The First Lovers
Summary
Long ago, the world was very different, there were but two of every creature and all hated their other. The bull hated the cow, the hen hated the rooster, and the man hated the woman. Every seven days, the winged serpent, the only creature unique in form with no other, would summon the pairs and grant each of them a wish with two caveats; first, the wish would not come into effect until the other also made their wish, and second, the wish would last for only one century.
For countless millennia, the pairs wished for nothing but the death of their other and so the creatures were dead for a hundred years, only to rise again and repeat the cycle after one week of life. The woman, who along with the man was the most clever of all creatures apart from the winged serpent, saw this and resolved in her heart to change things. When it came time for her and the man to make their wishes, the man wished for the woman's death as he had countless times before. But the woman wished only that the man would love her instead of hating her. So the serpent granted the two their wishes, making the man fall in love with the woman and killing the woman for a hundred years. The man languished in grief for his lost love and everyday prayed to the serpent that he would live to see the woman's return so that he could live with her.
When the hundred years had passed, the man was still in love with the woman, for his love had grown beyond what the serpent had planted in his soul. When the time came again for the humans to make their wishes, both the man and woman, now both in love, wished for the ability to have children, which the serpent granted them. Seeing the happiness the humans achieved from putting aside their hatred and embracing love, the animal pairs one by one followed suite over the following centuries until no animal wished for their other's death again. Seeing his true purpose completed, the winged serpent departed the world and left life to flourish.
Historical Basis
The story is widely considered to be little more than mythology with little evidence of any historical basis. It is widely believed to have been a simple morality tale about the importance of love and peace even in the face of violence and hatred.
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