La Leyenda Maya del Colibrí: "El Mensajero del Más Allá" — Transcript

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1. 0:11The hummingbird is a species of small
2. 0:13bird that many of us are familiar with.
3. 0:17There are between 330 and 343
4. 0:20identified hummingbird species. Some
5. 0:24researchers say there are hundreds more
6. 0:27. They live in regions all across the
7. 0:30American continent, in both the north
8. 0:32and the south. 57 hummingbird species
9. 0:36fly across the skies of Mexico. Due to
10. 0:40their large number of species, they are
11. 0:42ranked as the second-largest bird
12. 0:44family in the world. Their wingbeat is
13. 0:47the fastest of any bird and their size
14. 0:50the smallest. Their heart reaches up to
15. 0:541,200 beats per minute and their wings
16. 0:56flap up to 90 times per second. It is
17. 0:59the only bird that can fly backward and
18. 1:02the only one that can hover. Its flight
19. 1:06is perfect. Friar Francisco de Ajofrín
20. 1:11was a Spanish Capuchin religious,
21. 1:13missionary, and writer who landed in
22. 1:15Veracruz, Mexico, and upon seeing
23. 1:17hummingbirds for the first time,
24. 1:19described them this way. Its entire
25. 1:22little body does not exceed that of a
26. 1:24tiny almond. The tail is long, the head
27. 1:27proportionate, the neck short, the
28. 1:29little beak long, thin, and fine. White
29. 1:33at the base and black at the tip. The
30. 1:37little wings are long and small, so
31. 1:38light in their handling that when it
32. 1:40flies it is almost unseen and only
33. 1:41perceived by the humming sound it makes
34. 1:43. Its eyes are very bright and
35. 1:46beautiful. The plumage is mostly green,
36. 1:49with yellow and blue spots. It moves
37. 1:53through gardens sucking on flowers
38. 1:54without stopping its flight. It inserts
39. 1:57its little beak into the flower and
40. 1:59extracts the nectar with such delicacy
41. 2:01that it neither harms it nor even bends
42. 2:02it down. This excerpt was taken from
43. 2:05his book "The Diary of the Trip We Made
44. 2:08to Mexico." It is said that when a
45. 2:11hummingbird flies by your side or you
46. 2:13see one, it is good luck, and also that
47. 2:15it takes one of your dreams and carries
48. 2:17it off to make it come true. But, where
49. 2:20does the legend of this colorful animal
50. 2:23come from? Here we present to you the
51. 2:26Mayan legend of the hummingbird. The
52. 2:30legend tells that the wisest Mayans say
53. 2:33that the gods created all things on
54. 2:36earth and in doing so, assigned a task
55. 2:39to every animal, every tree, and every
56. 2:42stone. But when they had finished, they
57. 2:45noticed there was no one in charge of
58. 2:48carrying their wishes and thoughts from
59. 2:50one place to another. Since they no
60. 2:53longer had mud or corn to make another
61. 2:55animal, they took a piece of jade and
62. 2:58carved a very small arrow with it. When
63. 3:02it was ready, they blew on it and the
64. 3:04small arrow flew off. It was no longer
65. 3:08just a simple arrow, now it had life.
66. 3:11The gods had created the Tsununum, that
67. 3:14is, the hummingbird. Its feathers were
68. 3:18so fragile and light that the
69. 3:20hummingbird could approach the most
70. 3:22delicate flowers without moving a
71. 3:24single petal. Its feathers shone under
72. 3:27the sun like raindrops and reflected
73. 3:29every color. So, men tried to capture
74. 3:33this beautiful bird for its feathers.
75. 3:37The gods, upon seeing them, became
76. 3:39angry and said, "If anyone dares to
77. 3:41catch a hummingbird, they shall be
78. 3:42punished." That is why no one has ever
79. 3:46seen a hummingbird in a cage, nor in
80. 3:48the hand of a man. The hummingbird
81. 3:51symbolizes many different concepts. Due
82. 3:54to its speed, the hummingbird is known
83. 3:56as a messenger and guardian of time. It
84. 4:00also carries meanings of love, joy, and
85. 4:03beauty. The hummingbird is able to fly
86. 4:06backward, teaching us that we can
87. 4:08remember our past. However, this bird
88. 4:11also teaches us that we must not dwell
89. 4:14in it and need to move forward. The
90. 4:19hummingbird spends its time drinking
91. 4:21nectar from flowers, which means we
92. 4:23should savor every moment and cherish
93. 4:25the things we love. Commonly, the
94. 4:29flutter of the hummingbird's wings in
95. 4:31its movement is a symbol of infinity,
96. 4:33eternity, and continuity. Its
97. 4:36fluttering sounds like a whisper. One
98. 4:40of the main tasks the gods assigned it
99. 4:42was for the hummingbird to carry the
100. 4:44thoughts of men from here to there,
101. 4:47including those who are no longer with
102. 4:49us. In this way, the legend says that
103. 4:53if you see a hummingbird, someone is
104. 4:56sending you good wishes and much love.
105. 4:59So listen to its fluttering, for there
106. 5:01it is, telling you a secret of good
107. 5:03fortune.