by Kwanita
The beautiful legend of the origin of guarana, a climbing plant whose fruit resembles a human eye.
Here it is: A long time ago, in the depths of the Brazilian jungle, there lived two Indians – the man and his wife. They were the happiest couple in the Maués tribe. They were loved by all and worked tirelessly for the well-being of each. But they suffered from an immense sadness: they had no children.
The great Indian god Tupã, god of thunder, had then taken pity on them and had given them a son. The birth of the child had made the couple even happier and more prosperous. The child had grown up among the other boys in the village and had become strong and intelligent, good with the bow and arrow, and among the best trackers in the tribe.
And when he wasn’t helping his mother with the daily chores and his father with fishing and hunting, he was trying to learn the thousand and one secrets of the jungle. Besides, the boy knew almost everything about animals: many swore that he could talk to monkeys, sing with forest birds and even make snakes dance.
There was one thing he never learned: the existence of Jurupari, the evil spirit that threatened in the heart of the jungle. The elders believed him to be too young to hear the terrible stories that were told about him.
The boy’s reputation had become so famous that even Jurupari had heard about it. The evil spirit had become furious seeing that such a young boy was so respected by everyone: humans and animals. That was when revenge had sprouted in Jururapi.
One day, the beloved boy of the tribe had gone alone, as often happened to him, to pick exotic fruits for his mother. He had climbed a large breadfruit tree whose fruits are as big as two fists. To eat them, they are cut into thick slices and cooked on a charcoal fire. The inside becomes white, soft as fresh bread crumbs.
Jurupari had seen his chance: he had transformed into a seemingly harmless snake. The boy had not worried at the sight of this large reptile that was descending along the branches and approaching him. It was there that the snake had bitten him on the ankle to inject him with its deadly venom.
Completely paralyzed, the child had not been able to hold on to the branch and had fallen from the tree.
At dusk, not seeing their son return at his usual time, his parents had become worried and the men of the tribe had organized a search. Shortly after, they found the body of the child under the giant tree.
At first the elders could not believe it because they knew that the boy knew all about the snakes of the jungle. But, after talking and discussing for a while, one of the elders deduced that it could only be Jurupari who had deceived the child.
The whole tribe, and the neighboring tribes, had mourned the death of the young boy. Even the great Indian god Tupã had been deeply saddened. So much so that powerful rumblings of thunder had been heard for miles around although there was not a cloud in the sky. Only the boy’s mother had been able to understand the message that the god was sending to the tribe. The thunder god wanted to relieve them of the loss of such a wonderful child and take revenge on Juruapari. Tupã had asked the mother to plant her son’s eyes in the ground and a unique plant would grow from them.
Months had passed, the parents had cried for a long time on their child’s grave and then, one bright morning, a beautiful plant had grown there, whose small fruits resembled the boy’s eyes. This is how guarana was born, which in the Tupi language means “the tree of life” that brings health and happiness.
Since then, in some villages along the Amazon in Brazil, the Indians chew the fruit or dry it to reduce it to powder, as they do for coffee, and drink it and it is said that some live to a very old age, so much so that we meet many young fathers of 80 to 90 years old and women aged 50 who give birth to children.