Goro, The Wonderful Wrestler

This tale has been adapted from the original for readability:

All the animals in the world gathered together, and their leader was a woman and her little child, a girl called Goro. One night a great rain fell and put out every fire. By morning the air was cold, and the animals were shivering, with nothing to warm themselves. Then they noticed a small place in the distance where smoke was rising, so they sent Deer to fetch some fire.

Deer went and found the woman sitting close to the flames with Goro, both of them warming their hands. He greeted her and asked for a bit of fire to take back. The woman said she never refused anyone fire, but she had one rule, anyone who wanted it had to wrestle Goro and beat her. She pointed to a smooth, rubbed patch of ground outside and told Deer to fight her child there. Deer stared at the little girl and thought it was ridiculous. “Do you want me to hurt your child?” he asked. The woman shrugged and told him not to worry about it, if Goro got hurt it would not be his fault. So Deer agreed.

Goro came out, and the two of them gripped each other and began to wrestle. The woman started to sing for her child, not for Deer, urging Goro to fight hard enough to make the ground shake. And Goro did. She wrestled and wrestled, then lifted Deer clean off the ground and hurled him up into the air. He was gone for what felt like a full year before he came down again, and when he hit the earth he coughed and spluttered from the shock of it. Deer limped home without any fire.

Next Elephant boasted that this would be easy for him. He would twist the girl up, slam her down, and take the fire. He went to the woman, asked for fire, and was told the same rule, wrestle Goro and win. They gripped and the woman sang again. Goro fought, then lifted Elephant and sent him flying up. Because Elephant was so heavy, he did not go as far, only as far as a week, but when he crashed down he landed badly and hurt his teeth. His mouth swelled, and from that day, people said, Elephant’s teeth were the way they were. Elephant went home without any fire.

Then Leopard tried. He asked, he was told to fight, and he wrestled Goro. She lifted him and threw him up so high that he was gone for months. When he came down he struck a rock, tore his skin, and blood spattered over him. That, people said, was how Leopard came by his spots. Leopard went home without any fire.

By now the animals were groaning. None of the strong ones had managed it. Cat stepped forward and said he would try. The others laughed at him, but Cat went anyway and asked the woman for fire. “Fight Goro,” she said. The woman sang, and Goro simply picked Cat up with one hand and tossed him skyward. He was gone for a year and a half, and when he finally fell back down he hit hard and yowled in pain. That, people said, was why cats cry out at any hour, night or day. Cat went home without any fire.

Spider went next, but the woman did not even bother to sing. Goro lifted Spider with a finger and flung him up for two years. When he fell, he broke his leg. From then on, people said, Spider had to crawl, scuttling on four legs, sometimes more, instead of walking upright the way he once had. Spider went home without any fire.

Clever Rabbit tried after that. He asked, he wrestled, and Goro threw him up into the air for six months. But when Rabbit came down he landed, sprang to his feet at once, and ran, and ran. That was why, people said, he is so hard to catch to this day, faster than all the other animals.

One by one the rest failed too, until at last Snail stood up. He moved slowly, and the others mocked him. Rabbit even grabbed him and flung him out of the way, and Snail fell and bruised himself, leaving little marks where he’d been hurt. But Snail said it did not matter, he would go anyway. He went to the woman, greeted her politely, and said he had come for fire and meant to carry it home.

The woman pointed to the wrestling ground. Snail began to shuffle around it, slow and steady, and as he went he spat, making the earth slick, rubbing it smooth until it was like glass. Then he called for Goro to come and fight. Goro came out full of confidence, not realising what Snail had done. They gripped, and in the next moment Goro’s feet slid on the wet ground. Snail used that moment, got his hold, and lifted the girl. Up she went, five years into the sky, so far that the woman could not see her. The woman began to cry and cry, and people said that was how crying came into the world.

Snail took the fire and went back to the animals. At last they cooked, and ate, and were glad. They had finished their meal before Goro finally fell back down to earth. And that is how the animals got fire.