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THE BOOK OF
NATURE MYTHS
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
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V
FROM THE WIGWAM OF THE GREAT SPIRIT (page 2)
§ (I
fSYCH.
UBRARY
THE BOOK OF
NATURE MYTHS
BY FLORENCE HOLBROOK
PRINCIPAL OF FORESTVILLE SCHOOL, CHICAGO
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
COPYRIGHT 1902 BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN ft Ca
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
EDUC
UBRAr>
CONTENTS.
M
The Story of the First Humming-bird.
Part I. The Great Fire-mountain 1
Part II. The Frolic of the Flames 4
Part III. The Bird of Flame 7
The Story of the First Butterflies 10
The Story of the First Woodpecker 13
Why the Woodpecker's Head is Red 15
Why the Cat always falls upon her Feet 19
Why the Swallow's Tail is Forked 23
Why the White Hares have Black Ears 28
Why the Magpie's Nest is not well built 31
Why the Raven's Feathers Xre Black 34
How Fire was brought to the Indians.
Part I. Seizing the Firebrand 36
Part II. The Firebrand in the Forest 40
Part III. The Firebrand in the Pond 41
How the Quail became a Snipe 43
Why the Serpent sheds his Skin 47
Why the Dove is Timid 60
Why the Parrot repeats the Words of Men .... 62
The Story op the First Mocking-bird 66
Why the Tail of the Fox has a White Tip .... 60
The Story of the First Frogs 64
Why the Rabbit is Timid 68
Why the Peetweet cries for Rain 70
Why the Bear has a Short Tail 72
Why the Wren flies Close to the Earth 76
Why the Hoofs of the Deer are Split 79
The Story of the First Grasshopper 83
VI CONTENTS.
The Story of the Oriole 86
Why the Peacock's Tail has a Hundred Eyes .... 89
The Story of the Bees and the Flies 93
The Story of the First Moles 96
The Story of the First Ants 98
The Face of the Manito 103
The Story of the First Diamonds 107
The Story of thb First Pearls Ill
The Story of the First Emeralds 114
Why the Evergreen Trees never lose their Leaves . 118
Why the Aspen Leaves tremble 122
How THE Blossoms came to the Heather 126
How Flax was given to Men 128
Why the Juniper has Berries 133
Why the Sea is Salt 135
The Story of the First Whitefish . . • 138
Was it the First Turtle ? 142
Why the Crocodile has a Wide Mouth 145
The Story of the Picture on the Vase 150
Why the Water in Rivers is never Still 155
How THE Raven helped Men 160
The Story of the Earth and the Sky 165
How Summer came to the Earth.
Part 1 169
Part II 172
The Story of the First Snowdrops . 175
Why the Face of the Moon is White 179
Why all Men love the Moon 184
Why there is a Hare in the Moon 188
The Children in the Moon 193
Why there is a Man in the Moon o 197
The Twin Stars 200
The Lantern and the Fan 204
Vocabulary > 211
PREFACE.
In preparing the Book of Nature Myths the de-
sire has been to make a second reader which would
be adapted to the child's interest, ability, and pro-
gress.
The subject-matter is of permanent value, culled
from the folk-lore of the primitive races ; the vocab-
ulary, based upon that of the Hiawatha Primer, is
increased gradually, and the new words and phrases
will add to the child's power of expression. The
naive explanations of the phenomena of nature given
by the primitive races appeal to the child's wonder
about the same phenomena, and he is pleased and
interested. These myths will gratify the child's
desire for complete stories, and their intrinsic merit
makes them valuable for oral reproduction.
The stories have beeii adapted to youthful minds
from myths contained in the works of many students
of folk-lore whose scholarship is undisputed. Special
acknowledgment is due Miss Eva March Tappan
for her valuable assistance in the final revision of
the text.
THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST HUMMING-
BIRD.
PART I. THE GREAT FIRE-MOUNTAIN.
Long, long ago, when the earth was very
young, two hunters were traveling through
the forest. They had been on the track of
a deer for many days, and they were now far
away from the village where they lived.
The sun went down and night came on.
It was dark and gloomy, but over in the
western sky there came a bright light.
" It is the moon," said one.
" No," said the other. " We have watched
many and many a night to see the great,
round moon rise above the trees. That is
not the moon. Is it the northern lights ? "
" No, the northern lights are not like
this, and it is not a comet. What can it
be?"
-3 Ti
2 TfiE B5018: OF NATtJRE MYTHSc
It is no wonder that the hunters were
afraid, for the flames flared red over the
sky like a wigwam on fire. Thick, blue
smoke floated above the flames and hid the
shining stars.
** Do the flames and smoke come from
the wigwam of the Great Spirit?" asked
one.
" I fear that he is angry with his children,
and that the flames are his fiery war-clubs,"
whispered the other. No sleep came to
their eyes. All night long they watched
and wondered, and waited in terror for the
morning.
When morning came, the two hunters
were still watching the sky. Little by little
they saw that there was a high mountain
in the west where the light had been, and
above the mountain floated a dark blue
smoke. ** Come," said one, " we will go and
see what it is."
They walked and walked till they came
close to the mountain, and then they saw
fire shining through the seams of the rocks.
THE FIRST HUMMING-BIRDo 3
" It is a mountain of fire," one whispered.
" Shall we go on ? " " We will," said the
other, and they went higher and higher up
the mountain. At last they stood upon its
highest point. " Now we know the secret,*'
they cried. ** Our people will be glad when
they hear this."
Swiftly they went home through the for-
est to their own village^ " We have found a
wonder," they cried. " We have found the
home of the Fire Spirit. We know where
she keeps her flames to help the Great
Spirit and his children. It is a mountain
of fire. Blue smoke rises above it night and
day, for its heart is a fiery sea, and on
the sea the red flames leap and dance.
Come with us to the wonderful mountain
of fire."
The people of the village had been cold
in the winter nights, and they cried, " O
brothers, your words are good. We will
move our lodges to the foot of the magic
mountain. We can light our wigwam fires
from its flames, and we shall not fear that
4 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
we shall perish in the long, cold nights of
winter."
So the Indians went to live at the foot of
the fire -mountain, and when the cold nights
came, they said, ** We are not cold, for the
Spirit of Fire is our good friend, and she
keeps her people from perishing."
PART II. THE FROLIC OF THE FLAMES.
For many and many a moon the people
of the village lived at the foot of the great
fire-mountain. On summer evenings, the
children watched the light, and when a
child asked, ** Father, what makes it .^ " the
father said, " That is the home of the Great
Spirit of Fire, who is our good friend."
Then all in the little village went to sleep
and lay safely on their beds till the coming
of the morning.
But one night when all the people in the
village were asleep, the flames in the moun-
tain had a great frolic. They danced upon
the sea of fire as warriors dance the war-
dance. They seized great rocks and threw
THE FIRST HUMMING-BIRD.
them at the sky. The smoke above them
hid the stars ; the mountain throbbed and
trembled. Higher and still higher sprang
the dancing flames. At last, they leaped
clear above the highest point of the moun-
tain and started down it in a river of red
fire. Then the gentle Spirit of Fire called,
6 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" Come back, my flames, come back again !
The people in the village will not know
that you are in a frolic, and they will be
afraid."
The flames did not heed her words, and
the riyer of fire ran on and on, straight down
the mountain. The flowers in its pathway
perished. It leaped upon great trees and
bore them to the earth. It drove the birds
from their nests, and they fluttered about
in the thick smoke. It hunted the wild
creatures of the forest from the thickets
where they hid, and they fled before it in
terror.
At last, one of the warriors in the village
awoke. The thick smoke was in his nostrils.
In his ears was the war-cry of the flames.
He sprang to the door of his lodge and saw
the fiery river leaping down the mountain.
"My people, my people," he cried, "the
flames are upon us ! " With cries of fear
the people in the village fled far away into
the forest, and the flames feasted upon the
homes they loved.
THE FIRST HUMMING-BIRD. t
The two hunters went to look upon the
mountain, and when they came back, they
said sadly, " There are no flowers on the
mountain. Not a bird-song did we hear.
Not a living creature did we see. It is all
dark and gloomy. We know the fire is
there, for the blue smoke still floats up to
the sky, but the mountain will never again
be our friend."
PART III. THE BIRD OF FLAME.
When the Great Spirit saw the work of
the flames, he was very angry. ** The fires
of this mountain must perish," he said.
" No longer shall its red flames light the
midnight sky."
The mountain trembled with fear at the
angry words of the Great Spirit. " O father
of all fire and light," cried the Fire Spirit,
" I know that the fiames have been crueL
They killed the beautiful flowers and drove
your children from their homes, but for
many, many moons they heeded my words
and were good and gentle. They drove the
8 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
frost and cold of winter from the wigwams
of the village. The little children laughed
to see their red light in the sky. The
hearts of your people will be sad, if the
flames must perish from the earth."
The Great Spirit listened to the words of
the gentle Spirit of Fire, but he answered,
" The fires must perish. They have been
cruel to my people, and the little children
will fear them now ; but because the children
once loved them, the beautiful colors of the
flames shall still live to make glad the hearts
of all who look upon them."
Then the Great Spirit struck the moun-
tain with his magic war-club. The smoke
above it faded away ; its fires grew cold and
dead. In its dark and gloomy heart only
one little flame still trembled. It looked
like a star. How beautiful it was !
The Great Spirit looked upon the little
flame. He saw that it was beautiful and
gentle, and he loved it. " The fires of the
mountain must perish," he said, " but you,
little, gentle flame, shall have wings and fly
THE FIRST HUMMING-BIRD. «
far away from the cruel fires, and all my
children will love you as I do." Swiftly the
little thing rose above the mountain and
flew away in the sunshine. The light of
the flames was still on its head ; their mar-
velous colors were on its wings.
So from the mountain's heart of fire sprang
the first humming-bird. It is the bird of
flame, for it has all the beauty of the colors
of the flame, but it is gentle, and every
child in all the earth loves it and is glad to
see it fluttering over the flowers.
iO THE BOOK OF NATUEE MYTHS.
THE STOEY OF THE FIEST BUTTER-
FLIES.
The Great Spirit thought, ** By and by I
will make men, but first I will make a home
for them. It shall be yery bright and beau-
tiful. There shall be mountains and prairies
and forests, and about it all shall be the blue
waters of the sea."
As the Great Spirit had thought, so he
did. He gave the earth a soft cloak of green.
He made the prairies beautiful with flowers.
The forests were bright with birds of many
colors, and the sea was the home of wonder-
ful sea-creatures. " My children will loye
the prairies, the forests, and the seas," he
thought, " but the mountains look dark and
cold. They are yery dear to me, but how
shall I make my children go to them and
so learn to loye them ? "
Long the Great Spirit thought about the
mountains. At last, he made many little
shining stones. Some were red, some blue,
gome green, some yellow, and some were
THE FIRST BUTTERFLIES. 11
shining with all the lovely colors of the
beautiful rainbow. '* All my children will
loye what is beautiful," he thought, " and if
I hide the bright stones in the seams of the
rocks of the mountains, men will come to
find them, and they will learn to loye my
mountains."
When the stones were made and the
Great Spirit looked upon their beauty, he
said, ** I will not hide you all away in the
seams of the rocks. Some of you shall be
out in the sunshine, so that the little chil-
dren who cannot go to the mountains shall
see your colors." Then the southwind came
by, and as he went, he sang softly of forests
flecked with light and shadow, of birds and
their nests in the leafy trees. He sang of
long summer days and the music of waters
beating upon the shore. He sang of the
moonlight and the starlight. All the won-
ders of the night, all the beauty of the morn-
ing, were in his song.
" Dear southwind," said the Great Spirit
" here are some beautiful things for you to
12
THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
bear away with you to your summer home.
You will love them, and all the little chil-
dren will love them." At these words of
the Great Spirit, all the stones before him
stirred with life and lifted themselves on
many-colored wings. They fluttered away
in the sunshine, and the southwind sang to
them as they went.
So it was that the first butterflies came
from a beautiful thought of the Great Spirit,
and in their wings were all the colors of the
shining stones that he did not wish to hide
away.
THE FIRST WOODPECKER 13
THE STORY OF THE FIRST WOOD-
PECKER.
In the days of long ago tlie Great Spirit
came down from the sky and talked with
men. Once as he went up and down the
earth, he came to the wigwam of a woman.
He went into the wigwam and sat down by
the fire, but he looked like an old man, and
the woman did not know who he was.
**I have fasted for many days,^' said the
Great Spirit to the woman. *'Will you give
me some food?'' The woman made a very
little cake and put it on the fire. '* You can
have this cake,'' she said, ''it you will wait
for it to bake." ^'I will wait," he said.
When the cake was baked, the woman
stood and looked at it. She thought, '*It is
very large. I thought it was small. I will
not give him so large a cake as that." So
she put it away and made a small one. **If
you will wait, I will give you this when it is
baked," she said, and the Great Spirit said,
*^ I will wait."
U THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
When that cake was baked, it was larger
than the first one. " It is so large that I
will keep it for a feast," she thought. So she
said to her guest, " I will not give you this
cake, but if you will wait, I will make you
another one.'* " I will wait," said the Great
Spirit again.
Then the woman made another cake. It
was still smaller than the others had been at
first, but when she went to the fire for it,
she found it the largest of all. She did not
know that the Great Spirit's magic had made
each cake larger, and she thought, " This is a
marvel, but I will not give away the largest
cake of all." So she said to her guest, " I
have no food for you. Go to the forest and
look there for your food. You can find it
in the bark of the trees, if you will."
The Great Spirit was angry when he heard
the words of the woman. He rose up from
where he sat and threw back his cloak. "A
woman must be good and gentle," he said,
" and you are cruel. You shall no longer
be a woman and live in a wigwam. You
WHY THE WOODPECKER^S HEAD IS RED. 16
shall go out into the forest and hunt for
your food in the bark of trees."
The Great Spirit stamped his foot on the
earth, and the woman grew smaller and
smaller. Wings started from her body and
feathers grew upon her. With a loud cry
she rose from the earth and flew away to
the forest.
And to this day all woodpeckers live in
the forest and hunt for their food in the
bark of trees.
WHY THE WOODPECKER'S HEAD IS RED.
One day the woodpecker said to the Great
Spirit, ** Men do not like me. I wish they
did."
The Great Spirit said, " If you wish men to
love you, you must be good to them and help
them. Then they will call you their friend/'
" How can a little bird help a man ? "
asked the woodpecker.
" If one wishes to help, the day will come
when he can help," said the Great Spirit.
1« THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
The day did come, and this story shows ho^
a little bird helped a strong warrior.
There was once a cruel magician who
lived in a gloomy wigwam beside the Black-
Sea- Water. He did not like flowers, and
they did not blossom in his pathway. He
did not like birds, and they did not sing in
the trees above him. The breath of his nos-
trils was fatal to all life. North, south, east,
and west he blew the deadly fever that
killed the women and the little children.
" Can I help them ? " thought a brave
warrior, and he said, ** I will find the magi-
cian, and see if death will not come to him
as he has made it come to others. I will
go straightway to his home."
For many days the brave warrior was in
his canoe traveling across the Black-Sea-
Water. At last he saw the gloomy wigwam
of the cruel magician. He shot an arrow at
the door and called, " Come out, 0 coward !
You have killed women and children with
your fatal breath, but you cannot kill a war-
rior. Come out and fight, if you are not
afraid."
WHY THE WOODPECKER'S HEAD IS RED. It
The cruel magician laughed loud and long.
" One breath of fever,'' he said, ** and you
will fall to the earth." The warrior shot
again, and then the magician was angry.
He did not laugh, but he came straight out
of his gloomy lodge, and as he came, he blew
the fever all about him.
Then was seen the greatest fight that the
sun had ever looked upon. The brave war-
rior shot his flint-tipped arrows, but the
magician had on his magic cloak, and the
arrows could not wound him. He blew
from his nostrils the deadly breath of fever,
but the heart of the warrior was so strong
that the fever could not kill him.
At last the brave warrior had but three
arrows in his quiver. " What shall I do ? "
he said sadly. ** My arrows are good ancJ
my aim is good, but no arrow can go through
the magic cloak."
" Come on, come on," called the magician.
" You are the man who wished to fight.
Come on." Then a woodpecker in a tree
above the brave warrior said softly, " Aim
18 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
your arrow at his head, O warrior ! Do not
shoot at his heart, but at the crest of
feathers on his head. He can be wounded
khere, but not in his heart."
The warrior was not so proud that he
"jould not Ksten to a little bird. The magi-
jian bent to lift a stone, and an arrow flew
from the warrior's bow. It buzzed and stung
like a wasp. It came so close to the crest
of feathers that the magician trembled with
terror. Before he could run, another arrow
came, and this one struck him right on his
crest. His heart grew cold with fear.
" Death has struck me," he cried.
" Your cruel life is over," said the war-
rior. " People shall no longer fear your
fatal breath." Then he said to the wood-
pecker, " Little bird, you have been a good
friend to me, and I will do all that I can
for you." He put some of the red blood of
the magician upon the little creature's head.
It made the crest of feathers there as red as
flame. " Whenever a man looks upon you,"
said the warrior, " he will say, * That bird
WHY THE CAT FALLS UPON HER FEET. 19
is our friend. He helped to kill the cruel
magician/ "
The little woodpecker was very proud of
his red crest because it showed that he was
the friend of man, and all his children to
this day are as proud as he was.
WHY THE CAT ALWAYS FALLS UPON
HER FEET.
Some magicians are cruel, but others are
gentle and good to all the creatures of the
earth. One of these good magicians was
one day traveling in a great forest. The
sun rose high in the heavens, and he la)
down at the foot of a tree. Soft, green
moss grew all about him. The sun shining
to THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
lirough the leaves made flecks of light and
shadow upon the earth. He heard the song
of the bird and the lazy buzz of the wasp.
The wind rustled the leafy boughs above
him. All the music of the forest lulled him
to slumber, and he closed his eyes.
As the magician lay asleep, a great ser-
pent came softly from the thicket. It lifted
high its shining crest and saw the man at
the foot of the tree. ** I will kill him! '' it
hissed. ** I could have eaten that cat last
night if he had not called, ' Watch, little
cat, watch ! ' I will kill him, I will kill
him ! ''
Closer and closer the deadly serpent moved.
The magician stirred in his sleep. " Watch,
little cat, watch ! " he said softly. The ser-
pent drew back, but the magician's eyes
were shut, and it went closer. It hissed
its war-cry. The sleeping magician did not
move. The serpent was upon him — no, far
up in the high branches of the tree above his
head the little cat lay hidden. She had seen
the serpent when it came from the thicket.
SHE LEAPED DOWN UPON THE SERPENT
22 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
She watched it as it went closer and closer
to the sleeping man, and she heard it hiss
its war-cry. The little cat's body quivered
with anger and with fear, for she was sf
little and the serpent was so big. " The ma
gician was very good to me," she thought,
and she leaped down upon the serpent.
Oh, how angry the serpent was ! It hissed,
and the flames shot from its eyes. It struck
wildly at the braye little cat, but now the
cat had no fear. Again and again she leaped
upon the serpent's head, and at last the
creature lay dead beside the sleeping man
whom it had wished to kill.
When the magician awoke, the little cat
lay on the earth, and not far away was the
dead serpent. He knew at once what the
cat had done, and he said, " Little cat, what
can I do to show you honor for your brave
fight? Your eyes are quick to see, and
your ears are quick to hear. You can run
very swiftly. I know what I can do fot
you. You shall be known over the earth
93 the friend of man^ and j^ou shall always
WHY THE SWALLOW'S TAIL IS FORKED. 23
have a home in the home of man. And one
thing more, little cat : you leaped from the
high tree to kill the deadly serpent, and
now as long as you live, you shall leap where
you will, and you shall always fall upon your
feet."
WHY THE SWALLOW'S TAIL IS FORKED.
This is the story of how the swallow's
tail came to be forked.
One day the Great Spirit asked all the
animals that he had made to come to his
lodge. Those that could fly came first :
the robin, the bluebird, the owl, the butter-
fly, the wasp, and the firefly. Behind them
came the chicken, fluttering its wings and
trying hard to keep up. Then came the
deer, the squirrel, the serpent, the cat, anc
the rabbit. Last of all came the bear, the
beaver, and the hedgehog. Every one trav*
eled as swiftly as he could, for each wished
to hear the words of the Great Spirit.
^* J IjavQ caJQed j^ou together/' s^id the
24 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
Great Spirit, "because I often hear you
scold and fret. What do you wish me to
do for you ? How can I help you ? '*
** I do not like to hunt so long for my
food," said the bear.
" I do not like to build nests," said the
bluebird.
** I do not like to live in the water," said
the beaver.
" And I do not like to live in a tree," said
the squirrel.
At last man stood erect before the Great
Spirit and said, ** O Great Father, the ser-
pent feasts upon my blood. Will you not
give him some other food ? "
" And why ? " asked the Great Spirit.
"Because I am the first of all the crea-
tures you have made," answered man
proudly.
Then every animal in the lodge was angry
to hear the words of man. The squirrel
chattered, the wasp buzzed, the owl hooted,
and the serpent hissed.
" Hush, be still," said the Great Spirit.
WHY THE SWALLOW'S TAIL IS FORKED. 25
" You are, 0 man, the first of my creatures,
but I am the father of all. Each one has
his rights, and the serpent must have his
food. Mosquito, you are a great traveler.
Now fly away and find what creature's blood
is best for the serpent. Do you all come
back in a year and a day."
The animals straightway went to their
homes. Some went to the river, some to
the forest, and some to the prairie, to wait
for the day when they must meet at the
lodge of the Great Spirit.
The mosquito traveled over the earth and
stung every creature that he met to find
whose blood was the best for the serpent.
On his way back to the lodge of the Great
Spirit he looked up into the sky, and there
was the swallow.
•' Good-day, swallow," called the mos-
quito.
** I am glad to see you, my friend," sang
the swallow. ** Are you going to the lodge
of the Great Spirit ? And have you found
out whose blood is best for the serpent ? '*
26 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" The blood of man," answered the mo»<
quito.
The mosquito did not like man, but the
swallow had always been his friend. ** What
can I do to help man ? " he thought. **0h,
I know what I can do." Then he asked
the mosquito, ** Whose blood did you say ?"
" Man's blood," said the mosquito ; ** that
is best."
" This is best," said the swallow, and he
tore out the mosquito's tongue.
The mosquito buzzed angrily and went
quickly to the Great Spirit.
** All the animals are here," said the
Great Spirit. " They are waiting to hear
whose blood is best for the serpent."
The mosquito tried to answer, " The blood
of man," but he could not say a word. He
could make no sound but ** Kss-ksss-ksssss ! "
** What do you say ? "
** Kss-ksss-ksssss ! " buzzed the mosquito
angrily.
All the creatures wondered. Then said
the swallow : —
WHY THE SWALLOW'S TAIL IS FORKED. 27
" Great Father, the mosquito is timid and
cannot answer you. I met him before we
came, and he told me whose blood it was."
" Then let us know at once,'' said the
Great Spirit.
" It is the blood of the frog," answered
28 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
the swallow quickly. " Is it not so, friend
mosquito ? '*
** Kss-ksss-ksssss ! " hissed the angry mos-
quito.
" The serpent shall have the frog's blood,"
said the Great Spirit. " Man shall be his
food no longer."
Now the serpent was angry with the
swallow, for he did not like frog's blood.
As the swallow flew near him, he seized him
by the tail and tore away a little of it. This
is why the swallow's tail is forked, and it is
why man always looks upon the swallow as
his friend.
WHY THE WHITE HARES HAVE BLACK
EARS.
In the forest there is a beautiful spirit.
All the beasts and all the birds are dear to
him, and he likes to have them gentle and
good. One morning he saw some of his little
white hares fighting one another, and each
trying to seize the best of the food.
WHY WHITE HARES HAVE BLACK EARS. 29
" Oh, my selfish little hares," he said sadly,
" why do you fight and try to seize the best
of everything for yourselves ? Why do you
not live in love together ? "
" Tell us a story and we will be good,"
cried the hares.
Then the spirit of the forest was glad.
" I will tell you a story of how you first
came to live on the green earth with the
other animals,'' he said, ** and why it is that
you are white, and the other hares are
not."
Then the little hares came close about
the spirit of the forest, and sat very still to
hear the story.
" Away up above the stars," the gentle
spirit began, ** the sky children were all to-
gether one snowy day. They threw snow-
flakes at one another, and some of the
snowflakes fell from the sky. They came
down swiftly between the stars and among
the branches of the trees. At last they lay
on the green earth. They were the first
that had ever come to the earth, and no one
30 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
knew what they were. The swallow asked.
'What are they?' and the butterfly an-
swered, * I do not know/ The spirit of the
iky was listening, and he said, *We call
them snowflakes/
" * I never heard of snowflakes. Are they
birds or beasts ? ' asked the butterfly.
"*They are snowflakes,' answered the
spirit of the sky, * but they are magic snow-
flakes. Watch them closely.'
** The swallow and the butterfly watched.
Every snowflake showed two bright eyes,
then two long ears, then some soft feet, and
there were the whitest, softest little hares
that were ever seen."
** Were we the little white hares ? " asked
the listeners.
" You were the little white hares," an-
swered the spirit, ** and if you are gentle
and good, you will always be white."
