Many years ago, before we knew that the Earth sails round the Sun (rather than the other way round), in the village of Si’moora, there lived a girl named Shuny.  Shuny lived in a house made of wood and earth and covered overhead with the neatly tanned hides of goats.

Si’moora sat at the edge of a sparkling river which reflected the mountains beyond.  On a calm day Shuny could see a perfect reflection of the snow-covered peaks of the Chamber Mountains.

Shuny and her best friend Vella would play at the rivers’ edge; seeing who could make a flat rock skip the most times.

As they lay in the fresh green grass beneath a shady tree, Vella asked, “Why do they call them the Chamber Mountains?”

Shuny followed Vella’s gaze out into the distance.  “I don’t think anyone knows why,” answered Shuny.  “My mamma doesn’t know and my father says it’s just a name.  When my grandmother was alive she told me it was because the mountains were hollow!”

The girls giggled at the thought of hollow mountains.  Vella sighed.  “It’s such a beautiful place.”  She and her family had come to Si’moora two years ago from another valley to the south.

One hot summer day, Shuny was walking along the river watching fishermen cast their nets from small boats.  In the distance she could see the rainbow filled mists as the huge waterfall cascaded down the Chamber Mountains to form the river.  It was a beautiful scene; one she had enjoyed throughout her 13 summers and one she took for granted that she would enjoy for the rest of her life.

The air was so clear that the sides of the Chamber Mountains seemed to be close enough to touch.  Shuny shook her head and blinked her eyes.  It seemed that she had seen a shimmer in the air that made the sides of the mountain seem to dance.

She looked again - something was happening!  Then she saw that the fishermen had hauled in their nets and were rowing their boats for shore as fast as they were able.  What was happening?  In the distance she heard them shouting in fear.  Then she saw it . . .

Far up the side of the mountain she saw a cloud of dust and rock.  It seemed to move so slowly at first but even as she watched the cloud turned into a river - a river of rock!  It was an avalanche, a rockslide moving swiftly down the side of the mountain, gaining speed by the moment.

Shuny was frozen like a statue.  It seemed she was compelled to watch as huge boulders and unmeasurable amounts of rock slid down mountain.  Now the sound of the avalanche reached her; it was louder than ten thunderstorms.  The ground itself seemed to roll beneath her feet causing her to almost fall.

The river of rock began to cover the ledges where the water spilled out to form the waterfall.

She finally found her feet and began to run toward the village.  The avalanche continued as she ran and the cloud of dust and rock obscured her sight of what was happening to the waterfall.  Would this never stop?

Reaching the village, she ran through the narrow streets.  Children were crying; adults were shouting and running in every direction.  Sheep bleated in fear and tried to run; milling around their pens in waves of wool.

Shuny saw Vella and cried out to her.  Vella turned and ran to Shuny and they held each other tightly.  Both of them were trembling and Vella had been crying.  “Shuny, Shuny, what is happening?  Is it the end of the world?”

Shuny tried to comfort Vella, “Shh, now, it will be over soon”.  And, as she spoke these words, she realized that it was true.  The rock still fell but you could hear that it was not as loud.  Over the next few minutes, the sound of the avalanche began to recede thought the cloud of dust it created still filled the air.

Shouts could be heard coming from the rivers’ edge.  Shuny and Vella ran along with many other villagers to see what was happening.  Everyone seemed to be pointing upriver toward the Chamber Mountains.  Shuny called out to everyone, “what is it?  What is happening?”

“The river, the river!!”, called many voices at once.  The girls wiggled their way through the crowd till they came to a place where they could see.  The river was getting smaller!

The dust in the air off in the distance was beginning to clear.  “Shuny, look!”, called Vella, “the waterfall - it’s gone!”  Sure enough the rocks from the avalanche had completely blocked the waterfall.

The people of Si’moora fell silent as the river shrank.  The small fishing boats dropped with the water level and then came to ground as the water flowed away from them.  More and more of the rocky river bed became visible until all that was left of the wide clear river was large numbers of pools and rivulets.  Some of the pools had fish swimming frantically around in circles.

Everyone was stunned.  Some of the smaller children were wailing in fear.  For a long time no one moved.  Then, almost at once, it seemed that everyone began talking and shouting and crying at once.  For everyone realized that the water that was the life of Si’moora was gone.

Fear walked through the village that night.  A few people had already left for the long journey to the south and east where they had family.  Shuny listened as her Mother and Father talked in low voices about what to do.  They had no relatives within walking distance; Si’moora had always been their home.

