ibus bones and took them to their cave in the village; maybe two children that lived in the town that existed in our valley many years ago, be-came very good friends and one day a stranger came to teach them great secrets of nature. - La primera etapa de la Prehistoria, el Paleoltico quiere decir Piedra Antigua- comenz hace dos millones y medio de aos con la aparicin en frica de los primeros homnidos capaces de fabricar herramientas de piedra. A lo largo del Paleoltico surgieron todos los homnidos como el Homo Erectus, el Hombre de Neandertal (Homo Neanderthalensis) y nuestra propia especie, el Homo Sapiens Sapiens (hombre sabio), que fue la ltima en aparecer, hace ms de 150000 aos. Los Homo Sapiens Sapiens llegaron a Europa hace unos 40000 aos y, aunque convivieron con los Neanderthales durante ms de 10000 aos, es la nica especie humana desde hace 15000 aos. -Los homnidos vivan en pequeos grupos y se alimentaban de recolectar plantas, cazar y pescar. Eran nmadas, lo que significa que se desplazaban con todas sus pertenencias de unos lugares a otros en busca de alimentos. -En el Neoltico que quiere decir Piedra Nueva-, el Homo Sapiens Sapiens descubri la agricultura y la ganadera hace 8000 aos. Al dominar la natu raleza para producir alimentos, pudieron vivir en poblados estables. Formaron Sabas qu Did you know -The first stage of Prehistory, Paleolithic which means old stone starts two and a half million years ago with the emergence in Africa of the first hominids that were able to make stone tools. All hominids appear throughout Paleolithic: Homo Erectus, Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis) and our own species, Homo Sapiens Sapiens (wise man), who was the last one to appear more than 150,000 years ago. The Homo Sapiens Sapiens reached Europe about 40,000 years ago and although they coeMWXIH[MXLXLI2IERHIVXLEPW for over 10,000 years, they have been the only human species for the last 15,000 years. -The hominids lived in small groups and fed on plants they collected and on hunting and fishing. They were nomads, meaning they moved with all their belongings from one place to another in search of food. -In the Neolithic -meaning new-stonethe Homo Sapiens Sapiens discovered agriculture and farming about 8,000 years ago. By mastering nature to pro duce food, they were able to live in stable settlements. They formed the first las primeras ciudades, que eran pequeas, con casas de barro y techo de paja. Esta vida sedentaria les dej tiempo para desarrollar otras tcnicas como la cermica o el tejido. -La Edad de los Metales es la ltima etapa de la Prehistoria y se subdivide en tres periodos: Cobre, Bronce y Hierro por el tipo de metal utilizado. -El primer metal que se descubri fue el cobre, pero no en estado puro, sino en un mineral de color verde llamado malaquita. Cuando se funda la malaquita, se eliminaban las impurezas y se obtena el cobre con su caracterstico color rojo. Este metal se funda de nuevo y se verta en moldes para fabricar adornos, herramientas y armas. El yacimiento ms cercano al Medio Vinalop es Orihuela. -El segundo metal que se conoci fue el bronce, que es una aleacin o mezcla de cobre y estao que result mucho ms fuerte. No obstante, el metal ms relevante fue el hierro, ya que era el ms duro y quien conoca su metalurgia trabajo con metales- se convirti en el pueblo ms poderoso. En la Edad del Hierro nacen las primeras desigualdades en los poblados, ya que surgen jefes que se imponen a los dems. -La Edad de los Metales fue una poca de avances mucho ms rpidos que cities, which were small, with mud and thatched roof houses. This sedentary life gave them more time to develop other techniques such as pottery or weaving. -The Metal Ages is the last stage of Prehistory, and it is divided into three periods: Copper, Bronze and Iron depending on the type of metal used. -The first one to be discovered was copper and was first found in a green mineral called malachite. When malachite is melted, impurities are elimi nated leaving copper, with its striking red color. This metal was heated up again and poured into molds to make ornaments, tools and weapons. The closest malachite deposit to the Medio Vinalopo is in Orihuela, on the south of Alicante. -The second metal to appear was bronze, which is an alloy or miXYVI of copper and tin that was much tougher. However, the most important metal was iron, as it was the hardest and people who knew its metallurgy how to work with metals - became the most powerful. With the Iron Age the first inequalities were born in villages, with emerging leaders that imposed their will on others. -The Metal Age is a time of a much faster progress than in the previous las etapas anteriores: los seres humanos inventaron la rueda que permiti transportar pesos considerables por primera vez, lo que facilit las tareas cotidianas con la creacin del carro. Tambin construyeron los monumentos megalticos hechos con grandes piedras. -En toda la Prehistoria las personas crean en muchos dioses que asociaban a fenmenos naturales como la lluvia, el trueno, el sol -La Prehistoria termina con la invencin de la escritura, que naci en Mesopotamia en torno al ao 3000 a. C. y que apareci muy poco tiempo despus en Egipto y China. Cada una de estas zonas desarroll un tipo de escritura diferente. Uno de los primeros pueblos que visitaron la Pennsula Ibrica para comerciar fueron los fenicios (vivan en los actuales Siria y Lbano) que lle garon en barcos y nos ensearon el alfabeto. stages: humans invent the wheel, which will transport heavy weights for the first time, making daily tasks easier to perform with the creation of the cart. Megalithic monuments made of large stones will also be built in this age. -Throughout Prehistory people believed in many gods they associated with the different natural phenomena, like rain, thunder or the Sun. -Prehistory ends with the invention of writing, born in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC and that will soon appear in Egypt and China. Each of these areas developed a different type of writing. One of the first people who visited the Iberian Peninsula for trading and commerce are the Phoenicians (they lived in present-day Syria and Lebanon), who arrived in boats and taught us their alphabet. Gracias a Ramn por creer en este proyecto desde el principio y estar a mi lado. Gracias a mi hijo Pablo por ser el primer lector de este cuento y con el que pas la prueba de fuego. Gracias a mis padres Janie y Miguel por confiar tanto en m. Gracias a Elisabeth Justicia por su magnfico trabajo de ilustracin, adems, que sea una antigua alumna ma me llena de orgullo. Gracias a Daniel Verd por ser el traductor ms divertido y generoso del mundo y porque sus aportaciones mejoraron la redaccin en castellano. Gracias a Juan Carlos Mrquez y a Francisco Javier Jover por los datos histricos, que han sido fundamentales en este libro. Gracias a Agustina Lorente por su entusiasmo hacia la literatura infantil y por hacer unas puntualizaciones tan sabias. Gracias a todos los amigos que leyeron el borrador para darme sus impresiones. Gracias a mis alumnos, pues sin ellos no habra encontrado la motivacin para escribir este cuento. Este libro ha sido posible gracias al apoyo de muchas personas. stas son algunas de ellas: Elisabeth Justicia Ilustradora por vocacin y especialista en animacin, Elisabeth es licenciada en Bellas Artes y cuenta con un ttulo propio de especialista en animacin y con un Mster de Produccin artstica, todos ellos cursado en la Universidad Politcnica de Valencia.Ha trabajado para numerosas revistas de diversos mbitos. Ha expuesto sus obras en Elda en varias ocasiones, aunque estas tambin han visitado otras ciudades y capitales espaolas. Colecciona instantes, momentos sin tiempo absolutamente perfectos. Mezcla lo habitual con lo inusual y le encanta que le delaten los puntos suspensivos... Actualmente reside en Barcelona y combina la exposicin de sus obras con sus trabajos de ilustracin y animacin. Para conocer todo esto en profundidad puedes visitar www.elisabethjusticia.com

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