A Basque legend about Mari, the lady of the mountains, and the three rules for speaking to her.
That summer, not a drop of rain fell in the Arratia valley. The meadows turned yellow and the sheep drank from the last puddle in the stream. One afternoon, Grandpa Joxe looked up at the crag of Anboto and said what nobody dared to say: “The Lady isn’t in her cave. When Mari is at Anboto, it rains.”
They say Mari lives in the caves of the mountains and travels from one to another across the sky, in the shape of a ball of fire. They also say she listens to anyone who climbs up with an honest request, as long as they keep three rules: speak to her by her first name, like a neighbour, and never as “my lady”; never sit down in her presence; and leave the cave the way you came in, facing her, walking backwards.
Ainhoa and her cousin Kepa, both twelve, decided to climb Anboto and ask her to come back. But not together: each of them wanted to be the one who brought the rain. Kepa set off at dawn and got there first.
At the mouth of the cave, a woman with extremely long hair was combing it with a golden comb. Kepa, worn out by the climb, sat down on a rock to catch his breath. Then he said in his most polite voice: “My lady, I humbly beg you to send us rain, if you would be so kind.” The woman looked at him without stopping her combing and said nothing. Kepa waited for a while, then turned round and ran back down the path.
Ainhoa arrived at dusk. She stayed on her feet, even though her legs were shaking, and spoke the way she would speak to a neighbour: “Mari, the valley is thirsty. Will you send us rain?” The woman put the comb down on a rock. Ainhoa thanked her and moved away step by step, backwards, never taking her eyes off her, stumbling over the stones, until the path turned.
That night, at home, Kepa told anyone who would listen that Mari had listened to him: “I spoke to her with all the respect in the world. I called her ‘my lady’ and said ‘I humbly beg you’.” Ainhoa said nothing. And Grandpa Joxe, from the window, saw a ball of fire cross the sky towards Anboto.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Which of the two did Mari listen to? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Kepa, who got there first and spoke to her more respectfully: calling her “my lady” and saying “I humbly beg you”.
- ✓b) Ainhoa, because she was the only one of the two who kept all three of the Lady’s rules.
- c) Neither of them: the ball of fire Grandpa saw was lightning from a dry storm.
- d) Both of them equally, because they climbed Anboto for the same honest reason: to help their valley.
Which clue proves it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
Correct hypothesis: b). Exactly. The rules said it all.
Key clue: “Ainhoa called her by her name, stayed standing and left walking backwards; Kepa called her “my lady”, sat down and turned his back on her.” Comparing what each of them did with the three rules, only Ainhoa kept them all.
2 The Loom Order of events
Put the events in the order they happened. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- 4 Ainhoa speaks to Mari at dusk.
- 5 Kepa boasts at home that Mari listened to him.
- 3 Kepa sits down on a rock outside the cave.
- 2 Grandpa says Mari isn’t in her cave.
- 1 The rain stops in the Arratia valley.
Correct order:
- The rain stops in the Arratia valley.
- Grandpa says Mari isn’t in her cave.
- Kepa sits down on a rock outside the cave.
- Ainhoa speaks to Mari at dusk.
- Kepa boasts at home that Mari listened to him.
First comes the drought, and Grandpa blames it on Mari being away. Kepa climbs up at dawn and Ainhoa at dusk; then, at night, at home, Kepa boasts.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which continuation fits the legend? Tick only one option.
- ✓a) At dawn it rains over Arratia, and Grandpa explains to Kepa that you call Mari by her name and never turn your back on her.
- b) At dawn it rains, and Mari comes down to the village to thank Kepa for being so polite and calling her “my lady”.
- c) The ball of fire moves away from Anboto towards another mountain, and the summer goes on without a single drop of rain.
- d) Kepa climbs back up to the cave the next day, sits on the same rock, and this time Mari answers him.
Answer: a). It fits: the ball of fire was heading for Anboto, and when Mari is there, it rains. Kepa broke the rules.
- b) You speak to Mari by her name, never as “my lady”. Kepa broke that rule and two others.
- c) Grandpa saw the ball of fire heading towards Anboto, not away from it. And when Mari is at Anboto, it rains.
- d) Sitting down in her presence breaks one of the three rules: Mari wouldn’t answer him.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t fit the legend. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) According to Grandpa, when Mari is at Anboto, it rains.He says so at the start of the story.
- ✗b) Kepa and Ainhoa climbed up to the cave together.They went separately: each wanted to bring the rain.
- c) Mari was combing her hair with a golden comb.That’s how Kepa found her at the mouth of the cave.
- ✗d) Ainhoa sat down to rest before speaking to Mari.She stayed on her feet, even though her legs were shaking.
- e) Grandpa Joxe saw a ball of fire from the window.Crossing the sky towards Anboto.
- ✗f) Mari told Kepa she would think about it.She said nothing: she just kept combing.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which illustration shows Ainhoa in front of Mari, at the mouth of the cave?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.
What should appear: At dusk, Ainhoa standing alone in front of Mari, at the mouth of the cave.
Reward drawings that include the details from the text, not artistic skill.
Ending
To read aloud once the answers have been checked.
At dawn it began to rain over Arratia. A gentle rain, the kind that soaks the earth without washing it away. The sheep went out to the meadow, and the neighbours went out to their front doors to look at the sky.
“She listened to you,” Grandpa told Ainhoa, who was smiling from the kitchen. And then, to Kepa: “You speak to the Lady by her name, like the neighbour you’ve known all your life. She doesn’t need your ‘my lady’. She needs you not to turn your back on her.”
Kepa sulked until lunchtime. In the afternoon, without anyone asking him to, he climbed up to the first bend in the Anboto path, looked towards the cave and said quietly: “Thank you, Mari.” Then he walked back down backwards, just in case.
Suggested marking
Each activity is worth 2 points (10 in total). In 1, one point for the hypothesis and one for the clue. In 2, give one point if only a couple of events are swapped. In 4, half a point for each correct cross and minus half a point for each true statement crossed out.