{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_72063/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_72063","id":"gutenberg_72063","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72063","summary":null,"tags":["Animals -- Folklore","Animals -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's stories","Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Folk tales"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Note\n  Italic text displayed as: _italic_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \u201cThere was one vacant space though. The woodchuck had\nnot yet come.\u201d\n\n  _How the Squirrel Got Wings._]\n\n\n\n\n  ONCE UPON A TIME\n  ANIMAL STORIES\n\n\n  BY\n  CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY\n\n  Author of\n\n  \u201cFor the Children\u2019s Hour,\u201d \u201cStories Children Need,\u201d\n  \u201cFor the Story Teller,\u201d \u201cTell Me Another\n  Story,\u201d \u201cFirelight Stories\u201d\n\n\n  1918\n  MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY\n  SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY\n  MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY\n  SPRINGFIELD, MASS.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nSince the childhood of the races, certain old-world stories have\nappeared in different form in the folklore of different nations, all\nbearing the stamp of the same source; the interest of primitive people\nin attributing human impulses and human lines of conduct to the animal\nworld.\n\nPerhaps the earliest of all is The Kid Who Would Not Go, which\ncorresponds to the old New England nursery tale of the Old Woman\nand Her Pig, and which, in its original form, dates back to Hebrew\ntranslations. How They Brought Hairlock Home is a typical cumulative\ntale of Norway. The Story of Ibbity is one of the few obtainable\nMadagascar folk tales, and symbolizes the search of a primitive people\nfor the source of natural phenomena. Our own southern negroes have\ngiven us the stories of Mr. Elephant and Mr. Frog, Why the Bear Sleeps\nAll Winter, Little Bear, and Brother Wolf and the Rock. The American\nIndians have given us a varied collection of animal myths including\nHow the Rabbit Tried to Coast, How the Squirrel Got Wings, The Talking\nGrass, and many other camp fire tales that have a nature background.\n\nThe reason for using these animal stories for story telling and\nsupplementary reading lies in the instinctive interest which all\nchildren have in those stories that express the interpretation of life\nmade by primitive races. This interest, and the indirect moral teaching\nof many of the stories included in this volume, give them a point of\ndeparture over and above that held by the modern story.\n\n  CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY.\n\n NEW YORK, 1918.\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n  HOW THE EAGLE WENT HUNGRY                                            1\n\n  LITTLE FOOTSTEPS UPON THE WATER                                      6\n\n  THE STORY OF LAMBIKIN                                               12\n\n  BROTHER WOLF AND THE ROCK                                           18\n\n  LITTLE BEAR                                                         22\n\n  HOW THE PIGS CAN SEE THE WIND                                       27\n\n  THE TALKING GRASS                                                   33\n\n  HOW THE FOX PLAYED HERDSMAN                                         38\n\n  MR. ELEPHANT AND MR. FROG                                           43\n\n  HOW DRAKESTAIL WENT TO THE KING                                     48\n\n  THE GREEDY CAT                                                      53\n\n  THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF                                         58\n\n  THE HOBYAHS                                                         63\n\n  THE KID WHO WOULD NOT GO                                            68\n\n  THE ROBIN\u2019S CHRISTMAS SONG                                          71\n\n  THE STORY OF IBBITY                                                 76\n\n  THE CHIPMUNK WHO CHATTERED TOO