All this time the firebrand was burning, and the frog was going to the
pond as fast as he could. The old women were running after him, and when
he came to the water, one of them caught him by the tail.
"I have caught him!" she called.
"Do not let him go!" cried the other.
"No, I will not," said the first; but she did let him go, for the little
frog tore himself away and dived into the water. His tail was still in
the woman's hand, but the firebrand was safe, and he made his way
swiftly across the pond.
"Here it is," said the frog.
"Where?" asked the young Indian. Then the frog coughed, and out of his
mouth came the firebrand. It was small, for it had been burning all this
time, but it set fire to the leaves and twigs, and soon the Indians were
warm again. They sang and they danced about the flames.
At first the frog was sad, because he was sorry to lose his tail; but
before long he was as merry as the people who were dancing, for the
young Indian said, "Little frog, you have been a good friend to us, and
as long as we live on the earth, we will never throw a stone at a frog
that has no tail."
HOW THE QUAIL BECAME A SNIPE.
"It is lonely living in this great tree far away from the other birds,"
said the owl to herself. "I will get some one to come and live with me.
The quail has many children, and I will ask her for one of them."
The owl went to the quail and said, "Will you let me have one of your
children to come and live with me?"
"Live with you? No," answered the quail. "I would as soon let my child
live with the serpent. You are hidden in the tree all day long, and when
it is dark, you come down like a thief and catch little animals that are
fast asleep in their nests. You shall never have one of my children."
"I _will_ have one," thought the owl.
She waited till the night had come. It was dark and gloomy, for the moon
was not to be seen, and not a star twinkled in the sky. Not a leaf
stirred, and not a ripple was on the pond. The owl crept up to the
quail's home as softly as she could. The young birds were chattering
together, and she listened to their talk.
"My mother is gone a long time," said one. "It is lonely, and I am
afraid."
"What is there to be afraid of?" asked another. "You are a little
coward. Shut your eyes and go to sleep. See me! I am not afraid, if it
is dark and gloomy. Oh, oh!" cried the boaster, for the owl had seized
him and was carrying him away from home and his little brothers.
When the mother quail came home, she asked, "Where is your brother?" The
little quails did not know. All they could say was that something had
seized him in the darkness and taken him away.
"It crept up to the nest in the dark," said one.
"And oh, mother, never, never go away from us again!" cried another. "Do
not leave us at home all alone."
"But, my dear little ones," the mother said, "how could you have any
food if I never went away from our home?"
The mother quail was very sad, and she would have been still more
sorrowful if she had known what was happening to her little son far away
in the owl's nest. The cruel owl had pulled and pulled on the quail's
bill and legs, till they were so long that his mother would not have
known him.
One night the mole came to the quail and said, "Your little son is in
the owl's nest."
"How do you know?" asked the quail.
"I cannot see very well," answered the mole, "but I heard him call, and
I know that he is there."
"How shall I get him away from the owl?" the quail asked the mole.
"The owl crept up to your home in the dark," said the mole, "but you
must go to her nest at sunrise when the light shines in her eyes and she
cannot see you."
At sunrise the quail crept up to the owl's nest and carried away her
dear little son to his old home. As the light grew brighter, she saw
what had happened to him. His bill and his legs were so long that he
did not look like her son.
"He is not like our brother," said the other little quails.
"That is because the cruel owl that carried him away has pulled his bill
and his legs," answered the mother sorrowfully. "You must be very good
to him."
But the other little quails were not good to him. They laughed at him,
and the quail with the long bill and legs was never again merry and glad
with them. Before long he ran away and hid among the great reeds that
stand in the water and on the shores of the pond.
"I will not be called quail," he said to himself, "for quails never have
long bills and legs. I will have a new name, and it shall be snipe. I
like the sound of that name."
So it was that the bird whose name was once quail came to be called
snipe. His children live among the reeds of the pond, and they, too, are
called snipes.
WHY THE SERPENT SHEDS HIS SKIN.
The serpent is the grandfather of the owl, and once upon a time if the
owl needed help, she would say, "My grandfather will come and help me,"
but now he never comes to her. This story tells why.
When the owl carried away the little quail, she went to the serpent and
said, "Grandfather, you will not tell the quail that I have her son,
will you?"
"No," answered the serpent, "I will keep your secret. I will not whisper
it to any one." So when the mother quail asked all the animals, "Can you
tell me who has carried away my little son?" the serpent answered, "I
have been sound asleep. How could I know?"
After the quail had become a snipe and had gone to live in the marsh
among the reeds, the cruel owl looked everywhere for him, and at last
she saw him standing beside a great stone in the water.
She went to the serpent and said, "Grandfather, will you do something
for me?"
"I will," hissed the serpent softly, "What is it?"
"Only to take a drink of water," answered the owl. "Come and drink all
the water in the marsh, and then I can catch the quail that I made into
a snipe."
The serpent drank and drank, but still there was water in the marsh.
"Why do you not drink faster?" cried the owl. "I shall never get the
snipe."
The serpent drank till he could drink no more, and still the water stood
in the marsh. The owl could not see well by day, and the serpent could
not see above the reeds and rushes, so they did not know that the water
from the pond was coming into the marsh faster than the serpent could
drink it.
Still the serpent drank, and at last his skin burst.
"Oh," he cried, "my skin has burst. Help me to fasten it together."
"My skin never bursts," said the owl. "If you will drink the water from
the marsh, I will help you, but I will not fasten any skin together till
I get that snipe."
The serpent had done all that he could to help the owl, and now he was
angry. He was afraid, too, for he did not know what would happen to him,
and he lay on the ground trembling and quivering. It was not long before
his old skin fell off, and then he saw that under it was a beautiful new
one, all bright and shining. He sheds his old skin every year now, but
never again has he done anything to help the owl.
[Illustration]
WHY THE DOVE IS TIMID.
A spirit called the manito always watches over the Indians. He is glad
when they are brave, but if they are cowardly, he is angry.
One day when the manito was walking under the pine-trees, he heard a cry
of terror in the forest.
"What is that?" said he. "Can it be that any of my Indian children are
afraid?"
As he stood listening, an Indian boy came running from the thicket,
crying in fear.
"What are you afraid of?" asked the manito.
"My mother told me to go into the forest with my bow and arrows and
shoot some animal for food," said the boy.
"That is what all Indian boys must do," said the manito. "Why do you not
do as she said?"
"Oh, the great bear is in the forest, and I am afraid of him!"
"Afraid of Hoots?" asked the manito. "An Indian boy must never be
afraid."
"But Hoots will eat me, I know he will," cried the boy. "Boo-hoo,
boo-hoo!"
"A boy must be brave," said the manito, "and I will not have a coward
among my Indians. You are too timid ever to be a warrior, and so you
shall be a bird. Whenever Indian boys look at you, they will say, 'There
is the boy who was afraid of Hoots.'"
The boy's cloak of deerskin fell off, and feathers came out all over his
body. His feet were no longer like a boy's feet, they were like the feet
of a bird. His bow and arrows fell upon the grass, for he had no longer
any hands with which to hold them. He tried to call to his mother, but
the only sound he could make was "Hoo, hoo!"
"Now you are a dove," said the manito, "and a dove you shall be as long
as you live. You shall always be known as the most timid of birds."
Again the dove that had once been a boy tried to call, but he only said,
"Hoo, hoo!"
"That is the only sound you will ever make," said the manito, "and when
the other boys hear it, they will say, 'Listen! He was afraid of Hoots,
the bear, and that is why he says Hoo, hoo!'"
WHY THE PARROT REPEATS THE WORDS OF MEN.
In the olden times when the earth was young, all the birds knew the
language of men and could talk with them. Everybody liked the parrot,
because he always told things as they were, and they called him the bird
that tells the truth.
This bird that always told the truth lived with a man who was a thief,
and one night the man killed another man's ox and hid its flesh.
When the other man came to look for it in the morning, he asked the
thief, "Have you seen my ox?"
"No, I have not seen it," said the man.
"Is that the truth?" the owner asked.
"Yes, it is. I have not seen the ox," repeated the man.
"Ask the parrot," said one of the villagers. "He always tells the
truth."
"O bird of truth," said they to the parrot, "did this man kill an ox and
hide its flesh?"
"Yes, he did," answered the parrot.
