Vungtraf Makes a Mistake

A Yahgahn Fable

Once there was a young Vungtraf who had just grown old enough to leave his family and strike out on his own, to seek out a mate and build his own family.

One day, Vungtraf was digging in the dirt for yummy bugs to eat when a loud thud in the forest startled him. Curious but cautious, he slowly and stealthily crept into the forest to see what had made the loud noise. He slowly peeked his head over the underbrush, and to his delight, he thought he saw an Aloara fruit! Exited, he ran over to it, examined it for bad spots, and then he began to munch down on the delicious purple fruit.

After having eaten, he loped off to sleep in the nearby clearing, so he could sleep in the light of the sun. When he got there, he lay down and began to sleep. He did not sleep for long, though. He woke up, sweaty and shivering, shaking and seeing things that weren’t really there. He could barely stand, and couldn’t walk without falling down. He felt so miserable that he cried while cursing his bad luck. Plus, he was confused. How could the delicious fruit of the Aloara be harmful? He had not eaten too much.

His question was soon answered. Not being able to stand the pain anymore, Vungtraf forced himself to empty his stomach. He began to feel better almost instantly. After a minute, he was better enough to look at the vomit and realize what it meant. It was green! He had vomited up Aloara fruit before, after having eaten too much of it, and it had stayed purple then. But this was green. He had not eaten an Aloara fruit, as he thought he had done.

When he felt well enough to walk around again, he went back to where he had found the fruit. To his luck, there was another one right there. He studied it in more depth, and finally noticed that the fruit had some subtle differences. It’s shape was wrong, the texture was slightly too soft, and there was a blue spot in the core of this strange fruit. He knew now that it was an imposter, but did not know any more than that.

“What kind of fruit is this, I wonder?” he said, talking to himself.

“I know what kind it is.” Said a voice behind him, startling him. He turned around, but it was just another Vungtraf.

“Oh? What fruit is it then?” he asked.

“It is the fruit of the predatory Jelthik Flower. You are lucky to have threw it up when you did, for had you not, it would have killed you, so that its seeds could grow and use your body as fertilizer.”

Vungtraf gulped with fear. “I am glad that I threw it up, then. But I feel so stupid for not seeing that it was different.” He hung his head in shame.

“Oh, do not worry. It is a common mistake. That is what the fruit is trying for, in fact. The fruit hopes that someone, in their excitement to see Aloara fruit, does a poor job of telling the difference between the two. You do not need to be shamed. Even I made that mistake once. Everyone makes mistakes, we just need to learn from them.”

“Oh, I learned from this mistake, definitely!” He smiled and laughed. “It makes me better to know that you made the mistake too. I will try never again to get too exited about a piece of fruit to overlook major details.”

“Well, let us forget this for now. Let us find some yummy bugs to eat! I have heard that they are easier to find at night.”

And so Vungtraf, having learned to learn from his mistakes, would later grow much, mentally, from that-- and other –-experiences. When he and his newfound mate, who had told him of her making the same mistake, had kids, both were very wise for all their experiences, and taught their children well.

The moral of this story is that we all make mistakes. Wisdom comes from learning from ones mistakes.

The End