Laughter at Dawn

When the world was young, everyone had to search for food in the dim light of the moon, for there was no sun. Then came the time when the emu and the brolga, each of whom was sitting on a nest of eggs, had a violent argument over the excellence of their chicks. Finally the angry brolga ran to the nest of her rival and, taking one of the eggs, hurled it into the sky, where it shattered against a pile of sticks gathered by the sky-people.

The yolk of the egg, bursting into flame, caused such a huge fire that its light revealed, for the first time, the beauty of the world beneath. When the people in the sky saw this beauty, they decided that the inhabitants below should have day and night.

So every night the sky people collected a pile of dry wood, ready to be set alight as soon as the morning star appeared.

But this scheme was not successful, for if the day was cloudy the star could not be seen and no-one lit the fire. So the sky-people asked the kookaburra, who had a strong voice, to call them every morning.

When this bird's rollicking laughter is first heard, the fire in the sky throws but little heat or light. By noon, when the whole pile of wood is burning, the heat is intense. Later, the fire begins to die down until, at sunset, only a few embers remain to colour the western sky. It is a strict rule of the tribes that nobody may imitate the kookaburra's call, for such an act might so offend the bird that he will remain silent. Then darkness would again descend upon the earth and its inhabitants.

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