The thief knew well that the villagers would punish him the next day, if
he could not make them think that the parrot did not always tell the
truth.
"I have it," he said to himself at last. "I know what I can do."
When night came he put a great jar over the parrot. Then he poured water
upon the jar and struck it many times with a tough piece of oak. This he
did half the night. Then he went to bed and was soon fast asleep.
In the morning the men came to punish him.
"How do you know that I killed the ox?" he asked.
"Because the bird of truth says that you did," they answered.
"The bird of truth!" he cried. "That parrot is no bird of truth. He will
not tell the truth even about what happened last night. Ask him if the
moon was shining."
"Did the moon shine last night?" the men asked.
"No," answered the parrot. "There was no moon, for the rain fell, and
there was a great storm in the heavens. I heard the thunder half the
night."
"This bird has always told the truth before," said the villagers, "but
there was no storm last night and the moon was bright. What shall we do
to punish the parrot?" they asked the thief.
"I think we will no longer let him live in our homes," answered the
thief.
"Yes," said the others, "he must fly away to the forest, and even when
there is a storm, he can no longer come to our homes, because we know
now that he is a bird of a lying tongue."
[Illustration: "THIS BIRD HAS ALWAYS TOLD THE TRUTH"]
So the parrot flew away sorrowfully into the lonely forest. He met a
mocking-bird and told him what had happened.
"Why did you not repeat men's words as I do?" asked the mocking-bird.
"Men always think their own words are good."
"But the man's words were not true," said the parrot.
"That is nothing," replied the mocking-bird, laughing. "Say what they
say, and they will think you are a wonderful bird."
"Yes, I see," said the parrot thoughtfully, "and I will never again be
punished for telling the truth. I will only repeat the words of others."
THE STORY OF THE FIRST MOCKING-BIRD.
Far away in the forest there once lived the most cruel man on all the
earth. He did not like the Indians, and he said to himself, "Some day I
will be ruler of them all." Then he thought, "There are many brave
warriors among the Indians, and I must first put them to death."
He was cunning as well as cruel, and he soon found a way to kill the
warriors. He built some wigwams and made fires before them as if people
lived in each one.
One day a hunter on his way home heard a baby crying in one of the
wigwams. He went in, but he never came out again. Another day a hunter
heard a child laughing. He went in, but he never came out again. So it
was day after day. One hunter heard a woman talking, and went to see who
it was; another heard a man calling to people in the other wigwams, and
went to see who they were; and no one who once went into a wigwam ever
came out.
One young brave had heard the voices, but he feared there was magic
about them, and so he had never gone into the wigwams; but when he saw
that his friends did not come back, he went to the wigwams and called,
"Where are all the people that I have heard talk and laugh?"
"Talk and laugh," said the cunning man mockingly.
"Where are they? Do you know?" cried the brave, and the cunning man
called, "Do you know?" and laughed.
"Whose voices have I heard?"
"Have I heard?" mocked the cunning man.
"I heard a baby cry."
"Cry," said the cunning man.
"Who is with you?"
"You."
Then the young brave was angry. He ran into the first wigwam, and there
he found the man who had cried like a baby and talked in a voice like a
woman's and made all the other sounds. The brave caught him by the leg
and threw him down upon the earth.
"It was you who cried and talked and laughed," he said. "I heard your
voice and now you are going to be punished for killing our braves. Where
is my brother, and where are our friends?"
"How do I know?" cried the man. "Ask the sun or the moon or the fire if
you will, but do not ask me;" and all the time he was trying to pull the
young brave into the flames.
"I will ask the fire," said the brave. "Fire, you are a good friend to
us Indians. What has this cruel man done with our warriors?"
The fire had no voice, so it could not answer, but it sprang as far away
from the hunter as it could, and there where the flames had been he saw
two stone arrowheads.
"I know who owned the two arrowheads," said the brave. "You have thrown
my friends into your fire. Now I will do to you what you have done to
them."
He threw the cunning man into the fire. His head burst into two pieces,
and from between them a bird flew forth. Its voice was loud and clear,
but it had no song of its own. It could only mock the songs of other
birds, and that is why it is called the mocking-bird.
WHY THE TAIL OF THE FOX HAS A WHITE TIP.
"I must have a boy to watch my sheep and my cows," thought an old woman,
and so she went out to look for a boy. She looked first in the fields
and then in the forest, but nowhere could she find a boy. As she was
walking down the path to her home, she met a bear.
"Where are you going?" asked the bear.
"I am looking for a boy to watch my cows and my sheep," she answered.
"Will you have me?"
"Yes, if you know how to call my animals gently."
"Ugh, ugh," called the bear. He tried to call softly, but he had always
growled before, and now he could do nothing but growl.
"No, no," said the old woman, "your voice is too loud. Every cow in the
field would run, and every sheep would hide, if you should growl like
that. I will not have you."
Then the old woman went on till she met a wolf.
"Where are you going, grandmother?" he asked.
"I am looking for a boy to watch my cows and my sheep," she answered.
"Will you have me?" asked the wolf.
"Yes," she said, "if you know how to call my animals gently."
"Ho-y, ho-y," called the wolf.
"Your voice is too high," said the old woman. "My cows and my sheep
would tremble whenever they heard it. I will not have you."
Then the old woman went on till she met a fox.
"I am so glad to meet you," said the fox. "Where are you going this
bright morning?"
"I am going home now," she said, "for I cannot find a boy to watch my
cows and my sheep. The bear growls and the wolf calls in too high a
voice. I do not know what I can do, for I am too old to watch cows and
sheep."
"Oh, no," said the cunning fox, "you are not old, but any one as
beautiful as you must not watch sheep in the fields. I shall be very
glad to do the work for you if you will let me."
"I know that my sheep will like you," said she.
"And I know that I shall like them dearly," said the fox.
"Can you call them gently, Mr. Fox?" she asked.
"Del-dal-halow, del-dal-halow," called the fox, in so gentle a voice
that it was like a whisper.
"That is good, Mr. Fox," said the old woman. "Come home with me, and I
will take you to the fields where my animals go."
Each day one of the cows or one of the sheep was gone when the fox came
home at night. "Mr. Fox, where is my cow?" the old woman would ask, or,
"Mr. Fox, where is my sheep?" and the fox would answer with a sorrowful
look, "The bear came out of the woods, and he has eaten it," or, "The
wolf came running through the fields, and he has eaten it."
The old woman was sorry to lose her sheep and her cows, but she thought,
"Mr. Fox must be even more sorry than I. I will go out to the field and
carry him a drink of cream."
[Illustration]
She went to the field, and there stood the fox with the body of a sheep,
for it was he who had killed and eaten every one that was gone. When he
saw the old woman coming, he started to run away.
"You cruel, cunning fox!" she cried.
She had nothing to throw at him but the cream, so she threw that. It
struck the tip of his tail, and from that day to this, the tip of the
fox's tail has been as white as cream.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST FROG.
Once upon a time there was a man who had two children, a boy and a girl,
whom he treated cruelly. The boy and the girl talked together one day,
and the boy, Wah-wah-hoo, said to his sister, "Dear little sister, are
you happy with our father?"
"No," answered the girl, whose name was Hah-hah. "He scolds me and beats
me, and I can never please him."
"He was angry with me this morning," said the boy, "and he beat me till
the blood came. See there!"
"Let us run away," said Hah-hah. "The beasts and the birds will be good
to us. They really love us, and we can be very happy together."
That night the two children ran away from their cruel father. They went
far into the forest, and at last they found a wigwam in which no one
lived.
When the father found that Wah-wah-hoo and his sister were gone, he was
very unhappy. He went out into the forest to see if he could find them.
"If they would only come again," he said aloud, "I would do everything I
could to please them."
"Do you think he tells the truth?" asked the wolf.
"I do not know," answered the mosquito. "He never treated them well when
they were with him."
"Wolf," called the father, "will you tell me where my children are?"
Wah-wah-hoo had once told the wolf when a man was coming to shoot him,
and so the wolf would not tell where they were.
"Mosquito," said the father, "where are my children?"
Hah-hah had once helped the mosquito to go home when the wind was too
strong for him, and so the mosquito would not tell.
