The Rainbow Snake Story
彩虹蛇的故事
As retold by Pat Mamanyjun Torres
In Bugarrigarra, the time of the early Dreaming, there lived a man and a woman who belonged to the Rainbow Snake Dreaming. The rainbow snake man and rainbow snake woman live in the country of the Yawuru people near Broome in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The land was hot and the snake man and snake woman decided to go on a journey.
, 百拇医药
The rainbow snake man was strong and tall. Sometimes he looked like a man and sometimes he looked like a gigantic, multi-coloured snake. On his head you could see a feathery(柔软如羽毛的) tuft(一束头发), long and flowing(平滑的) coming out from the top of his head and trailing(拖拉) beneath his jaw. His wife was tall and beautiful too and was ready to have her babies. They needed to find a good safe home for her and their children so the snakes travelled northwards and eastward until the wife became tired and they rested a while. Their camp was big and round and the woman snake curled up to sleep. When the woman snake looked comfortable the man said to his wife, 'You stay here my wife, I will go and look for rain and a safe home for us.'
, http://www.100md.com
The rainbow snake man travelled far and wide. As he travelled, you could see many colours and shape of the single rainbow moving across the land reaching(延伸) like an arc(弧) into the sky. He crossed over the land seeing beautiful country, rich with food and lots of water.
The rainbow snake man came across a huge hole in the ground that had water. He climbed down deep into the earth and travelled for a very very long way until he came out near a small creek beside the ocean. When he had reached the creek he climbed out of the ground and jumped up into the sky. On his return the man took his wife to the special place he had found.
, 百拇医药
“Here is the water I told you about,” he said, “Let us go down and look around.”
The rainbow snake man and his wife still live there today. When you approach this place you must throw a small stone into the water to let them know that you are there so that you don't frighten them.
So, whenever you see the double rainbow in the sky, it is the spirit of the two snakes travelling across the country looking for a place to live, and when you see the single rainbow in the sky, it is the husband looking for rain.
, 百拇医药
The great rivers that exist under Australia today are the tunnels he made as he travelled underground.
belonged to the Rainbow Snake Dreaming: this means that the man and the woman had a special relationship with the Rainbow Snake. Before an Indigenous(本土的) Australian child is physically born to its mother, sometimes the parents or relatives have a dream of a spirit child playing with an animal, plant or weather element like wind, rain, clouds etc. When this happens the child is said to 'belong' to that plant, animal or thing. The man in the story is connected to the snake and therefore belongs to it and it belongs to the man. The man and snake are seen as belonging to one another. Sometimes the snake is seen as a man, sometimes it looks like a snake. It's a shape changer and belongs to the beliefs, or ways of thinking and feeling, of indigenous peoples who live close to their land and it belongs to the spiritual side of life. If you hurt the man, you hurt the snake, they cannot be separated, and this is the special relationship and belief that Aboriginal(土著的) Australians have with their environment. These beliefs are part of Aboriginal reality, they are lived on a daily basis, and are not just words, but also feelings and actions.
great rivers: the underground rivers and water holes that exist in the desert regions of Australia are essential to Aboriginal survival., 百拇医药
As retold by Pat Mamanyjun Torres
In Bugarrigarra, the time of the early Dreaming, there lived a man and a woman who belonged to the Rainbow Snake Dreaming. The rainbow snake man and rainbow snake woman live in the country of the Yawuru people near Broome in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The land was hot and the snake man and snake woman decided to go on a journey.
, 百拇医药
The rainbow snake man was strong and tall. Sometimes he looked like a man and sometimes he looked like a gigantic, multi-coloured snake. On his head you could see a feathery(柔软如羽毛的) tuft(一束头发), long and flowing(平滑的) coming out from the top of his head and trailing(拖拉) beneath his jaw. His wife was tall and beautiful too and was ready to have her babies. They needed to find a good safe home for her and their children so the snakes travelled northwards and eastward until the wife became tired and they rested a while. Their camp was big and round and the woman snake curled up to sleep. When the woman snake looked comfortable the man said to his wife, 'You stay here my wife, I will go and look for rain and a safe home for us.'
, http://www.100md.com
The rainbow snake man travelled far and wide. As he travelled, you could see many colours and shape of the single rainbow moving across the land reaching(延伸) like an arc(弧) into the sky. He crossed over the land seeing beautiful country, rich with food and lots of water.
The rainbow snake man came across a huge hole in the ground that had water. He climbed down deep into the earth and travelled for a very very long way until he came out near a small creek beside the ocean. When he had reached the creek he climbed out of the ground and jumped up into the sky. On his return the man took his wife to the special place he had found.
, 百拇医药
“Here is the water I told you about,” he said, “Let us go down and look around.”
The rainbow snake man and his wife still live there today. When you approach this place you must throw a small stone into the water to let them know that you are there so that you don't frighten them.
So, whenever you see the double rainbow in the sky, it is the spirit of the two snakes travelling across the country looking for a place to live, and when you see the single rainbow in the sky, it is the husband looking for rain.
, 百拇医药
The great rivers that exist under Australia today are the tunnels he made as he travelled underground.
belonged to the Rainbow Snake Dreaming: this means that the man and the woman had a special relationship with the Rainbow Snake. Before an Indigenous(本土的) Australian child is physically born to its mother, sometimes the parents or relatives have a dream of a spirit child playing with an animal, plant or weather element like wind, rain, clouds etc. When this happens the child is said to 'belong' to that plant, animal or thing. The man in the story is connected to the snake and therefore belongs to it and it belongs to the man. The man and snake are seen as belonging to one another. Sometimes the snake is seen as a man, sometimes it looks like a snake. It's a shape changer and belongs to the beliefs, or ways of thinking and feeling, of indigenous peoples who live close to their land and it belongs to the spiritual side of life. If you hurt the man, you hurt the snake, they cannot be separated, and this is the special relationship and belief that Aboriginal(土著的) Australians have with their environment. These beliefs are part of Aboriginal reality, they are lived on a daily basis, and are not just words, but also feelings and actions.
great rivers: the underground rivers and water holes that exist in the desert regions of Australia are essential to Aboriginal survival., 百拇医药