The hares were not gentle and good ; they
were fretful, and before long they were
scolding and fighting again. The gentle
spirit was angry. " I must get a firebrand
WHY THE MAGPIE'S NEST IS NOT WELL BUILT. 31
and beat them with it," he said, ** for they
must learn to be good/'
So the hares were beaten with the fire-
brand till their ears were black as night.
Their bodies were still white, but if the
spirit hears them scolding and fighting again,
it may be that we shall see their bodies as
black as their ears.
WHY THE MAGPIE'S NEST IS NOT
WELL BUILT.
A LONG time ago all the birds met together
to talk about building nests.
"Every Indian has a wigwam," said the
robin, " and every bird needs a home."
** Indians have no feathers," said the owl,
" and so they are cold without wigwams.
We have feathers."
" I keep warm by fiying swiftly," said the
swallow.
" And I keep warm by fiuttering my
wings," said the humming-bird.
" By and by we shall have our little ones,"
32 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
said the robin. ** They will have no feathers
on their wings, so they cannot fly or flutter ;
and they will be cold. How shall we keep
them warm if we have no nests ? "
Then all the birds said, " We will build
nests so that our little ones will be warm.'*
The birds went to work. One brought
twigs, one brought moss, and one brought
leaves. They sang together merrily, for
they thought of the little ones that would
some time come to live in the warm nests.
Now the magpie was lazy, and she sat
still and watched the others at their work.
" Come and build your nest in the reeds
and rushes," cried one bird, but the magpie
said ** No.'*
" My nest is on the branch of a tree,"
called another, ** and it rocks like a child's
cradle. Come and build beside it," but the
magpie said **No."
Before long all the birds but the magpie
had their nests built. The magpie cried,
** I do not know how to build a nest. Will
you not help me ? "
The other birds were sorry for her and
WHY THE MAGPIE'S NEST IS NOT WELL BUILT. 33
answered, ** We will teach you." The black-
bird said, " Put the twigs on this bough; '*
the robin said, ** Put the leaves between
the twigs ; " and the humming-bird said,
" Put this soft green moss oyer it all."
" I do not know how," cried the magpie.
" We are teaching you," said the other
birds. But the magpie was lazy, and she
thought, ** If I do not learn, they will build
a nest for me."
The other birds talked together. ** She
does not wish to learn," they said, " and we
will not help her any longer." So they
went away from her.
Then the magpie was sorry. " Come
back," she called, *' and I will learn." But
U THE BOOlt OF NATURE MYTHS.
by this time the other birds had eggs in
their nests, and they were busy taking care
of them, and had no time to teach the lazy
magpie. This is why the magpie's nest is
not well built.
WHY THE RAVEN'S FEATHERS ARE
BLACK.
Long, long ago the raven's feathers were
white as snow. He was a beautiful bird,
but the other birds did not like him because
he was a thief. When they saw him coming,
they would hide away the things that they
cared for most, but in some marvelous way
he always found them and took them to his
nest in the pine-tree.
One morning the raven heard a little bird
singing merrily in a thicket. The leaves of
the trees were dark green, and the little
bird's yellow feathers looked like sunshine
among them.
** I will have that bird," said the raven,
Uid he seized the trembling little thing.
WHY THE RAVEN'S FEATHERS ARE BLACK. 35
The yellow bird fluttered and cried,
'' Help, help ! Will no one come and help
me!"
The other birds happened to be far away,
and not one heard her cries. *' The raven
will kill me," she called. " Help, help ! "
Now hidden in the bark of a tree was a
wood-worm.
** I am only a wood-worm," he said to
himself, ** and I cannot fly like a bird, but
the yellow bird has been good to me, and I
will do what I can to help her."
When the sun set, the raven went to
sleep. Then the wood-worm made his way
softly up the pine-tree to the raven's nest,
and bound his feet together with grass and
pieces of birch-bark.
**Fly away," whispered the wood-worm
softly to the little yellow bird, " and come
to see me by and by. I must teach the
raven not to be cruel to the other birds."
The little yellow bird flew away, and the
wood-worm brought twigs, and moss, and
birch-bark, and grass, and put them around
36 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
the tree. Then he set them all on fire. Up
the great pine-tree went the flames, leaping
from bough to bough.
" Fire ! fire ! " cried the raven. " Come
and help me ! My nest is on fire ! "
The other birds were not sorry to see
him flutter. ** He is a thief," said they.
" Let him be in the fire."
By and by the fire burned the grass and
the pieces of birch-bark that fastened his
feet together, and the raven flew away. He
was not burned, but he could no longer be
proud of his shining white feathers, for the
smoke had made every one of them as black
as night.
HOW FIRE WAS BROUGHT TO THE
INDIANS.
PART I. SEIZING THE FIREBRAND.
Oh, it was so cold ! The wind blew the
leaves about on the ground. The frost
spirit hid on the north side of every tree,
and stung every animal of the forest that
flow FIRE WAS BROUGHT TO THE INDIANS. 87
came near. Then the snow fell till the
ground was white. Through the snowflakes
one could see the sun, but the sun looked
cold, for it was not a clear, bright yellow.
It was almost as white as the moon.
The Indians drew their cloaks more and
more closely around them, for they had no
fire.
" How shall we get fire ? " they asked,
but no one answered.
All the fire on earth was in the wigwam
of two old women who did not like the
Indians.
** They shall not haye it,'' said the old
women, and they watched night and day so
that no one could get a firebrand.
At last a young Indian said to the others,
" No man can get fire. Let us ask the
animals to help us."
"What beast or what bird can get fire
when the two old women are watching it ? "
the others cried.
** The bear might get it."
" No, he cannot run swiftly."
38 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" The deer can run."
" His antlers would not go through the
door of the wigwam."
" The raven can go through the door."
** It was smoke that made the raven's
feathers black, and now he always keeps
away from the fire."
" The serpent has not been in the smoke."
"No, but he is not our friend, and he
will not do anything for us."
" Then I will ask the wolf," said the
young man. ** He can run, he has no ant-
lers, and he has not been in the smoke."
So the young man went to the wolf and
called, " Friend wolf, if you will get us a
firebrand, I will give you some food every
day."
" I will get it," said the wolf. " Go to
the home of the old women and hide be-
hind a tree ; and when you hear me cough
three times, give a loud war-cry."
Close by the village of the Indians was a
pond. In the pond was a frog, and near
the pond lived a squirrel, a bat, a bear, and
HOW FIRE WAS BROUGHT TO THE INDIANS. 39
a deer. The wolf cried, ** Frog, hide in the
rushes across the pond. Squirrel, go to the
bushes beside the path that runs from the
pond to the wigwam of the two old women.
Bat, go into the shadow and sleep if you
Uke, but do not close both eyes. Bear, do
not stir from behind this great rock till you
are told. Deer, keep still as a mountain till
something happens."
The wolf then went to the wigwam of
the two old women. He coughed at the
door, and at last they said, ** Wolf, you may
come in to the fire."
The wolf went into the wigwam. He
coughed three times, and the Indian gave a
40 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
war-cry. The two old women ran out quickly
into the forest to see what had happened,
and the wolf ran away with a firebrand
from the fire.
PART II. THE FJREBRAND IN THE FOREST.
When the two women saw that the wolf
had the firebrand, they were yery angry,
and straightway they ran after him.
** Catch it and run ! " cried the wolf, and
he threw it to the deer. The deer caught
it and ran.
** Catch it and run ! '' cried the deer, and
he threw it to the bear. The bear caught
it and ran.
" Catch it and fly ! " cried the bear, and
he threw it to the bat. The bat caught it
and flew.
" Catch it and run ! '' cried the bat, and
he threw it to the squirrel. The squirrel
caught it and ran.
** Oh, serpent," called the two old women.
" you are no friend to the Indians. Help
us. Get the firebrand away froiu the
squirrel/'
HOW FIRE WAS BROUGHT TO THE INDIANS. 41
As the squirrel ran swiftly over the
ground, the serpent sprang up and tried to
seize the firebrand. He did not get it, but
the smoke went into the squirrel's nostrils
and made him cough. He would not let go
of the firebrand, but ran and ran till he
could throw it to the frog.
When the frog was running away with it,
then the squirrel for the first time thought
of himself, and he found that his beautiful
bushy tail was no longer straight, for the
fire had curled it up over his back.
** Do not be sorry,*' called the young In-
dian across the pond. ** Wheneyer an Indian
boy sees a squirrel with his tail curled up
over his back, he will throw him a nut."
PART III. THE FIREBRAND IN THE POND.
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.
43 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" 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 fire-
brand 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 tha^t Ijas no
HOW THE QUAIL BECAME A SNIPE. 43
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 chil-
dren 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 loill 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
44 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
birds were chattering together, and she lis-
tened 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 ? "
HOW THE* QUAIL BECAME A SNIPE. 45
The mother quail was yery sad, and she
would have been still more sorrowful if she
had known what was happening to her little
son far away in the owFs 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
46 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 yery 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. 47
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 haye 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,
48 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
** Grandfather, will you do something for
me ? "
" I will/' hissed the serpent softly.
" What is it ? "
" Only to take a drink of water," an-
swered 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,"
WHY THE SERPENT SHEDS HIS SKIN. 49
" 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 beau-
tiful 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.
50 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 ter-
ror 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 for-
est 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."
WHY THE DOVE IS TIMID. 61
** 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. When-
ever 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
52 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 OP 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.
WHY THE PARROT REPEATS WORDS OF MEN. 53
"Ask the parrot," said one of the villagers.
" He always tells the truth/'
" O bird of truth," said they to the par-
rot, " did this man kill an ox and hide its
flesh?"
** Yes, he did," answered the parrot.
The thief knew well that the yillagers
would punish him the next day, if he could
not make them think that the parrot did
not always tell the truth.
" I haye 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.
U THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" 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 war
no moon, for the rain fell, and there was a
great storm in the heayens. I heard the
thunder half the night.**
" This bird has always told the truth be-
fore,'* 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.**
So the parrot flew away sorrowfully into
ymS Bl^D Hi^S ALWAYS TOLD THE TRUTH"
56 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 mock-
ing-bird, laughing. " Say what they say,
and they will think you are a wonderful
bird."
" Yes, I see," said the parrot thought-
fully, " 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 him-
self, ** Some day I will be ruler of them all."
Then he thought, ** There are many brave
THE FIRST MOCKING-BIRD. 57
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. An-
other 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 J
have heard talk and laugh ?^^
68 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTPIS.
** 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 Yoices 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 foi
killing our braves. Where is my brother,
and where are our friends ? "
THE FIRST MOCKING-BIRD. 69
" 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 arrow-
heads.
** 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 mock*
ing-bird.
60 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 ani-
mals 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."
WHY THE FOX»S TAIL HAS A WHITE TIP. 61
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 Yoice 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."
C2 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" 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,
WHY THE FOX'S TAIL HAS A WHITE TIP. 63
" 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."
She went to the field, and there stood
the fox with the body of a sheep, for it
^
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'^^%s^^
^
^^i
*«^ •■•* --v'T**'!t^S^
\y,| iVj
^^w
1
-^^^
.<Kt^'
.«i.wC^i-/^.t
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
64 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
cream, so she threw that. It struck the tip
of his ta£U and from that day to this, the
tip of the fox's tail has been as white as
creanu
THE STORY OF THE FEBST 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 sis-
ter, 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 Iotc us, and we can be very
happy together."
That night the two children ran away
THE FIBST FROG. (»
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 teU 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.
66 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 win-
ter. 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 ancj 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
THE FIRST FROG.
67
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.
6S THE book: of NATURE MYTHS.
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
WHY THE RABBIT IS TIMID. 69
comes, then the moon rises again/ — can
you remember to tell them that ? "
"Yes/* said the rabbit, **I will remem-
ber."
" 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.
70 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 ol
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 mouiitaius,
WHY THE PEETWEET CRIES FOR RAIN. 71
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 butter-
fly. ** 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 them-
selves."
The Father heard the lazy peetweet, and
he said, " Do you not wish to show the
waters where to go ? "
72 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
''They never showed me where to go,"
said the lazy bkd. '' 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 com-
ing up the road with some fish, he met the
bear.
" Good-morning, Mr. Fox," said the bear.
WHY THE BEAR HAS A SHORT TAIL. 73
Good-morning, Mr. Bear," said the fox.
The morning is brighter because I have
met you."
" Those are yery 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 f
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.
74 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" 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
WHY THE BEAR HAS A SHORT TAIL. 75
than that, not all of his tail came out, for
ihe end of it was frozen fast to the ice.
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.
76 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 he? How shall
we choose a king ? "
** Let us choose the bird that flies far-
thest," 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."
WHY THE WREN FLIES CLOSE TO EARTH. 77
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 1 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
78 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
he say, and the two birds came down to the
earth together.
** I am the khig," 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. 79
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, " Every-
thing 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
80 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 ? "
THE KNIFE ONLY WENT IN DEEPER
82 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" 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 FIRST GRASSHOPPER. 83
THE STORY OP THE FIRST GRASS-
HOPPER.
