The first song sung itself, and in so doing brought the world into existence. The world then sang its song, which created they sky above it, to offer it succor and ease its loneliness. The sky then sang back to the earth, and this song fell as rain with unified the two. The rain and water sang the songs that raised trees and plants, that the puddles and oceans would not want for company.

It was these trees, these plants, that themselves began to sing, and each song brought about new life. The lily pads sang frogs into existence, reeds serenaded of flies, and the mighty trees sang of birds, who soon took flight and sang songs of their own. but from the birds’ songs, nothing arose but younger birds. They were not able to create as earth had, as sea had, as sky had.

The birds approached the earth, and asked its counsel. Why, they asked, could they not sing their wishes into being as so many others had? The earth answered that the song of creation had faded with each singing since the first song, and that the recent refrain would allow only young to be created. The birds would have to be happy with that, or else cease their song and create no more.

Most birds accepted this, and departed the audience. But mockingbirds asked whether it would be possible to sing a song of creation once more. The earth asked what they would change, if they could but sing it so. The mockingbirds replied that they would bring about abundant food, plentiful nesting, and an absence of predators. The earth asked where the food would come from, what the nesting would consist of, and what the predators could be expected to eat instead; the mockingbirds had no answer to this.

Since it had been a difficult question, the earth gave them a difficult answer: of the mockingbirds wanted to sing a song of creation, they must first master the song of every other bird. Only then would they prove themselves worthy of singing such a song, and only then would they have the wisdom to use it properly.

And so it is today that mockingbirds seek to learn every song of every bird, so that they may sing the first song of creation in a thousand generations. Though they may know that theirs is an impossible task, they nevertheless try.

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