Prevod

In the Yabebirí River, in Misiones, there are a great many stingrays, because “Yabebirí” means precisely “River of the Stingrays.” There are so many that sometimes it is dangerous to put even one foot in the water. I knew a man who was stung on the heel by a ray and had to limp half a league to get home; the man went along weeping and falling down from the pain. It is one of the worst pains anyone can feel.

Since there are also many other fish in the Yabebirí, some men go there to catch them with dynamite. They throw a bomb into the river, and the bomb explodes, killing millions of fish. All the fish nearby die, even if they are as big as a house. And all the little ones die too, though they are no use to anyone.

Now, once a man went to live there who would not let them throw dynamite into the river, because he felt sorry for the little fish. He did not object to people fishing in the river for food, but he did not want millions of little fish killed for nothing. The men who threw the bombs were angry at first; but since the man, though very kind, was also firm, the others went off to fish somewhere else, and all the fish were very happy. They were so happy and so grateful to their friend for saving the little fish that they recognized him the moment he came near the bank. And when he walked along the shore smoking, the rays followed him, dragging themselves through the mud, very happy to keep their friend company. He knew nothing about this, and lived happily in that place.

And it happened that one afternoon a fox came running up to the Yabebirí and put his paws in the water, shouting, “Hey, rays! Hurry! Here comes your friend, wounded!”

The rays heard him and hurried anxiously to the bank. They asked the fox, “What has happened? Where is the man?” “Here he comes!” the fox shouted again.

“He has been fighting a jaguar! The jaguar is coming after him! He is sure to cross to the island! Let him through, because he is a good man!” “Of course! Of course we’ll let him through!” the rays answered. “But as for the jaguar, he won’t get past us!”

“Be careful of him!” the fox called again. “Don’t forget he’s a jaguar!” And with a bound, the fox disappeared into the forest again. He had scarcely done so when the man pushed the branches aside and appeared, covered in blood, his shirt torn. Blood ran down his face and chest to his trousers. And from the folds of his trousers, blood dripped onto the sand. He staggered toward the bank, for he was badly wounded, and stepped into the river. But the moment he put a foot in the water, the rays crowding the shallows moved out of his way, and the man reached the island through water up to his chest without a single ray stinging him. And as soon as he arrived, he fell unconscious on the sand, from all the blood he had lost.

The rays had not yet had time to feel the full weight of pity for their dying friend when a terrible roar made them jump in the water.

“The jaguar! The jaguar!” they all cried, darting like arrows toward the bank. Sure enough, the jaguar who had fought the man and was pursuing him had reached the shore of the Yabebirí. The animal was badly wounded too, and blood ran all over his body. He saw the man lying as though dead on the island, and with a roar of rage he plunged into the water to finish killing him.

But he had scarcely put one paw in the water when he felt as though eight or ten terrible nails had been driven into his paws, and he leaped back: it was the rays, guarding the river crossing, who had driven the stings of their tails into him with all their strength.

The jaguar stood growling with pain, one paw in the air; and when he saw all the water along the bank turn cloudy, as though someone were stirring up the mud on the bottom, he realized that the rays were refusing to let him cross. Then he shouted furiously:

“Ah, now I know what it is! It’s you, you cursed rays! Get out of the way!” “We won’t!” the rays answered. “Get out!” “We won’t! He is a good man! You have no right to kill him!”

“He wounded me!” “You wounded each other! That is your business in the forest! Here he is under our protection! You shall not pass!”

“Make way!” the jaguar roared one last time. “NOT EVER!” the rays answered. (They said “not ever” because that is how people who speak Guaraní say it, as they do in Misiones.)

“We’ll see about that!” the jaguar bellowed again. And he backed away to get a running start and make an enormous leap. The jaguar knew that rays almost always stay near the bank, and he thought that if he could make a very long leap, perhaps there would be no more rays in the middle of the river, and he could eat the dying man after all.

But the rays had guessed his plan, and they all rushed to the middle of the river, passing the word along: “Away from the bank!” they shouted underwater. “Out farther! To the channel! To the channel!”

And in a second the army of rays rushed out into the river to guard the crossing, just as the jaguar made his enormous leap and landed in the middle of the water. He landed wild with joy, because at first he felt no sting at all and thought he had fooled the rays into staying by the bank...

But as soon as he took a step, a veritable shower of stings, like painful dagger thrusts, stopped him short: once again it was the rays, riddling his paws with their stings.

The jaguar tried to go on nevertheless, but the pain was so dreadful that he let out a howl and raced madly back to shore. He lay down on his side on the sand, unable to bear any more suffering, and his belly rose and fell as though he were utterly exhausted.

What had happened was that the jaguar had been poisoned by the rays’ venom. But although they had defeated the jaguar, the rays were not easy in their minds, for they were afraid that his mate would come, and other jaguars, and many more besides... And then they would no longer be able to defend the crossing.

Sure enough, another roar came from the forest, and the female jaguar appeared, beside herself with fury at the sight of her mate lying on his side on the sand. She too saw the water clouded by the movement of the rays, and she approached the river. With her mouth almost touching the water, she shouted:

“Rays! Let me through!” “No one may pass!” the rays answered. “Not a single ray will have a tail left unless you let me through!” the jaguar roared. “Even if we lose our tails, you shall not pass!” they answered.

