Extrait du livre The legend of curupira
The legend of curupira Pascale Vignali Illustrated by Justine Cunha Le Regard Sonore Editions
Once upon a time, in Brazil, there stood the oldest rainforest on the planet ... Huge and mysterious, it sheltered thousands of animal and plant species, some unknown to humans. This huge forest was a rich asset for our planet, thus it must be carefully protected… The Tupi Guarani Indians would say that a strange little being watched over it, like a treasure... They called it the Curupira… and woe to those who disturbed it or broke its laws !
Cuchùi was a young Guarani Indian. He lived in a clearing at the edge of the vast Amazon forest, in a village of huts. Bright and curious, he kept questioning his grandfather Taïta, about a thousand things. Especially about the Curupira, which was, to him, a great mystery...
For instance, when a storm approached and muffled rumbles could be heard like huge drums in the forest… CUCHÙI : Taïta, what is this noise ? Could this be toucans fighting with their beaks? TAÏTA : No, my little monkey, that is the Curupira. It hits the trunks of the weaker trees to alert the animals living in it. It warns them : beware ! the wind will blow hard ! you must go, your tree is too weak to withstand it, it will fall !
When young warriors returned empty-handed from hunting, upset because they had lost their arrows … CUCHÙI : Taïta, why do they look so angry ? Does it really matter that they did not catch anything ? We have enough food for everyone... TAÏTA : Yes, little armadillo, you're right. But they were not hunting for food, they wanted to bring back blue macaw feathers to make necklaces and strut around the village ! The Curupira does not want us to hunt for pleasure. It has stolen the arrows in their quivers, and now, they are forced to make new ones... They will think twice before being so proud next time !
Curupira here, Curupira there, not a day went by without Cuchùi hearing about the little guardian of the forest ... Yet no one had ever seen it ! CUCHÙI : I'll go get this Curupira. We'll see if it really exists. And if it does, I will finally know and tell everyone what it looks like !
TAÏTA : Don’t do that my little tapir ! The Curupira has a thousand tricks up its sleeve to fool even the bravest ! Some hunters never returned, others went mad. Some loggers who cut too many trees remained lost in the forest so long that they did not even remember their names when they returned to the village ! Nobody can find the Curupira unless it wants to find them... And in that case, beware !