MUCH                                 80\n\n  HOW THE SQUIRREL GOT WINGS                                          86\n\n  HOW THEY BROUGHT HAIRLOCK HOME                                      91\n\n  THE BEAR WHO LOST HIS SUPPER                                        95\n\n  THE RABBIT WHO WAS AFRAID                                          100\n\n  HOW MAPLE SUGAR CAME                                               106\n\n  THE RABBIT WHO WANTED RED WINGS                                    111\n\n  HOW THE FIRST MAYFLOWERS CAME                                      116\n\n  HOW THE RABBIT TRIED TO COAST                                      122\n\n  WHY THE FIELD MOUSE IS LITTLE                                      127\n\n  HOW THE FIRST BEARS CAME                                           132\n\n  WHY THE BEAR HAS A STUMPY TAIL                                     138\n\n  WHY THE BEAR SLEEPS ALL WINTER                                     140\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE EAGLE\n\nWENT HUNGRY.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, before there were white men on the earth, the Beavers\nwere a family like men. They were thrifty and honest, and spent their\ntime building in the lakes and ponds. They had hands like our hands.\nThey were dressed in gray fur, warm enough for the winters, and dark\nenough for all the digging which they had to do.\n\nThere was no family of all the forest so hard working as the Beavers.\nThe Beaver men had a secret trade of making arrows. They dug flint out\nof the rocks along the bank and shaped it into arrowheads. These had\nsuch magic that the Beavers always had dried meat hanging in their\nhouses.\n\nMost wonderful of all, though, was their skill in building. With no\ntools but their broad, flat hands, the Beavers built strong dams which\nmade pools in the streams where the fish could hatch. They built their\nown homes, with many halls and rooms, of the mud at the bottom of the\nwater. All the Beavers worked, even the women and children. Here they\nlived in honesty and peace and asked nothing of any one.\n\nIn the same days the Eagle was a proud warrior, dressed from head to\nfoot in colored feathers. He lived on a mountain top, and when he came\ndown to the forest he wished great honor. The winds blew their trumpets\nfor him, and the thunder beat drums. All the creatures were asked to\nbow before the Eagle, and he expected fish and berries to be brought\nhim for a feast.\n\nOne spring when the ice had gone out of the streams and ponds and the\nforest had put on new green leaves, the Eagle came down for a sudden\nvisit. He stopped at the edge of a small lake, and there he saw an old\nBeaver woman digging in the mud. She bent low over her work. With her\nlarge, wrinkled hands she was making the clay into bricks for building\na new wall for a Beaver house. The Eagle looked at her with scorn.\n\n\u201cI am hungry,\u201d he said.\n\nThe Beaver woman raised her brown head out of the water, and looked up\nat the Eagle.\n\n\u201cThe Beaver family would be hungry, too, sir,\u201d she said, \u201cif we did not\nwork, all of us, to get a living.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut think of the kind of work you do,\u201d screamed the Eagle, going up to\nthe branch of a tree to sit so that he need not step in the mud.\n\n\u201cLook at your hands,\u201d he went on. \u201cThey are not the hands of a person\nof rank, like myself, but are stained with earth. You live in houses\nthat are made of mud. You cut down trees with your teeth, and eat weeds\nand bark. You were made only to wait on others such as myself.\u201d\n\nThe Beaver woman went on with her work. When the Eagle had finished,\nshe said:\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWhat do you want to eat?\u201d she asked.]\n\n\u201cWe Beavers are humble, but there are no other workers in the forest\nlike us. We deepen and dam the streams and make them more useful.\nOur work takes us into the mud. In the mud we must live, but we are\nhonest, thrifty people, sir. What do you want to eat?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cFish,\u201d said the Eagle. \u201cGo down and catch some for me.