“For the last time, make way!” “NOT EVER!” the rays shouted. In her fury the jaguar had unwittingly put a paw into the water, and a ray, creeping up very slowly, had just driven its whole sting between her toes. To the animal’s bellow of pain, the rays replied with a smile, “It seems we still have our tails!...”

But the jaguar had had an idea, and with that idea fixed in her mind, she walked away upstream along the riverbank without saying another word.

Yet this time too the rays understood their enemy’s plan. Her plan was this: to cross the river somewhere else, where the rays did not know they had to guard the crossing. And a terrible anxiety took hold of the rays.

“She’s going to cross farther upstream!” they shouted. “We don’t want her to kill the man! We must defend our friend!” And they thrashed desperately about in the mud until the whole river grew cloudy.

“But what can we do?” they said. “We can’t swim fast... The jaguar will cross before the rays up there know they must hold the crossing at all costs!”

And they did not know what to do. Until a very clever little ray suddenly said, “I have it! Let the dorados go! The dorados are our friends! They swim faster than anyone!”

“That’s it!” they all shouted. “Let the dorados go!” And in an instant the word went round, and in another instant eight or ten ranks of dorados appeared, a whole army of dorados swimming upstream at full speed, leaving wakes in the water like torpedoes.

Even so, they barely had time to give the order to bar the jaguars’ way: the female jaguar had already entered the water, had already swum across, and was just about to reach the island.

But the rays had hurried to the other shore as well, and as soon as the jaguar’s paws touched bottom, they flung themselves at her legs, tearing them to pieces with their stings. Furious and mad with pain, the animal bellowed and leaped in the water, sending clouds of spray flying with her paws. But the rays kept hurling themselves at her legs, blocking her way so completely that she turned around, swam back, and lay down on the bank herself, all four paws monstrously swollen. That way, too, was closed to anyone who wanted to eat the man.

But the rays were very tired as well. And worse still, the two jaguars had finally got to their feet and were going into the forest. What were they going to do? This made the rays very uneasy, and they held a long conference. At last they said:

“Now we know what it is! They’re going to fetch the other jaguars, and they’ll all come. All the jaguars will come, and they’ll get through!” “NOT EVER!” shouted the younger rays, who had less experience.

“Yes, they will get through!” the older ones answered sadly. “If there are enough of them, they will get through in the end... Let’s ask our friend.” And they all went to see the man, for in defending the river crossing they had not yet had time to do so.

The man was still lying on the ground, for he had lost a great deal of blood, but he could speak and move a little. In a moment the rays told him what had happened and how they had held the crossing against the jaguars who wanted to eat him. The wounded man was deeply moved by the friendship of the rays who had saved his life, and he shook hands with those nearest him with genuine affection. Then he said:

“There’s no help for it! If there are many jaguars, and they want to cross, they will...” “They won’t!” said the little rays. “You are our friend, and they won’t get through!”

“Yes, they will, my little friends,” said the man. Then he added in a low voice, “The only way would be to send someone to my house to fetch the Winchester and plenty of cartridges... But I have no friends in the river except the fish... and none of you can walk on land...”

“What shall we do, then?” the rays asked anxiously. “Let me think, let me think...” said the man, passing a hand over his forehead as though trying to remember something. “I once had a friend... a little capybara who grew up in my house and used to play with my children... One day he went back to the forest, and I think he was living here, on the Yabebirí... But I don’t know where he might be...”

Then the rays gave a shout of joy: “We know! We know him! His den is at the tip of the island! He spoke to us about you once! We’ll send for him at once!”

No sooner said than done: a very large dorado flew downstream to fetch the little capybara, while the man dissolved a drop of dried blood in the palm of his hand to make ink and, using a fishbone for a pen, wrote on a dry leaf for paper. And this was the letter he wrote: Send me the Winchester and a whole box of 25 cartridges with the little capybara.

The man had scarcely finished writing when the whole forest shook with a deep roar: it was all the jaguars coming to do battle. The rays carried the letter with their heads above the water so it would not get wet and gave it to the little capybara, who set off running through the tall grass to take it to the man’s house.

And not a moment too soon, for the roars, though still distant, were drawing rapidly nearer. The rays gathered the dorados, who were waiting for orders, and shouted:

“Quickly, friends! Travel the whole river and raise the alarm! Let every ray in the river be ready! Let them all gather around the island! We’ll see whether the jaguars get through!”

And the army of dorados flew off at once, upstream and downstream, streaking the water with their speed. Not a ray in the whole Yabebirí failed to receive the order to gather along the riverbanks around the island. From everywhere—from among the stones, from the mud, from the mouths of little streams, from the entire Yabebirí—the rays came to defend the crossing against the jaguars. And in front of the island, the dorados darted back and forth at full speed.

Once again, not a moment too soon: an immense roar shook the very water along the bank, and the jaguars emerged onto the shore. There were many of them; it seemed as though every jaguar in Misiones were there. But the whole Yabebirí was seething with rays as well, and they rushed to the bank, ready to defend the crossing at any cost.