For a long time Wah-wah-hoo and his sister were really happy in the
forest, for there was no one to scold them and to beat them, but at last
there was a cold, cold winter. All the earth was covered with snow. The
animals had gone, and Wah-wah-hoo could find no food. Death came and
bore away the gentle Hah-hah. Wah-wah-hoo sat alone in the gloomy wigwam
wailing for his sister. Then in his sadness he threw himself down from a
high mountain and was killed.
All this time the father had been looking for his children, and at last
he saw his son lying at the foot of the mountain. Then he too wailed and
cried aloud, for he was really sorry that he had treated them so
cruelly. He was a magician, and he could make his son live, but he could
not make him a boy again.
"You shall be a frog," said he, "and you shall make your home in the
marsh with the reeds and the rushes. There you shall wail as loud as you
will for your sister, and once every moon I will come and wail for her
with you. I was cruel to you and to her, and so I must live alone in my
gloomy wigwam."
Every summer night one can hear the frog in the marsh wailing for his
dear sister Hah-hah. Sometimes a louder voice is heard, and that is the
voice of the father wailing because he was so cruel.
[Illustration]
WHY THE RABBIT IS TIMID.
One night the moon looked down from the sky upon the people on the earth
and said to herself, "How sorrowful they look! I wish I knew what
troubles them. The stars and I are never sad, and I do not see why men
should be troubled." She listened closely, and she heard the people say,
"How happy we should be if death never came to us. Death is always
before us."
The path of the moon lies across the sky, and she could not leave it to
go to the earth, but she called the white rabbit and said, "Rabbit,
should you be afraid to go down to the earth?"
"No," answered the rabbit, "I am not afraid."
"The people on the earth are troubled because death is before them. Now
will you go to them and whisper, 'The moon dies every night. You can see
it go down into the darkness, but when another night comes, then the
moon rises again,'--can you remember to tell them that?"
"Yes," said the rabbit, "I will remember."
"Say this," said the moon: "'The moon dies, but the moon rises again,
and so will you.'"
The rabbit was so glad to go to the earth that he danced and leaped and
sprang and frolicked, but when he tried to tell the people what the moon
had said, he could not remember, and he said, "The moon says that she
dies and will not rise again, and so you will die and will not rise
again."
The moon saw that the people were still troubled, and she called the
rabbit and asked what he had said to them.
"I said that as you die and do not rise, so they too will die and not
rise," said the rabbit.
"You did not try to remember, and you must be punished," said the moon,
and she fired an arrow tipped with flint at the rabbit.
The arrow struck the rabbit's lip and split it. From that time every
rabbit has had a split lip. The rabbit was afraid of the moon, and he
was afraid of the people on the earth. He had been brave before, but now
he is the most timid of animals, for he is afraid of everything and
everybody.
WHY THE PEETWEET CRIES FOR RAIN.
"Come to me, every bird that flies," said the Great Father. "There is
work to be done that only my birds can do."
The birds were happy that they could do something to please the Great
Father, for they remembered how good he had always been to them. They
flew to him eagerly to ask what they should do for him. "O Great
Father," they sang all together, "tell us what we can do for you."
"The waters that I have made know not where to go," said the Father.
"Some should go to the seas, some should go to the lakes in the hollows
among the mountains, and some should make rivers that will dance over
the rocks and through the fields on their way to the sea."
"And can even as small a bird as I show them where to go?" asked the
sparrow eagerly.
"Yes," said the Father, "even my little humming-bird can help me."
Every bird that flies had come to the Father, but the peetweet had come
last because he was lazy.
"I do not really wish to fly all over the earth," said he, "to show the
waters where to go."
"Oh, I wish I were a bird," said a butterfly. "I should be so glad to do
something for the Father."
But the peetweet went on, "I should think the lakes could find their way
into the hollows of the mountains by themselves."
The Father heard the lazy peetweet, and he said, "Do you not wish to
show the waters where to go?"
"They never showed me where to go," said the lazy bird. "I am not
thirsty. Let whoever is thirsty and needs the water help the lakes and
rivers."
The other birds all stood still in wonder. "He will be punished," they
whispered.
"Yes, he must be punished," said the Father sadly. Then said he to the
lazy peetweet, "Never again shall you drink of the water that is in
river or lake. When you are thirsty, you must look for a hollow in the
rock where the rain has fallen, and there only shall you drink."
That is why the peetweet flies over river and lake, but ever cries
eagerly, "Peet-weet, peet-weet!" for that is his word for "Rain, rain!"
WHY THE BEAR HAS A SHORT TAIL.
One cold morning when the fox was coming up the road with some fish, he
met the bear.
"Good-morning, Mr. Fox," said the bear.
"Good-morning, Mr. Bear," said the fox. "The morning is brighter because
I have met you."
"Those are very good fish, Mr. Fox," said the bear. "I have not eaten
such fish for many a day. Where do you find them?"
"I have been fishing, Mr. Bear," answered the fox.
"If I could catch such fish as those, I should like to go fishing, but I
do not know how to fish."
"It would be very easy for you to learn, Mr. Bear," said the fox. "You
are so big and strong that you can do anything."
"Will you teach me, Mr. Fox?" asked the bear.
"I would not tell everybody, but you are such a good friend that I will
teach you. Come to this pond, and I will show you how to fish through
the ice."
So the fox and the bear went to the frozen pond, and the fox showed the
bear how to make a hole in the ice.
"That is easy for you," said the fox, "but many an animal could not have
made that hole. Now comes the secret. You must put your tail down into
the water and keep it there. That is not easy, and not every animal
could do it, for the water is very cold; but you are a learned animal,
Mr. Bear, and you know that the secret of catching fish is to keep your
tail in the water a long time. Then when you pull it up, you will pull
with it as many fish as I have."
The bear put his tail down into the water, and the fox went away. The
sun rose high in the heavens, and still the bear sat with his tail
through the hole in the ice. Sunset came, but still the bear sat with
his tail through the hole in the ice, for he thought, "When an animal is
really learned, he will not fear a little cold."
It began to be dark, and the bear said, "Now I will pull the fish out of
the water. How good they will be!" He pulled and pulled, but not a fish
came out. Worse than that, not all of his tail came out, for the end of
it was frozen fast to the ice.
[Illustration]
He went slowly down the road, growling angrily, "I wish I could find
that fox;" but the cunning fox was curled up in his warm nest, and
whenever he thought of the bear he laughed.
WHY THE WREN FLIES CLOSE TO THE EARTH.
One day when the birds were all together, one of them said, "I have been
watching men, and I saw that they had a king. Let us too have a king."
"Why?" asked the others.
"Oh, I do not know, but men have one."
"Which bird shall it be? How shall we choose a king?"
"Let us choose the bird that flies farthest," said one.
"No, the bird that flies most swiftly."
"The most beautiful bird."
"The bird that sings best."
"The strongest bird."
The owl sat a little way off on a great oak-tree. He said nothing, but
he looked so wise that all the birds cried, "Let us ask the owl to
choose for us."
"The bird that flies highest should be our king," said the owl with a
wiser look than before, and the others said, "Yes, we will choose the
bird that flies highest."
The wren is very small, but she cried even more eagerly than the others,
"Let us choose the bird that flies highest," for she said to herself,
"They think the owl is wise, but I am wiser than he, and I know which
bird can fly highest."
Then the birds tried their wings. They flew high, high up above the
earth, but one by one they had to come back to their homes. It was soon
seen which could fly highest, for when all the others had come back,
there was the eagle rising higher and higher.
"The eagle is our king," cried the birds on the earth, and the eagle
gave a loud cry of happiness. But look! A little bird had been hidden in
the feathers on the eagle's back, and when the eagle had gone as high as
he could, the wren flew up from his back still higher.
"Now which bird is king?" cried the wren. "The one that flew highest
should be king, and I flew highest."
The eagle was angry, but not a word did he say, and the two birds came
down to the earth together.
"I am the king," said the wren, "for I flew higher than the eagle." The
other birds did not know which of the two to choose. At last they went
to the oak-tree and asked the owl. He looked to the east, the west, the
south, and the north, and then he said, "The wren did not fly at all,
for she was carried on the eagle's back. The eagle is king, for he not
only flew highest, but carried the wren on his back."
"Good, good!" cried the other birds. "The owl is the wisest bird that
flies. We will do as he says, and the eagle shall be our king." The wren
crept away. She thought she was wise before, but now she is really wise,
for she always flies close to the earth, and never tries to do what she
cannot.
