Tribal Legends - The Mute Wolf
#4 of Tribal Legends
Tribal Legends
a suite of stories
Written down and translated by Sharpfang '99. You can copy this story freely as long as no contents are changed
The Mute Wolf ============= The Story of Word and Silence.
A tribal legend by Aris, translated and written down by Sharpfang.
Dedicated to Fuzzy
Once, in a small tribe high in the mountains, a wolf puppy was born. Unlike other puppies, 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 furries when one was disabled in any way. Sometimes retired warriors may lack a limb, children were sometimes born with wings, an extra pair of hands, second tail or other "extra feature" - but mute furries were practically unknown.
The childhood of the young wolf wasn't nice. He had no friends, and he couldn't really fit into any group of children. He felt uneasy when he couldn't greet an elder person passing by and that person looked at him as if to say, "You're very rude, young wolf," 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. Sometimes he came down to the village to trade skins, and very fine goods he made, like talismans, knives, pouches, spoons 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 furries so finely crafted that they looked as if they were alive, and often shamans 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 Wolf".
One day, wandering in the mountains, he saw a she-wolf 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 wolf - 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 wolf - and he recognized it, as he had come across it a few times before - the scent of his rival, the one the she-wolf 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 wolf, hanging helplessly on the wall, with no footholds, and no place to get a better grip with his hands. 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 Wolf 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 wolf to safety, and before the rescued furry could say anything, he ran away, crying inside of his soul.
Back in the village, the wolf told his girlfriend the story how he was rescued. He also said that he didn't have the opportunity to thank the unknown wolf. 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 Wolf. He told them about him, and showed them some of the fine items. He also answered their question about the route to the mute wolf's tipi - and told the she-wolf that she had been watched for months. The couple decided they would both go there, he - to thank the mute wolf for saving his life, she - to apologise for ignoring him like a rude person.
The mute wolf was very hospitable. He greeted them using no words and invited to his tipi, giving them warm milk with honey and asking them to sit down. First, the male wolf thanked him for saving his life. Then the girl tried to apologise, but she was struggling, unable to find the right words. The mute wolf 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 were ran down his cheeks.
The couple looked at each other. They suddenly understood how he felt, and the male wolf exclaimed that he was not as worthy of her as the mute wolf. But, the the crying furry took the lovers' hands and joined them, knowing that he couldn't give as much love and happiness as the other wolf. 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 wolf 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 wolf had decided to share his own voice with the voiceless, give him the power to control his mouth... and the she-wolf decided to share her love between them. The same night, the ritual of three-hand handfasting was completed, and... the story is close to its end.
The three of them lived very happily after that, in the mountains not far from the village, making fine goods, hunting together and taking care of the children. The wolf who gave his voice to the Mute Wolf didn't use his own name anymore - since then the two were called The Mute and The Speaking.
And the children were quite another story. Put shortly, there were eight of them and each could speak using any of the others' mouths! This obviously caused many, often funny situations - at school there was no way to stop them from cheating, while howling they were the most perfect chorus and when they grew older, one of them died - and they discovered the secrets of the afterlife when he, through their mouth told them everything he saw 'there'.
Even nowadays, it sometimes happens that some furries 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.
. . . . Sharpfang