Participating Schools
The Tale of the Urubu
The tale is set in the Brazilian Rain Forest.
The Urubu is a South American Vulture.
Deep in the misty, tropical rainforest there lived a family of royal Urubus. The King was all powerful, kind and caring and he ruled his kingdom fairly, until one deep, dark day when something dreadful happened.
One of the King’s twin sons was evil and wanted to rule the Urubus’ land under any circumstances. So he decided to kill his father by offering him juicy, delicious fruit, with dreadful poison inside.
After the King’s death the Queen pronounced her good son to be the new King. Soon after, the Queen left the forest because her memories were too upsetting. The good son followed in his Father’s claw steps. However, the evil son was plotting his own way to the throne of the Urubus.
He deceivingly told the King that his mother was extremely ill and dying. Immediately the King swooped off to his Mother’s new nest. Meanwhile the evil brother deceived all the other Urubus into believing that the new King had killed his father and that his brother was trying to kill him. The Urubus were shocked, but believed him and made the evil Urubu their King.
On finding his mother in good health the good Urubu returned to his kingdom, but all his subjects threaten to peck him to death. He had to flee from the Urubu kingdom gliding low to avoid being killed, alone and sad.
Eventually his wings became numb and he was forced to land. Dead ahead there was a gloomy, worm infested muddy pond, but it offered him shelter. He hid in the trees camouflaged from above, alone and desperate.
One night after falling asleep he heard sighing from the middle of the pond. Softly the Urubu moved the rotten branches and spotted a chubby baby on an enormous lily pad. He was shocked to find the baby there. He gently picked up the baby and rocked it to sleep. The Urubu taught the boy how to survive in the rain forest.
The Urubu and the boy were very happy together, until the night of his twelfth birthday, when he had a mysterious dream about a magical star. The star told him he had one wish and he had to use it wisely. In the morning he excitedly told the good Urubu about his dream. The boy had lots of questions, the Urubu answered them. The boy was angry about how the Urubu had been treated and he wanted to make things right.
“Go and talk to my mum,” squawked the Urubu.
The boy asked, “Where will I find her?”
The Urubu replied, “You will find her in the scruffiest nest in the tallest tree on the other side of the rain forest.”
The boy left immediately, travelling through the dark, misty, gloomy forest, day and night for three days looking for the nest. He used the bright, sparkling star for guidance.
Eventually he found the old ragged Urubu’s nest in the dark tree. It was an enormous, scruffy old nest, made of rotten, brown branches and black leaves. He politely told the old, ragged Urubu about her evil son and how her good son had been cheated out of his kingdom. In a croaking voice the old ragged Urubu said, “I will help my son. I know it’s not much but I have this manky old feather. It may help you in the future.”
The boy gratefully accepted the feather. The ragged old Urubu offered the boy a ride on her back.
The twelve year old boy and the old ragged Urubu flew back to the kingdom, the boy held on with all his might. As they swept through the forest they saw a terrifying scene. Everything was a mess; there was a lot of fighting, nests were ripped apart, egg shells cracked and when they landed the egg shells crumbled under their feet.
The old Urubu cried, “We need to go and find my son!”
The boy jumped back on the old Urubu’s back and they took off like a rocket towards the pond.
During the flight they saw the evil brother at war with his men. The forest looked like a blur, as they flew through it.
In the meantime the guards recognised the ragged old Urubu flying gracefully like a butterfly above the trees. The guards set off quickly to tell the King. King Urubu decided to rush off to capture his brother. The evil King Urubu flew through the deep, dark rain forest past muddy lumps of soil, hard rocks and stones. He fluttered angrily through the sparkling, still stream, weaving in and out of the trees.
Suddenly the evil Urubu got tangled in the twisting twigs. At that moment the guards landed loudly besides him and set to work to untangle him.
Meanwhile the old ragged Urubu was so scared that her wings stopping flapping. She fell heavily to the ground and landed on a soft pile of leaves, with the boy still holding on for dear life.
The good Urubu squawked in surprise and flapped over to the two bodies. Thankfully they were safe. The old ragged Urubu told the good Urubu that his evil brother was coming to murder him.
Next the good Urubu hid in the dark hollow of a tall tree near the edge of the pond. After awhile he sat sadly on the lily pad and felt very depressed. The air was cold and misty and he shivered with fear.
The evil Urubu looked up and gazed into the face of a guard. The guard yelled,
“King, we have found him!”
The rest of the guards came rushing towards the pond where the good Urubu was hiding with the King in their wings.
The brothers met, they were beak to beak. The fight began, King Urubu pecked his brother in the heart. His brother stood strongly for a couple of minutes then started to become dizzy and fell backwards to the ground. DEAD!
Everyone gathered around the body of the good Urubu. The tired, old Urubu told the sad and dreadful truth of who had really killed their Father. The boy heard the terrible news and cried bitterly. The tears rolled from his eyes dripping through the magic feather, then onto the wounds of the good Urubu. Nothing happened for a few seconds and then to everyone’s surprise and amazement the good Urubu rose from the dead. The old Urubu, with her sharp eyes, noticed the boy was hurt and used the feather to heal his wounds.
Slowly, very slowly, the boy began to change. His arms became wings like the outstretched wings of a golden eagle. His feet became sharp claws like the thorns of a blackberry bush and his skin became feathers, white, like the colour of the winter snow.
From that day onwards the boy became an Urubu in the night and roamed the dark and moonlit forest hunting for the bad Urubu who was never ever seen again.
Pontybrenin | Townhill