\u201d\n\nThe Beaver woman wiped her hands and then dived down into the water.\nThe Eagle watched her go, for he was half starved. He longed for a meal\nof rich, freshly caught fish. He watched the smooth water for some\ntime, but he could see not even a ripple. After he had waited an hour,\nthe water stirred and the brown head of the Beaver woman showed.\n\n\u201cYour feast of fish awaits you, O Eagle,\u201d the Beaver woman said.\n\n\u201cBut where are the fish?\u201d the Eagle demanded.\n\n\u201cThey wait for you on my table, down in the Beaver lodge,\u201d she said,\nand then she went under the water again.\n\nThe Eagle went hungry for a long time. Even now, when the Beaver family\nwalks on four feet, and the Eagle is a bird, all go hungry who are too\nproud to work for their food.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE FOOTSTEPS UPON THE WATER.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a little Indian boy, and his name was\nFootsteps Upon the Water because he could run so fast and so softly.\n\nOne day, little Footsteps Upon the Water was chasing a squirrel, and\nhe ran so far and so wide that he lost sight of home, and he could not\nfind his way back. On and on ran the squirrel until it came at last to\na hollow tree, and it went inside to hide. Footsteps Upon the Water\nwent inside, too, but he was not so small as the squirrel. Out of the\nlog ran the squirrel, but the little boy could not get out. He was\nstuck fast inside the hollow tree.\n\nHis father looked for the little boy many moons. His mother sat at home\nin the wigwam, crying, but Footsteps Upon the Water did not come back.\nHe lay in the log, and he pounded and shouted, and he thought no one\nwas ever coming to let him out.\n\nBut one morning, as he rapped, he heard, on the outside, _rap, rap,\nrap_, and a shrill voice calling:\n\n\u201cFootsteps Upon the Water, are you there? Are you there?\u201d\n\nThen a wrinkled, brown face, with a fringe of arrows for a cap, peered\nin at the end of the log. It was Grandmother Porcupine come to help the\nlittle boy out.\n\n\u201cI traveled three days and three nights, little Footsteps Upon the\nWater, because I heard you cry,\u201d said Grandmother Porcupine.\n\nThen she scratched and she scratched at the end of the log, but she\ncould not get the little boy out.\n\n\u201cI will bring my three grandsons,\u201d said Grandmother Porcupine, and she\nhurried away to the old hemlock tree where her grandsons lived. She\nbrought them back with her, and they all scratched at the end of the\nhollow log until at last the little boy was able to crawl out.\n\nFootsteps Upon the Water winked and blinked his eyes when he came\noutside, for he had not seen the sun in many days. There, in a circle,\nsat Grandmother Porcupine, her three grandsons, the old Bear, the Deer,\nand the Wolf.\n\n\u201cNow, who will be a mother to this little boy?\u201d said Grandmother\nPorcupine; \u201cI am too old to take care of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will be his mother,\u201d said the Wolf.\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d said Grandmother Porcupine, \u201cyour teeth are too sharp.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will be his mother,\u201d said the Deer.\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d said Grandmother Porcupine, \u201cyou are always traveling.\nYour husband would carry little Footsteps Upon the Water on his back\nwherever he went, and the little boy would have no home in the winter.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will be his mother,\u201d said the good old Bear; \u201cI have a warm house\nin the rocks with plenty to eat in my pantry,\u2014berries, and nuts, and\nhoney.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may have little Footsteps Upon the Water,\u201d said Grandmother\nPorcupine, \u201cbut be sure that your cubs do not teach him any rough\ntricks.\u201d\n\nSo Footsteps Upon the Water went home to the Bear\u2019s house, a cave in\nthe rocks, with little rooms just like a real house. It was a fine\nplace in which to live.