Arnaud de Buchy

Moko sees the ocean for the first time. He thinks it is a huge river or lake, but when he tastes the water, he notices that it is salty. He wonders what sorcerer would have played such a trick. Back in his village, he asks an old wise man to cast a spell on the village’s river so that the drinking water never becomes salty. The wise man reassures him that this is not necessary, the water will never be salty and Moko is grateful that someone has already thought of protecting the village’s river.

There is no rain in sight and Moko is worried. He decides to go and ask the advice of an old wise man who is said to be part magician, part sorcerer. Further confused by the wise man’s explanations, Moko heads nevertheless for the sand dunes. Far in the distance he sees a strange apparition: a cluster of trees around a small lake. He starts to run towards the apparition but no sooner has he begun his run that he can no longer see his destination. Disappointed, he sits on a rock and rests. A woman carrying a jug full of water on her head walks over to him and explains that he simply has to look in the right direction, and there, in the distance Moko sees the lake once again. He decides to head for it while never losing sight of it this time. On his way back to his village, he drops a trail of leaves to be able to return to the lake, but the wind quickly wipes away all of the leaves. Moko thinks that the desert shared a great secret with him and that it is best to keep it to himself.

L’aube pointe sur le village, Moko et Meï-Li dorment profondément. Tout d’un coup, un bruit les réveille. Ils décident d’aller voir ce qui se passe et se cachent derrière un rocher. Ils rencontrent un pêcheur qui n’est nullement inquiet et embarque. Meï-Li tremble de peur, Moko lui demande donc de chanter pour que la terre arrête de trembler. Elle chante et peu de temps après le calme revient. Moko et Meï-Li retournent donc au village, persuadés que la terre dort tellement que quelquefois elle se réveille pour entendre chanter ceux qui marchent sur son dos.

Ce jour-là, Moko et Meï-Li ramassent des coquillages entre les rochers des plages de sable blanc pour décorer les maisons du village. Moko demande à Meï-Li s’ils ne peuvent pas aller sur d’autres plages pour trouver de beaux coquillages. Meï-Li apprécie l’idée et va demander à un pêcheur qui accepte de les emmener sur sa jonque. Au détour d’un village, Moko voit une grande plaine immense comme un lac. Il est persuadé que c’est la grande vague qui est venue déverser son eau sur les champs pour que le riz pousse. C’est alors que Meï-li ramasse un magnifique coquillage, Moko pense que c’est la mer qui offre un présent. Moko et Meï-Li sont heureux d’avoir vu tous ces beaux paysages et de revenir avec un superbe cadeau. Ils se disent que la mer connaît sans doute un chemin sous la terre, afin d’y envoyer parfois ses vagues pour abreuver les cultures, les rivières et les champs.

It is night time and Moko can’t sleep. Looking out to the horizon, he notices a shot of colour at the water’s surface. He wakes Mei-Li to ask her what he is seeing. Together they take a barge and set off. Under them, a rainbow of colours is dancing in the waves. Moko and Mei-Li think that the fish must be organizing a party and decide to dive in. Bit by bit the sun is rising and day is breaking. The two friends return to the village, overjoyed at the wonders of the ocean.

Moko se demande pourquoi les nuages viennent tous pleurer au même moment sur son village. Qu’est-ce qui les rend si tristes ? Il questionne le vieux du village qui lui propose d’attendre la fin de la saison des pluies pour comprendre. Une fois les pluies terminées, Moko retourne voir le vieux. Ce dernier lui dit que la réponse est dans les champs et les plantations. Moko découvre en effet que la pluie a permis de faire pousser tant de choses, que le village ne manque de rien. Il pense alors que les nuages ne sont pas tristes lorsqu’il pleut, mais qu’ils offrent toute leur eau pour que la terre soit fertile.

Day after day, Moko has been going to the shore and contemplating the rising sun. On one particular morning, he is accompanied by his friend, the village’s “wise man”. He asks his friend what he might find at the end of the world, he would very much like to go there. The old man tells him that he must leave everything behind and find out; he doesn’t know what lies at the end of the world but that he would very much like to. Moko promises to return and share his discoveries and takes off on a raft. Suddenly he is caught up in a terrible storm and he pleads with the Sea Beast to let him through. The tornado swirls around his raft and lifts him high in the sky then drops him back atop the waves, safe and sound. As the storm fades into the distance, Moko thanks the Sea Beast for keeping him safe and is now convinced that he will finally know what lies on the other side of the ocean.

