The Rainbow Serpent

**Philip** (0:00)
Okay, our friends, so we have done stories from all over the world.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:06)
And I was just noticing we've done stories from pretty much every continent except for the big island continent. Do you know which one I'm talking about?

**Philip** (0:17)
What is it?

**Lisa Bueno** (0:20)
It is Australia, you're right. So we have to do a story from Australia, don't we? And I found this book about the first peoples in Australia. And I thought, what did they think? What did they believe? And so when I found this story, I said, we got to read it, we got to share it, and we got to know a little bit of details about what those people lived like and what they believed. So get ready, my friends, because we're going to read The Rainbow Serpent. This story was written, well, it's an old story, actually. So it was retold to us and illustrated by Dick Rofse. And I will post the link for this book on my Amazon affiliates page, as I have done with all my other books. So if you're listening and you think, this is an amazing story, we have to get this, go on over there, follow my links, grab the books, support these artists, support these storytellers, and buy their books and read them and share them and give them as gifts to friends, because we want everyone in the world to have access to books. And we want everyone in the world to know about the world, right? Because the more we know about the world, the smaller it becomes. So let us start today's stories read by Mommy.
And that's your name. Are you ready, buddy? All right, here we go. Far off in dream time, there were only people.
No animals or birds, no trees or bushes, no hills or mountains. The country was all flat.
Gorilla, the great rainbow serpent, stirred and set off to look for his own tribe. He traveled across Australia from south to north. He reached Cape York, where he stopped and made a big red mountain called Narrabulgan. He listened on the wind and heard only voices speaking strange languages. This is not my country. The people here speak a different tongue. I must look further for my own people.
Gorilla left Narrabulgan, and his huge body made a deep gorge where he came down.
He traveled north, stopping every evening to listen on the wind for his own people. He traveled for many days, and his tracks made the creeks and the rivers as he journeyed north.
Traveling north from Narrabulgan, Gorilla made two more mountains. One of them, Nardonga, was long and made of granite. The other, which had sharp peaks and five caves, was called Gormungan. His next resting place was at Fairview, where he made a lily lagoon called Minelinka. Gorilla turned his great body round and round, but the ground was too hard to make it deep. We can actually see the lily lagoon in the pictures that he's made, and it's a beautiful-looking lagoon. And it goes really well with him because he's beautiful-looking. He's got all these bright, vibrant colors. I can see why they call him the Rainbow Serpent, can't you?
One day, he heard singing on the wind. He heard, Arrr, arrr, arrrrrr. Those are my people singing, said Gorilla. They are holding a big mora. He traveled north with the singing coming louder and louder. At the meeting place of the two rivers, Gorilla found his own people. They were dancing and singing. He crawled up quietly and lay in hiding to watch them. He watched for a long time, and then he came out and was welcomed by his people. He told them, you men are not dancing properly, and you are not dressed properly. Watch me, and I will show you the correct way.
Gorilla showed them in how to fit a lump of beeswax on the back of their heads, and used feathers to make a raid headdress. He dressed them with pendanous armbands, and placed white bones through their noses. Then he taught them to dance, and they copied him until they were tired. A big storm was gathering, so all the people built humpies for shelters. We can see they look like big tents, don't they, right? In a way. Two young men, the Bilbil or Rainbow Lord Keith brothers, came running in to look for shelter, came running in looking for shelter, but no one had room. They asked their grandmother, the star woman, but she said, I have too many dogs, I can't help you boys. The Bilbil boys went to Gordiella and found him snoring in his humpie. Then the boys called out and he yawned and said, I have no room for you. The rain came heavier and the boys ran all about the camp looking for shelter, but no one would help them.