Tales of Abba Arl : The Ox ' s Tale Content . One day the children of the People came to Abba Arl and asked , " Who are our parents ? " Abba Arl replied , " The People have not two parents but four , and they are as follows . The great Dragon of Time , who set the stars in their courses and appointed the guardians to watch over the world . The Mother Serpent in the curve of whose back the world rests . The Fat Mother who nourished the People when they were lost and starving . And the Ox who bears the People on his back to their final rest . Many tales tell the story of the four parents . " The children said to Abba Arl , " Tell us of the end first . Tell us of the Ox who bears the People on his back to their final rest . " And this is the tale Abba Arl told . " Before the People settled in cities , they followed the herds of wild beasts that roamed the wilderness and hunted them for food . One of these hunters was named Colvy , and one day while he was hunting he happened upon a calf . The calf was so young it could not yet walk , and its mother was dead beside it . " The hunter Colvy took pity on the calf and brought it home to his hut . He fed it the wild grains he had foraged from the fields , the berries that grew in the shrubs , and the sweet leaves of trees . " And the calf became like a son to Colvy , like one of his own family . And even after the calf was grown , the hunter could not bear to kill and eat it , so he kept it with him , by his side . And the calf , who was now a mighty ox , loved the hunter as a father and a mother both . Nightly , the ox stood watch by Colvy ' s hut and alerted him to danger . In return , the hunter protected the ox against predators . " And it came to pass that one day , when Colvy was hunting , he fell into a nest of snakes and was badly bitten . And he said to the ox , ' I am bitten and dying , you should leave me and join with the other wild herd beasts and run across the fields . ' " But the ox replied , ' You are like a father and a mother to me . I will not leave you . ' " So the ox waited by the hunter ' s side until late into the night when , venom - sick and weary , the hunter finally died . " And when the ox saw that the hunter , who had been like a father and a mother , had died , the ox lowed with such force that the plains shook and the herd beasts scattered in fear . " And then the ox took Colvy on his back , went to the other hunters , and said , ' This man found me as a calf . When my mother was dead , he fed me and raised me into a mighty ox . He is like a father to me and also a mother , and dearer to me than life itself . ' He fell into a nest of snakes , and the serpents bit him and inserted their venom into his blood . And in the night , he died . ' " On hearing the ox ' s speech , the other hunters replied , ' What do you expect us to do ? We are just hunters . We know nothing about anything . Our own dead we leave in the fields , to be eaten by birds . ' " The ox replied , ' It is not right that the body of this noble hunter should be left in the open , to be eaten by birds . Build a pyre and lay his body on top of it . And when the hunter is burned , take me and kill me and cook my flesh on the pyre . Eat this feast in memory of this noble hunter , and I shall follow him into the next world and bear him to the afterlife , just as he once bore me into his hut when I was only a calf and could not yet walk . ' The hunters saw wisdom in the ox ' s words , and they thought also of the great feast that the mighty ox would provide , so they did as they were told . And seeing the loyalty of the ox to Colvy , the hunters followed his example and began to herd the wild beasts , so that they would not need to follow them all over the world , hunting them . And to this day , whenever a great hunter dies , an ox is slaughtered and a feast is held . Then the bones of the ox are laid upon the pyre to carry the dead into the afterlife . " When Abba Arl had finished his tale , the children clapped their hands and said , " This is good . Thank you to the Ox , our fourth parent . "