Legend has it that pandas were originally white.
Imagine the scene: white big bears wandering slowly through wide pastures surrounded by bambus. Crunch, crack, creak, rustle, squeak and swish, the only sounds that could be heard: the bears eating peaceably bamboo branches, tender leaves and other reeds.
But they were not alone. Hidden in the bushes, a young girl was watching this wonderful scene, magnetized by the giant mammals while they move in a silent dance.
Suddenly a leopard, fast and swift, jumped to the field, ready to attack the indefence creatures. The girl, frozen in shock, saw the golden feline get one of the bears. Black spots swinging over white fur, red drops staining the green grass.
All of a sudden a wave of bravery filled her veins, she couldn’t allow such beautiful creatures being attacked. And without even hesitate it, she took a bamboo cane from the ground, run as fast as the wind and whipped the leopard in his back… She missed the mark and the furious animal confronted her with a rapid movement. She did not even have time to see the sparkling glare of death.
She saved the pandas, but could not live to know it.
Touched, the pandas organized a funeral for her wearing black armbands as a sign of mourning. Still moved by the turn of the events, one of them began to cry. And then another. And another. Silent cries for the tiny and helpless girl that fought the predator for them. Tears running down their faces, fading the dyeing of their armbands. When they hug each other for comfort, they left black spots on their fellows backs. When they dry up the tears of their eyes, they colored their faces. And when they covered their ears to stop hearing the cries of their friends, they left black stains on their heads.
And finally, when they looked each other and see their new appearance, they decided to keep the black spots to honor and keep memory of the young brave girl who saved their lives.
And that’s how the big white bears that eat bamboo became the black spotted pandas that we already know.
Source for these Panda images:
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