From: Harald Smith 617 726-2172 (SMITHH@A1.MGH.HARVARD.EDU)
Date: Fri 01 Jul 1994 - 07:35:00 EEST
On a slightly lighter note from some of my earlier tales, I offer the
following Imtherian story.
How Cheese Was Made
by Harald Smith
(This is a tale commonly told amongst the Valusi and Zarkon marls about the origin of cheese.)
In the days of darkness before Khelmal came amongst men, the foods of the world began to disappear and men went hungry. The animals that still lived grew afraid--some like the badgers and foxes dug holes in the ground to hide, others like the goats and sheep retreated higher into the mountains.
The goats took secret trails into the mountains hoping to hide from men. But Alaczar the Toad (who had always disliked the goats ever since they ate his giant turnip) came after them. He kept leaping into the air to see where they had gone and pointing out their trail to the men that followed. There came a point when the herd of goats could go no further and the hungry men still followed them. Then Alaczar gloated for he knew it would be the end of the goats.
A man called up to the goats on their ridge. "Send us down one of your kind so that we may live and we will leave the rest of you alone."
The goats considered this and decided that a sacrifice of one was a reasonable bargain if they were to stay alive. So one goat was send off down the mountain to the hungry men. The men sacrificed the goat and ate it.
Of course, it was not long until the men were hungry again and another man called up to the goats on their ridge. "Send us down one of your kind so that we may live. We will certainly leave the rest of you alone."
The goats were quite alarmed at this, but after careful consideration they decided to sacrifice one more of their kind. So another goat was sent down the mountain to the hungry men. The men sacrificed the goat and ate it.
Well, men are always insatiable given a chance, and it was not long again until the men grew hungry. They called up to the goats asking for yet another sacrifice.
Now this time, Grand Goat, the greatest billy of the herd offered to go himself, for surely he was large enough to satisfy all the men.
But Mother Goat would hear none of that. "Wait," she said. "Even you will not satisfy their lust for flesh. But I am full to bursting with milk. I can spare some for these men so they don't go hungry and yet the milk will be replenished when they are ready for more."
The goats thought this was a good idea. Grand Goat called down to the men and offered this proposal. At first the men were reluctant for they had come to like the taste of goat meat. But the wisest amongst them recognized their plight and agreed to try the milk, with the condition
that if they did not like it then Grand Goat would come as a sacrifice. A pitcher was sent up to collect the milk and Mother Goat promptly filled it.
Now Alaczar was upset about this since he wanted the men to eat all the goats. So he thought to play a trick so they would be eaten anyway. After Mother Goat had finished filling the pitcher, Alaczar snuck up to the vessal. Carefully, so that no one would see him, Alaczar cast his magics and soured the entire pitcher of milk until it curdled. Alaczar was so happy and pleased by what he did that he bounded off up the ridge so he could see the goat's expressions when the hungry men asked to eat Grand Goat.
When the pitcher had reached the men, they lifted it up to see what was inside. There they found a mix of curds and whey. Not knowing what to do, they found a bowl and poured off the whey into it. They then took the curds and pressed them together into a ball which they could then evenly divide amongst themselves. So they ate the pressed curds and the bellies of the men were filled. They were so pleased that they called up to the goats and thanked them for the meal.
Alaczar was so angry that his trick had failed that he dashed down into the camp of the men. "Don't you know that that milk was sour?" he exclaimed in outrage. "You aren't supposed to like it at all!"
But the men had liked the cheese. And they wanted more. So their leader came over to Alaczar and said, "You must be another gift from the goats." He grabbed Alaczar so that the trickster could not escape and then the gave him to the men to eat.
And that is how the goats survived and men first made cheese.
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