Shuny finally fell asleep from exhaution, tossing and turning in her bed.  When the light from the full moon shined in her window, Shuny began to dream.  She was high up a ledge of the Chamber Mountains.  A stooped figure walked toward her but somehow Shuny felt no fear.  The figure came closer and spoke her name!  Shuny recognied her grandmother’s voice!  But how could this be so?
“Shuny child,” said the old voice, “Shuny, how you’ve grown!”

“Grandmother?” cried Shuny, “but you’re . . .  you’re . . .”

“I passed away?” chuckled the little old women, “yes but anything is possible in dreams, child.”  Shuny hugged her grandmother joyfully, “But how did I come here?  Why am I on the side of the mountain?”

“I’ve come to you child to tell you, child, that you must be brave so that you can save Si’moora.  I’ve come to show you how to open the Chambers again and release the great water within.  For the mountain you see from home is a vast hollow cavern filled with the water of rain and snow.

But an ancient troll lives inside the chamber.  He sleeps for a hundred years at time and when he awakes he is in a foul temper.  When he awoke this time he saw our peaceful village and anger filled his heart.  With his thunderous voice and powerful strength he caused the avalanche that blocked the waterfall.”

Shuny asked, “what can be done, Grandmother?  What am I against a troll?”
Her grandmother hugged her tight, “Hush, child, for I am here to tell you all you must know to take dominion over the troll.  You must be brave and full of courage for I tell you that it is certain that you will succeed.  I will show you an entrance to the chamber.  In the morning when you wake you must slip away before your parents waken.  Follow the path I will show you and enter the chamber.  The Troll will hear you coming and challenge you.  He is very ugly with large hairy ears and a loud voice but you must show no fear.”

“He will demand to know why you are there and threaten to roast you for his dinner.  But he has a weakness - he loves word play and especially riddles!  Tell him you challenge him to a contest of riddles.  The first one to answer two riddles the other asks is the winner.  If you lose you will indeed be his dinner.  But if you win he must return to sleep for 100 years after he opens new gates for the waters to flow again.”

“But what are the riddles, grandmother?  I’m not good at riddles,” Shuny wailed.  If I fail I will be eaten.  If I fail, I will never see my mother or father or Vella again.  If I fail, Si’moora will be no more!”

Her grandmother looked at her and smiled, “Shh, child, do not look at the possiblity of failure.  You cannot fail for it is destined that you save your village.  You will know the riddles to ask the Troll and you will be given the answers to his questions.”  As she spoke these words, she pointed to an opening in the rock wall above the ledge.  “Here is where you will enter.  Be strong and brave, the Troll’s defeat is sure if you face him bravely.”

Her grandmother seemed to fade as she watched and she cried out but her grandmother was gone and she had awakened in her own bed again.  A faint brightening of the eastern sky told her that morning was near.

Shuny wondered at her dream; a troll?  Her grandmother?  It seemed like, well, like a dream in the bright sunlight.  But that same sunlight shone on a village with no water and as the day went on more and more families left on the long trek to other villages.

“I must try,” she thought and she prepared for her journey.  Taking some dried fruit and a small clay jar of precious water, Shuny started up the dry riverbank.  As she walked she thought about the troll and about riddles.  The only ones she knew were simple and probably too obvious for the troll.

But as the mountain drew near she began to have some ideas and by the time she started to climb the rocky path she was as ready as she could be.

The path looked unfamiliar until she came around a bend in the path and there was the ledge she had seen in her dream!  She half expected her grandmother to be standing there waiting for her.

There was noone to be seen but there, ahead of her, was the opening she had seen in her dream.  She thought that it might not be too late to turn around but the thoughts of her family and village spurred her on.  With a bit of a tremble she started into the passage.  Light from outside shone ahead of her lessening the darkness.

As she progressed she began to hear the sound of water splashing and in moments she stood at the edge of an enormous open pool filled with cold clean water!  At that moment a deep snarling voice caused her to leap back in fear.
There before her stood a small broad figure; no taller than she but almost as broad as he was tall.  His skin was as rough as the mountain rock and his face was dark with anger.  On his craigy head he wore a crown covered in sparkling gemstones.

“Who dares to enter my kingdom?” his deep voice boomed angrily.

“I am Shuny from Si’moora, the village you have harmed by stopping our water.  I have come to ask you to open the chambers again so that my family and the other villagers will have water to drink.”

“The water in these chambers belongs to me,” said the troll, “and your village and people are of no concern to me.  In fact your presense angers me; I have slept for 100 years and when I awaken I find you have spoiled my splendid desolation with your village.  I think I will eat you just for spite.”

As he stepped towards her, Shuny remembered what her grandmother had told her - “do not look at the possiblity of failure.  You cannot fail for it is destined that you save your village.”