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 J 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
84 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 god-
dess 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. 1
will ask the father of the gods that you too
may be immortal."
THE FIRST GRASSHOPPER. 85
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."
86 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 Au-
rora 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 him-
self, ** 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 north wind shall bear my icy breath.
Bird and beast shall quiver and tremble
with cold. I myself will call in the voice
THE ORIOLEo 87
of the thunder, and this ruler of the south,
this 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 fear-
ful 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 light-
ning are aimed at us. O dear ruler of the
southland, must we yield to the cruel mas-
ter of the north ? "
*>' My king," said a little buzzing voice,
88 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
** may I go out and fight the wicked mastei
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 brayely stung the master of the storm-
wind.
The king of the north struck at him with
a war-club, but the hornet only flew aboye
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 droye before him
the thunder and lightning and rain and the
black storm-clouds and the icy wind.
" Braye little hornet," said the king of
the south, " tell me what I can do for you.
You shall haye whateyer you ask."
THE PEACOCK'S TAIL. 89
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
rting, 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..
90 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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
THE PEACOCK'S TAIL. W
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
92
THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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. ■
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,
THE BEES AND THE FLIES. 93
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 peo-
ple 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 every-
94 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
where, 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 whis-
pered 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 win-
ter 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
jfriends were near, for they thought, ** Oh,
they will come back and bring us some
honey."
THE BEES AND THE FLIES.
95
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 work-
ers, you shall no longer
walk from flower to flower.
I will giye you wings, and
you shall be bees. When-
ever 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/ "
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/ *'
96 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
THE STORY OF THE FIRST MOLES.
A RICH man and a poor man once owned
a field together. The rich man owned th(
northern half, and the poor man ownea
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 mornings
and we shall soon see whose Jand this is."
At night the rich man and his son pulled
up some bushes that grew beside the field,
THE FIRST MOLES. 97
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 chil-
dren!" 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 dark-
ness as long as they live, and never agairi
shall they see the light of the sun."
98 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 Yoice.
" 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 com-
ing 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,"
THE FIRST ANTS. 99
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 be 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 sor-
row, this dire trouble, would not have come
upon me."
100 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" 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."
" What shall I do ? " thought the man.
"Dire death is upon me." He did not
A WONDERFUL SENSE OF SMELL
102 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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. 108
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 moun-
tain, and as the sun rose in the east, thej
sang, " We praise thee, 0 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 In-
dians 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
gouth. The people were afraid that the
104 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHSc
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 moun-
tain 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 moun-
tain.
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 tremble(J
THE FACE OF THE MANITO. 105
in the wind, the forked lightning shot across
the sky, and the thunder called aloudr
" 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
106 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 yoice from the mountain an-
swered, " 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 loyed,
the manito had made the warriors into
etone. They stood at the foot of the moun-
tain, 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
l^e tjie fope of tte jnajiito^
THE FIRST DIAMONDS. 107
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 war-
riors 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
108 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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
THE FIRST DIAMONDS.
109
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.
** 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
110 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 FIRST PEARLS. Ul
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
any one else touched it, no sound was heard,
112 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 kind&
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
THE FIRST PEARLS. 113
never heard before, for it was the music
of the gods. ** It is really true,*' he said
to mi
dmself softly. " My harp is giving me
music to drive away my sadness.''
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."
114 THE BOOlt OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 dia-
monds, but no one had ever seen an emer-
ald, 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 pre*
THE FIRST EMERALDS. 116
cious. Do you wish to have the most beau-
tiful 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.
116 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
answers of the wise meno At last he said :
" If the emerald vase had been in the for-
est or on the mountain, it w^ould 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
THE FIRST EMERALDS. 11^
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
icross the sky, and hear the thunder roll
irom mountain to mountain!" They hid
themselves in terror, but it was no storm,
it was only the spirits fighting for the emer-
ald vase.
One of the spirits of the air bore it at last
far up above the top of the highest moun-
tain. ** 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.
118 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
WHY THE EVERGREEN TREES NEVER
LOSE THEIR LEAVES.
Winter was coming, and the birds had
flown far to the south, where the air wai
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. *' Beauti-
ful 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,
THE EVERGREEN TREES. 119
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 oflE 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, ** Gen-
tle 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 spring-
time ? "
The willow did not look gentle then, for
fehe drew herself up proudly and said, ** In-
deed, 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. Ba*
120 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
fore it had gone far, a voice was heard.
** Little bird," it said, ** where are you go-
ing ? "
" 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 ber-
ries are good."
THE EVERGREEN TREES.
121
So the spruce
gave the lonely-
little bird a
home, the pine
kept the cold
north I wind
away from it,
and the juniper gave it berries to eat.
The other trees looked on and talked to-
gether 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.
122 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" I never have anything to do with
strangers," said the willow, and the three
trees drew their leaves closely ahout
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,
WHY THE ASPEN LEAVES TREMBLE. 123
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 wil-
low and the aspen heard every word. The
aspen was so angry that it trembled from
root to tip. ** 1 11 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
124 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
you say. I despise both you and your queen
bee. The honey that those bees make is
not good to eat. I would not haye it any-
where near me."
'* Hush, hush," whispered the willow tim-
idly. " 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
THE BLOSSOMS OF THE HEATHER. 125
through fear, and from that day to this
they haye 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 be-
cause 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 trav-
elers may sit in my shadow." ** I shall be
contented on the waters of the pond," said
the water-lily. " And I am contented in
126 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
the sunny fields," said the daisy. ** My fra^
grance 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, wdll 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.?"
THE BLOSSOMS OF THE HEATHER. 127
" I cannot leave the pond," cried the
water-lily.
** I cannot leave the moss," said the vio-
let.
** 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
12S THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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
HOW FLAX WAS GHTEN TO MEN. 129
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
w^ho 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 mer-
rily 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 god-
130 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
dess Holda, queen of the sky. When I looked
at her, I could not think of precious stones,
for her eyes were more sparkling than dia-
monds, 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,
"SHE GAVE ME THE FLOWER"
132 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
the goddess Holda came down from the
mountain to the little house.
" 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 weaye," 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. 133
WHY THE JUNIPER HAS BERRIES.
Three cranberries once liyed 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 liyed
nearer the wigwam," said the white cran-
berry 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 cran-
berry.
" 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
134 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 cran-
berry 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 h(
had eaten it up, white cranberry and all.
Now the red cranberry was dead, and the
white cranberry was dead, but the littl^
WHY THE SEA IS SALT. 136
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
neyer 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 what-
ever 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
women were brought before him.
136 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" 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 hap-
piness and rest for the people," said the
women to one another. " Those are good
wishes."
WHY THE SEA IS SALT. 137
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 strong-
est of the warriors. He put the two wo-
men and the magic millstones on a ship to
138 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
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 yoice say,
"Grandfather Crane, Grandfather Crane,
THE FIRST WHITEFISH. 139
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."
140
THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
It really was the witch, and she was say*
ing over and oyer 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."
The spirit of the lake had told the crane
THE FIRST WHITEFISH. 141
to carry across the lake every one that
asked to be taken oyer ; so he said, ** Yes, I
will carry you across. 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, I will,'* said the witch ; but
she thought, " He would not be so timid
about letting me touch the back of his head
if he were not afraid of my magic. I will
put my hand on his head, and then he will
always be in my power." So when they
were far out over the lake, she put her hand
on the crane's head, and before she could
say ** Oh ! " she was at the bottom of the
lake.
** You shall never live in the light again,"
said the crane, " for you have done no good
on earth. You shall be a whitefish, and you
shall be food for the Indians as long as they
eat fish."
142 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
WAS IT THE FIRST TURTLE?
Once upon a time there was a great fight
between two tribes of Indians. It was so
fierce that the river ran red with blood, and
the war-cries were so loud and angry that
the animals of the forest ran away in ter-
ror. The warriors fought all day long, and
when it began to grow dark, all the men on
one side had been killed but two warriors,
one of whom was known as Turtle. In those
days there were no such animals as turtles
in the ponds and rivers, and no one knew
why he was called by that name. At last
Turtle's friend was struck by an arrow and
fell to the ground.
** Now yield ! " cried the enemies.
" Friend,'* said Turtle, " are you dead ?^
** No," said his friend.
« Then I will fight on," said Turtle, and
he called out, " Give life again to the war-
riors whom you have killed with your wicked
arrows, and then I will yield, but never
before. Come on, cowards that you are !
WAS IT THE FIRST TURTLE? 143
You are afraid of me. You do not dare to
come ! "
Then his enemies said, ** We will all
shoot our arrows at once, and some one of
them will be sure to kill him." They made
ready to fire, but Turtle, too, made ready.
He had two thick shields, and he put one
over his back and one over his breast. Then
he called to his fierce enemies, ** Are you
not ready ? Come on, fierce warriors ! Shoot
your arrows through my breast if you can.''
The warriors all shot, but not an arrow
struck Turtle, for the two shields covered
his breast and his back, and whenever an
arrow buzzed through the air, he drew in
his head and his arms between the shields,
and so he was not harmed. " Why do you
not aim at me ? " he cried. " Are you
shooting at the mountain, or at the sun and
the moon ? Good fighters you are, indeed I
Try again."
His enemies shot once more, and this
time an arrow killed the wounded friend as
he lay on the ground. When Turtle cried,
144 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
** Friend, are you living ? " there was nc
answer.
" My friend is dead," said Turtle. ** I
will fight no more."
" He has yielded," cried his enemies.
" He has not," said Turtle, and with one
great leap he sprang into the river. His
enemies did not dare to spring after him.
" Those long arms of his would pull us to
the bottom," they said; **but we will watch
till he comes up, and then we shall be sure
of him."
They were not so sure as they thought, for
he did not come up, and all that they could
see in the water was a strange creature
unlike anything that had been there before.
" It has arms and a head," said one.
" And it pulls them out of sight just as
Turtle did," said another.
" It has a shield over its back and one
over its breast, as Turtle had," said the first.
Then all the warriors were so eager to watch
the strange animal that they no longer re-
membered the fight. They crowded up to
the shore of the river.
THE CROCODILE'S WIDE MOUTH. 145
"It is not Turtle,'* cried one.
" It is Turtle," declared another.
" It is so like him that I do not care to
go into the water as long as it is in sight,"
said still another.
" But if this is not Turtle, where is he ? "
they all asked, and not one of the wise men
of their tribe could answer.
WHY THE CROCODILE HAS A WIDE
MOUTH.
" Come to my kingdom whenever you
will," said the goddess of the water to the
king of the land. " My waves will be calm,
and my animals will be gentle. They will
be as good to your children as if they were
my own. Nothing in all my kingdom wiU
do you harm."
The goddess went back to her home in
the sea, and the king walked to the shore
of the river and stood gazing upon the beau-
tiful water. Beside him walked his young*
est son.
146 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
** Father," asked the boy, ** would the
goddess be angry if I went into the water
to swim ? "
" No," answered the father. " She says
that nothing in all her wide kingdom will do
us harm. The water-animals will be kind,
and the waves will be calm."
The boy went into the water. He could
swim as easily as a fish, and he went from
shore to shore, sometimes talking with the
fishes, sometimes getting a bright piece of
stone to carry to his father. Suddenly
something caught him by the foot and
dragged him down, down, through the
deep, dark water. ** Oh, father ! " he cried,
but his father had gone away from the
shore, and the strange creature, whatever
it was, dragged the boy down to the very
bottom of the river.
The river was full of sorrow for what the
creature had done, and it lifted the boy
gently and bore him to the feet of the god-
dess. His eyes were closed and his face
was white, for he was dead. Great tears
THE CROCODILE S WIDE MOUTH. 147
came from the eyes of the goddess when
she looked at him. " I did not think any
of my animals would do such a cruel thing/'
she said. " His father shall never know it,
for the boy shall not remember what has
happened."
Then she laid her warm hand upon his
head, and whispered some words of magic
into his ear. ** Open your eyes," she called,
and soon they were wide open. ** You went
in to swim," said the goddess. *' Did the
water please you ? "
"Yes, surely."
n ^ere the water-animals kind to you ? "
" Yes, surely," answered the boy, for the
magic words had kept him from remem-
bering anything about the strange creature
that had dragged him to the bottom of the
river.
The boy went home to his father, and as
soon as he was out of sight, the goddess
called to the water-animals, " Come one,
come all, come little, come great."
"It is the voice of the goddess," said
148 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
the water-animals, and they all began to
swim toward her as fast as they could.
When they were together before her, she
said, "One of you has been cruel and
wicked. One of you has dragged to the
bottom of the river the son of my friend,
the king of the land, but I have carried him
safely to shore, and now he is in his home.
When he comes again, will you watch over
him wherever in the wide, wide water he
may wish to go ? "
"Yes!'* "Yes!" "Yes!" cried the
water-animals.
