The Story of Gokū and the Five Bat Kings: A Tale of the Forgotten Lands

I almost forgot about the Five Bats River, where the 5 mythical Bat Kings reside behind each of the 5 small waterfalls along the river. The myths date back to pre-Islamic days and are now more or less forgotten...

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The tale of the Bat Kings is the foundational legend of classical pre-Islamic Gokuran culture. This telling is translated from the earliest and most elaborate surviving version, which appears on a 14th Century manuscript discovered during renovations of a Venetian chapel in the 1970s. It is thought to have found its way to Venice via Arab traders no later than the 1640s, and to have been placed in the chapel most likely by monks who could not read the document and were unaware of its significance.


The Venetian manuscript is quite singular in several respects. It is a transliteration of Old Lowland Gokuran in Arabic script, the only known document in this form. Physically, it is a parchment scroll fastened on plain rods carved from native New Guinea hardwoods. That it survived in nearly pristine condition in the damp environment of Venice for centuries is a tribute to the skills of the medieval Gokuran craftsmen who, through a process that is still not completely understood, somehow treated their product to ensure its durability. Oddly, the manuscript is written out along the length of the parchment, perpendicular to the normal direction of scroll text. It is difficult to imagine why it was laid out in this fashion. However, the alignment must have been carefully planned and composed, as the text fits precisely within the long, shallow rectangle of the unrolled scroll.


What inspired the original scribe to record the tale at all, let alone in this odd arrangement, is unknown. However, its authenticity is corroborated by its similarity to a number of later recorded versions of the Gokū myth. The significance of the tale is reflected in its durability; as late as the 19th Century, folklorists found a version of the story still in currency among the older rural Gokurans. It is the only legend from the pre-Islamic period in Gokura that we can confidently feel we have inherited in a complete, intact form.


The Story of Gokū and the Five Bat Kings

In the time before the sun, Gokū was chief among the people,¹ and all was dark along the river. The sea was dark, and the forest was dark, and no crops could grow along the valley, for there was no sun.

And Gokū said to the people, “It is not proper for us to live like the blind fish of the cave!² Let us travel up the river, where we might find the sun.” But the people were afraid, except for four warriors, first sons of first sons of four well-regarded³ families, who said to Gokū, “We will go.”

the first bat king

All the day, the five warriors travelled up the river, until they came to the place of the great falls in the river there.⁴ And in those days, in the cave behind the falls, there lived a mighty bat king! Many were the strange monsters⁵ at his command, and he was older than time, and he was as large as a goat, and much feared in the valley.

Gokū passed through the waterfall⁶ and fell to his knees.⁷ “King among bats,” cried Gokū, “we are men from the valley, and we seek the sun.” “You will not see the sun as I live,” replied the bat king, and he struck out at Gokū with his teeth and his claws, and his strange monsters swarmed out from their hidden holes to join in the fight. The battle raged fiercely for an hour, and the bat king was slain. His wings were tattered, and his spirit was broken. “You men of the valley fight well, “he said, “but beware: there is one among you who will betray the rest.” And then he died.

The next day, Gokū readied to set forth again. But one of the warriors, Maktar, said “Why should we fight and tempt death for this thing called the sun that no one has ever seen? As it has been, let it remain.” And Maktar left Gokū then, and turned his back on his companions, and he became the father of the men of the forest,⁸ strong hunters and crafty finders of things, who are not wise and do not know how to grow food in the fields of the valley.⁹

the second bat king

The next day, Gokū and his three remaining warriors set out again. They travelled up the river for three days, and left the valley, and came to a place where two waterfalls come down from the cliff, left and right.¹⁰ Behind the left-hand waterfall there was a cave, and in this cave behind the falls there lived a second mighty bat king! Many wild beasts were at his service, and he was older than time, and he was as large as a water buffalo, and his minions feared him greatly.

Gokū passed through the waterfall and fell to his knees. “King among bats,” cried Gokū, “we are men from the valley, and we seek the sun.” “You will not see the sun as I live,” replied the second bat king, and he struck out at Gokū with his teeth and his claws like the first had done, and his wild beasts swarmed out of their forests and meadows to join in the fight. The battle raged fiercely all through the day, and the second bat king was slain. His wings were tattered, and his spirit was broken.¹¹ “You men of the valley fight well,” he said, just as the other had. “But beware: there is one among you who will betray the rest.” And then he too died.

