The Legend Of The Golden Table And The Black Snapper

“The river ran backward on the day the Queen vanished,” I said to Claude as the memory stirred in my brain while we stood on its bank.

“It wasn’t hurricane season or was it Winter,” he said in deep thought too, staring into the water as many small fish swam about in search of food. “So why would the river change its course?”

“Can the river change course by itself?” I questioned, remembering the legend that goes with it. “What time did she disappear?”

“Damn, about the time when the Golden Table would rise?” Claude recalls. “Legend has it that it's a few minutes before noon.”

According to legend, the Golden Table was made by several slaves for their master more than three hundred years ago, from gold stolen from the Arawaks Indians. Many Inadians were slaughtered, and history said the Europeans committed genocide and were replaced by slaves from Africa. The remaining few vowed that the thief would never live long enough to enjoy what they stole. A hurricane caused flooding and the golden table ended up in the river. Two slaves who couldn’t swim were ordered to go and get it. They drown in the process. The table was never recovered. Neither did their bodies. But legend has it that it resurfaced at noon on certain days when the river ran backward.

For years, many have waited for it and tried to pull it out of the river. It pulls them down with it as it sinks and they are never seen again. Legend also has it, that Black Snapper fish with yellow fins, and other yellow patches on them, would always appear before, and after, only at the spot where the Golden Table appears for that moment. They would disappear with the Golden Table.

According to Folklore, anyone who goes after the Golden Table will sink with it and come back as a Black Snapper fish with yellow on their fins, gill, and scales. No one eats them. Many Jamaicans catch them and keep them alive in an aquarium, hoping they will turn back to humans. No one who goes after the Golden Table was ever seen alive again. No one returns to tell what happened either.

“Why did the Queen want the Golden Table?” Claude asked.

“She knew that if the river ran backward then the Golden Table would surface,” I confirm the legend.

“And she would be turned into a black snapper if she goes after it,” Claude finished. “So why go in?”

Days ran into weeks. Weeks turned into months, then years. No sight of Queen Anne was found after months of extensive search. Many believed that she was unhappy and wanted to leave King Charles I. Some believed that the King knew something about her death because a large aquarium was placed in her bedroom with several Black Snappers with yellow on their gills, fins, and bodies swam happily around in it.

The river ran backward again, and a large crowd gathered, as many fishermen watched many black snappers appear. Some were caught and put in a large aquarium. The golden table rose to the surface, its light blinding and hurting many eyes. Minutes later, it disappeared leaving behind many more Black Snapper fish.

Fear prevented some fishermen from trying to catch any of these black snappers. They have lost families and friends who went after the golden table and were never seen again.

Which one of these Black Snappers do you think is Queen Anne?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.