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According to the legends of the indigenous people of the Venezuelan Andes, there was once a fierce young girl called Caribay. She was the daughter of the tribe chief, but her beauty was such that the people thought her to be the daughter of the fiery Zuhé (the sun) and his wife, pale-faced Chía (the moon). Caribay was known to be one with nature; she ran through the grass with the lightest touch, and played with the flowers as if she were the wind. She often collected delicate beautiful tokens of her adventures, which she wore as necklaces and dresses.
Once, as Caribay walked along a creek, she saw five immense eagles as they soared through the sky, with feathers so white that the light bounced off of them like glistening silver. Caribay had never seen such beauty in a bird, and mesmerized by their beauty she longed for a feather to adorn herself with. And so Caribay started running as fast as her legs could take her, following the shadows cast by the eagles on the ground. She climbed hill after hill, jumping over deep ravines and swimming across rivers, until she arrived at the Andean mountains, fatigued.
From the summit of the highest mountain, Caribay saw as the eagles rose higher an higher, getting lost in the sky, their shadows no longer cast on the ground. Caribay began to weep, alone and scared in the growing darkness as the sun set. She invoked Zuhé, but the wind carried her prayers away. Shivering from the cold, Caribay used the last of her strength to turn West and pray to Chía, the pale moon goddess. Soon, the wind died out bringing complete silence, and from the dark horizon shone a silver circle surrounded by sparkling stars.
Caribay gasped in admiration, as the moon had answered her prayers and around her flew the white eagles. They danced around the skies as Caribay sang to them, eventually fluttering their wings and resting atop the mountains. Caribay then quietly approached them and carefully reached to grab a feather, but as she touched the eagle she felt a paralyzing cold that traveled through her spine and numbed her hands. Afraid, Caribay ran away, back to where her people awaited, but the eagles remained.
From then on, the five white eagles remained petrified atop the Andean mountains, turned into five immense glaciers. But every now and then they wake up from their slumber. They furiously bat their wings and their feathers fall down in a flurry of snowflakes that cover the mountains completely. That night, Caribay was lost among the peaks, becoming the spirit of the Andes, and the eagles became each of the five peaks of the Sierra Nevada, always covered in snow. To this day, Caribay's cry can still be heard in the howl of the storm, and when it comes, the eagles awake once more, covering the Andes in snow.
Author's Note: this is the origin story of the five peaks of the Venezuelan Andes mountain range. It is an indigenous myth coming from either the Timoto-cuicas or some other Andean tribe (they became extinct during colonization so it is hard to tell). Contrary to the other two stories of this storybook, this myth was written down by a Venezuelan writer and historian called Tulio Febres in 1895. He did a great deal of historical and anthropological work in the Andean region of Venezuela, hence why his is the most accepted version of this myth. The names of the deities mentioned in this story come from the Muisca/Chibcha indigenous people of Colombia with whom the Timoto-Cuicas are thought to have interacted with or even were a part of. The five peaks said to come from the eagles are part of the Sierra Nevada national park in Merida, Venezuela, and a monument was built to honor the mythical story (picture below). Sadly, due to global warming, the perpetual glaciers are almost completely melted and it rarely snows anymore, but hopefully Caribay will sing again soon and the mountains will be covered in snow once more.
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