סיפור שמטרת כתיבתו היתה לספר את הסיפור האישי שלי כאילו היה סיפור מיתי. בחרתי לקבל השראה מהמיתולוגיה המצרית. זה סוג של ביבליותרפיה.
Aditis and Oronis The river Nile flows slowly from the desert to the sea ever since the first day of the earth. The Gods blessed the land on both sides of the river and made them very fertile. In a small village, all the men worked the fields, except for one man with blue eyes named Fuad. He sat by the bench of the Nile all day and looked at the water transfixed. He did that for hours and hours every day and therefore was considered to be the village’s fool. That, in old times meant that people took care of his needs and also gathered around him whenever he began to tell stories of what he have seen in the world beyond – in the sky that was reflected in the Nile’s water. It was a common knowledge that the Gods favor the fools. It seemed that the Goddess Bast had special feelings for Fuad. She’s the one who often disguised herself as a black cat. No wonder then, that whenever Fuad would begin to tell a story, a black cat would appear from nowhere and would crawl quietly into his lap. The Goddess Bast was known to take mortals to her bed for a night of passion. She would choose the night of the full moon and turn into a beautiful black woman with eyes that glistened in the dark. One night, Fuad just finished one of his stories about a brave nation of sailors who went to sea and the dangers they met there, in the form of beautiful young women, who were actually fish from their waist down, who lured them into the bottom of the sea with their singing voices. Suddenly, the black cat that sat curled at his lap jumped and run towards a track of silver light that led to the river. Fuad was curious to see where the cat has gone and followed its direction. Suddenly at the bank, he saw a beautiful woman, dressed richly like a magnificent princess. She offered him her hand, and he took it. The Goddess Bast conceived that night. And because she had manifested as a black cat, she gave birth to a litter of four: Two beautiful black panthers; Kassar and Mistas, and two babies in human form, a girl and a boy. The girl’s name was Aditis, and the boy’s - Oronis. Aditis was fair and had black hair, and Oronis was dark with his father’s blue eyes. The two panthers grew up quickly and joined their mother in her nightly journeys very deep into the desert - their sleek bodies would shine in the moonlight. Bast would leave her human babies, who required a longer period of childhood, to the care of Carcaros, an old black crow. She would leave at night and come back with the break of dawn to pick them up. Carcaros was a demi god who was in charge of the dark forces. He lived in a cave at the end of the world. He would indeed keep an eye on the children, but also pecked their forehead out of his viciousness to add a drop of their blood to spice up his dinner. It created a small wound that would heal by morning, so their mother knew nothing about it. The children hated Carcaros, and when they were old enough to speak, they told their mother not to leave them with the dark crow anymore, but she wouldn’t listen to them or believe their story. The pecking went on every night, so the children made up a plan to escape. They could not really carry it out, but the thought of it strengthened their spirit and they tried to comfort each other. One night after a pecking that was nasty indeed, they cried and prayed to be saved from the evil crow. Their wounds were open and bleeding, and suddenly there was an old woman in the room. She said: “Don’t be afraid, I have something to ease the pain of your wound”. She took a seed and planted it in Aditis forehead and was just about to plant the other one in Oronis’s , when Carcaros came suddenly into the cave and snatched it from her hand with his beak. He chased the old woman away with his terrible voice. When she had gone, Carcaros, who was very angry, wanted to punish the children. He took the seed and poisoned it with his saliva, then planted it in Oronis’s forehead. The poison made the blood in Oronis’s veins freeze. He died slowly as his sister trying to shake his body into life, calling his name and crying. By morning, when Bast had come back – it was too late. Her child was dead and his body cold. She could only mourn and feel remorse for neglecting her children. They buried him under a tree, at the bank across from where his father was always sitting and daydreaming. The panthers, Kassar and Mistas would often visit the grave at dusk, so the place became a legend and men feared to come close. Aditis grew up and found out that the old woman gave her a special gift, and that was the gift of clear sight. She was able to help herself and others with this gift. She became beautiful and strong, and learned all her life how to be happy. The supreme God Osiris who watches all deeds and balances justice, punished the Goddess Bast. She had to marry Carcaros, and was to serve his meals until the end of time. He often pecked her forehead at dinnertime for a drop of blood. She was lucky that he was turned into a stone statue by a powerful sorcerer 500 years later, otherwise, she would still have to be his wife and servant until this very day. 1993-94
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