WHY THE HOOFS OF THE DEER ARE SPLIT.
The manito of the Indians taught them how to do many things. He told
them how to build wigwams, and how to hunt and to fish. He showed them
how to make jars in which to keep food and water. When little children
came to be with them, it was the manito who said, "See, this is the way
to make soft, warm cradles for the babies."
The good spirit often comes down from his happy home in the sky to watch
the Indians at their work. When each man does as well as he can, the
manito is pleased, but if an Indian is lazy or wicked, the spirit is
angry, and the Indian is always punished in one way or another.
One day when the manito was walking in the forest, he said to himself,
"Everything is good and happy. The green leaves are whispering merrily
together, the waves are lapping on the shore and laughing, the squirrels
are chattering and laying up their food for winter. Everything loves
me, and the colors of the flowers are brighter when I lay my hand upon
them."
Then the manito heard a strange sound. "I have not often heard that,"
said he. "I do not like it. Some one in the forest has wicked thoughts
in his heart."
Beside a great rock he saw a man with a knife.
"What are you doing with the knife?" asked the manito.
"I am throwing it away," answered the man.
"Tell me the truth," said the manito.
"I am sharpening it," replied the man.
"That is strange," said the manito, "You have food in your wigwam. Why
should you sharpen a knife?"
The man could not help telling the truth to the manito, and so he
answered, but greatly against his will, "I am sharpening the knife to
kill the wicked animals."
"Which animal is wicked?" asked the manito. "Which one does you harm?"
[Illustration: THE KNIFE ONLY WENT IN DEEPER]
"Not one does me harm," said the man, "but I do not like them. I will
make them afraid of me, and I will kill them."
"You are a cruel, wicked man," said the manito. "The animals have done
you no harm, and you do not need them for food. You shall no longer be a
man. You shall be a deer, and be afraid of every man in the forest."
The knife fell from the man's hand and struck his foot. He leaped and
stamped, but the knife only went in deeper. He cried aloud, but his
voice sounded strange. His hands were no longer hands, but feet. Antlers
grew from his head, and his whole body was not that of a man, but that
of a deer. He runs in the forest as he will, but whenever he sees a man,
he is afraid. His hoofs are split because the knife that he had made so
sharp fell upon his foot when he was a man; and whenever he looks at
them, he has to remember that it was his own wickedness which made him a
deer.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST GRASSHOPPER.
In a country that is far away there once lived a young man called
Tithonus. He was strong and beautiful. Light of heart and light of foot,
he hunted the deer or danced and sang the livelong day. Every one who
saw him loved him, but the one that loved him most was a goddess named
Aurora.
Every goddess had her own work, but the work of Aurora was most
beautiful of all, for she was the goddess of the morning. It was she who
went out to meet the sun and to light up his pathway. She watched over
the flowers, and whenever they saw her coming, their colors grew
brighter. She loved everything beautiful, and that is why she loved
Tithonus.
"Many a year have I roamed through this country," she said to herself,
"but never have I seen such bright blue eyes as those. O fairest of
youths," she cried, "who are you? Some name should be yours that sounds
like the wind in the pine trees, or like the song of a bird among the
first blossoms."
The young man fell upon his knees before her. "I know well," said he,
"that you are no maiden of the earth. You are a goddess come down to us
from the skies. I am but a hunter, and I roam through the forest looking
for deer."
"Come with me, fairest of hunters," said Aurora. "Come with me to the
home of my father. You shall live among my brothers and hunt with them,
or go with me at the first brightness of the morning to carry light and
gladness to the flowers."
So it was that Tithonus went away from his own country and his own home
to live in the home of Aurora.
For a long time they were happy together, but one day Aurora said,
"Tithonus, I am a goddess, and so I am immortal, but some day death will
bear you away from me. I will ask the father of the gods that you too
may be immortal."
Then Aurora went to the king of the gods and begged that he would make
Tithonus immortal.
"Sometimes people are not pleased even when I have given them what they
ask," replied the king, "so think well before you speak."
"I have only one wish," said Aurora, "and it is that Tithonus, the
fairest of youths, shall be immortal."
"You have your wish," said the king of the gods, and again Tithonus and
Aurora roamed happily together through forest and field.
One day Tithonus asked, "My Aurora, why is it that I cannot look
straight into your eyes as once I did?" Another day he said, "My Aurora,
why is it that I cannot put my hand in yours as once I did?"
Then the goddess wept sorrowfully. "The king of the gods gave me what I
asked for," she wailed, "and I begged that you should be immortal. I did
not remember to ask that you should be always young."
Everyday Tithonus grew older and smaller. "I am no longer happy in your
father's home," he said, "with your brothers who are as beautiful and as
strong as I was when I first saw you. Let me go back to my own country.
Let me be a bird or an insect and live in the fields where we first
roamed together. Let me go, dearest goddess."
"You shall do as you will," replied Aurora sadly. "You shall be a
grasshopper, and whenever I hear the grasshopper's clear, merry song, I
shall remember the happy days when we were together."
THE STORY OF THE ORIOLE.
The king of the north once said to himself, "I am master of the country
of ice and snow, but what is that if I cannot be ruler of the land of
sunshine and flowers? I am no king if I fear the king of the south. The
northwind shall bear my icy breath. Bird and beast shall quiver and
tremble with cold. I myself will call in the voice of the thunder, and
this ruler of the south, his king of summer, shall yield to my power."
The land of the south was ever bright and sunny, but all at once the sky
grew dark, and the sun hid himself in fear. Black storm-clouds came from
the north. An icy wind blew over the mountains. It wrestled with the
trees of the southland, and even the oaks could not stand against its
power. Their roots were tough and strong, but they had to yield, and the
fallen trees lay on the earth and wailed in sorrow as the cruel
storm-wind and rain beat upon them. The thunder growled in the hollows
of the mountains, and in the fearful gloom came the white fire of the
forked lightning, flaring through the clouds.
"We shall perish," cried the animals of the sunny south. "The arrows of
the lightning are aimed at us. O dear ruler of the southland, must we
yield to the cruel master of the north?"
"My king," said a little buzzing voice, "may I go out and fight the
wicked master of the storm-wind?"
The thunder was still for a moment, and a mocking laugh was heard from
among the clouds, for it was a little hornet that had asked to go out
and meet the power of the ruler of the north.
"Dear king, may I go?" repeated the hornet.
"Yes, you may go," said the king of the south, and the little insect
went out alone, and bravely stung the master of the storm-wind.
The king of the north struck at him with a war-club, but the hornet only
flew above his head and stung him again. The hornet was too small to be
struck by the arrows of the lightning. He stung again and again, and at
last the king of the north went back to his own country, and drove
before him the thunder and lightning and rain and the black storm-clouds
and the icy wind.
"Brave little hornet," said the king of the south, "tell me what I can
do for you. You shall have whatever you ask."
Then said the little hornet, "My king, on all the earth no one loves me.
I do not wish to harm people, but they fear my sting, and they will not
let me live beside their homes. Will you make men love me?"
"Little hornet," said the king gently, "you shall no longer be a
stinging insect feared by men. You shall be a bright and happy oriole,
and when men see you, they will say, 'See the beautiful oriole. I shall
be glad if he will build his nest on our trees.'"
So the hornet is now an oriole, a bird that is loved by every one. His
nest looks like that of a hornet because he learned how to build his
home before he became an oriole.
WHY THE PEACOCK'S TAIL HAS A HUNDRED EYES.
Juno, queen of the gods, had the fairest cow that any one ever saw. She
was creamy white, and her eyes were of as soft and bright a blue as
those of any maiden in the world. Juno and the king of the gods often
played tricks on each other, and Juno knew well that the king would try
to get her cow. There was a watchman named Argus, and one would think
that he could see all that was going on in the world, for he had a
hundred eyes, and no one had ever seen them all asleep at once, so Queen
Juno gave to Argus the work of watching the white cow.
The king of the gods knew what she had done, and he laughed to himself
and said, "I will play a trick on Juno, and I will have the white cow."
He sent for Mercury and whispered in his ear, "Mercury, go to the green
field where Argus watches the cream-white cow and get her for me."
Mercury was always happy when he could play a trick on any one, and he
set out gladly for the field where Argus watched the cream-white cow
with every one of his hundred eyes.
Now Mercury could tell merry stories of all that was done in the world.