“Make way for the jaguars!” “Once again, make way!” “You shall not pass!” “Not a ray, nor a ray’s child, nor a ray’s grandchild will be left alive unless you make way!” “Perhaps!” the rays answered. “But neither the jaguars, nor their children, nor their grandchildren, nor all the jaguars in the world will get through here!”

That was the rays’ reply. Then the jaguars roared one last time: “We demand passage!” “NOT EVER!” And then the battle began. With an enormous leap, the jaguars hurled themselves into the water. They all landed on a veritable carpet of rays. The rays riddled their paws with stings, and at every wound the jaguars roared with pain. But they fought back with their claws, striking wildly at the water. And the rays flew through the air with their bellies ripped open by the jaguars’ claws.

The Yabebirí looked like a river of blood. The rays died by the hundreds... But the jaguars too suffered terrible wounds and withdrew to lie bellowing on the shore, horribly swollen. Trampled and torn by the jaguars’ paws, the rays would not give up; they came on ceaselessly to defend the crossing. Some flew through the air, fell back into the river, and hurled themselves at the jaguars again.

This terrible struggle lasted half an hour. At the end of that half hour, all the jaguars were back on the shore, sitting down from exhaustion and roaring with pain; not a single one had got through.

But the rays too were utterly worn out. Many, very many, had died. And those still alive said, “We cannot withstand two attacks like that. Let the dorados fetch reinforcements! Let every ray in the whole Yabebirí come at once!”

And the dorados flew upstream and downstream again, going so fast that they left wakes in the water like torpedoes. Then the rays went to see the man.

“We can’t hold out any longer!” the rays told him sadly. Some were even crying, for they saw that they would not be able to save their friend. “Go away, rays!” the wounded man answered. “Leave me alone! You have done too much for me already! Let the jaguars come through!”

“NOT EVER!” the rays shouted with one voice. “As long as a single ray is alive in the Yabebirí, which is our river, we will defend the good man who defended us before!”

Then the wounded man exclaimed happily, “Rays! I am almost dying, and I can barely speak, but I promise you that as soon as the Winchester arrives, we’ll have a fine old party, and a long one too! That I promise you!”

“Yes, we know!” the rays answered eagerly. But they could not finish speaking, for the battle was beginning again. Sure enough, the jaguars, who had now rested, suddenly rose to their feet and, crouching as if to spring, roared:

“For the last time, and once and for all: make way!” “NOT EVER!” the rays answered, rushing to the bank. But the jaguars too had leaped into the water, and the terrible struggle began again. The whole Yabebirí, from bank to bank, was now red with blood, and the blood foamed on the sandy shore. The rays flew through the air, torn to pieces, and the jaguars bellowed with pain; but no one fell back a single step.

And not only did the jaguars refuse to fall back: they advanced. In vain the army of dorados sped upstream and downstream, calling for the rays: there were no more rays left to call; they were all fighting in front of the island, and half were already dead. And those who remained were all wounded and exhausted.

Then they realized they could not hold out another minute, and that the jaguars would get through; and the poor rays, who would rather die than surrender their friend, flung themselves at the jaguars one last time. But now it was all in vain. Five jaguars were already swimming toward the island’s shore. In despair, the rays shouted:

“To the island! Let’s all go to the other shore!” But it was too late for that as well: two more jaguars had begun to swim, and in an instant all the jaguars were in the middle of the river, with nothing but their heads showing.

But at that very moment a little animal, a poor little reddish, furry animal, was swimming across the Yabebirí with all his might: it was the little capybara, arriving at the island with the Winchester and the cartridges balanced on his head to keep them dry.

The man gave a great shout of joy, for he still had time to come to the rays’ defense. He asked the little capybara to push him with his head and turn him onto his side, because he could not do it alone; and once in that position, he loaded the Winchester as quick as lightning.

And at the very moment when the rays saw in despair that they had lost the battle and that the jaguars were about to devour their poor wounded friend—at that moment they heard a shot and saw the leading jaguar, who had already set foot on the sand, give a great leap and fall dead, with a bullet hole in his forehead.

“Hurrah, hurrah!” cried the rays, wild with delight. “The man has the Winchester! We’re saved!” And they stirred up all the water, truly mad with joy. But the man calmly went on shooting, and every shot meant another dead jaguar. And each time a jaguar fell dead with a roar, the rays answered with great lashes of their tails.

One after another, as though lightning were striking their heads, the jaguars fell to the gunshots. It lasted only two minutes. One after another they sank to the bottom of the river, where the piranhas ate them. Some floated up afterward, and then the dorados accompanied them all the way to the Paraná, eating them and making the water splash with delight.

Before long the rays, who have many children, were as numerous as ever. The man recovered, and he was so grateful to the rays who had saved his life that he went to live on the island. And there, on summer nights, he liked to lie on the shore and smoke in the moonlight, while the rays, speaking softly, pointed him out to the fish who did not know him and told them about the great battle they had once fought against the jaguars, with that man as their ally.