" Water," asked the goddess, " will you
be calm and still when the son of my friend
is my guest ?"
" Gladly," answered the water.
Suddenly the goddess caught sight of
the crocodile hiding behind the other ani-
mals. " Will you be kind to the boy and
keep harm away from him ? " she asked.
Now it was the crocodile that had dragged
the boy to the bottom of the river. He
wished to say, " Yes," but he did not dare
•THE MOUTH THAT WILL NOT OPEN MUST BE MADE TO OPEN"
150 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
to open his mouth for fear of saying, ** I did
it, I did it," so he said not a word. The
goddess cried, ** Did you drag the king's
son to the bottom of the river ? " Still the
crocodile dared not open his mouth for fear
of saying, ''I did it, I did it/' Then the
goddess was angry. She drew her long
sword, and saying, *' The mouth that will
not open when it should must be made to
open," she struck the crocodile's mouth with
the sword. ** Oh, look ! " cried the other ani-
mals. The crocodile's mouth had opened ;
there was no question about thaty for it had
split open so far that he was afraid he should
never be able to keep it closed.
THE STORY OF THE PICTURE ON THE
VASE.
On some of the beautiful vases that are
made in Japan there is a picture of a goddess
changing a dragon into an island. When
the children of Japan say, ** Mother, tell us
a story about the picture," this is what the
mother says : —
THE PICTURE ON THE VASE. 151
i(
Long, long ago there was a goddess of
the sea who loved the people of Japan.
She often came out of the water at sunset,
and while all the bright colors were in the
sky, she would sit on a high rock that over-
looked the water and tell stories to the
children. Such wonderful stories as they
were ! She used to tell them all about the
strange fishes that swim in and out among
the rocks and the mosses, and about the
fair maidens that live deep down in the sea
far under the waves. The children would
ask, * Are there no children in the sea ?
Why do they never come out to play with
us ? ' The goddess would answer, * Some
time they will come, if you only keep on
wishing for them. What children really
wish for they will surely have some day.'
" Then the goddess would sing to the chil-
dren, and her voice was so sweet that the
evening star would stand still in the sky to
listen to her song. * Please show us how the
water rises and falls,' the children would beg,
and she would hold up a magic stone that
152 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
she had and say, ' Water, rise ! ' Then the
waves would come in faster and faster all
about the rock. When she laid down the
stone and said, * Water, fall ! ' the waves
would be still, and the water would roll
back quickly to the deep sea. She was
goddess of the storm as well as of the
sea, and sometimes the children would say,
* Dear goddess, please make us a storm.'
She never said no to what they asked, and
so the rain would fall, the lightning flare,
and the thunder roll. The rain would fall
all about them, but the goddess did not let
it come near them. They were never afraid
of the lightning, for it was far above their
heads, ' and they knew that the goddess
would not let it come down.
" Those were happy times, but there is
something more to tell that is not pleasant.
One of the goddess's sea-animals was a
dragon, that often used to play in the water
near the shore. The children never thought
of being afraid of any of the sea-animals,
but one day the cruel dragon seized a little
THE PICTURE ON THE VASE.
153
child in his mouth, and in a moment he had
eaten it. There was sadness over the land
of Japan. There were tears and sorrowful
w/^iling. * 0 goddess,' the people cried,
' come to us ! Punish the wicked dragon ! '
*' The goddess was angry that one of her
creatures should have dared to harm the
little child, and she called aloud, * Dragon,
come to me.' The dragon came in a mo-
ment, for he did not dare to stay away.
Then said the goddess, *You shall never
again play merrily in the water with the
154 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
happy sea-animals. You shall be a rocky
island. There shall be trees and plants on
you, and before many years have gone,
people will no longer remember that you
were once an animal.'
" The dragon found that he could no longer
move about as he had done, for he was
changing into rock. Trees and plants grew
on his back. He was an island, and when
people looked at it, they said, * That island
was once a wicked dragon.' The children
of the sea and the children of the land often
went to the island, and there they had very
happy times together."
This is the story that the mothers tell to
their children when they look at the vases
and see the picture of the goddess changing
a dragon into an island. But when the chil-
dren say, " Mother, where is the island ?
Cannot we go to it and play with the sea-
children ? " the mother answers, " Oh, this
was all a long, long time ago, and no onei
can tell now where the island was."
WHY RIVERS ARE NEVER STILL, 156
WHY THE WATER IN RIVERS IS
NEVER STILL.
All kinds of strange things came to pass
in the days of long ago, but perhaps the
strangest of all was that the nurses who
eared for little children were not women,
but brooks and rivers. The children and
the brooks ran about together, and the
brooks and rivers never said, ** It is time to
go to bed," for they liked to play as well
as the children, and perhaps a little better.
Sometimes the brooks ran first and the
children followed. Sometimes the children
ran first and the brooks followed. Of course,
if any animal came near that would hurt
the children, the brook or river in whose
care they were left flowed quickly around
them, so that they stood on an island and
were safe from all harm.
Two little boys lived in those days who
were sons of the king. When the children
were old enough to run about, the king
called the rivers and brooks to come before
156 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
him. They came gladly, for they felt sure
that something pleasant would happen, and
they waited so quietly that no one would
have thought they were so full of frolic.
** I have called you,'' said the king, " to
give you the care of my two little sons.
They like so well to run about that one
nurse will not be enough to care for them,
and of course it will be pleasanter for them
to have many playmates. So I felt that it
would be better to ask every river and every
brook to see that they are not hurt or lost."
** We shall have the king's sons for our
playmates ! " whispered the rivers. *' No-
thing so pleasant ever happened to us be-
fore."
But the king went on, ** If you keep my
boys safely and well, and follow them so
closely that they are not lost, then I will
give you whatever gift you wish ; but if I find
that you have forgotten them one moment
and they are lost or hurt, then you will
be punished as no river was ever punished
before."
WHY RIVERS ARE NEVER STILL. 157
The rivers and even the most frolicsome
little brooks were again quiet for a moment.
Then they all cried together, ** O king, we
will be good. There were never better
nurses than we will be to your sons."
At first all went well, and the playmates
had the merriest times that could be
thought of. Then came a day when the
sunshine was very warm, but the boys ran
faster and farther than boys had ever run
in the world before, and even the brooks
could not keep up with them. The rivers
had never been weary before, but when this
warm day came, one river after another had
some reason for being quiet. One com-
plained, ** I have followed the boys farther
than any other river." " Perhaps you have,"
said another, " but I have been up and down
and round and round till I have forgotten
how it seems to be quiet." Another de-
clared, ** I have run about long enough, and
I shall run no more." A little brook said,
" If I were a great river, perhaps I could
run farther," and a great river replied, " If
16S THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
I were a little brook, of course I could run
farther."
So they talked, and the day passed.
Night came before they knew it, and they
could not find the boys.
" Where are my sons ? '' cried the king.
** Indeed, we do not know,'* answered the
brooks and rivers in great fear, and each one
looked at the others.
** You have lost my children," said the
king, ** and if you do not find them, you
shall be punished. Go and search for them."
** Please help us," the rivers begged of
the trees and plants, and everything that
had life began to search for the lost boys.
*' Perhaps they are under ground," thought
the trees, and they sent their roots down into
the earth. ** Perhaps they are in the east,"
cried one animal, and he went to the east.
** They may be on the mountain," said one
plant, and so it climbed to the very top of
the mountain. " They may be in the vil-
lage," said another, and so that one crept up
close to the homes of men.
WHY RIVERS ARE NEVER STILL. 169
Many years passed. The king was almost
broken-hearted, but he knew it was of no
use to search longer, so he called very sadly,
*' Search no longer. Let each plant and
animal make its home where it is. The
little plant that has crept up the mountain
shall live on the mountain top, and the roots
of the trees shall stay under ground. The
rivers " — Then the king stopped, and
the rivers trembled. They knew that they
would be punished, but what would the.
punishment be ? The king looked at them.
" As for you, rivers and brooks," he de-
clared, *' it was your work to watch my boys.
Thc-^lants and trees shall find rest and live
-happily in their homes, but you shall ever
search for my lost boys, and you shall never
have a home."
So from that day to this the rivers have
gone on looking for the lost children. They
never stop, and some of them are so troubled
that they flow first one way and then the
other.
160 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
HOW THE RAVEN HELPED MEN.
The raven and the eagle were cousins,
and they were almost always friendly, but
whenever they talked together about men,
they quarreled.
" Men are lazy,'' declared the eagle.
" There is no use in trying to help them.
The more one does for them, the less they
do for themselves."
" You fly so high," said the raven, " that
you cannot see how hard men work. I
think that we birds, who know so much
more than they, ought to help them."
" They do not work," cried the eagle.
" What have they to do, I should like to
know ? They walk about on the ground, and
their food grows close by their nests. If
they had to fly through the air as we do, and
get their food wherever they could, they
might talk about working hard."
" That is just why we ought to help
them," replied the raven. ** They cannot
mount up into the air as we do. They
HOW THE RAVEN HELPED MEN. 161
cannot see anything very well unless it is
near them, and if they had to run and catch
their food, they would surely die of hunger.
They are poor, weak creatures, and there is
not a humming-bird that does not know
many things that they never heard of."
" You are a poor, weak bird, if you think
you can teach men. When they feel hun-
ger, they will eat, and they do not know
how to do anything else. Just look at
them ! They ought to be going to sleep, and
they do not know enough to do even that."
** How can they know that it is night,
when they have no sun and no moon to tell
them when it is day and when it is night ? "
** They would not go to sleep even if they
had two moons," said the eagle ; ** and you
are no true cousin of mine if you do not let
them alone."
So the two birds quarreled. Almost every
time they met, they quarreled about men,
and at last, whenever the eagle began to
mount into the air, the raven went near the
earth.
162 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
Now the eagle had a pretty daughter.
She and the raven were good friends, and
they never quarreled about men. One day
the pretty daughter said, ** Cousin Raven,
are you too weak to fly as high as you used
to do?"
" I never was less weak," declared the
raven.
** Almost every day you keep on the
ground. Can you not mount into the air ? "
** Of course I can," answered the raven.
" There are some strange things in my
father's lodge," said the pretty daughter,
" and I do not know what they are. They
are not good to eat, and I do not see what
else they are good for. Will you come and
see them ? "
" I will go wherever you ask me," declared
the raven.
The eagle's lodge was far up on the top
of a high mountain, but the two birds were
soon there, and the pretty daughter showed
the raven the strange things. He knew
what they were, and he said to himself.
V
>
HOW THE RAVEN HELPED MEN. 163
" Men shall have them, and by and by they
will be no less wise than the birds." Then
he asked, '* Has your father a magic cloak.? '*
" Yes," answered the pretty daughter.
" May I put it on ? "
164 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" Yes, surely."
When the raven had once put on the
magic cloak, he seized the strange things
and put them under it. Then he called,
** I will come again soon, my pretty little
cousin, and tell you all about the people on
the earth."
The things under his cloak were strange
indeed, for one was the sun, and one was
the moon. There were hundreds of bright
stars, and there were brooks and rivers and
waterfalls. Best of all, there was the pre-
cious gift of fire. The raven put the sun
high up in the heavens, and fastened the
moon and stars in their places. He let the
brooks run down the sides of the mountains,
and he hid the fire away in the rocks.
After a while men found all these precious
gifts. They knew when it was night and
when it was day, and they learned how to
use fire. They cannot mount into the air
like the eagle, but in some things they are
almost as wise as the birds.
THE EARTH AND THE SKY. 16B
THE STORY OF THE EARTH AND THE
SKY.
The sky used to be very close to the earth,
and of course the earth had no sunshine.
Trees did not grow, flowers did not blossom,
and water was not clear and bright. The
earth did not know that there was any other
way of living, and so she did not complain.
By and by the sky and the earth had a
son who was called the Shining One. When
he was small, he had a dream, and he told
it to the earth. " Mother Earth," he said,
"I had a dream, and it was that the sky
was far up above us. There was a bright
light, and it made you more radiant than I
ever saw you. What could the light have
been.?"
" I do not know, my Shining One,*' she
answered, " for there is nothing but the
earth and the sky."
After a long, long time, the Shining One
was fully grown. Then he said to the
sky, ** Father Sky, will you not go higher up,
166 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
that there may be light and warmth on the
earth?"
** There is no ' higher up,' " declared the
sky. " There is only just here."
Then the Shining One raised the sky till
he rested on the mountain peaks.
" Oh ! oh ! " cried the sky. " They hurt.
The peaks are sharp and rough. You are
an unkind, cruel son."
**In my dreams you were still higher up,"
replied the Shining One, and he raised the
sky still higher.
" Oh ! oh ! " complained the sky, ** I can
hardly see the peaks. I will stay on the
rough rocks."
**You were far above the rocks in my
dream," replied the Shining One.
Then when the sky was raised far above
the earth and no longer touched even the
peaks, a great change came over the earth.