He could sing, too, and the music of his voice had lulled many a god to
sleep. Argus knew that, but he had been alone a long time, and he
thought, "What harm is there in listening to his merry chatter? I have a
hundred eyes, and even if half of them were asleep, the others could
easily keep watch of one cow." So he gladly hailed Mercury and said, "I
have been alone in this field a long, long time, but you have roamed
about as you would. Will you not sing to me, and tell me what has
happened in the world? You would be glad to hear stories and music if
you had nothing to do but watch a cow, even if it was the cow of a
queen."
So Mercury sang and told stories. Some of the songs were merry, and some
were sad. The watchman closed one eye, then another and another, but
there were two eyes that would not close for all the sad songs and all
the merry ones. Then Mercury drew forth a hollow reed that he had
brought from the river and began to play on it. It was a magic reed, and
as he played, one could hear the water rippling gently on the shore and
the breath of the wind in the pine-trees; one could see the lilies
bending their heads as the dusk came on, and the stars twinkling softly
in the summer sky.
It is no wonder that Argus closed one eye and then the other. Every one
of his hundred eyes was fast asleep, and Mercury went away to the king
of the gods with the cream-white cow.
[Illustration]
Juno had so often played tricks on the king that he was happy because he
had played this one on her, but Juno was angry, and she said to Argus,
"You are a strange watchman. You have a hundred eyes, and you could not
keep even one of them from falling asleep. My peacock is wiser than you,
for he knows when any one is looking at him. I will put every one of
your eyes in the tail of the peacock." And to-day, whoever looks at the
peacock can count in his tail the hundred eyes that once belonged to
Argus.
THE STORY OF THE BEES AND THE FLIES.
There were once two tribes of little people who lived near together.
They were not at all alike, for one of the tribes looked for food and
carried it away to put it up safely for winter, while the other played
and sang and danced all day long.
"Come and play with us," said the lazy people, but the busy workers
answered, "No, come and work with us. Winter will soon be here. Snow and
ice will be everywhere, and if we do not put up food now we shall have
none for the cold, stormy days."
So the busy people brought honey from the flowers, but the lazy people
kept on playing. They laughed together and whispered to one another,
"See those busy workers! They will have food for two tribes, and they
will give us some. Let us go and dance."
While the summer lasted, one tribe worked and the other played. When
winter came, the busy workers were sorry for their friends and said,
"Let us give them some of our honey." So the people who played had as
much food as if they, too, had brought honey from the flowers.
Another summer was coming, and the workers said, "If we should make our
home near the lilies that give us honey, it would be easier to get our
food." So the workers flew away, but the lazy people played and danced
as they had done before while their friends were near, for they thought,
"Oh, they will come back and bring us some honey."
By and by the cold came, but the lazy people had nothing to eat, and the
workers did not come with food. The manito had said to them, "Dear
little workers, you shall no longer walk from flower to flower. I will
give you wings, and you shall be bees. Whenever men hear a gentle
humming, they will say, 'Those are the busy bees, and their wings were
given them because they were wise and good.'"
[Illustration]
To the other tribe the manito said, "You shall be flies, and you, too,
shall have wings; but while the workers fly from flower to flower and
eat the yellow honey, you shall have for your food only what has been
thrown away. When men hear your buzzing, they will say, 'It is good that
the flies have wings, because we can drive them away from us the more
quickly.'"
THE STORY OF THE FIRST MOLES.
A rich man and a poor man once owned a field together. The rich man
owned the northern half, and the poor man owned the southern half. Each
man sowed his ground with seed. The warm days came, the gentle rain
fell, and the seed in the poor man's half of the field sprang up and put
forth leaves. The seed in the rich man's half all died in the ground.
The rich man was selfish and wicked. He said, "The southern half of the
field is mine," but the poor man replied, "No, the southern half is
mine, for that is where I sowed my seed."
The rich man had a son who was as wicked as himself. This boy whispered,
"Father, tell him to come in the morning. I know how we can keep the
land." So the rich man said, "Come in the morning, and we shall soon see
whose land this is."
At night the rich man and his son pulled up some bushes that grew beside
the field, and the son hid in the hole where their roots had been.
Morning came, and many people went to the field with the rich man. The
poor man was sorrowful, for he feared that he would lose his ground.
"Now we shall see," said the rich man boastfully, and he called aloud,
"Whose ground is this?"
"This is the ground of the rich man," answered a voice from the hole.
"How shall I ever get food for my children!" cried the poor man.
Then another voice was heard. It was that of the spirit of the fields,
and it said, "The southern half of the field is the poor man's, and the
northern half shall be his too."
The rich man would have run away, but the voice called, "Wait. Look
where the bushes once stood. The boy in the hole and his wicked father
shall hide in the darkness as long as they live, and never again shall
they see the light of the sun."
This is the story of the first moles, and this is why the mole never
comes to the light of day.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST ANTS.
"This jar is full of smoked flesh," said one voice.
"This has fish, this is full of honey, and that one is almost running
over with oil," said another voice. "We shall have all that we need to
eat for many days to come."
These are the words that a villager coming home from his work heard his
mother and his sister say.
"They have often played tricks on me," he said to himself, "and now I
will play one on them." So he went into the house and said, "Mother, I
have found that I have a wonderful sense of smell, and by its help I can
find whatever is hidden away."
"That is a marvelous story," cried the sister.
"If you can tell me what is in these jars," said his mother, "I shall
think you are really a magician. What is it now?"
"This is flesh, this fish, this honey, and this jar is full of oil,"
said the man.
"I never heard of such a marvel in all my life," cried the mother; and
in the morning she called her friends and said, "Only think what a
wonderful sense of smell my son has! He told me what was in these jars
when they were closed."
It was not long before the people all through the country heard of the
wonderful man, and one day word came that the king wished to see him at
once.
The man was afraid, for he did not know what would happen to him, and he
was still more afraid when the king said, "A pearl is lost that I had in
my hand last night. They say you can find things that are lost. Find my
pearl, or your head will he lost."
The poor man went out into the forest. "Oh, how I wish I had not tried
to play tricks," he wailed. "Then this sharp sorrow, this dire trouble,
would not have come upon me."
"Please, please do not tell the king," said two voices in the shadow of
the trees.
"Who are you?" asked the man.
"Oh, you must know us well," said a man coming out into the light. "My
name is Sharp, and that man behind the tree is named Dire, but please do
not tell the king. We will give you the pearl; here it is. You called
our names, and we saw that you knew us. Oh, I wish I had not been a
thief!"
The man gave the pearl to the king, and went home wishing that no one
would ever talk to him again of his sense of smell.
In three days word came from the queen that he must come to her at once.
She thought his power was only a trick, and to catch him she had put a
cat into a bag and the bag into a box.
When the man came, she asked sharply, "What is in this box? Tell me the
truth, or off will go your head."
[Illustration: A WONDERFUL SENSE OF SMELL]
"What shall I do?" thought the man, "Dire death is upon me." He did not
remember that he was before the queen, and he repeated half aloud an old
saying, "The bagged cat soon dies."
"What is that?" cried the queen.
"The bagged cat soon dies," repeated the man in great terror.
"You are a marvelous man," said the queen. "There is really a bag in the
box and a cat in the bag, but no one besides myself knew it."
"He is not a man; he is a god," cried the people, "and he must be in the
sky and live among the gods;" so they threw him up to the sky. His hand
was full of earth, and when the earth fell back, it was no longer earth,
but a handful of ants. Ants have a wonderful sense of smell, and it is
because they fell from the hand of this man who was thrown up into the
sky to live among the gods.
THE FACE OF THE MANITO.
Many years ago the manito of the Indians lived in the sun. Every morning
the wise men of the tribe went to the top of a mountain, and as the sun
rose in the east, they sang, "We praise thee, O sun! From thee come fire
and light. Be good to us, be good to us."
After the warm days of the summer had come, the sun was so bright that
the Indians said to their wise men, "When you go to the mountain top,
ask the manito to show us his face in a softer, gentler light."
Then the wise men went to the mountain top, and this is what they said:
"O great manito, we are but children before you, and we have no power to
bear the brightness of your face. Look down upon us here on the earth
with a gentler, softer light, that we may ever gaze upon you and show
you all love and all honor."
