One day the animals came to a Maya man and said, “We do not want to see you sad. Ask for what you want and you shall have it.”The Maya man said, “I want to be happy.”
The barn owl replied, “Who knows what is happiness? Ask us more ‘human’ things.”
“Well,” said the man, “I want to have good eyesight.”
The vulture said, “You’ll have mine.”
“I want to be strong.”
The jaguar said, “You will be strong like me.”
“I want to walk without getting tired.”
The deer said, “I’ll give you my legs.”
“I want to predict when the rains will come.”
The nightingale said, “I’ll let you know with my song.”
“I want to be smart.”
The fox said, “I’ll teach you how.”
“I want to climb trees.”
The squirrel said, “I’ll give you my nails.”
“I want to know the medicinal plants.”
The serpent said, “Ah, that’s up to me, because I know all the plants! I will mark them out in the field.”
And hearing this, the Maya man went away.
Then the barn owl said to the animals, “Man now knows more things and can do more things, but he will always be sad.”
And the chachalaca bird shouted, “Poor animals! Poor animals!”
Article by Yurina Fernández Noa
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