The Legend Of The Toh: A Lesson In Modesty

The legend of the Toh is a story that the Maya have shared for years. Partly with the help of this, they wanted to teach young people the importance of modesty, helpfulness and kindness to others.

The Toh is said to be a now extinct bird. It lived only in secluded places like caves and other dark corners. Its singing was completely unique and its tail was its most recognizable feature. 

This tail was brightly colored and almost seemed to glow in the sunlight. In addition, like a pendulum, it could swing back and forth hypnotically. It can be said that this bird is very different from the rest of the birds in this region, especially today.

The legend of the Toh goes like this: long ago the Toh was part of the natural royal family. At that time, he had a long, colorful tail. He was such a beautiful bird that everyone saw him as a superior being. Every other animal admired his beautiful plumage and greatly respected him.

The Legend of the Toh

Following legend of the Toh, this bird was so beautiful and admirable that it became extremely arrogant. He said  he couldn’t do any work because he was afraid he would get his beautiful tail dirty. 

As a result, the other birds had to gather all the food and water—including for the Toh. The others also had to build nests and therefore also prepare the Toh’s sleeping place.

In the end, the Toh did nothing. He got up late and spent his days in the lavish gardens, where the most beautiful birds from all over the jungle resided. They would then all talk about little things and laugh at all kinds of nonsense. That’s how they preferred to spend their time.

Besides being a beautiful but lazy animal, the Toh was also demanding. He didn’t want just anything to eat; he wanted the best food in all the jungle. Even though the other birds went to great lengths to keep the Toh happy, he was  never satisfied with what he got.

A weird storm

One night a wise owl said that a terrible storm was coming. He was sure this would be a rare storm, occurring only once every 50 years. Thunder and lightning would ravage the entire jungle. So everyone had to work quickly to make a shelter so they could survive the storm.

All the birds immediately went to work. The woodpecker, the macaws and other parrots and the toucans began to cut the branches to use in building a shelter. Larger birds such as turkeys carried heavier branches. Smaller birds such as crows and quail gathered smaller plants.

The legend of the Toh then tells us that the clouds in the sky grew darker as time went on. The Toh, however, did nothing. He simply waited for the other birds to finish building the shelter.

Just then, however, the other birds got the feeling that they had had enough of the Toh’s attitude. They decided to scold him. They asked him with a degree of irritation if he could come and help.

The story ends

The Toh was extremely upset by this demand. Still, he decided to cooperate for fear that he would be left without a place to hide. However, he only worked for a few minutes as he soon became very tired. 

He didn’t want to be a worker. That’s not what he was meant for at all! So, as soon as the other birds were not paying attention, he went to a cave and hid there.

Once he was in the cave, he lay down and fell asleep. He didn’t notice the storm at all. The thunders didn’t wake him either, because those few minutes of work had completely wrecked him. However, the disadvantage of his current hiding place was that he was very small and his beautiful tail just didn’t fit in it…

The storm lasted all day and night. Once the sun returned, the other birds left their hiding place and the Toh left its cave.

The legend of the Toh begins

The legend of the Toh then tells us that he thought everything would return to normal. So as soon as the Toh saw that it had stopped raining, he went back to the lavish gardens to follow his usual routine there.

However, when he arrived here, everyone laughed. The storm had almost completely destroyed its beautiful, imposing tail. Overwhelmed by shame, the Toh returned to his cave, which he would never leave after this.

So the punishment for his pride and selfishness was that he would have to live the rest of his life on his own, completely isolated. Not only that, but he also had to go to work to show the way to the scouts of the jungle.