The bright sun moved slowly toward the south. The people were afraid
that the manito was angry with them, but when the moon rose they were
no longer sad, for from the moon the loving face of the manito was
looking down upon them.
Night after night the people gazed at the gentle face, but at last a
night came when the moon was not seen in the sky. The wise men went
sorrowfully to the mountain top. "O manito," they said, "we are never
happy when we cannot gaze into your face. Will you not show it to your
children?"
The moon did not rise, and the people were sad, but when morning came,
there was the loving face of the manito showing clearly in the rocks at
the top of the mountain.
Again they were happy, but when dark clouds hid the gentle face, the
wise men went to the foot of the mountain and called sadly, "O manito,
we can no longer see your face."
The clouds grew darker and fell like a cloak over the mountain, the
trees trembled in the wind, the forked lightning shot across the sky,
and the thunder called aloud.
"It is the anger of the manito," cried the people. "The heavens are
falling," they whispered, and they hid their faces in fear.
Morning came, the storm had gone, and the sky was clear. Tremblingly the
people looked up toward the mountain top for the face of the manito. It
was not there, but after they had long gazed in sorrow, a wise man
cried, "There it is, where no cloud will hide it from us." In the storm
the rocks had fallen from the mountain top. They were halfway down the
mountain side, and in them could be seen the face of the manito.
Then the people cried, "Praise to the good manito! His loving face will
look down upon us from the mountain side forever-more."
For a long time all went well, but at last trouble came, for they heard
that a great tribe were on the war-path coming to kill them. "Help us,
dear manito," they cried but there was no help. The warriors came nearer
and nearer. Their war-cry was heard, "O manito," called the people,
"help us, help us!" A voice from the mountain answered, "My children, be
not afraid." The war-cry was still, and when the people looked, for the
warriors, they were nowhere to be seen. The people gazed all around, and
at last one of the wise men cried, "There they are, there they are!"
They were at the foot of the mountain, but the people no longer feared
them, for now they were not warriors but rocks. To keep from harm those
whom he loved, the manito had made the warriors into stone. They stood
at the foot of the mountain, and to-day, if you should go to that
far-away country, you could see the rocks that were once warriors, and
above them, halfway up the mountain side, you could see the face of the
manito.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST DIAMONDS.
The chief of an Indian tribe had two sons whom he loved very dearly.
This chief was at war with another tribe, and one dark night two of his
enemies crept softly through the trees till they came to where the two
boys lay sound asleep. The warriors caught the younger boy up gently,
and carried him far away from his home and his friends.
When the chief woke, he cried, "Where is my son? My enemies have been
here and have stolen him."
All the Indians in the tribe started out in search of the boy. They
roamed the forest through and through, but the stolen child could not be
found.
The chief mourned for his son, and when the time of his death drew near,
he said to his wife, "Moneta, my tribe shall have no chief until my boy
is found and taken from our enemies. Let our oldest son go forth in
search of his brother, and until he has brought back the little one, do
you rule my people."
Moneta ruled the people wisely and kindly. When the older son was a man
she said to him, "My son, go forth and search for your brother, whom I
have mourned these many years. Every day I shall watch for you, and
every night I shall build a fire on the mountain top."
"Do not mourn, mother," said the young man. "You will not build the fire
many nights on the mountain top, for I shall soon find my brother and
bring him back to you."
He went forth bravely, but he did not come back. His mother went every
night to the mountain top, and when she was so old that she could no
longer walk, the young men of the tribe bore her up the mountain side in
their strong arms, so that with her own trembling hand she could light
the fire.
One night there was a great storm. Even the brave warriors were afraid,
but Moneta had no fear, for out of the storm a gentle voice had come to
her that said, "Moneta, your sons are coming home to you."
[Illustration]
"Once more I must build the fire on the mountain top," she cried. The
young men trembled with fear, but they bore her to the top of the
mountain.
"Leave me here alone," she said. "I hear a voice. It is the voice of my
son, and he is calling, 'Mother, mother.' Come to me, come, my boys."
Coming slowly up the mountain in the storm was the older son. The
younger had died on the road home, and he lay dead in the arms of his
brother.
In the morning the men of the tribe went to the mountain top in search
of Moneta and her sons. They were nowhere to be seen, but where the
tears of the lonely mother had fallen, there was a brightness that had
never been seen before. The tears were shining in the sunlight as if
each one of them was itself a little sun. Indeed, they were no longer
tears, but diamonds.
The dearest thing in all the world is the tear of mother-love, and that
is why the tears were made into diamonds, the stones that are brightest
and clearest of all the stones on the earth.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST PEARLS.
There was once a man named Runoia, and when he walked along the pathways
of the forest, the children would say shyly to one another, "Look, there
is the man who always hears music."
It was really true that wherever he went he could hear sweet music.
There are some kinds of music that every one can hear, but Runoia heard
sweet sounds where others heard nothing. When the lilies sang their
evening song to the stars, he could hear it, and when the mother tree
whispered "Good-night" to the little green leaves, he heard the music of
her whisper, though other men heard not a sound.
He was sorry for those other men, and he said to himself, "I will make a
harp, and then even if they cannot hear all the kinds of music, they
will hear the sweet voice of the harp."
This must have been a magic harp, for if one else touched it, no sound
was heard, but when Runoia touched the strings, the trees bent down
their branches to listen, the little blossoms put their heads out shyly,
and even the wind was hushed. All kinds of beasts and birds came about
him as he played, and the sun and the moon stood still in the heavens to
hear the wonderful music. All these beautiful things happened whenever
Runoia touched the strings.
Sometimes Runoia's music was sad. Then the sun and the moon hid their
faces behind the clouds, the wind sang mournfully, and the lilies bent
low their snow-white blossoms.
One day Runoia roamed far away till he came to the shores of the great
sea. The sun had set, darkness hid the sky and the water, not a star was
to be seen. Not a sound was heard but the wailing of the sea. No friend
was near. "I have no friends," he said. He laid his hand upon his harp,
and of themselves the strings gave forth sweet sounds, at first softly
and shyly. Then the sounds grew louder, and soon the world was full of
music, such as even Runoia had never heard before, for it was the music
of the gods. "It is really true," he said to himself softly. "My harp is
giving me music to drive away my sadness."
[Illustration]
He listened, and the harp played more and more sweetly. "He who has a
harp has one true friend. He who loves music is loved by the gods," so
the harp sang to him.
Tears came into Runoia's eyes, but they were tears of happiness, not of
sadness, for he was no longer lonely. A gentle voice called, "Runoia,
come to the home of the gods."
As darkness fell over the sea, Runoia's friends went to look for him. He
was gone, but where he had stood listening happily to the music of the
gods, there on the fair white sand was the harp, and all around it lay
beautiful pearls, shining softly in the moonlight, for every tear of
happiness was now a pearl.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST EMERALDS.
In the days of long ago there was a time when there were no emeralds on
the earth. Men knew where to find other precious stones. They could get
pearls and diamonds, but no one had ever seen an emerald, because the
emeralds were hidden away in the bed of the sea, far down below the
waves.
The king of India had many precious things, and he was always eager to
get others. One day a stranger stood before his door, and when the king
came out he cried, "O king, you have much that is precious. Do you wish
to have the most beautiful thing in earth, air, or water?"
"Yes, in truth," said the king. "What is it?"
"It is a vase made of an emerald stone," answered the stranger.
"And what is an emerald stone?" asked the king.
"It is a stone that no one on earth has ever seen," said the stranger.
"It is greener than the waves of the sea or the leaves of the forest."
"Where is the wonderful vase?" cried the king eagerly.
"Where the waves of the sea never roll," was the answer, but when the
king was about to ask where that was, the stranger had gone.
The king asked his three wise men where it was that the waves of the sea
never rolled. One said, "In the forest;" another said, "On the
mountain;" and the last said, "In the sea where the water is deepest."
The king thought a long time about these answers of the wise men. At
last he said: "If the emerald vase had been in the forest or on the
mountain, it would have been found long before now. I think it is in the
deepest water of the sea."
This king of India was a great magician. He went to the sea, and there
he sang many a magical song, for he said to himself, "I have no diver
who can go to the bed of the sea, but often magic will do what a diver
cannot."