The next day, Gokū readied to set forth again. But one of the warriors, Oetal, said “The beasts and monsters are too powerful. Who is to say that we will not be slain? I am afraid.”¹² And Oetal left Gokū then, and ran from his companions, leaving them in danger. He became the father of the people of the mountains,¹³ cowardly men who tremble in the passes, who do not build good huts or eat grain.

the third bat king

The next day, Gokū and his two companions set out again. They travelled up the river for five days, into the wild mountains, and came to a place where the river poured over three high falls.¹⁴ Behind the middle waterfall there was a cave, and in this cave behind the falls there lived a third mighty bat king! Spirits of life and death¹⁵ were at his service, and he was older than time, and he was as large as a hut, and the mountain peaks themselves lived in fear of him.

Gokū passed through the waterfall and fell to his knees. “King among bats,” cried Gokū, “we are men from the valley, and we seek the sun.” “You will not see the sun as I live,” replied the third bat king, and he struck out at Gokū with his teeth and his claws like the first two had done, and the spirits of life and death manifested themselves¹⁶ to join in the fight. The battle raged fiercely for two long days, and the third bat king was slain. His wings were tattered, and his spirit was broken. “You men of the valley fight well, “he said, just as the others had. “But beware: there is one among you who will betray the rest.” And then he too died.

The next day, Gokū readied to set forth again. But one of the warriors, Ūtū, snuck away from the others and stole gold from the cave of the third bat king. He stuffed his robes with coins of gold,¹⁷ and filled a sack with gems, and strapped seven great swords to himself, and ran from the others without a word. Ūtū became the father of the men who live over the sea,¹⁸ men who love only gold and think only of ways to own good things without plowing the land or doing honorable deeds.¹⁹

the fourth bat king

The next day, Gokū and his one last companion, the warrior Hurn, set out again. They travelled up the river for seven days, until they came to a broad waterfall where the river plunges into a canyon from a long lake.²⁰ The cave behind this falls was damp and the water dripped from the ceiling like rain, and in it there lived a fourth mighty bat king! At his command were strange monsters, wild beasts, and spirits of life and death, and he was older than time, and he was as twice as large as the bat king that Gokū had slain before, and was much feared by all of the men, everywhere.

Gokū passed through the waterfall and fell to his knees. “King among bats,” cried Gokū, “we are men from the valley, and we seek the sun.” “You will not see the sun as I live,” replied the fourth bat king, and he struck out at Gokū with his teeth and his claws, and his strange monsters swarmed out of their hidden holes, and his wild beasts swarmed out of their forest and meadows, and the spirits of life and death manifested themselves, all to join in the fight. The battle raged fiercely for three long days, and the fourth bat king was slain. His wings were tattered, and his spirit was broken. “You men of the valley fight well, “he said, “but beware, there is one of you who will betray the other.” And then he died.

The next day, Gokū readied himself to set forth again. But his last companion, Hurn, suddenly turned on Gokū, swinging his great axe. They fought by the shores of the long lake all through that day and all through that night, and in the end Gokū defeated Hurn. And Hurn²¹ was the father of all bandits, and pirates, and unlawful men, but because he was killed there by Gokū, there are no bandits, or pirates, or unlawful men among the people.²²

the fifth bat king

The next day, Gokū set out alone. He travelled up the river for eleven days, until he came to a towering waterfall where the river plunges down the face of the mountain.²³ In the cave behind this falls, there lived a fifth mighty bat king! At his command were more strange monsters, wild beasts, and spirits of life and death than Gokū had slain in all of the caves before, and he was older than time, and he was again as twice as large as the bat king that Gokū had slain before, and was much feared by all the world and stars.

Gokū passed through the waterfall and fell to his knees. “King among bats,” cried Gokū, “I am a man from the valley, the last of those who set out to seek the sun.” “You will not see the sun as I live,” replied the fifth bat king, and he struck out at Gokū with his teeth and his claws, and his strange monsters swarmed out of their hidden holes, and his wild beasts swarmed out of their forest and meadows, and the spirits of life and death manifested themselves, all to join in the fight. Gokū was sore pressed. The battle raged fiercely for seven long days, and the fifth bat king was slain. His wings were tattered, and his spirit was broken. “You have fought well, Gokū,” he said. “Your people shall see the sun.” And then he died.

Gokū becomes the sun

Gokū climbed the face of the mountain, and looked out at all the world and stars. He climbed until he was at the high place of the mountain, and could climb no farther. And then he continued to climb, and as he did, he began to glow, and the higher he climbed into the sky, the brighter he shone. And when it was noon on the first day, Gokū realized that he had become the sun, and he smiled down on the people. He gave light to the men of the forest, and to the men of the mountains, and even to the men who live over the seas, but it was only the people²⁴ who learned to grow food in the fields of the valley. And Gokū smiled upon the plants growing in the fields, and they grew, and the people gathered the food from the fields and became strong and wise.