\n\nAll summer the little boy played with the cubs. When it was late in\nthe fall, and the days were short and dark, and the nights were cold,\nMother Bear tucked them all in bed and they slept until spring.\n\nThen came another summer, and other Bear people stopped to call upon\nthem, saying:\n\n\u201cWe know a fine berry patch.\u201d\n\nSo they would all go away together to pick strawberries, or\nblackberries, or gooseberries. After a while, they went for chestnuts,\nand that was the most fun of all.\n\nBut Mother Bear taught Footsteps Upon the Water and the little cubs to\nrun always when they saw a man with a bow and arrows. One day, a man\ncame very close to the Bear\u2019s house, but Mother Bear chased him with a\nforked stick, and he went away.\n\nThe next day, the man came again, just as the family was starting out\nfor chestnuts. Mother Bear threw a bag of feathers at the man so that\nhe was not able to see, and he ran away.\n\nThe third day, the man came again. Mother Bear was starting out for a\nneighbor\u2019s house with a bundle upon her back. She chased the man with\nher forked stick, she threw some more feathers at him, but it did no\ngood. The man shot an arrow at Mother Bear, and she fell to the ground.\n\n\u201cOh, good Mother Bear,\u201d cried little Footsteps Upon the Water, running\nout to help her, \u201csuch a cruel man to hurt my good Mother Bear!\u201d\n\nBut the arrow had stuck fast in Mother Bear\u2019s bundle, and she was not\nhurt at all. And the man ran up to little Footsteps Upon the Water,\ncrying:\n\n\u201cMy little lost boy, my little lost boy,\u201d for it was Footsteps Upon the\nWater\u2019s own father.\n\nThen he told Mother Bear how sorry he was that he had tried to hurt\nher, and he invited her and all the cubs to come for a visit to the\nwigwam.\n\nAnd little Footsteps Upon the Water went home, but he never forgot how\ngood old Mother Bear had been to him.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF LAMBIKIN.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a wee, wee Lambikin, and he thought he would\ngo over the hill to see his granny.\n\nSo he frolicked along on his teetery legs, as happy and frisky as ever\na Lambikin in the spring could be.\n\nBut he had not gone very far when he met a roaring lion, and the lion\nsaid:\n\n\u201cLambikin, I will eat you.\u201d\n\nThen Lambikin could not think what to do, for he did not wish to be\neaten just then. So he said to the lion:\n\n    \u201cLambikin goes to Grannikin,\n     Where fatter he will grow,\n     Then you may eat him so.\u201d\n\nThe lion wanted a very fat lamb to eat, so he let Lambikin go on his\nway, but he said:\n\n\u201cBe sure to come back this way, Lambikin.\u201d\n\nLambikin frolicked along on his teetery legs a little farther, when he\nsuddenly saw a great vulture, with a huge bill, flying toward him.\n\n\u201cI will eat you, Lambikin,\u201d said the vulture.\n\nNow Lambikin was not ready to be eaten yet, so he said to the vulture:\n\n    \u201cLambikin goes to Grannikin,\n     Where fatter he will grow,\n     Then you may eat him so.\u201d\n\nAnd the vulture flew off, but he said to Lambikin as he went:\n\n\u201cBe sure to come back this way, Lambikin.\u201d\n\nLambikin frolicked along a little farther on his teetery legs, when he\nsuddenly saw a striped tiger coming to meet him, and the tiger said to\nhim:\n\n\u201cLambikin, I will eat you.\u201d\n\nNow Lambikin did not wish to be eaten by a striped tiger, so he said:\n\n    \u201cLambikin goes to Grannikin,\n     Where fatter he will grow,\n     Then you may eat him so.\u201d\n\nThe tiger was sure that a fat lamb would taste better than a wee, wee\none with teetery legs, so he let Lambikin go along, but he said as he\nwent:\n\n\u201cBe sure that you come back this way, Lambikin.\u201d\n\nLambikin reached his granny\u2019s house, and he told her how glad he was\nto see her, and then he said he was very hungry, and he would like\nsomething to eat.\n\n\u201cI must grow fat, granny,\u201d said Lambikin.\n\nSo his granny led the way to the corn bin, and Lambikin ate and ate and\nate until his sides stuck out, and his legs were not teetery any more,\nand he was a fat little lamb. But the more corn he ate and the fatter\nhe grew the less did he want to be eaten. So he said to his granny:\n\n\u201cGrannikin, lion and vulture and tiger will eat Lambikin. What shall he\ndo?