The king of the world under the water owned the beautiful vase, but when
he heard the songs, he knew that he must give it up. "Take it," he said
to the spirits that live in the deepest water. "Bear it to the king of
India. The spirits of the air will try to take it from you, but see that
it goes safely to the king whose magic has called it from the sea."
The spirits of the sea rose from the waves bearing the precious vase.
"It is ours, it is ours," cried the spirits of the air. "The king of
India shall never have it." The spirits of the air and the spirits of
the water fought together. "What a fearful storm!" cried the people on
the earth. "See how the lightning shoots across the sky, and hear the
thunder roll from mountain to mountain!" They hid themselves in terror,
but it was no storm, it was only the spirits fighting for the emerald
vase.
One of the spirits of the air bore it at last far up above the top of
the highest mountain. "It is mine," he cried. "Never," said a spirit of
the water, and he caught it and threw it angrily against the rocky top
of the mountain. It fell in hundreds of pieces.
There was no vase like it in the east or the west, the north or the
south, and so the king of India never had an emerald vase; but from the
pieces of the vase that was thrown against the mountain came all the
emeralds that are now on the earth.
WHY THE EVERGREEN TREES NEVER LOSE THEIR LEAVES.
Winter was coming, and the birds had flown far to the south, where the
air was warm and they could find berries to eat. One little bird had
broken its wing and could not fly with the others. It was alone in the
cold world of frost and snow. The forest looked warm, and it made its
way to the trees as well as it could, to ask for help.
First it came to a birch-tree. "Beautiful birch-tree," it said, "my wing
is broken, and my friends have flown away. May I live among your
branches till they come back to me?"
"No, indeed," answered the birch-tree, drawing her fair green leaves
away. "We of the great forest have our own birds to help. I can do
nothing for you."
"The birch is not very strong," said the little bird to itself, "and it
might be that she could not hold me easily. I will ask the oak." So the
bird said, "Great oak-tree, you are so strong, will you not let me live
on your boughs till my friends come back in the springtime?"
"In the springtime!" cried the oak. "That is a long way off. How do I
know what you might do in all that time? Birds are always looking for
something to eat, and you might even eat up some of my acorns."
"It may be that the willow will be kind to me," thought the bird, and it
said, "Gentle willow, my wing is broken, and I could not fly to the
south with the other birds. May I live on your branches till the
springtime?"
The willow did not look gentle then, for she drew herself up proudly and
said, "Indeed, I do not know you, and we willows never talk to people
whom we do not know. Very likely there are trees somewhere that will
take in strange birds. Leave me at once."
The poor little bird did not know what to do. Its wing was not yet
strong, but it began to fly away as well as it could. Before it had
gone far, a voice was heard. "Little bird," it said, "where are you
going?"
"Indeed, I do not know," answered the bird sadly. "I am very cold."
"Come right here, then," said the friendly spruce-tree, for it was her
voice that had called. "You shall live on my warmest branch all winter
if you choose."
"Will you really let me?" asked the little bird eagerly.
"Indeed, I will," answered the kind-hearted spruce-tree. "If your
friends have flown away, it is time for the trees to help you. Here is
the branch where my leaves are thickest and softest."
"My branches are not very thick," said the friendly pine-tree, "but I am
big and strong, and I can keep the north wind from you and the spruce."
"I can help too," said a little juniper-tree. "I can give you berries
all winter long, and every bird knows that juniper berries are good."
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So the spruce gave the lonely little bird a home, the pine kept the cold
north wind away from it, and the juniper gave it berries to eat.
The other trees looked on and talked together wisely.
"I would not have strange birds on my boughs," said the birch.
"I shall not give my acorns away for any one," said the oak.
"I never have anything to do with strangers," said the willow, and the
three trees drew their leaves closely about them.
In the morning all those shining green leaves lay on the ground, for a
cold north wind had come in the night, and every leaf that it touched
fell from the tree.
"May I touch every leaf in the forest?" asked the wind in its frolic.
"No," said the frost king. "The trees that have been kind to the little
bird with the broken wing may keep their leaves."
This is why the leaves of the spruce, the pine, and the juniper are
always green.
WHY THE ASPEN LEAVES TREMBLE.
"It is very strange," whispered one reed to another, "that the queen bee
never guides her swarm to the aspen-tree."
"Indeed, it _is_ strange," said the other. "The oak and the willow often
have swarms, but I never saw one on the aspen. What can be the reason?"
"The queen bee cannot bear the aspen," said the first. "Very likely she
has some good reason for despising it. I do not think that an insect as
wise as she would despise a tree without any reason. Many wicked things
happen that no one knows."
The reeds did not think that any one could hear what they said, but both
the willow and the aspen heard every word. The aspen was so angry that
it trembled from root to tip. "I'll soon see why that proud queen bee
despises me," it said. "She shall guide a swarm to my branches or"--
"Oh, I would not care for what those reeds say," the willow-tree broke
in. "They are the greatest chatterers in the world. They are always
whispering together, and they always have something unkind to say."
The aspen-tree was too angry to be still, and it called out to the
reeds, "You are only lazy whisperers. I do not care what you say. I
despise both you and your queen bee. The honey that those bees make is
not good to eat. I would not have it a anywhere near me."
"Hush, hush," whispered the willow timidly. "The reeds will repeat every
word that you say."
"I do not care if they do," said the aspen. "I despise both them and the
bees."
The reeds did whisper the angry words of the aspen to the queen bee, and
she said, "I was going to guide my swarm to the aspen, but now I will
drive the tree out of the forest. Come, my bees, come."
Then the bees flew by hundreds upon the aspen. They stung every leaf and
every twig through and through. The tree was driven from the forest,
over the prairie, over the river, over the fields; and still the angry
bees flew after it and stung it again and again. When they had come to
the rocky places, they left it and flew back to the land of flowers. The
aspen never came back. Its bright green leaves had grown white through
fear, and from that day to this they have trembled as they did when the
bees were stinging them and driving the tree from the forest.
HOW THE BLOSSOMS CAME TO THE HEATHER.
Only a little while after the earth was made, the trees and plants came
to live on it. They were happy and contented. The lily was glad because
her flowers were white. The rose was glad because her flowers were red.
The violet was happy because, however shyly she might hide herself away,
some one would come to look for her and praise her fragrance. The daisy
was happiest of all because every child in the world loved her.
The trees and plants chose homes for themselves. The oak said, "I will
live in the broad fields and by the roads, and travelers may sit in my
shadow." "I shall be contented on the waters of the pond," said the
water-lily. "And I am contented in the sunny fields," said the daisy.
"My fragrance shall rise from beside some mossy stone," said the violet.
Each plant chose its home where it would be most happy and contented.
There was one little plant, however, that had not said a word and had
not chosen a home. This plant was the heather. She had not the sweet
fragrance of the violet, and the children did not love her as they did
the daisy. The reason was that no blossoms had been given to her, and
she was too shy to ask for any.
"I wish there was some one who would be glad to see me," she said; but
she was a brave little plant, and she did her best to be contented and
to look bright and green.
One day she heard the mountain say, "Dear plants, will you not come to
my rocks and cover them with your brightness and beauty? In the winter
they are cold, and in the summer they are stung by the sunshine. Will
you not come and cover them?"
"I cannot leave the pond," cried the water-lily.
"I cannot leave the moss," said the violet.
"I cannot leave the green fields," said the daisy.
The little heather was really trembling with eagerness. "If the great,
beautiful mountain would only let me come!" she thought, and at last she
whispered very softly and shyly, "Please, dear mountain, will you let me
come? I have not any blossoms like the others, but I will try to keep
the wind and the sun away from you."
"Let you?" cried the mountain. "I shall be contented and happy if a dear
little plant like you will only come to me."
The heather soon covered the rocky mountain side with her bright green,
and the mountain called proudly to the other plants, "See how beautiful
my little heather is!" The others replied, "Yes, she is bright and
green, but she has no blossoms."
Then a sweet, gentle voice was heard saying, "Blossoms you shall have,
little heather. You shall have many and many a flower, because you have
loved the lonely mountain, and have done all that you could to please
him and make him happy." Even before the sweet voice was still, the
little heather was bright with many blossoms, and blossoms she has had
from that day to this.
HOW FLAX WAS GIVEN TO MEN.
"You have been on the mountain a long time," said the wife of the
hunter.
"Yes, wife, and I have seen the most marvelous sight in all the world,"
replied the hunter.
