The Myths behind the Mist of Mankind's Memories

Part 1. Alex's story - The Twins.

Once upon a time - long before you were born. Long before the stars were named. Long before the Ice Age covered half of the Earth with ice and snow and formed the glaciers that cut deep into the mountains and valleys in the Northern hemisphere. Our early ancestors on the continent of Africa were beginning to notice their surroundings. Their brains were developing rapidly and they were constantly enhancing their knowledge to improve their lifestyle. Their minds were beginning to store memories of what they did and saw and forming thoughts to share and to hand down to their off-spring for those who came after them. Hunting was made easier by their inventiveness in creating tools from stone and bone [and possibly wood too - but as it didn't survive through the ages - there is no record]. 

They were bipedal and stood and walked on two legs and could select the fruits they wanted from the trees with less effort. Life became more meaningful for them and they began to respect nature and what it did for them. Over many hundreds of years they adapted easily to the cooler weather that some found themselves living in and learned to cover their bodies with the skins of the animals they captured for food. Perhaps they used stones as weapons, or bows and arrows. They might have even discovered how to use a boomerang to stun an animal and bring it down. However they succeeded in killing the animal, they only did it to sustain their group. 

Nothing was killed for malice or sport and everything was shared amongst the whole group. They began to question nature and their surrounds, looked up at the night skies and became familiar with the movements of the stars, the moon and even made up stories to explain the seasons from recognition of the constant appearance of certain groups at set times of the year. The more frequent travels of the moon, as it silently moved across the skies, changing its shape was an inspiration for all sorts of wonderful thoughts as well as a constant calendar to people who could neither read, write or communicate in any recognized fashion. They might have made a mark each day on a rock or a piece of wood to note how long the moon took to travel the ecliptic path. We definitely know that the moon's phases was noted by the earliest inhabitant on Earth.

Was it perhaps a lonely night in the middle of winter when the skies were bright with stars, that one lone century sat alone diligently keeping watch while his group slept nearby? Gazing in wonder at the stars in the southern skies. At the cross so prominently placed amongst the milky way. The two bright pointers directing a viewer to follow as the stars patterned a semi-circle surrounding the top of the cross.

The roar of a lion chilled our star gazer and he felt a stick beside him, breaking it in two he placed it on the ground in the pattern of the southern cross. The roar became more distant and he knew the lion was not coming his way so he continued to record what he had seen and drew a circle around his cross to indicate the constellation of Centaurs [he had no idea it would be named that thousands of years later].

He felt less afraid now and returned to his imaginative thoughts, longing for morning when he would be relieved of his duties of the night watch and could share them with his mate.

The night grew colder and he pulled his kaross (animal skin cape) tightly over his shoulders. The air was crisp and the stars even more defined. He wiped his eyes as he thought he saw the outline of a small black head below the little cross. He took his animal-bladder water-container from around his waist and drank deeply from his night's rations. Looking again he saw he had not imagined it - there was a dark black shape in the sky. 

It was a woman, he could see now. The pitch black head was above a neck from which high bony shoulders spread on either side. The left shoulder had four tiny shining jewels [Musca]on it and there was the outline of a stick that the woman carried. The rest of the left side of the woman trailed down marking the side of her body then disappeared into the confusion of the Milky Way. He could hardly control his excitement as he returned to the 'black hole' which is the head of his 'woman' - to trace her right side in this profusion of splendor. What he saw made him stand up and dance in delight. The shoulder curved slightly before rising in a slight curve and returning to meet the arm once more. - An infant on it's mothers arm?. The arm then continued on down to become lost in the hazy glow of the Milky way once again. He couldn't wait for the birth of the sun to announcing the start of the new day, but rushed to share his discovery with his partner.

Approaching his little brush 'igloo', he heard the sound of an infants cry. The drum inside his body beat loud and fast and he was breathless as he quivered and looked up at the sky again. Two more crosses - each slightly bigger that the first - had appeared. The cry seemed different now, it had two tones. He threw his body on the ground to crawl through the little opening.

Here he found his distraught mate - a newborn baby in both arms. Distraught because they were still tied to her body, distraught because she had been alone, distraught because she didn't want to make a choice between the two. The new father went quickly about severing the twins from their mother and seeing that the birthing process was completed. He wrapped them both in the soft skins his partner had prepared for the birth, motioned to her to stand up and gather her belongings and not to say a word or to cry out. 

They had to flee immediately. Forgetting his excitement about the stars, he secured the two small bundles to his own back and helped his partner to swiftly make as great a distance from the camp as possible. She was exhausted when he finally found water and a safe place for them to rest. The drum in his body beat again - this time with joy as both babies cried softly as he opened their covering and helped his partner to clean and feed them. The new parents both put their hands to their chests and smiled sharing their relief. The young woman was thrilled to have both of her babies. He saw that they were all alive and well. She forgot her own ordeal, her pain and her tired body. The stars were gone and the skies were alight announcing the arrival of the sun and a new day.

After washing the babies and making sure they were both sleeping comfortably, the young couple swam in the stream themselves. They ate the roots and dried meat they had brought with them and collected some more for the next meal. Still fearing that they would be punished for what they'd done, they moved on as soon as they had finished. The man went to put the babies back on his back. The mother stopped him.

'I will take them' she said 'you have done so much already to save them.' 'No' he replied 'we will each take one. One day we will return with our children to our people and show them that we can care for more than one baby at a time'.

Next month catch part two of this story... for now, enter here to return to Granny's page and read the rest of the adventures on their travels.

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Copyright  2002, Science in Africa, Science magazine for Africa CC. All Rights Reserved

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