Intrigued by the name given to the mountains in the horizon, “the Hills of the round Earth”, Moko ventures off to see if the Earth is, in fact, round. An old wise man tells him that yes, if he were to walk in a straight line he could very well go all the way around the earth and come back to his starting point. Moko does as he is told and travels all the way around the Earth and returns back to his village, but since he didn’t have the feeling that he was walking around a sphere, he continues thinking that the Earth is flat.

Moko pense qu’il existe quelque part une créature qui souffle si fort qu’elle parvient à faire bouger les branches des arbres et soulever les dunes du désert. Il se dit que les nuages s’enfuient avant l’arrivée du vent car ils ont peur de la créature. Il décide de partir à sa recherche. Fatigué par la marche et le soleil, ce sera une brise fraîche et légère qui adoucira son repos. Il se dit alors que la créature, sans doute invisible, est en fait bienveillante.

Moko is woken by the sound of singing coming from the other end of the beach. It is Mei-Li, who wears a hat the shape of a sand dune and whose eyes are the shape of a moon crescent. As they are walking towards Mei-Li’s village, they feel a terrible rumble and see black smoke coming from the mountain. Moko thinks this is his fault, that he has trespassed in the forbidden forest, and wants to apologize. They arrive at the edge of an enormous chasm, a veritable fire pit. To calm the mountain, Moko offers it a beautiful seashell, as Mei-Li’s ancestors did. The mountain’s rumbling stops and Moko is proud to have learned it’s language.

À l’approche de l’orage, Moko veut s’abriter sous un arbre de la colline. Un vieil homme lui déconseille de rester là et le prie de retourner au village car l’arbre pourrait s’enflammer soudainement. En chemin, un éclair éclate et l’arbre prend feu. Moko pense que l’homme, pour avoir prédit une telle chose, ne peut être qu’un grand magicien.

During the dry season, the river’s water dries up and what is left turns to mud, making it impossible to swim or to drink. Moko wonders how to find water. An old man carrying a stick tells him he should dig behind some rocks, and there he finds water sprouting from the ground. A hidden spring! Moko is so happy at this discovery, he tells himself that water is so precious that it hides itself in the ground to make sure that there is always some left, even when the river is dry.

Ce matin-là, Moko va voir son ami le sage du village. Le vieil homme a un si beau jardin rempli de tant de belles fleurs que Moko passe toute la journée à les admirer. Le vieil homme lui donne une rose et lui dit d'en prendre bien soin. Quand Moko rentre chez lui, il remarque que sa rose est en train de faner. Il pense à l'amener à une rivière, mais la rose s'assèche complètement. Le vieil homme trouve Moko en pleurs, attristé par la perte de sa belle fleur. Alors que le vent souffle autour d'eux, le vieil homme lui dit de regarder sa précieuse rose. Moko est étonné de découvrir que sa rose fanée est devenue une rose des sables. Moko pense alors que le vent a consolé sa tristesse.

On this night, Moko is meditating, contemplating the horizon. Mei-Li comes to keep him company. All of a sudden, they hear a hollow and continuous sound coming from beyond the beach. Mei-Li is frightened but Moko is curious and wants to know what is making this sound. As they approach the hills, the sound gets louder and louder and Mei-Li is more and more frightened, so Moko decides to go around the dune on his own. As he does so, the sound changes and becomes more of a song. Moko returns and tells Mei-Li that it is the sand and the ground singing together. She decides to sing as well. Moko thinks to himself that the magical dune is urging him to go on with his travels and he knows that this is likely his last day in the village. With a heavy heart, Moko decides that at dawn he will need to pack his bags.

With a storm approaching, Moko heads towards a nearby tree to seek shelter. An old man urges him to reconsider and tells him to return to the village, the tree could suddenly burst into flame. On his way back to the village, Moko sees a lightning bolt hit the very same tree, and set it on fire. Frightened, Moko thinks that the old man must be a magician to have predicted such a thing.

On this morning, Moko is rowing relentlessly to bring back the barge as Mei-Li sleeps. Suddenly, he can’t seem to make the oar move at all. He wakes Mei-Li so she can help him row, but it is no use, the barge starts moving in the opposite direction. In the distance they notice a fisherman and try to call out to him, but he is too far and cannot hear them. Beyond a huge boulder they see a forest and start rowing furiously in its direction. Finally ashore, Moko and Mei-Li think that the sea still had another secret in store for them, this new part of Mei-Li’s island.

