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The perentie (Nintaka) and the goanna (Milbili), agreed to decorate each other
for a ceremony. The perentie was a good artist, who took great care with his
work. So he painted the goanna with great care and skill, painting fine lines
and dots over the goanna's body. When the paint had dried, he turned the goanna
over and using the thinnest of brushes and the greatest of care, painted
extremely fine lines on his belly. Now it was the goanna’s turn to paint the
perentie. The goanna however was lazy, and because it took so long for the
perentie to paint the goanna, and the time for the ceremony was drawing near,
the goanna quickly painted the perentie with crude splashes of yellow dots,
which he applied with pieces of rolled-up bark.
When the goanna had finished, the perentie asked how he looked. The goanna
lied and said he looked beautiful. however, on the way to the ceremony, the
perentie walked pass a waterhole and saw his reflection in the water. The
perentie was angry with how he looked, and rushed to attack the goanna, but the
goanna escaped by climbing to the top of the gum tree.
The perentie cursed the goanna and said that from now on he must live in the
branches of trees and take shelter in the tree hollows, while he would use the
rocks as his home and shelter.
Today, you can see the two keep to their own habitats, still wearing the
designs on their bodies. The goanna with a delicate lace-like pattern on its
back, while the perentie’s dark brown skin is covered with large yellow dots and
irregular lines. |
