NARRANG

NARRANG - How the pilarrpa (goanna) and the Narrang got their painted backs

Long, long ago the pilarrpa and the Narrang were very plain-looking creatures. The Pilarrpa did not have the beautiful back he has today, and the Narrang’s back was different too.

One day the Pilarrpa and Narrang were out hunting in the desert. They came to a creek with still, clear water. Pilarrpa looked at himself in the water. It was just like looking in a mirror. He looked for a long while and then he thought. “I don’t thnk I look pretty enough. I should have colours ad designs on my back.” So he decided he would ask his friend, Narranf, to pain some colours and designs on his back.

Narrang was very happy when Pilarrpa asked him to paint his back and he ran off to get what he needed. He returned with some black charcoal, some yellow stone and a sharp pointed stick. Then he crushed the charcoal and the red and yellow stones into powder and put the different coloured powered on to a flat stone. Finally he mixed the powders with water to make his paints. No he was ready to pain Pilarrpa’s back.

Using a sharp-pointed stick his different coloured pains, Narrang painted designs on Pilarrpa’s back. He took a long time and painted very carefully. When he was finished it looked very colourful and Pilarrpa was a pleased as he could be.

“Now its your turn to pain my back” said Narrang.

Narrang turned around and Pilarrpa began to paint his back. But Pilarrpa did not take any caee with his painting. He was not near, as Narrang had been and he finished very quickly.

Narrang went over to the water to look at his back and when he saw the mess Pilarrpa had made he become very angry. Poor Narrang. His back was covered with ugly, careless lines. Narrang chased Pilarrpa, who ran away laughing. Today the Pilarrpa and the Narrang sill have the same markings, but Narrang does not trust Pilarrpa and they have never been friends since.