“Eat me you may, King Troll, but after 100 years of sleep surely you would enjoy a game or a riddle or two?  If I am a meal you will soon be alone again with nothing to do.”  The troll’s hairy ears twitched and his red eyes gleamed.
“Riddles?” he said, “what do you know of riddles?  You are a child and I have hundreds of years of practice with word play.”

“Oh, well,” said Shuny, “if you know so much, King Troll, then let us make a wager - whichever of us correctly answers two riddles will win the game.  If you win I suppose I’ll become your meal but if I win you must open the doors of the Chamber Mountains and return the river to its’ course.”  What she didn’t say had to do with his returning to sleep with the loss of the wager.

The troll scraped his rough chin with his hand.  Despite his roughness he loved word games.  He knew that he could fool this child by hook or by crook so, after a moment, he agreed.

“Foolish girl, I will take that wager, win the contest and have you for dinner in the bargain.  And since I am the king here I will go first.”  And this was his riddle:

There’s a word composed of three letters alone,
Which reads backwards and forwards the
same;
It expresses the sentiments warm from the
heart,
And to beauty lays principle claim.

Shuny shook inwardly.  A three letter word?  Backwards and forwards the same?  What did that mean - expressing heartfelt sentiments and beauty?  She began to wonder if she should have come and if she could out run this rough old troll.

“Give up? Already?” laughed the troll with an evil laugh.  “The word that I seek is three letters long - and it’s your EYE that expresses the sentiment of the heart and sees the beauty of the world - beauty that you will see for only a short time more.”

“This will be a short contest indeed,” gloated the troll as his evil laugh echoed across the water-filled chamber.  “And since you failed the first riddle I will go again.  Soon you will be my dinner.”

The Troll chanted:

What is that which is
The beginning of eternity,
The end of time and space,
The beginning of every end,
The end of every race?

Shuny knew that she must not fail this time; for herself and for her family and for her village.  She thought deeply - what is the beginning of eternity?  What is the end of time and of space?  Wait!  The end of every race . . . suddenly she knew.

“Oh wise Troll, the answer is not in heaven or on earth but in our mouths - the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space and the beginning of the end of you is the LETTER “E”!”

The troll gnashed his teeth in rage and frustration.  He howled in anger, “you answered that one rightly but my dinner still you’ll be.  Since you answered correctly it is your turn to make a riddle but be warned, I have lived in this mountain for thousands of years and there isn’t a riddle I haven’t heard.”

Shuny had considered this moment ever since her grandmother appeared in her dream.  She took a deep breath and began to speak:

What can run but never walks,
has a mouth but never speaks,
has a head but never weeps,
has a bed but never sleeps?

The troll rolled his eyes and started to speak - then stopped with his mouth hanging open foolishly.  Assorted rumblings came from his throat but no words came forth.  Shuny had him!  She knew she had him!

“What no answer, King Troll?  No idea that will save you?  You will now return to sleep for 100 years and return what Si’moora so desparately needs.  For that which runs and has a mouth and a head and a bed is nothing less than our RIVER and now return us that which I have won.”

The troll roared in anger and frustration and lunged forward to grab at Shuny.  But in midlunge he was stopped.  Amazingly, as he froze, he yawned - a huge gaping mouth-cracking yawn.  And as he yawned Shuny heard a rumple from deep in the mountain.

“NO!” growled the troll, “No I have only wakened!”  But even as he spoke his eyes glazed over and he stumbled backwards into the cave.  As he fell Shuny heard the rumble grow into a roar.  The rocks were moving!  She turned and ran back down the rocky path, shrieking as lumps of rock as big as her head fell from the tunnel walls.

Behind her the snores of the troll continued to shake loose rock and as she gained the entrance to the cave, Shuny saw the walls of the Chamber Mountain crumble as unimaginable amounts of water sprang forth from the openings.  Shuny stumbled and ran down the uneven pathway as she sought to avoid the rocks and water.

Finally after what seemed an unending time, Shuny gained the relative quiet of the meadow at the base of the mountain.  Turning to look she was overwhelmed by what she saw.  A new series of waterfalls cascaded down the sides of the mountain filling the empty river bed below.  She ran along the riverside laughing as the water began to form rivulets, then streamlets, which all combined into a torrent of fresh blue water white with bubbles and foam.

As she approached Si’moora, Shuny could hear the cheering of the towns people as they witnessed the return of the river.  Boats begain to float again and flocks of water birds returned with the newly flowing river.

“Shuny, see,” called Vella, “our river has returned!  It’s a miracle!”

And it was all that Shuny could do to resist saying, “yes, a miracle, until the troll wakes again!”