She, too, had thought the Shining One un-
kind, and she had said, " Shining One, it was
only a dream. Why should you change the
sky and the earth ? Why not let them
THE EARTH AND THE SKY. 16T
stay as they were before you Lad the
dream ? "
** O Mother Earth," he said, ** I wish you
could see the radiant change that has come
to pass. The air is full of light and warmth
and fragrance. You yourself are more beau-
tiful than you were even in my dream.
Listen and hear the song of the birds. See
the flowers blossoming in every field, and
even covering the rough peaks of the moun-
tains. Should you be glad if I had let all
things stay as they were ? Was I unkind
to make you so much more lovely than you
were ? "
Before the earth could answer, the sky
began to complain. " You have spread over
earth a new cloak of green, and of course
she is beautiful with all her flowers and
birds, but here am I, raised far above the
mountain peaks. I have no cloak, nor have
I flowers and birds. Shining One, give me
a cloak."
" That will I do, and most gladly," re-
plied the Shining One, and he spread a soft
168 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
cloak of dark blue over the sky, and in it
many a star sparkled and twinkled.
** That is very well in the night," said the
heavens, " but it is not good in the daytime,
it is too gloomy. Give me another cloak
for the day." Then the Shining One spread
a light blue cloak over the sky for the day-
time, and at last the sky was as beautiful
as the earth.
Now both sky and earth were contented.
" I did not know that the earth was so radi-
ant," said the sky. ** I did not know that
the sky was so beautiful," said the earth.
** I will send a message to tell her how lovely
she is," thought the sky, and he dropped
down a gentle little rain.
** I, too, will send a message," thought the
earth, ** and the clouds shall carry it for
me." That is why there is often a light
cloud rising from the earth in the morning.
It is carrying a good-morning message from
the beautiful earth to the sky.
HOW SUMMER CAME TO THE EARTH. 169
HOW SUMMER CAME TO THE EARTH.
PART I.
There was once a boy on the earth who
was old enough to haye a bow and arrows,
but who had never seen a summer. He
had no idea how it would look to have
leaves on the trees, for he had never seen
any such things. As for the songs of birds,
he may have heard them in his dreams, but
he never heard them when he was not
asleep. If any one had asked, ** Do you not
like to walk on the soft grass ?'' he would
have answered, " What is grass ? I never
saw any.*'
The reason why this boy had never heard
of summer was because there had never
been a summer on the earth. Far to the
north the earth was covered with thick ice,
and even farther south, where the boy lived,
the ground was rarely free from ice and
snow.
The boy's father was called the fisher. He
taught his little son to hunt, and made him
170 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
a bow like his own, only smaller. The boy-
was proud of his arrows, and was always
happy when he went out to hunt. He had
often shot a lynx, and once or twice he had
shot a wolverine. Sometimes it chanced
that he found nothing to shoot, and then
he was not happy, for he realized how cold
it was. His fingers ached, and his feet
ached, and the end of his nose ached. ** Oh,
if I could only carry the wigwam fire about
with me ! '* he cried, for he had no idea of
any other warmth than that which came
from the fire.
Now it chanced that Adjidaumo, the
squirrel, was on a tree over the boy's head,
and he heard this cry. He dropped a piece
of ice upon the end of the boy's little red
fiose, and the boy bent his bow. Then he
realized who it was, and he cried, ** 0 Adji-
daumo, you are warm. You have no fingers
to ache with the cold. I am warm just
twice a day, once in the morning and once
at night."
'^ 3ojs do iiot Imow mu^h/' replied Adji-
HOW SUMMER CAME TO THE EARTH. 171
daumo, dancing lightly on the topmost
bough. " The end of my nose is warm, and
I have no fingers like yours to be cold, but
if I had chanced to have any, I have an
idea that would have kept them warm."
" What is an idea ? '* asked the boy.
" An idea is something that is better than
a fire," replied the squirrel, ** for you can
carry an idea about with you, and you have
to leave the fire at home. A lynx has an
idea sometimes, and a wolverine has one
sometimes, but a squirrel has one twice as
often as a boy."
The poor boy was too cold to be angry,
and he begged, ** Adjidaumo, if there is any
way for me to keep warm, will you not tell
me what it is ? A lynx would be more kind
to me than you are, and I am sure a wolver-
ine would tell me."
Adjidaumo had rarely been cold, but when
he realized how cold the boy vras, he was
sorry for him, and he said, " All you have
to do is to go home and cry. When your
father says, * Why do you cry } ' answer
172 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
nothing but ' Boo-hoo, boo-hoo, boo-hoo !
Get me summer, get me summer ! ' "
Now this boy rarely cried, but his hands
and feet were so very cold that he thought
he would do as the squirrel had told him,
and he started for home. As soon as he
reached the wigwam, he threw himself down
upon the ground and cried. He cried so
hard that his tears made a river that ran out
of the wigwam door. It was a frozen river,
of course, but when the fisher saw it, he
knew it was made of the tears of his little
son. " What are you crying for ? '* he
asked, but all the boy answered was ** Boo-
hoo, boo-hoo ! Get me summer, father, get
me summer ! '*
" Summer," repeated the fisher thought-
fully. ** It is not easy to get summer, but
I will find it if I can."
PART II.
The fisher made a great feast for the ani-
mals that he thought could help him to find
summer. The otter, the lynx, the badger.
HOW SUMMER CAME TO THE EARTH. 173
and the wolverine came. After they had
eaten, the hunter told them what he wished
to do, and they all set out to find summer.
For many days they traveled, and at last
they came to a high mountain upon whose
summit the sky seemed to rest.
** That is where summer is," declared the
badger. ** All we have to do is to climb to
the summit and take it from the heavens."
So they all climbed and climbed, till it
seemed as if they would never reach the
top. After a long time they were on the
very highest summit, but the heavens were
above them.
" We cannot reach it," said the fisher.
" Let us try," said the lynx.
" I will try first," said the otter. So the
otter sprang up with all his might, but he
could not touch the heavens. He rolled
down the side of the mountain, and then
he ran home. The badger tried, and the
beaver tried, and the lynx tried, but not
one of them could leap far enough to reach
the heavens. " Now I will try," said the
1T4 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
wolverine. ** I am not going to climb away
up here for nothing." The fisher watched
most eagerly, for he thought, " There 's my
boy at home crying, and what shall I do if
I cannot get the summer for him ? "
The wolverine leaped farther than any
wolverine ever leaped before, and he went
where no animal on the earth had ever
been before, for he went straight through
the floor of the heavens. Of course the
fisher followed, and there they were in a
more lovely place than any one on the
earth had ever dreamed of, for they were
in the land of summer, and summer had
never come to the earth.
The soft, warm air went down through
the hole in the floor and spread over the
earth. Birds flew down, singing happily as
they flew, and all kinds of flowers that are
on the earth to-day made their way through
the hole as fast as they could, for they knew
all about the little boy in the wigwam who*
was wishing that summer would come.
Now there were people in the heavens^
THE FIRST SNOWDROPS. 175
and when they found that summer was go-
ing down to the earth through the hole in
the floor, they cried out to the Gf-oat Spirit, ^^
*' Take summer away from him, take it
away from him ! '' and they shot their arrows
at the fisher and the wolverine. The wolver-
ine dropped through the hole, but the fisher
was not quick enough, and he could not get
away.
The Great Spirit said, ** The heavens have
the summer all the year, but the earth shall
have summer half the year. I shall close the
hole in the floor so the fisher cannot go down
to earth again, but I will make him into a
fish and give him a place in the heavens."
When the Indians look up at the sky,
they see a fish in the stars, and they say,
** That is the good fisher who gave us the
beautiful summer."
THE STORY OF THE FIRST SNOWDROPS.
An old man sat alone in his house. It
was full of shadows ; it was dark and gloomy.
176 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
The old man cared nothing for the shad-
ows or the darkness, for he was thinking of
all the mighty deeds that he had done.
** There is no one else in the world," he
muttered, ** who has done such deeds as I,"
and he counted them over aloud. A sound
outside of the house interrupted him.
" What can it be ? " he said to himself.
" How dares anything interrupt me ? I
have told all things to be still. It sounds
like the rippling of waters, and I have told
the waters to be quiet in their beds. There
it is again. It is like the singing of birds,
and I have sent the birds far away to the
south."
Some one opened the door and came in.
It was a youth with sunny curls and rosy face.
" Who said you might come in ? " mut-
tered the old man.
" Did not you ? " asked the youth, with
a merry little laugh. " I am really afraid
that I came without asking. You see, every
one is glad to see me and " —
" I am not," interrupted the old man.
THE FIRST SNOWDROPS. 177
" I have heard rumors of your great
deeds/' said the youth, " and I came to see
>^hether the tales are true."
" The deeds are more true than the
tales," muttered the old man, ** for the tales
are never great enough. No one can count
the wonderful things I have done."
** And. what are they ? " asked the young
man gravely, but with a merry little twinkle
in his eyes that would have made one think
of the waves sparkling in the sunlight.
** Let us see whether you or I can tell the
greatest tale."
** I can breathe upon a river and turn it
to ice," said the old man.
*' I can breathe upon the ice and turn it
to a river," said the youth.
" I can say to water, * Stand still,' and it
will not darC'to stir."
** I can say, * Stand no longer,' and it will
go running and chattering down the moun-
tain side."
" I shake my white head," said the old
man, " and snow covers the earth."
178 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" I shake my curls," said the young man,
" and the air sparkles with sunshine. In a
moment the snow is gone."
** I say to the birds, * Sing no more.
Leave me,' and they spread their wings and
fly far away."
** I say, * Little birds, come back,* and in
a moment they are back again and singing
their sweetest songs to me."
" No one can count the leaves," said the
old man, "but whether I shake the trees
with my icy touch, or whether I turn my
cold breath upon them, they fall to the
ground with fear and trembling. Are there
any rumors of my deeds as great as that ? "
The young man answered gravely, but
with a laugh in his voice, " I never saw
any leaves falling to the ground, for when I
appear, they are all fair and green and
trembling with the gladness of my coming."
So the two talked all night long. As
morning came near, the old man appeared
weary, but the youth grew merrier. The
sunlight brightened, and the youth turned
WHY THE FACE OF THE MOON IS WHITE. 179
to the open door. The trees were full of
birds, and when they saw him, they sang,
"0 beautiful spring! glad are we to look
again upon your face/*
" My own dear birds ! " cried spring. He
turned to say good-by, but the old man was
gone, and where he had stood were only
snowflakes. But were they snowflakes ?
He looked again. They were little white
snowdrops, the first flowers of spring, the
only flowers that can remember the winter.
WHY THE FACE OF THE MOON IS
WHITE.
An Indian chief had a fair young daugh-
ter. One day the wind came to him and
said, "Great chief, I love your daughter,
and she loves me. Will you give her to me
to be my wife ? "
" No,'* answered the chief.
The next day the maiden herself went
to the chief and said, " Father, I love the
wind. Will you let me go with him to his
lodge and be his wife ? "
180 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" No/' declared the chief, " I will not.
When the wind was a child, he often came
into my wigwam through some tiny hole,
and try as I would to make my fire, he
always put it out. He knows neither how
to fight nor how to hunt, and you shall not
be his wife."
Then the chief hid his daughter in a
thick grove of dark spruces. ** The wind
might see her in a pine," he thought, " but
he will never catch sight of her in a grove
of spruces."
Now the wind could make himself invisi-
ble if he chose, and all the time that the
chief was talking, the wind was close beside
him listening to every word. When the
next night came, the wind ran round and
round the grove of spruces until he discov-
ered a tiny place where he could get in.
When he came out, the maiden was with
him. He did not dare to go near the
Indians to live, for he was afraid that the
chief would come and take her away from
him ; so he built a new lodge far to the north-
WHY THE FACE OF THE MOON IS WHITE. 181
ward. To that lodge he carried the maiden,
and she became his wife.
Neither the wind nor his young wife had
thought that the chief could ever find them,
but he searched and searched, and at last
he came to their lodge. The wind hid his
wife and made himself invisible, but the
father struck all about with his great war-
club, and a hard blow fell upon the head
of the wind. He knew no more of what
the chief was doing.
When he came to himself, he discovered
that his wife was gone, and he set out in
search of her. He roamed about wildly in
the forest, and at last he saw her in a canoe
with her father on the Big-Sea-Water.
** Come with me," he called. She became
as white as snow, but she could not see
the wind, because after the blow upon his
head he had forgotten how to make himself
visible.
He was so angry with the chief that he
blew with all his might upon the tiny canoe.
" Let it tip over," he thought. " I can
182 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
carry my wife safely to land." The canoe
did tip over, and both the chief and his
daughter fell into the water. ** Come, dear
wife," cried the wind. *' Here is my hand."
He did not remember that he was invisible,
and that she could not see his hand. That
is why she fell down, down, through the
deep water to the bottom of the lake. The
chief, too, lost his life, for the wind did not
try to help him.
