An Indian Creation Story

When he had finished creating man the creator realized that he had used up all the concrete elements. There was nothing solid, nothing compact, nothing hard, left over with which to create the woman. After thinking for a long time the creator took: the roundness of the moon, the flexibility of the clinging vine, and the trembling of the grass, the slenderness of the reed and the blossoming of the flowers, the lightness of the leaves and the serenity of the rays of sunshine, the tears of the clouds and the instability of the wind, the fearfulness of the rabbit and the vanity of the peacock, the softness of a birds breast and the hardness of a diamond, the sweetness of honey and the cruelty of a tiger, the burning of fire and the coldness of snow, the talkativeness of a magpie and the singing of a nightingale, the falseness of a crane and the faithfulness of a mother lion. Mixing all these non-solid elements together the creator created woman and gave her to the man.

After one week the man came back and said: "Lord the creature you have given me makes my life unhappy. She talks without ceasing and torments me intolerably, so that I have no rest. She insists that I pay attention to her at all time so my hours are wasted. She cries about every little thing and leads an idle life. I have to give her back to you because I can't live with her!"

The Creator said, "Alright," and took her back.

After another week passed, the man came back to the creator and said: "Lord, my life is so empty since I gave that creature back to you. I always think of her-- how she danced and sang, how she looked at me out of the corner of her eye, how she chatted with me and then snuggled close to me. She was so beautiful to look at and so soft to touch. I liked so much to hear her laugh. Please give her back to me."

And the creator said, "alright" and he gave her back.

But three days later the man came back again and said: "Lord, I don't know--I just can't explain it, but after all my experience with this creature, I've come to the conclusion that she causes more trouble than pleasure. I pray thee, take her back! I can't live with her."

"But you can't live without her," the creator replied. Then he turned his back on the man and returned to work.