An Oral Tradition: The Mute Tauren

[Muato]

(( For your continued reading enjoyment, this is a copy of the story Muato told at the Halloween Costume Party (woot Amayeta) on 10/29/06. It was edited and rewritten to fit in-line with the Taurens and WoW lore. It is based off an old Navajo tribal tale, so props to the ancient Native American Tribes. ))

The Mute Tauren

Once, in a small tribe high in the mountains, a Tauren calf was born. Unlike other calves, he didn't cry, whine or whimper - he was completely quiet. At first, his parents thought their son was just cautious and quiet, but later realised that he didn't have the ability of speech. It was really rare among Tauren when one was disabled in any way. Sometimes retired warriors may lack a limb, children were sometimes born an extra pair of horns, a second tail or other "extra feature" - but mute Tauren were practically unknown. The childhood of the young Tauren wasn't nice. He had no friends, and he couldn't really fit into any group of calves. He felt uneasy when he couldn't greet an elder Tauren passing by and that Tauren looked at him as if to say, "You're very rude, young Tauren," and even worse when they realised that he was mute, and couldn't apologise to them. Finally, when the time to leave his parents tipi came, he understood that he didn't fit into their society at all. He left the tribe, and lived alone in the mountains today known as Stonetalon. Sometimes he came down to the village to trade skins, and very fine goods he made, like talismans, knives, pouches, quivers for other useful items he needed - clothes, lamp oil, shoes, salt and sometimes books. He was very skillful in all he did, and items he made were not only very high quality, but also very pretty. The handles of the knives beared carvings of Taurens so finely crafted that they looked as if they were alive, and often shaman from far countries came to the village to buy the talismans he made, as the perfectly made symbols after sacrificing them had power higher than their own arts. Despite this, he still had no friend... and because he was unable to proclaim his name, as was required by tradition - None but him knew his true name, so others just called him "The Mute Tauren". One day, wandering in the mountains, he saw a Tauren Cow of outstanding beauty. His heart pounded hard, and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep easily anymore. When she noticed, and greeted him, and he didn't reply, she turned away from him feeling offended, and left. He followed her tracks and found her village, but he didn't dare to enter, only watching from a distance. Since that day he often came to the peak of the rocky mountain to watch the village, and his beloved. Despairingly, he found that she had a boyfriend - a young, handsome, wealthy and high-born Tauren bull - and they seemed to love each other. Months passed. He still came to the rocky mountain to watch his beloved, though he no longer held hope... in fact he had lost hope the moment she'd turned away from him. Again, as had happened many times before, he was returning from his viewpoint, back to his tipi, with his heart full of dark thoughts. He was very far from the village when he picked up the scent of a bull - and he recognized it, as he had come across it a few times before - the scent of his rival, the one his beloved loved. Even darker thoughts filled his heart, and he followed the scent quietly. Running up the path in the mountains for some time, he arrived at the edge of a high cliff. He felt the scent of a frightened deer, and the sweat of his rival in air. He looked over the cliff. On the bottom, far below, there was the corpse of the deer and quite nearby - just five or six lengths of fox's tail below the edge, the young bull, hanging helplessly on the wall, with no footholds, and no place to get a better grip with his hooves. All that had to be done was to throw a small rock at him, or even just wait a moment - and his rival would be gone. That was what the Mute Tauren was going to do. But then, a thought ran through his mind - he imagined the girl crying after the loss of her beloved one. He began climbing down the rock shelf. It was extremely treacherous, but he succeeded, helping the young bull to safety, and before the rescued bull could say anything, he ran away, crying inside of his soul. Back in the village, the Tauren bull told his girlfriend the story how he was rescued. He also said that he didn't have the opportunity to thank the unknown bull. They decided to ask their shaman the identity of the mysterious stranger. The shaman knew about him, as a few of his talismans and other items were made by the Mute Tauren. He told them about him, and showed them some of the fine items. He also answered their question about the route to the mute Tauren's tipi - and told the cow that she had been watched for months. The couple decided they would both go there, he - to thank the mute Tauren for saving his life, she - to apologise for ignoring him like a rude person. The mute Tauren was very hospitable. He greeted them using no words and invited to his tipi, giving them warm tea with honey and asking them to sit down. First, the male bull thanked him for saving his life. Then the girl tried to apologise, but she was struggling, unable to find the right words. The mute Tauren saw her embarrassment, and cried deeply within his soul. Finally he couldn't stand his sadness, knelt before her, embraced her knees and laid his head on them, crying soundlessly, and large tears ran down his cheeks. The couple looked at each other. They suddenly understood how he felt, and the male Tauren exclaimed that he was not as worthy of her as the mute Tauren. But, the crying mute Tauren took the lovers' hands and joined them, knowing that he couldn't give as much love and happiness as the other bull. They thanked him for his sacrifice, left his tipi and went to their village, knowing that things couldn't be left like that. After a few days they visited the mute Tauren again and asked him to follow them, and ask no questions. They came to the glade where their shaman was preparing a ritual. The spell, in different circumstances, would be considered as a curse, but this time it was a great sacrifice. The young Tauren bull had decided to share his own voice with the voiceless, give him the power to control his mouth... and the cow decided to share her love between them. The same night, the ritual of three-hand handfastening was completed, and... the story is close to its end. The three of them lived very happily after that, in the mountains far from this village, making fine goods, hunting together and taking care of the children. The Tauren who gave his voice to the Mute Tauren didn't use his own name anymore - since then the two were called The Mute and The Speaking. Even nowadays, it sometimes happens that some Tauren have the ability to share their voices with others from their family, and it is obvious that they have blood of The Mute and The Speaking in them.

[Martok]

Very good!