"What was that?"
"I came to a place on the mountain where I had been many and many a time
before, but a great hole had been made in the rock, and through the hole
I saw--oh, wife, it was indeed a wonderful sight!"
"But what was it, my hunter?"
"There was a great hall, all shining and sparkling with precious
stones. There were diamonds and pearls and emeralds, more than we could
put into our little house, and among all the beautiful colors sat a
woman who was fairer than they. Her maidens were around her, and the
hall was as bright with their beauty as it was with the stones. One was
playing on a harp, one was singing, and others were dancing as lightly
and merrily as a sunbeam on a blossom. The woman was even more beautiful
than the maidens, and, wife, as soon as I saw her I thought that she was
no mortal woman."
"Did you not fall on your knees and ask her to be good to us?"
"Yes, wife, and straightway she said: 'Rise, my friend. I have a gift
for you. Choose what you will to carry to your wife as a gift from
Holda.'"
"Did you choose pearls or diamonds?"
"I looked about the place, and it was all so sparkling that I closed my
eyes. 'Choose your gift,' she said. I looked into her face, and then I
knew that it was indeed the goddess Holda, queen of the sky. When I
looked at her, I could not think of precious stones, for her eyes were
more sparkling than diamonds, and I said: 'O goddess Holda, there is no
gift in all your magic hall that I would so gladly bear away to my home
as the little blue flower in your lily-white hand.'"
"Well!" cried the wife, "and when you might have had half the pearls and
emeralds in the place, you chose a little faded blue flower! I did think
you were a wiser man."
"The goddess said I had chosen well," said the hunter. "She gave me the
flower and the seed of it, and she said, 'When the springtime comes,
plant the seed, and in the summer I myself will come and teach you what
to do with the plant.'"
In the spring the little seeds were put into the ground. Soon the green
leaves came up; then many little blue flowers, as blue as the sky,
lifted up their heads in the warm sunshine of summer. No one on the
earth knew how to spin or to weave, but on the brightest, sunniest day
of the summer, the goddess Holda came down from the mountain to the
little house.
[Illustration: "SHE GAVE ME THE FLOWER"]
"Can you spin flax?" she asked of the wife.
"Indeed, no," said the wife.
"Can you weave linen?"
"Indeed, no."
"Then I will teach you how to spin and to weave," said the good goddess.
"The little blue flower is the flax. It is my own flower, and I love the
sight of it."
So the goddess sat in the home of the hunter and his wife and taught
them how to spin flax and weave linen. When the wife saw the piece of
linen on the grass, growing whiter and whiter the longer the sun shone
upon it, she said to her husband, "Indeed, my hunter, the linen is
fairer than the pearls, and I should rather have the beautiful white
thing that is on the grass in the sunshine than all the diamonds in the
hall of the goddess."
WHY THE JUNIPER HAS BERRIES.
Three cranberries once lived together in a meadow. They were sisters,
but they did not look alike, for one was white, and one was red, and one
was green. Winter came, and the wind blew cold. "I wish we lived nearer
the wigwam," said the white cranberry timidly. "I am afraid that Hoots,
the bear, will come. What should we do?"
"The women in the wigwam are afraid as well as we," the red cranberry
said. "I heard them say they wished the men would come back from the
hunt."
"We might hide in the woods," the green cranberry whispered.
"But the bear will come down the path through the woods," replied the
white cranberry.
"I think our own meadow is the best place," the red cranberry said. "I
shall not go away from the meadow. I shall hide here in the moss."
"I am so white," the white cranberry wailed, "that I know Hoots would
see me. I shall hide in the hominy. That is as white as I."
"I cannot hide in the hominy," said the green cranberry, "but I have a
good friend in the woods. I am going to ask the juniper-tree to hide me.
Will you not go with me?" But the red cranberry thought it best to stay
in the moss, and the white cranberry thought it best to hide in the
hominy, so the green cranberry had to go alone to the friendly
juniper-tree.
By and by a growling was heard, and soon Hoots himself came in sight. He
walked over and over the red cranberry that lay hidden in the moss. Then
he went to the wigwam. There stood the hominy, and in it was the white
cranberry, trembling so she could not keep still.
"Ugh, ugh, what good hominy!" said Hoots, and in the twinkling of an eye
he had eaten it up, white cranberry and all.
Now the red cranberry was dead, and the white cranberry was dead, but
the little green cranberry that went to the juniper-tree had hidden
away in the thick branches, and Hoots did not find her. She was so happy
with the kind-hearted tree that she never left it, and that is the
reason why the juniper-tree has berries.
WHY THE SEA IS SALT.
Frothi, king of the Northland, owned some magic millstones. Other
millstones grind corn, but these would grind out whatever the owner
wished, if he knew how to move them. Frothi tried and tried, but they
would not stir.
"Oh, if I could only move the millstones," he cried, "I would grind out
so many good things for my people. They should all be happy and rich."
One day King Frothi was told that two strange women were begging at the
gate to see him.
"Let them come in," he said, and the were brought before him.
"We have come from a land that is far away," they said.
"What can I do for you?" asked the king.
"We have come to do something for you," answered the women.
"There is only one thing that I wish for," said the king, "and that is
to make the magic millstones grind, but you cannot do that."
"Why not?" asked the women. "That is just what we have come to do. That
is why we stood at your gate and begged to speak to you."
Then the king was a happy man indeed. "Bring in the millstones," he
called. "Quick, quick! Do not wait." The millstones were brought in, and
the women asked, "What shall we grind for you?"
"Grind gold and happiness and rest for my people," cried the king
gladly.
The women touched the magic millstones, and how they did grind! "Gold
and happiness and rest for the people," said the women to one another.
"Those are good wishes."
The gold was so bright and yellow that King Frothi could not bear to let
it go out of his sight. "Grind more," he said to the women. "Grind
faster. Why did you come to my gate if you did not wish to grind?"
"We are so weary," said the women. "Will you not let us rest?"
"You may rest for as long a time as it needs to say 'Frothi,'" cried the
king, "and no longer. Now you have rested. Grind away. No one should be
weary who is grinding out yellow gold."
"He is a wicked king," said the women. "We will grind for him no more.
Mill, grind out hundreds and hundreds of strong warriors to fight Frothi
and punish him for his cruel words."
The millstones ground faster and faster. Hundreds of warriors sprang
out, and they killed Frothi and all his men.
"Now I shall be king," cried the strongest of the warriors. He put the
two women and the magic millstones on a ship to go to a far-away land.
"Grind, grind," he called to the women.
"But we are so weary. Please let us rest," they begged.
"Rest? No. Grind on, grind on. Grind salt, if you can grind nothing
else."
Night came and the weary women were still grinding. "Will you not let us
rest?" they asked.
"No," cried the cruel warrior. "Keep grinding, even if the ship goes to
the bottom of the sea." The women ground, and it was not long before the
ship really did go to the bottom, and carried the cruel warrior with it.
There at the bottom of the sea are the two millstones still grinding
salt, for there is no one to say that they must grind no longer. That is
why the sea is salt.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST WHITEFISH.
One day a crane was sitting on a rock far out in the water, when he
heard a voice say, "Grandfather Crane, Grandfather Crane, please come
and carry us across the lake." It was the voice of a child, and when the
crane had come to the shore, he saw two little boys holding each other's
hands and crying bitterly.
"Why do you cry?" asked the crane, "and why do you wish to go across the
lake, away from your home and friends?"
"We have no friends," said the little boys, crying more bitterly than
ever. "We have no father and no mother, and a cruel witch troubles us.
She tries all the time to do us harm, and we are going to run away where
she can never find us."
"I will carry you over the lake," said the crane. "Hold on well, but do
not touch the back of my head, for if you do, you will fall into the
water and go to the bottom of the lake. Will you obey me?"
"Yes, indeed, we will obey," they said. "We will not touch your head.
But please come quickly and go as fast as you can. We surely heard the
voice of the witch in the woods."
It really was the witch, and she was saying over and over to herself, "I
will catch them, and I will punish them so that they will never run away
from me again. They will obey me after I have caught them."
The crane bore the two little boys gently to the other shore, and when
he came back, there stood the witch.
"Dear, gentle crane," she said, "you are so good to every one. Will you
carry me over the lake? My two dear children are lost in the woods, and
I have cried bitterly for them all day long."
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