The Land of Painted Caves

but the meaning is always the same. Would you recite it for us, Ayla? Not the whole song, just the last part of it.'

Ayla nodded, closed her eyes, thought about where to begin.

With a thunderous roar Her stones split asunder,And from the great cave that opened deep under,She birthed once again from her cavernous heart,Bringing forth all the creatures of Earth from the start.From the Mother forlorn, more children were born. Each child was different, some were large and some small,Some could walk and some fly, some could swim and some crawl.But each form was perfect, each spirit complete,Each one was a model whose shape could repeat.The Mother was willing. The green earth was filling. All the birds and the fish and the animals born,Would not leave the Mother, this time, to mourn.Each kind would live near the place of its birth,And share the expanse of the Great Mother Earth.Close to Her they would stay. They could not run away.

Ayla had started out rather tentatively, but as she got into it, her voice gained more power; her delivery became more sure.

They all were her children, they filled her with prideBut they used up the life force she carried inside.She had enough left for a last innovation,A child who'd remember Who made the creation.A child who'd respect. And learn to protect. First Woman was born full grown and alive,And given the Gifts she would need to survive.Life was the First Gift, and like Mother Earth,She woke to herself knowing life had great worth.First Woman defined. The first of her kind. Next was the Gift of Perception, of learning,The desire to know, the Gift of Discerning,First Woman was given the knowledge within,That would help her to live, then impart to her kin.First Woman would know. How to learn, how to grow.

Her life force near gone, The Mother was spent,To pass on Life's Spirit had been Her intent.She caused all of Her children to create life anew,And Woman was blessed to bring forth life, too.But Woman was lonely. She was the only. The Mother remembered Her own loneliness,The love of Her friend and his hovering caress.With the last spark remaining, Her labour began,To share life with Woman, She created First Man.Again She was giving. One more was living.

Ayla spoke the language so fluently, most people hardly noticed her accent anymore. They were used to the way she said certain words and sounds. It seemed normal. But as she repeated the familiar verses, her speech peculiarity seemed to add an exotic quality, a touch of mystery, that somehow made it seem that the verses came from some other place, perhaps some other-worldly place.

To Woman and Man the Mother gave birth,And then for their home, She gave them the Earth,The water, the land, and all Her creation.To use them with care was their obligation.It was their home to use, But never abuse. For the Children of Earth the Mother provided,The Gifts to survive, and then She decided,To give them the Gift of Pleasure and caring,That honours the Mother with the joy of their sharing.The Gifts are well earned, When honour's returned. The Mother was pleased with the pair she created,She taught them to love and to care when they mated.She made them desire to join with each other,The Gift of their Pleasures came from the Mother.Before She was through, Her children loved too.

This was the place that the song usually ended, and Ayla hesitated a moment before she continued. Then taking a breath, she recited the verse that had filled her head with its booming metred resonance deep in the cave.

Her last Gift, the Knowledge that man has his part.His need must be spent before new life can start.It honours the Mother when the couple is paired,Because woman conceives when Pleasures are shared.Earth's Children were blessed. The Mother could rest.

There was an uneasy silence when she finished. Not one of the powerful women and men there knew quite what to say. Finally the Zelandoni from the Fourteenth Cave spoke up. 'I have never heard that verse or anything like it.'

'Nor have I,' said the First. 'The question is, what does it mean?'

'What do you think it means?' said the Fourteenth.

'I think it means that woman alone does not create new life,' the First said.

'No, of course not. It has always been known that the spirit of a man is blended with the spirit of a woman to make a new life,' the Eleventh protested.

Ayla spoke up. 'The verse does not speak of 'spirit'. It says woman conceives when Pleasures are shared,' she said. 'It is not just a man's spirit; a new life will not start if a man's need is not spent. A child is as much a man's as it is a woman's, a child of his body as well as hers. It is the joining of man and woman that starts life.'

'Are you saying that joining is not for Pleasures?' asked the Third with a tone of incredulous disbelief.

'No one doubts that joining is a Pleasure,' the First said with a sardonic smile. 'I think it means that Doni's Gift is more than the Gift of Pleasure. It is another Gift of Life. I think that is what the verse means. The Great Earth Mother did not create men just to share Pleasures with women, and to provide for her and her children. A woman is the blessed of Doni because she brings forth new life, but a man is blessed too. Without him, no new life can start. Without men, and without the Pleasures, all life would stop.'

There was an outburst of excited voices. 'Surely there are other interpretations,' said the visiting Zelandoni. 'This seems too much, too hard to believe.'

'Give me another interpretation,' the First countered. 'You heard the words. What is your explanation?'

The Zelandoni hesitated, paused. 'I would have to think about it. It needs time for thought, for study.'

'You can think about it for a day, or a year, or as many years as you can number; it will not change the interpretation. Ayla was given a Gift with her calling. She was chosen to bring this new Gift of the Knowledge of Life from the Mother,' the One Who Was First said.

There was another buzz of commotion. 'But gifts are always exchanged. No one receives a gift without the obligation of giving one in return, one of equal value,' the Zelandoni of the Second Cave said. 'It was the first time he had spoken. What Gift could Ayla give in return to the Mother that would be of equal value?' There was silence as everyone looked at Ayla.

'I gave Her my baby,' she said, knowing in her heart that the child she had lost was one started by Jondalar, that it was her and Jondalar's child. Will I ever have another baby that will be Jondalar's, too, she wondered. 'The Mother was honoured deeply when that baby was started. It was a baby I wanted, wanted more than I can tell you. Even now, my arms ache with the emptiness of that loss. I may have another child someday, but I will never have that child.'

Ayla fought back tears. 'I don't know how much the Mother values the Gifts She gives her children, but I know of nothing I value more than my children. I don't know why She wanted my child, but the Great Mother filled my head with the words of her Gift after my baby was gone.' Tears glistened in Ayla's eyes as much as she tried to control them. She bowed her head and said quietly, 'I wish I could return Her Gift and have my baby back.'

There was a gasp from several who were gathered. One did not take the Mother's Gifts lightly, nor did one openly wish to give them back. She might be greatly offended, and who could know what She might do then.

'Are you sure you were pregnant?' the Eleventh asked.

'I missed three moontimes, and I had all the other signs. Yes, I'm sure,' Ayla explained.

'And I'm sure,' the First said. 'I knew she was carrying a child before I left for the Summer Meeting.'

'Then she must have miscarried. That would account for the childbirth pain I thought I sensed in her telling,' said the visiting Zelandoni.

'I think it's obvious that she miscarried. I believe the miscarriage brought her dangerously close to death while she was in the cave,' the First said. 'That must have been why the Mother wanted her baby. The sacrifice was necessary. It brought her close enough to the next world for the Mother to speak to her, to give her the verse for the Gift of Knowledge.'

'I am sorry,' said the Zelandoni of the Second Cave. 'Losing a child can be a terrible burden to bear.' He said it with such genuine feeling, it made Ayla wonder.

'If there are no objections, I think it is time for the ceremony,' the One Who Was First said. There were nods of agreement. 'Are you ready, Ayla?'

The young woman frowned with consternation as she looked around. Ready for what? It all seemed so sudden. The Donier could see her distress.

'You said you wanted to have the full formal testing. The understanding is that if you satisfied the zelandonia, you would progress to the next level. You would no longer be an Acolyte. You would leave here Zelandoni,' the First