Oya and Buda just got married. They lived with their tribe in a beautiful mountain valley. One day, Oya invited her friends over for lunch. Buda told his wife, “Cut a grain of rice in half and cook it. Cooking half a grain of rice will give us a huge pot of cooked rice, and that is enough to feed everyone.” Then, he walked outside and thought to himself, “I want to treat my visitors to wild boar tonight.” And magically, a wild boar walked into his house. Buda thought again, “I have run out of firewood. I wish that a stack of firewood would appear in my house!” And magically, a stack of firewood appeared in his house.

All this was because God took special care of the Ayatal tribe. God once told the Ayatal people,  “You do not need to hunt for meat or till the fields for food, just ask and your wish will be granted.” The Ayatal tribe led carefree lives for a very long time. 

But they got lazy. Cutting a grain of rice in half felt like a difficult task. One day, Oya was preparing dinner. She thought, “Why do I have to cut a grain of rice in half? If cooking half a grain of rice gives me a pot of cooked rice, then I shall cook a few grains of uncut rice today, and I won’t have to cook for the next few days. This is such a clever idea, I am so smart!” So, Oya put many grains of rice into the pot and started cooking.

At night, Buda came home feeling hungry. Oya thought, “Why is the rice taking so long to cook?” She and Buda lifted the pot lid, and out flew a flock of sparrows. One of them told the couple, “You are so lazy, and do not deserve God’s gifts.” “From today onwards, you must learn to work hard in order to eat, and we will come and eat your crops as punishment.” 

Since then, the Ayatal people started to work hard. They did not dare to be lazy, because they would starve if they stopped working.

泰雅族是台灣原住民族當中的第二大族，主要分布在台灣北部的中央山脈兩側，及宜蘭、花蓮的山區。族裡的女子要會織布，男子要會打獵，才可以黥面，除了代表美麗之外也是勤勞能幹與勇猛的表現。

古早時代，泰雅族的祖先不需要每天辛勤的種田，就有食物可以吃；也不需要上山打獵就有肉可以吃，只要心裡想著想要的東西，那樣東西就會立刻出現，因此大家安逸無憂的過了好長一段日子。直到有一天，族裡有人開始偷懶，神為了懲罰泰雅人，使大家的生活開始產生奇妙的改變，大家也開始日出而作、日入而息的努力工作。我們一起來看這個故事吧！

歐雅和布達是一對新婚夫妻，他們和族人一同居住在美麗的山谷裡。有一次，歐雅請朋友到家裡吃飯，布達對妻子說：「妳只要將一粒米切成兩半，用半粒米就能煮出一鍋滿滿的白飯讓大家吃飽。」接著他走到門外心裡想著：「我要用山豬肉來招待客人。」過一會兒，竟然就有一隻山豬走進家門，布達心裡又想：「我家的薪柴燒完了，劈好的木柴快到我家來吧！」結果一捆捆的薪柴自動滾進家裡。

這是因為天神非常照顧泰雅人，祂曾經對大家說：「你們不必上山打獵就有肉可以吃，也不用天天努力耕種，只要心裡想著需要的東西，那樣東西就會立刻出現。」因此族人安逸無憂的過了好長一段日子。

將一粒堅硬的米切成兩半非常困難，有一天，歐雅準備煮飯時心想：「為什麼一定要把米切開呢？如果半粒米可以煮一鍋飯，那我今天多煮幾粒米，就可以不用天天忙著煮飯，這個辦法太棒了，我真是聰明。」於是，歐雅就在鍋子裡放了好幾粒米。

傍晚，布達餓著肚子從田裡回來，歐雅心想：「時間過了那麼久，這鍋米好像還沒煮成飯，真是奇怪？」她和布達就將鍋蓋打開，結果一群麻雀從鍋裡飛出，其中一隻麻雀對夫妻倆說：「你們這麼懶惰，根本就沒有資格吃飯，從今天起，你們一定要非常努力工作才有東西吃；而且我們也會無時無刻地飛來吃你們成熟的穀物，作為懲罰。」

從此，泰雅人就開始日出而作、日入而息，一點也不敢偷懶，因為只要不努力工作就會沒飯吃。