Once there was a tribesman named Echo1.
He was not a bad man but he was mischievous and there was something wrong in him that made
him mimic people2. When he was out hunting with others in his
tribe he would hide from them. When they noticed Echo was missing they became worried and
they would call out his name and search for him. He would mock them by imitating their
voices repeating everything they said while still hiding from them. "Echo", they
would call, "where are you?" "Echo", he would repeat, "where are
you?" This annoyed the hunters and kept them from the important work of finding game.
Sometimes hunters would even get lost or get into danger while hunting for Echo and
following his voice.
This had been going on for quite a while until the other hunters
finally refused to go hunting with him. When this happened he would follow hunting parties
out and continue his old tricks. "Did you see that doe", a hunter would say.
"Did you see that doe", Echo would repeat. When this happened the hunters caught
him and made him swear never to bother them again. He agreed and began to bother the women
instead. "Do you know what my man did yesterday?", a woman would say. "Do
you know what my man did yesterday?", Echo would repeat. This angered the women and
when they caught him they threatened him with refusal of their food and their favors.
Echo stopped bothering them and began to bother the children when
they were playing. "Catch the ball", a child would call. "Catch the
ball", Echo would repeat. The children complained to their parents. Angered, their
parents went to Echo and demanded that he stop bothering the children. He pretended to
agree and stopped for a while but the wrong part in Echo was just too strong and he began
mimicking them again. The whole tribe gathered and held a meeting. They all agreed that
unless Echo stopped bothering them they would banish him from the tribe. Tribes people
grabbed Echo and dragged him before the tribe3. They warned
him that they would banish him, denying him not only companionship, shelter, food, water
and fire but his very existence4.
This scared Echo very much as he feared like any sane tribes person
would to be all alone in the world. For many seasons Echo behaved but the wrong part deep
inside him craved to mimic and tease the tribe. He resisted and resisted but the wrong
thing was too strong. Finally he broke down and began to tease tribes people again. The
elders and the tribal council met and decided that Echo was to be given one final chance.
Echo was good again for a while but the wrong thing was too strong for him. He was careful
to only tease lone individuals. Resentment against him began to rise again but nothing was
done giving him a chance to mend his ways. The waiting was all in vain and one day his
teasing calls led a small boy to fall to his death from a cliff. No one was around to heal
his wounds so the boy's soul returned to the ancestors. The sinwists5,
fearing that Echo might have been involved asked the boy's spirit to return to tell them
what had happened to him. The boy's spirit told the sinwists that he had been following a
voice that seemed to be calling him when he fell. The elders and council met again and
they agreed that this was too much and they decided to take the serious and irrevocable
decision to banish Echo from the tribe.
The whole tribe gathered for the ceremony of banishment at their
winter hearth6. At night on the shortest day of the year they
held the ceremony7. Echo cowered in the middle of the gathered
tribe and wept and pleaded for mercy throughout the ceremony. No one paid him any heed. A
large fire had been built on the sacred hearth which Echo cowered beside. First the
members of his hearth from the youngest to the oldest walked up to him and said, "I
know no one named Echo and I will never again share of myself with such a person."
Echo seemed to shrink smaller and smaller as his former hearth mates rejected him. Then
his parents took his tent and breaking the poles and ripping the hides cast it on the fire
before Echo saying, "Thus we deny the one we no longer know shelter." His hearth
mother and the chief hunter of his hearth came to him saying, "We cannot feed one we
do not know." The hearth mother cast a handful of grain on the fire while the hunter
cast a piece of meat. Echo burnt his fingers trying to grab the food out of the fire but
to no avail. Then a small boy came forward with a skin bucket full of water and poured it
on the ground before Echo saying, "Thus do I deny the one I do not know of
water." Then he cut a hole in the bucket and threw it into
the fire. Finally the hearth mother came up and poured a handful of sand on the fire
uttering some spell and then saying, "Thus do I deny fire to the one I do not know.8" The fire went out leaving the tribe and Echo in the dark.
The tribe turned their back on Echo and said, "Thus do we deny the one we do not
know." Echo gibbered and howled. He went all around the circle of turned backs
begging them to acknowledge him and give him one more chance.
No one acknowledged him and finally he fled out of the winter
hearth. A fire was quickly kindled and the tribe stood silently. They heard Echo say,
"Who's there?" A mocking, cold voice replied, "I am." Echo asked,
"Who are you." The voice answered, "An old friend of the Votanki who is
cold and hungry9." Echo screamed like the lost soul he
was and then the tribe heard him running, stumbling in the dark with something huge
crashing after him. They heard him give a high, sharp scream before the sound of breaking
and crunching bones. After a time of chewing they heard nothing else. Everyone shuddered
and huddled close to the fire. Nothing was ever seen of Echo again. From that time lone
hunters and travellers have heard a voice mimicking them which they know to be Echo's
voice as that was all that the Old Friend of the Votanki had left uneaten.
1. The specific tribe Echo belonged to varies from
tribe to tribe but he is always said to be from a tribe that the storyteller's tribe
considers to be their enemy.
2. Having "something wrong" inside is a
common explanation for anti-social behavior among the Balazarings. They don't specify what
"something wrong" might be or where inside it would be located but it's
definitely there. "Something wrong" is not equated with being possessed by an
evil spirit as the sinwists (Balazaring shaman /priests) would be able to detect such.
3. Actually seizing hold of an individual is
extremely rare among the Balazarings as violence within the tribe is normally shunned.
4. Banishment from the tribe to this extent is
normally unheard of.
5. Sinwists (sing. Sinwist) are the shaman-priests
of the Balazarings. The men start by following Foundchild but when they reach a certain
age they turn to the worship of Votank and become shamans as well as priests. Worship of
Votank is much like the Praxian worship of Daka Fal or the various forms of worship of
Grandfather Mortal practiced elsewhere.
6. All the most important tribal ceremonies are held
at the winter hearth.
7. The longest night of the year is a particularly
dangerous time of the year according to Balazaring belief. Evil spirits are abroad and
most tribes people cower in their winter hearths or citadels while the sinwists and hearth
mothers cast strong magics to keep the spirits away.
8. Putting out a fire on the sacred hearth is one of
the most serious things a Balazaring can do especially on the longest night of the year.
This just goes to show the seriousness of Echo's crimes.
9. An old friend of the Votanki who is cold and
hungry is a reference to Cannibal who was never a friend of the Votanki but is always cold
and hungry. Cannibal is never mentioned by name if it can be avoided as the Votanki
believe using his true name draws his attention.
Last modified January 07, 1998 Copyright Oliver D. Bernuetz 1998
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