TIDDALIK the Frog:
Long ago in the Dreamtime, Tiddalik, the largest frog ever known, awoke one morning with a huge thirst. He started to drink and drank until there was no fresh water left in the world. Soon creatures everywhere were dying and trees were wilting because of the lack of moisture. All the animals pondered about their terrible plight until a wise old wombat suggested that if Tiddalik could be made to laugh then maybe all the water would flow out of his mouth. This was a good idea the animals agreed. The animals gathered by Tiddalik's resting place and tried for a long time to make him laugh, but it was in vain. The kookaburra told his funniest story, the kangaroo jumped over the emu and the lizard waddled up and down on two legs making his stomach stick out but Tiddalik was not amused. Then when the animals were in despair, Nabunum the eel who was driven from his favourite creek by the drought slid up to the unresponsive frog and began to dance. As the dance got faster Nabunum wriggled and twisted himself into all sorts of knots and shapes to the amusement of Tiddalik. Tiddalik's eyes lit up and burst out laughing. As he laughed the water gushed out from his mouth and flowed away to replenish the lakes, swamps and rivers again. |
In
the sacred text, TIDDALK the Frog, one of many dreamtime stories “the other” or
“spirit” is represented through the spiritual characters, water, time and
happiness. The spiritual characters represent “the other” or “spirit” as they
all connected and worked as a team to get a positive response just like “the
other” or “spirit” would have wanted them. The spiritual characters would have
been guided which gave them more reason to continue to believe in each other
and the faith that “the other” or “spirit” held before them. Just like a puzzle’s
not complete without all the pieces, the world wouldn’t be complete without
water. This is why “the other” or “spirit” is represented through water as it
was created for a purpose in life. Time is another factor of which “the other”
or “spirit” is represented by as time can sometimes be the key to success, and
in this case happiness. This is why happiness is another factor of which “the
other” or “spirit” is represented as happiness provides much love and good
things (in this case the lakes, swamps and river again.)
Anne Faundez was the author of TIDDALK the Frog but the date of which the story was written is unknown but is a legend from Australian Aboriginal mythology. The story originated with the Aborigines of South Gippsland, Victoria but since then has spread worldwide. The water-holding frog (litoria platycephala) attributed in modern times to Tiddalik isn’t found in the area of the legend’s origin. This suggests that it’s likely that Tiddalik either refers to a different frog or it is a mythical memory of time 10 000 to 12 000 years ago (when landscape was different for the frog’s range to extend to the South Gippsland). After much research, whilst the modern story has a happy ending, when the water returned for all to use, the original ends in environmental disaster (a flood.) But the story is about and represents the history of the country which we live on, Australia. For indigenous Australian, this water-holding frog provided water in times of drought. Overall the legend of Tiddalk is an extremely important story of the Dreamtime. In this illustration of Tiddalk the frog in water which is surrounded by land or can be interpreted as surrounded by other animals/people. This illustration represents the sacred text, TIDDALIK the Frog as the story is based around the frog and its water. |