The Origin of the Narran Lake (Campfire Story)

Long ago, the great Byamee went hunting for honey. He caught a bee, and stuck a little white feather to it, and let it go. BUZZ! And he followed the white feather through the bush, to find the bee's nest.

And he told his two young wives, 'While I'm getting the honey, you go out and dig yams and catch frogs. Then meet me at Coorigel Spring. The water there is cool and clear.'

So the two young women went out and dug yams and caught frogs. And they came to Coorigel Spring, tired and hot. And they built a shelter, and put their food in it. And then they looked at that cool, clear water, and they jumped in to bathe. SPLASH!

And two kurreahs grabbed them. Giant water monsters, like enormous crocodiles. And swallowed them whole. And the kurreahs dove down into a hole in the side of the spring, an underground tunnel that ran all the way to the Narran River. And they took all the water of the spring with them. And the spring went dry.

Meanwhile Byamee was following his bee. BUZZ! But then the bee landed on some flowers and wouldn't fly any farther. And Byamee said, 'Something's wrong. Something has happened.' And he turned and hurried back to the spring.

He found the shelter. He found the yams, and the frogs. But no wives. He called for them. No answer. And then he looked at the spring, and saw that it was dry.

'Kurreahs,' he said. 'They've taken my wives down the tunnel to the river.' And he grabbed his spears and his clubs, and ran. RUN!

He came to the deep hole where the tunnel came out into the Narran River. And it was dry. The kurreahs were drying up the river as they went, taking the water with them. So Byamee didn't follow the winding bends of the river. He cut straight across, from one deep waterhole to the next. RUN! RUN! And the ridges he ran along are still there, pointing from one deep hole to the next, all down the Narran.

Every hole he came to was dry. Until at last, at the end of the river, he found one still wet and muddy. And he knew they were close.

He got ahead of them, and hid behind a big tree. And as the two kurreahs came by, he threw his spears. SPLASH! And the kurreahs thrashed and lashed their huge tails, and their thrashing dug great hollows in the ground. And the water they'd stolen poured into the hollows. And Byamee drove them out, and fought them with his clubs, until they were dead.

Then he cut them open, and took out his two wives. They were covered in slime, and lay still, as if they were dead. So Byamee laid them gently down on two nests of red ants. And he sat and watched.

And the ants swarmed over them, and cleaned off the slime. And then Byamee saw their muscles twitch. 'They feel the ants biting,' he said. 'They're alive!'

And there came a sound like a clap of thunder. And slowly the two young women stood up. And they held each other, shaking. And Byamee went to them, and told them how he had rescued them. 'Never bathe in the deep holes of the Narran,' he said. 'That's where the kurreahs live.'

And then he showed them the great hollows the kurreahs had made, filling with water. 'Soon,' he said, 'the black swans will come here, and the pelicans, and the ducks. Where there was dry land and stones, there will be water and birds. And when the Narran River floods, it will run into this place, and make a great lake.'

And it did. And it's still there. The Narran Lake, spreading for miles, the home of thousands of water birds.