In the middle of the day, the sun suddenly starts disappearing little by little. Frightened, Moko wonders what magician could be responsible for this. With the village wise man he goes off to find the sorcerer responsible for the sun’s disappearance. When they cannot find the culprit, they join the other villagers to observe the sky. An old lady sees them and tells them she has seen this happen before and to have no fear, the sun will return. When it does, Moko thinks to himself that the sun, tired of shining every day, must sometimes simply need a little nap.

Durant la saison sèche, la rivière baisse et l’eau qui reste devient de la boue. Impossible de se baigner ou de boire. Moko se demande comment faire pour trouver de l’eau. Une vieille femme, munie d’un bâton, lui propose de creuser derrière un gros rocher. Il découvre alors de l’eau venant du sol. Une source cachée ! Moko, tout heureux de son trésor, se dit que l’eau est si précieuse qu’elle se cache au fond de la terre pour ne pas qu’on se serve trop, pour qu’il en reste toujours un peu quand la rivière est asséchée…

On that morning, Moko goes to see he friend the village wise man. The old man has such a beautiful garden filled with so many beautiful flowers that Moko spends the whole day admiring them. The old man gives him a rose, and tells him to take very good care of it. When Moko returns home, he notices that his rose is wilting. He thinks of bringing it to a river, but the rose dries out completely. The old man finds Moko crying, saddened by the loss of his beautiful flower. As the wind gusts around them, the old man tells him to look down at his precious rose. Moko is amazed to discover that his withered rose has become a sand rose. The wise man tells him to guard this secret as if it was a treasure. Moko thinks then that he must also have meant a great deal to the rose, and that the wind consoled his sadness.

That morning, Moko tells himself that it is time to leave Mei-Li’s land and he gets his raft ready. A man tells him that he must take the route of the great plains to continue his journey. Moko goes to the village to bid farewell to Mei-Li who has made rice cakes for him. One morning a few days after his departure he reaches the famous route where the horizon seems never-ending. As he walks a great gust of wind makes him fall and drop his precious stone. Seeing it on the ground, Moko thinks of Mei-Li and tells himself he must go on for those he has left behind. He goes on while clutching his stone in his hand. Moko’s heart lightens as he thinks that one day his travels will bring him back to those he loves.

Ce matin, Moko rame sans relâche pour ramener la barque. Il réveille Meï-Li pour qu’elle l’aide à ramer plus fort. Rien à faire, la barque glisse dans la direction opposée. Ils aperçoivent un pêcheur et décident de l’appeler mais le pêcheur est trop loin, il ne les entend pas. Au détour d’un immense rocher, ils voient une forêt et rament de toute leurs forces pour rejoindre le rivage. Moko et Meï-Li marchent et se disent que la mer a encore un secret à leur confier en leur faisant découvrir une partie inconnue de l’île de Meï-Li.

Moko est réveillé par le chant d’une voix qui vient de l’autre côté de la plage. C’est Meï-Li. Elle a un chapeau en forme de dune et de jolis yeux fins comme des moitiés de lune. Alors qu’ils sont en route pour le village, un grondement terrible se fait entendre et une fumée noire s’élève. Ils arrivent au bord d’un trou immense, une véritable fournaise. Moko pense que c’est à cause de lui car il est entré dans la forêt interdite et décide de s’excuser. Pour calmer la montagne, Moko lui offre un beau coquillage comme font les ancêtres de Meï-Li. Moko est fier, la montagne arrête de gronder et il a appris son langage…

Moko, watching the sky one night, sees a shooting star and wonders where the stars come from. He travels to the mountain and meets a woman tending to a bonfire. As the woman blows on the fire to revive it, glowing embers fly up high into the sky. Moko thinks that he has found the source of all the stars in the sky.

Moko wonders why the clouds all come and cry on his village at once. Why are they so sad? He asks the old wise man who suggests that he wait until the end of the rainy season to understand. Once the rains have stopped, Moko returns to see the old man. He tells Moko that the answer is in the fields. Moko sees then that the rains have made the crops grow and thinks that the clouds are not crying when it rains, they are offering all of their water to the earth to make it fertile.

La tempête est passée. Moko, sur sa pirogue, approche du rivage. Il ne sait pas où il est mais la plage est toute blanche. Moko décide de se mettre en marche pour trouver les gens qui habitent ici. Il découvre les plantes aux immenses feuilles et au bout du chemin, de nouveau la plage… La nuit tombe et Moko s’endort persuadé d’être le premier voyageur à qui l’océan permet de découvrir en secret une île inconnue.