When the wind discovered that his wife
was gone from him, he became almost wild
with sorrow. ** The wind never blew so
sadly before," said the people in the wig-
wams.
The Great Spirit was sorry that the
chiefs daughter had fallen into the water
and lost her life, and the next night he bore
her up to the stars and gave her a home
in the moon. There she lives again, but
her face is white, as it was when she fell
from the canoe. On moonlight nights she
always looks down upon the earth, search-
ing for the wind^ for she does not know that
H^RE IS A^Y ^ANp"
184 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
he is invisible. The wind does not know
that far away in the moon is the white face
of his lost wife, and so he roams through the
forest and wanders about the rocks and the
mountains, but never thinks of looking up to
the moon.
WHY ALL MEN LOVE THE MOON.
Thunder and Lightning were going to
give a feast. It was to be a most delightful
banquet, for all the good things that could
be imagined were to be brought from every
corner of the world.
For many days before the feast these good
things were coming. The birds flew up with
what they could find in the cold air of the
north and the warm air of the south. The
fishes came from the east and from the west
with what they could find in the cold water
or in the warm w^ater. As for what grew
on the earth, there was no end to the lux-
uries that came every morning and every
evening. Squirrels brought nuts, crows
WHY ALL MEN LOVE THE MOON. 185
brought corn, the ants brought sweet things
of many kinds. Food that was rich and
rare came from India and Japan. The
butterflies and the humming-birds were to
arrange the flowers, the peacocks and the
orioles promised to help make the place
beautiful, and the waves and the brooks
agreed to make their most charming music.
Thunder and Lightning were talking
about whom to invite, and they questioned
whether to ask the sun, the moon, and the
wind. These three were children of the
star mother.
" The star mother has been so kind to us
that I suppose we ought to invite her chil-
dren," said Thunder.
" The moon is charming, but the sun and
the wind are rough and wild. If I were
the star mother, I would keep them in a
corner all day, and they should stay there
all night, too, if they did not promise to be
gentle," said Lightning.
" We must invite them," replied Thunder,
with what sounded much like a little growl.
186 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
" but it would be delightful if they would
agree to stay away, all but the moon."
That is why the sun and wind were in-
vited as well as the moon. When the invi-
tation came, the two brothers said to their
little sister, " You are too small to go to a
feast, but perhaps they asked you because
they were going to ask us."
** Star mother, I think I will stay at
home," said the moon tearfully.
"No, little moon," replied the star mother;
" go to the feast with the other children."
So the three children went to the feast,
and the star mother waited for them to
come home.
When they came, she asked, ** What did
you bring for me ? " The hands of the sun
were full of good things, but he said, ** I
brought only what I am going to eat myself,"
and he sat down in a corner with his back
to the others, and went on eating.
•* Did you bring anything for me ? " she
asked the wind.
"I brought some good things halfway
WHY ALL MEN LOVE THE MOON. 187
home, and then I was weary of carrying
them," answered the wind, '* so I have eaten
them."
** I should never have imagined that you
would be so selfish," said the star mother
sadly, and she asked the little moon, ** My
daughter, did you bring anything for me ? "
"Yes, star mother," answered the little
moon, and she gave her mother more good
things than any one had ever seen in their
home before. There were rare luxuries
that the fishes and the birds had brought.
There were rich colors that the peacocks
and orioles had promised, and there was
even some of the charming music that the
waves and brooks had agreed to make.
The star mother praised the little maiden.
Then she looked at her two boys. She
was sad, for she knew that they must be
punished for their selfishness. *' Sun," said
she, " you wish to turn your back on all,
and your punishment shall be that when
the warm days of summer have come, all
men will turn their backs on you." To the
188 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
wind she said, " Wind, you thought of no
one but yourself. When the storm is com-
ing and you are afraid and fly before it, no
one shall think of you. All men shall close
their doors against you and fasten them."
Then to her little daughter she said, " My
little moon, you were unselfish and thought-
ful. You shall always be bright and beau-
tiful, and men shall loye you and praise
you whenever they look upon your gentle,
kindly face."
This is why men hide from the sun and
the wind, but never from the moon.
WHY THERE IS A HARE IN THE MOON.
Many strange things happened long ago,
and one of them was that a hare, a monkey,
and a fox agreed to live together. They
talked about their plan a long time. Then
the hare said, " I promise to help the mon-
key and the fox." The monkey declared,
" I promise to help the fox and the hare."
The fox said, " I promise to help the hare
WHY THERE IS A HARE IN THE MOON. 189
and the monkey." They shook hands, or
rather shook paws. There was something
else to which they agreed, and that was
that they would kill no living creature.
The manito was much pleased when he
heard of this plan, but he said to himself,
** I should like to make sure that what I
have heard is true, and that they are really
gentle and kind to others as well as to
themselves. I will go to the forest and see
how they behave toward strangers."
The manito appeared before the three
animals, but they thought he was a hunter.
" May I come into your lodge and rest ? "
he asked. ** I am very weary."
All three came toward him and gave him a
welcome. ** Come into our lodge," they said.
*' We have agreed to help one another, so we
will help one another to help you."
** I have been hungry all day," said the
manito, ** but I should rather have such a
welcome than food."
** But if you are hungry, you must have
food," declared the three animals. ** If there
190 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
were anything in our lodge that you would
care to eat, you might have part of it or
all of it, but there is nothing here that you
would like."
Then said the monkey, " I have a plan.
I will go out into the forest and find you
some food."
When the monkey came back, he said,
" I found a tree with some fruit on it. I
climbed it and shook it, and here is the
fruit. There was only a little of it, for
fruit was scarce."
"Will you not eat part of it yourself?"
asked the manito.
** No," answered the monkey. " I had
rather see you eat it, for I think you are
more hungry than I."
The manito wished to know whether the
fox and the hare would behave as unselfishly
toward him, and he said, " My good friends,
the fruit was indeed welcome, but I am
still hungry."
Then the fox said, ** I will go out into
the forest and see what I can find for jou."
H
WHY THERE IS A HARE IN THE MOON. 191
When the fox came back, he said, " I
shook the trees, but no more fruit fell. I
could not climb the trees, for my paws are
not made for climbing, but I searched on
the ground, and at last I found some hominy
that a traveler had left, and I have brought
you that."
The manito had soon eaten the hominy.
He wished to know whether the hare would
behave as kindly as the others, and before
long he said, ** My good friends, the hom-
iny was indeed welcome, but I am still
hungry."
Then the hare said, " I will gladly go
out into the forest and search for food."
He was gone a long time, but when he came
back, he brought no food.
" I am very hungry," said the manito.
** Stranger," said the hare, *' if you will
build a fire beside the rock, I can give you
some food."
The manito built a fire, and the hare
said, ** Now I will spring from the top of
the rock upon the fire. I have heard that
192 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
men eat flesh that is taken from the fire,
and I will give you my own/*
The hare sprang from the rock, but the
manito caught him in his hands before the
flame could touch him, and said, ** Dear, un-
selfish little hare, the monkey and the fox
have welcomed me and searched the forest
through to find me food, but you have done
more, for you have given me yourself. I
will take the gift, little hare, and I will
carry you in my arms up to the moon, so
that every one on the earth may see you
and hear the tale of your kindness and un-
selfishness."
The Indians can see a hare in the moon.
THE CHILDREN IN THE MOON. 193
and this is the story that they tell their
children about it.
THE CHILDREN IN THE MOON.
They had no idea where they came from.
All they knew was that they lived on the
hill, and that the old man of the hill called
them Jack and Jill. They had plenty of
berries to eat, and when night came, they
had soft beds of fir to sleep on. There were
all kinds of animals on the hill, and they
were friendly to the two children. They
could have had a most delightful time play-
ing all day long if it had not been for hav-
ing to carry water.
Every morning, just as soon as the first
rays of the sun could be seen from their
home, they heard the voice of the old man
of the hill calling, ** Jack ! Jill ! Take your
pail and get some water." Whenever they
were having an especially pleasant game
with some of the animals, they heard the
same call, " Take your pail and get some
lU THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
water." It is no wonder that Jack awoke
one night when no one called and said,
" Jill, did he say we must get some water ? "
" I suppose so," answered Jill sleepily^
and they went out with the pail.
The moon was shining down through
the trees, and they imagined that she was
nearer than ever before. The forest was
not half so lonely with her gentle face look-
ing down upon them. Soon they felt hap-
pier than at first, and they played little
games together, running from tree to tree.
** We have spilled half the water," said Jill.
** There's plenty left," said Jack, ** if half
is spilled."
" Do you suppose there are any children
who play games whenever they like and do
not have to carry water ? "
" Plenty of them," declared Jack.
"Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To get a pail of water,"
sang a voice so clear that it seemed close at
hand, and so soft that it seemed far away.
THE CHILDREN IN THE MOON. 196
Jack started, fell, and rolled down the
hillside, and Jill came tumbling after. As
for the water, what was left was spilled be-
fore Jack had rolled oyer once ; and before
he had rolled over twice, the same voice
sang,—
" Jack fell down
And broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after."
** It is about us," cried Jill.
**I have not broken any crown," said
Jack.
" It is the crown of your head," declared
Jill.
"Oh!" said Jack; "but where 's the
water ? "
" It has gone tumbling down the hill,"
answered the same voice.
** How can water go tumbling ? " cried
Jill. " JVe tumbled."
" Water tumbles too," replied the voice,
" especially when it is frozen."
" Oh ! " said Jack.
"Oh!"saidJiU.
196
THE BOOK OP NATURE MYTHS.
" The stream is frozen," called the voice.
" What stream ? *' asked the children to-
gether.
** The stream that
goes down the hill,"
answered the Toice.
" Did you not know
that you were bring-
V w^ ^WIF I ^^S water to keep the
^Cs^ ill/ ^^^^^^ ^""^^ ' "
/ ^^"""V^ WA/ " No, indeed," said
the children.
"The old
man of the
hill is only
a rock, and
what you
thought his
voice was
only the water flowing around it."
" Oh ! " cried Jack.
"Oh!" cried Jill.
" The stream is frozen," said the voice,
" and the earth has a cloak of snow and ice."
WHY THERE IS A MAN IN THE MOON. 197
" Who are you ? " asked Jill shyly.
** Do you really not know ? What a
strange child you are ! I am the moon, of
course. Very pleasant people live with me,
and I have come to invite you both to go
home with me. Will you come ? "
The children looked up through the
trees, and there was the gentle face of the
moon, looking more gentle and kind than
ever. ** Come,'* said she, and they went
very willingly. They have lived in the
moon many years, but they never again
carried a pail of water for a stream. ** That
is the work of the clouds and the sun,"
says the moon.
WHY THERE IS A MAN IN THE MOON.
" Goodman," said the goodwife, " you
must go out into the forest and gather
sticks for the fire. To-morrow will be Sun-
day, and we have no wood to burn."
"Yes, goodwife," answered the goodman,
** I will go to the forest."
198 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
He did go to the forest, but he sat on a
mossy rock and fished till it was dark, and
so he brought home no wood. ** The good-
wife shall not know it,'* he thought. " I will
go to the forest to-morrow morning and
gather sticks."
When morning came, he crept softly out
of the house when it was hardly light, and
went to the forest. Soon he had as many
sticks as he could carry, and he was start-
ing for home when a voice called sternly,
** Put those sticks down." He looked to
the right, to the left, before him, behind
him, and over his head. There was no one
to be seen.
" Put those sticks down," said the voice
again.
" Please, I do not dare to put tliem
down," replied the goodman, trembling
with fear. " They are to burn, and my
wife cannot cook the dinner without them."
** You will have no dinner to-day," said
the voice.
" The goodwife will not know that I did
WHY THERE IS A MAN IN THE MOON. 199
act gather them last night, and she will let
me have some dinner. I am almost sure
she will,'* the goodman replied.
" You must not gather sticks to-day,"
said the voice more sternly than ever. ** It
is Sunday. Put them down."
" Indeed, Mr. Voice, I dare not," whis-
pered the goodman ; and afar off he thought
he heard his wife calling, ** Goodman, where
are you ? There is no wood to burn,"
" Will you put them down, or will you
carry them forever ? " cried the voice
angrily.
** Truly, I cannot put them down, for I
dare not go home without them," answered
the goodman, shaking with fear from head
to foot. ** The goodwife would not like it."
" Then carry them forever," said the
voice. " You care not for Sunday, and you
shall never have another Sunday."
The goodman could not tell how it came
about, but he felt himself being lifted, up,
up, up, sticks and all, till he was in the
moon.
200 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
••Here you shall stay," said the voice
sternly. " You will not keep Sunday, and
here you need not. This is the moon, and
so it is always the moon's day, or Monday,
and Monday it shall be with you always.
