Mongol Sun Myth

the sky was bright and
no clouds did appear
for the seven suns
never let them come near.

in need of respite
for this dry, hot land,
we turned to Erhi Meregen –
the absolute best bowman.

he shot down the first six,
took them out one by one –
then he eagerly took aim at number 7
to see that his task was done.

he aimed and vowed and
pulled back the string,
but the arrow was impeded
by the strangest thing.

at the exact moment
his arrow was to take flight,
a swallow flew by and
gave Erhi a fright.

now strayed from its course,
that seventh arrow did fail.
instead of the sun,
it shot the swallow’s tail.

angered, enraged, and
ready to go,
he vowed to hunt it
and left to find poor swallow.

but the swallow ws clever
and hid from him, of course.
in anger, Erhi reacted and
chopped off the front legs of his horse.

the crippled horse lay down,
and there he sat
until nature took pity and
made it a kangaroo rat.

and erhi, still outraged,
did forget his pledge not.
he cut off his thumbs, hid in a hole,
and became the marmot.

and to this day,
he never forgets what he’s done.
he comes out in morning and night,
still dreaming of shooting the sun.