The Pinapha Texts

A collection of religious tales detailing the life of Danaa'd, Immaculate Dragon of Water.

EXCERPT: The Twentieth Lesson of Danaa'd

The first monster was many, having harvested the imperfections of nature. It was not the mightiest to escape the spear of Danaa'd, nor the swiftest, but his crimes were distressing. It was known as Bakunawa, eater of moons, eater of men, and in its wake left naught but ruin and the racket of false worship. The men of Pinapha would bang iron pans to ward off the beast, and the women of Pinapha would play pipes in hope of soothing its wrath.

Four days and four nights she sailed towards the island, her boat freshly painted in scarlet to remind the Mothers of Storms to keep to their duties. And though the Mothers of Storms brought great winds and dark clouds, demanding obeisance for allowing her travels, the Daughter of Currents ignored their piteous wails. They then asked for gifts of obsidian or children in exchange of speeding her journey. With a hand she indicated the stone, with another to her womb: 'Here are the tears of my brother; here is the world. An unwomanly mother prevents the future.' and the storms abated.

It was known that the behemoth was immune to spears, so Daanad fashioned for herself claws of sharp obsidian bound tight to each hand. Standing on the shore she met Bakunawa, and gesturing with her spear Danaa'd asked of the monster:

'How came you to be immune to my spear?'

To which the Eater of Moons replied, 'Mine is two births and a protean shape. Anything built of straight lines is without permanence. All that travels by the shortest route misses the heart.'

Luckily, the claws were curved and therefore could cut into the flesh of the demon, and before the sun was up it was bleeding from many wounds. Danaa'd did not slay the creature outright for to do so now would release the perversities of nature into the world. Soon Danaa'd had traced the dragon lines true again, and Bakunawa was ready to be slain.

The monster grew into a giant-form, too terrible for the islanders to look upon. It reached to the east and ate a stable of pigs. It reached to the west and pulled at the earth, gouging a great stone with which to strike the Dragon. But Danaa'd was undeterred, and she said:

'Let the ocean bind you,' and Bakunawa was bound by water rushing into the bay it had carved, waves lapping up its thighs. The water chilled until it turned to ice as hard as stone, until the monster could not move, nor appeal to its dual nature.

Danaa'd took up her spear. She said, 'And let me show you your heart,' and pierced the demon. Reduced to something constant, it shattered into pieces. The pieces were collected by the women of the island and taken into caves. There, and for five years, Danaa'd taught them the how of tending to the dead and the calendar of the gods. This was the birth of the first cloister. Before, there had only been the surface thought of water.

Danaa'd looked at her first students and observed:

'In this cloister you have discovered one walking path, so edged it is that it has to be whispered to keep the tongue from bleeding, where its signs evacuate their former meanings, like shoguns that tarry too long.'

'The spear is estrangement from statesmanship.'

'Look on the estimable lines of my foe, now crafted star-wise, five limbs equidistant from the center. Was he solved because I will it so? Think on how my existence promulgates the five elements and alike the egg-layered universe. Here is a thought that can break the ship's mast; here is another that can soar.'