Whenever any one looks up at the moon,
he will say, * See the man with the sticks
on his back. He was taken to the moon
because he gathered wood on Sunday.* "
" Oh dear, oh dear,'* cried the goodman,
" what will the goodwife say ? "
THE TWIN STARS.
In front of the little house was a pine-tree,
and every night at the time when the
children went to bed, a bright star appeared
over the top of the tree and looked in at
the window. The children were brother
and sister. They were twins, and so they
always had each other to play with.
" Now go to sleep," the mother would say
when she had kissed them good-night, but
it was hard to go to sleep when such a beau-
THE TWIN STARS. 201
tiful, radiant thing was shining in at the
window of the little house.
** What do you suppose is in the star ? "
asked the sister.
** I think there are daisies and honey and
violets and butterflies and bluebirds/' an-
swered the brother.
** And I think there are roses and robins
and berries and humming-birds," said the
sister.
** There must be trees and grass too, and I
am sure there are pearls and diamonds."
'* I can almost see them now," declared
the sister. ** I wish we could really see
them. To-morrow let us go and find the
star."
When morning came, the star was gone,
but they said, ** It was just behind the pine-
tree, and so it must be on the blue moun-
tain." The blue mountain was a long way
off, but it looked near, and the twins thought
they could walk to it in an hour. All day
long they walked, They went through the
lonely woods, they crossed brooks, they
202 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
climbed hills, and still they could not find
the radiant star that had looked in at their
window. The hour had come when their
mother always put them to bed and kissed
them and said good-night, but now they had
no mother, no good-night kiss, and no bed.
They were tired and sleepy. They heard
strange sounds in the forest, and they were
frightened. "I am so tired," the sister
whispered. ** I am afraid a bear will come.
I wish we could see the star."
The sky had grown dark, and a star could
be seen here and there, but it was not their
star. They went on till they could go no
farther. ** We will lie down on the grass,"
said the brother, ** and cover ourselves up
with leaves, and go to sleep."
Tired as they were, they did not have
time to go to sleep before they heard a bear
calling *' Ugh ! Ugh ! " in the woods. They
sprang up and ran out of the woods, and
just before they came to the bottom of the
hill, they saw right in front of them a beau-
tiful little lake. They were not frightened
THE TWIN STARS. 203
any more, for there in the water was some-
thing radiant and shining. ** It is our own
star," said they, " and it has come down
to us/' They never thought of looking
up into the sky over their heads. It was
enough for them that the star was in the
water and so near them. But was it calling
them ? They thought so. " Come," cried
the brother, ** take my hand, and we will
go to the star." Then the spirit of the skies
lifted them up gently and carried them away
on a beautiful cloud.
The father and mother sat alone in the
little house one evening, looking sadly out
of the window through which the twins
had looked. " There is the star that they
loved," the mother said. '* I have often
listened to them while they talked of it.
It is rising over the pine-tree in front of
the house." They sat and watched the
star. It was brighter and more radiant
than ever, and in it the father and mother
saw the faces of their lost children. " Oh,
take us too, good spirit of the skies ! " they
204 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
cried. The spirit heard them, and when
the next evening came, close beside the
star there was another star. In that were
the father and mother, and at last they and
the children were all very happy to be to-
gether again.
THE LANTERN AND THE FAN.
In a Japanese village there once lived a
man who had two sons. When the sons
were grown up, each brought home a wife
from another village a long distance away.
The father was greatly pleased with his two
daughters-in-law, and for many months they
all lived very happily together.
At last the two young wives asked to go
home to visit their friends. Among the
Japanese the sons and the sons' wives must
always obey the father, so the two wives
said, ** Father-in-law, it is a long, long time
since we have seen our friends. May we
go to our old home and visit them ? '* The
father-in-law answered, ** No." After many
THE LANTERN AND THE FAN. 205
months they asked again, and again he
answered, ** No.'* Once more they asked.
The father-in-law thought, *' They care no-
thing for me, or they would not wish to
leaye me, but I have a plan, and I can soon
know whether they love their father-in-law
or not." Then he said to the older of the
two wives, ** You may go if you wish, but
you must never come back unless you bring
me fire wrapped in paper.*' To the younger
he said, ** You may go if you wish, but you
must never come back unless you bring me
wind wrapped in paper." The father-in-law
thought, ** Now I shall find out. If they
care for me, they will search the country
through till they find paper that will hold
fire and wind."
The two young wives were so glad to visit
their old friends that for almost a month
they forgot all about the gifts that they
were to carry to their father-in-law. At last,
when it was time to go home, they were
greatly troubled about what they must carry
with them, and they asked a wise man
206 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
where to find the strange things. " Paper
that will hold fire and wind ! *' he cried.
** There is no such paper in Japan." The
two women asked one wise man after an-
other, and every one declared, ** There is no
such paper in Japan." What should they
do? They feared they would never see
their home again. They were so sad that
they left their friends and wandered a long
distance into the forest. Great tears fell
from their eyes.
" I do not let people cry in my woods,"
said a voice. " My trees do not grow well
in salt water."
The poor wives were so sorrowful that
they forgot to be afraid, and the older one
said, " Can we help crying ? Unless I can
carry to my father-in-law fire wrapped in
paper, I can never go home." ** And I,"
wailed the younger, " unless I can carry
wind wrapped in paper, I can never go
home. None of the wise men ever heard
of such things. "What shall we do ? "
" It is easy enough to wrap fire in paper,"
THE LANTERN AND THE FAN. 207
answered the yoice. " Here is a piece of
paper. Now watch." They watched, and
the strangest thing in all the world hap-
pened right before their eyes. There was
no one to be seen, but a piece of paper
appeared on the ground and folded itself
into a Japanese lantern. ** Now put a candle
inside,*' said the voice, "and you have paper
holding fire. What more could you ask ? "
Then the older woman was happy, but
the younger was still sad. She saw now that
fire could be carried in paper, but surely no
one could carry wind. " O dear voice," she
cried, ** can any one carry wind in paper ? "
" That is much easier than to carry fire,"
replied the voice, ** for wind does not burn
holes. Watch."
They watched eagerly. Another piece
of paper came all by itself and lay on the
ground between them. There was a picture
on it of a tree covered with white blossoms.
Two women stood under the tree, gathering
the blossoms.
" The two women are yourselves," said
208 THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
the voice, " and the blossoms are the gifts
that the father-in-law will give you when you
go home."
** But I cannot go home," the younger
wailed, "for I cannot carry wind wrapped
in paper."
" Here is the paper, and there is always
plenty of wind. Why not take them ? "
" Indeed, I do not know how," the younger
woman answered sorrowfully.
" This way, of course," said the voice.
Some long, light twigs flew to the paper.
It folded itself, over, under, together. It
opened and closed, and it waved itself before
the tearful face of the younger woman.
" Does not the wind come to your face ? "
asked the voice, "and is it not the fan that
has brought it.^ The lantern carries fire
wrapped in paper, and the fan carries wind
wrapped in paper."
Then, indeed, the two young women were
happy, and when they came to the home of
their father-in-law, he was as glad as they.
He gave them beautiful gifts of gold and
THE LANTERN AND THE FAN. 209
silver, and he said, " No one ever had such
marvels before as the lantern and the fan,
but in my home there are two more pre-
cious things than these, and they are my
two dear daughters."
VOCABULARY OF THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS.
Note — This vocabulary is supplementary to that of The Hiawatha
Primer. Nouus and verbs which are inflected regularly are entered under
but one form.
Pages 1-4
wound
eggs
first
head
busy
humming-bird
crest
taking
ago
another
care
know
blood
well
flames
Pages 19-28
Pages 34-36
last
serpent
raven
people
hissed
thief
Pages 4-7
cat
happened
again
shut
wood-worm
fled
quick
only
Pages 7-9
always
himself
grew
fall
pieces
Pages 10-12
Pages 23-28
Pages 36-40
butterflies
swallow
more
stones
tail
gone
some
forked
^'
would
animals
men
year
any
could
meet
wolf
beauty
mosquito
pond
life
whose
near
Pages 13-15
tore
bat
woodpecker
tongue
rain
man
Pages 28-31
quickly
cake
hares
Pages 40^41
bake
snowflakes
catch
feet
caught
large
fire-brand
tried
small
Pages 31-34
curled
Pages 15-19
magpie
throw
magician
time
Pages 4h 4^
fever
home
fast
breath
warm
hand
shot
brought
soon
fight
merrily
Pages 43-46
«yer
sorry
quail
212
VOCABULARY.
snipe
mock
choose
never
Pages 60-6 Jj,
which
crept
fox
wise
carrying
sheep
than
pulled
. bill
cows
eagle
fields
wisest
legs
growl
Pages 79-82
mole
should
often
Pages Jff-fyQ
Mr.
does
sheds
eaten
wicked
grandfather
cream
strange
marsh
Pages 6^67
knife
drink
girl
sharpen
drank
whom
harm
burst
treated
Pages 83-86
dope
sister
grasshopper
off
happy
country
Pages 50-52
please
Tithonus
dove
covered
goddess
manito
really
Aurora
brave
Pages 68-70
begged
crying
troubles
speak
Hoots
lies
roamed
too
remember
fairest
known
dies
immortal
most
lip
Pages 86-89
Pages 52-56
split
oriole
parrot
Pages 70-72
power
repeats
peetweet
ruler
truth
flies
master
ox
eagerly
yield
owner
lakes
clouds
yes"
hollows
lightning
villagers
thirsty
may
punish
Pages 72-75
hornet
next
short
Pages 89-98
think
fish
peacock
Juno
jar
such
even
easy
queen
storm
ice
world
thunder
frozen
played
mocking-bird
hole
tricks
replied
worse
Argue
Pages 56-59
slowly
hundred
cunning
angrily
Mercury
baby
■wish
belonged
voices
Pages 76-78
Pages 93-95
owned
wren
bees
own
king
tribes
VOCABULARY.
213
while
harp
Holda
honey
touched
Pages 133-135
Pages 96-98
strings
cranberries
rich
wailing
meadow
poor
Pages 114-117
cranberry
sowed
emeralds
woods
ground
vase
hominy
seed
precious
Pages 135-138
mine
air
salt
Pages 98-102
India
Frothi
ant3
roll
millstones
full
waves
grind
almost
deepest
gate
house
Paaes 118-122
flown
rest
sense
weary
smell
berries
ship
pearl
broken
else
lost
might
bottom
dire
spring
Pages IS8-I4I
named
willow
crane
ha&r
spruce
hold
box
juniper
bitterly
bagged
Pages 122-125
witch
Pages 103-106
aspen
obey
face
guides
surely
after
swarm
taken
top
reason
Pages 1^-1^5
Turtle
gaze
despise
side
both
fierce
far-away
anywhere
dare
Paaes 107-110
diamonds
places
ready
Pages 125-128
sure
chief
heather
shields
enemies
plants
breast
stolen
contented
arms
search
violet
just
mourned
fragrance
declared
wife
daisy
Pages 145-150
Moneta
chose
crocodile
mother
Pages 128-132
wide
tears
flax
mouth
indeed
sight
kingdom
Pages III-II4
Runoia
haU
calm
sparkling
swim
shyly
gift
suddenly
true
spin
dragged
sweet
weave
open
Wod»
Uuen
214
VOCABULARY.
anything
spread
Pages 184-188
delightful
carried
message
sword
dropped
imagined
able
Pages 169-172
comer
Pages 150-15J^
idea
luxuries
Japau
rarely
arrange
picture
lynx
promised
changing
twice
agreed
dragon
wolverine
charming
island
chanced
suppose
mean
realized
stay
used
fingers
invite
tell
arched
invitation
moment
end
bring
Pages 155-159
nose
Pages 188-19S
pass
boo-hoo
monkey
perhaps
brooks
Pages 172-175
plan
otter
shook
better
badger
rather
followed
summit
paws
course
climb
something
hurt
reach
part
behave
left
floor
enough
Pages 175-179
toward
felt
snowdrop
fruit
pleasant
deeds
welcome
quiet
muttered
hungry
playmates
forgotten
counted
Pages 193-197
outside
hill
complained
interrupted
Jack
Pages 160-164
rumors
Jill
cousins
whether
plenty
quarreled
tales
pail
less
gravely
especially
hard
turn
g^me
ought
shake
spilled
mount
appear
tumbling
hunger
Pages 179-m
crown
weak
tiny
Pages 197-200
pretty
neither
gather
daughter
grove
sticks
Paaes 165-168
dream
invisible
to-morrow
discovered
Sunday
radiant
became
dinner
raised
blow
burn
peaks
fell
sternly
rough
deep
cook
unkind
try
to-day
Monday
8U7
faUen
VOCABULARY.
Pages 200-904
grown
wives
front
ourselves
since
window
Pages 204-209
visit
twins
fan
unless
kissed
lantern
wrapped
tired
distance
paper
way
law
folded
hour
months
under
frightened
215
YB 78394
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