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¹chief among the people – Or perhaps, “the strongest man among the people.”
²the blind fish of the cave – Blind cave-fish are commonplace in eastern New Guinea. As the story seems to suggest, caves are found frequently in the landscape of Gokura and the surrounding regions.
³well-regarded – The adjective seems to imply aristocratic or “noble” families.
⁴the great falls in the river there – “The Falls” – they are not otherwise named – are an obvious and well known geographic feature in Gokura, about 10 km from the city’s center on the Five Bats River. There is indeed a shallow cave behind the waterfall, which is a sheer plunge of about four meters. The location can be visited today in a public park, which also features a heroic statue of the mythical Gokū.
⁵monsters – The original word describes a powerful animal, but does not carry the same negative moral connotation implied by the English “monster.”
⁶passed through the waterfall – Here, and in subsequent iterations, the text reads iGokūrata, “Gokū emerged.” The conventional interpretation is that he emerges from the sheet of falling water into the cave interior; however, some scholars speculate that the verb connotes an “emergence” into an alternative, quasi-divine plane of existence.
⁷fell to his knees – Here, as subsequently, the text emphasizes Gokū’s properly respectful approach to the bat king, who is by definition royal, “well-regarded” (see fn.3, above). It is significant that the (identical) conversations between Gokū and the bat kings are conducted in a polite and respectful register, not in the confrontational register that would also have been available to a speaker of Old Lowland Gokuran.
⁸men of the forest – in Gokuran, Maktī. Cf. Makt, “forest.”
⁹do not know how to grow food in the fields of the valley – The classical Gokura associated wisdom and intelligence with the ability to cultivate food. The skills of neighboring forest hunter-gatherers are here dismissed as uncivilized and unsophisticated.
¹⁰two waterfalls come down from the cliff, left and right – This description has not been convincingly correlated with a real-world location.
¹¹his spirit was broken – Here and elsewhere, literally, “he had lost his arms and legs.” This idiom, rendered literally, resonates oddly when applied to a giant bat.
¹²Who is to say that we will not be slain? I am afraid. – These two sentences are spoken in the register that signifies a child speaking with an adult.
¹³people of the mountains – in Gokuran, Oetalīī. Cf. Ota, “mountain pass.”
¹⁴three high falls – Likely a reference to an unnamed series of falls with a total drop of about 12 meters on the Five Bats, about 70 river kilometers above the Gokura/Papua New Guinea border.
¹⁵Spirits of life and death – This has been interpreted by others variously as “ghost,” “ghouls,” “demons,” or “evil spirits.” The original, however, contains neither the implication of a post-death human apparition, nor of a morally evil entity, but rather a morally neutral supernatural being with powers over human mortality.
¹⁶manifested themselves – Or simply “appeared.”
¹⁷stuffed his robes with coins of gold – There may be an element of humor intended here. Since classical Gokuran “coins” were roughly the size and shape of a modern hockey puck, and since period garments are thought not to have had pockets, Ūtū would have had to remove his robe to carry out this action. He is thus depicted as abasing and humiliating himself by running off naked with his stolen treasure.
¹⁸men who live over the sea – The passage translates literally as roughly “men who, from far waves, arrive from their towns.” The name Ūtū is somewhat akin to the word Ūnutin, “boat,” but this may be simply coincidental.
¹⁹men who love only gold… – Even before the Islamic period, the Gokurans are known to have been heavily involved in interregional trade. Their distrust of their trade partners – whom, as non-farmers, they would have considered barbarians – is manifest here.
²⁰a broad waterfall where the river plunges into a canyon from a long lake – Easily identifiable as the falls at the outlet of Utūra Lake, on what is today considered a tributary of the Five Bats. However, there is no cave behind these falls in reality.
²¹Hurn – Hurn is not a word in Old Lowland Gokuran, but to a speaker it would suggest a negation of the word Hurinī, “Guest.” If this is meant to cast the character as a “not-guest,” the implication would seem to be of a person who is incapable of interacting with others according to social norms.
²²there are no bandits, or pirates, or unlawful men among the people – The illogic of this passage has suggested to some scholars that it is meant ironically, or humorously. “The people” refers of course only to the Gokurans themselves.
²³a towering waterfall where the river plunges down the face of the mountain – There are numerous waterfalls on upper tributary creeks in the Five Bats system that may match this description.
²⁴the people – Meaning, of course, the Gokurans.