\u201d\n\nThen said his granny:\n\n\u201cI will make a drum of a bit of old skin. Do you get inside and roll\npast the lion and the vulture and the tiger.\u201d\n\nSo granny made a drum of a bit of skin, and Lambikin jumped inside the\ndrum, and off he rolled toward home.\n\nBut before he had gone very far he met the lion, who was waiting for\nhim, and the lion said:\n\n\u201cDrummikin, have you seen Lambikin?\u201d\n\nBut Lambikin called out from inside the drum:\n\n    \u201cFallen into the fire, and so will you.\n     On, little Drummikin, tum, tum, too.\u201d\n\nThen the lion thought the woods must be on fire, so he ran off as fast\nas he could.\n\nBut Lambikin had not gone very far when the vulture flew down for his\ndinner.\n\n\u201cDrummikin, have you seen Lambikin?\u201d asked the vulture.\n\n    \u201cFallen into the fire, and so will you.\n     On, little Drummikin, tum, tum, too,\u201d\n\nsaid Lambikin in a gruff voice from the inside of the drum.\n\nThen the vulture thought that the woods must surely be on fire, so he\nflew far above the treetops.\n\n[Illustration: The tiger caught his tail and was not able to move.]\n\nLambikin rolled merrily along a little way farther, but soon he met the\nstriped tiger, who was waiting for his dinner.\n\n\u201cDrummikin, have you seen Lambikin?\u201d asked the striped tiger.\n\n    \u201cFallen into the fire, and so will you.\n     On, little Drummikin, tum, tum, too,\u201d\n\nsaid Lambikin; but the striped tiger had very sharp ears.\n\n\u201cLambikin is inside Drummikin,\u201d he said, and he started after the drum\nas fast as he could go. He nearly caught it, for he went so very fast,\nbut they came to a bramble bush. The tiger caught his tail and was not\nable to move, and out of the drum jumped Lambikin.\n\nThen off he frolicked home again as frisky and happy as ever a lamb\ncould be.\n\n\n\n\nBROTHER WOLF AND THE ROCK.\n\n\nOnce upon a time Brother Wolf dressed himself up very finely, just like\nan Indian. He put feathers on his head, and moccasins on his feet, and\nbeads around his neck. Then he bought a very gay blanket, just like a\nchief\u2019s blanket. He wrapped it all around him, and then he started on a\njourney.\n\nAs he traveled, he came to a big Rock. Brother Wolf thought that he\nhad never seen such a nice Rock, such a smooth, round, shining Rock.\nBut Brother Wolf thought that the Rock looked cold. So he took off his\nblanket and wrapped it around the Rock to keep the old Rock warm.\n\nThen Brother Wolf started traveling again, but he had not gone very\nfar when he heard a loud noise\u2014that was the thunder; and he saw a\nbright light\u2014that was the lightning; and he felt something wet on his\nnose\u2014that was the rain. So Brother Wolf ran back in great haste to the\nRock.\n\n\u201cOh, Rock,\u201d cried Brother Wolf, \u201cit is storming, and I shall be wet.\nGive me back my blanket to keep off the rain.\u201d\n\nBut, no, Rock would not. Old Rock said he would just keep Brother\nWolf\u2019s blanket a little longer.\n\nThen Brother Wolf hid under a tree, and, by and by, along came Brother\nFox.\n\n\u201cOh, Brother Fox,\u201d said Brother Wolf, \u201cgo to Rock and bring back my\nblanket.\u201d\n\nSo Brother Fox went to old Rock and told him that Brother Wolf wanted\nback his blanket to keep the rain off his nose. But, no, old Rock would\nnot give up the blanket.\n\nThen Brother Fox went back and told Brother Wolf, and Brother Wolf\ncried because he knew his feathers would be spoiled. They sat under a\ntree, and the rain poured and poured, the lightning flashed, and the\nthunder roared. Brother Wolf asked Brother Fox to please go again to\nold Rock and ask for the blanket, but Brother Fox said, \u201cNo.\u201d\n\nAfter a while they heard a great noise, and a loud roaring. The stones\nin the road began to come skipping by. Brother Wolf peeped out from\nunder the tree. There was old Rock rolling down the road. The rain had\nstarted him, and he was coming so hard that he tore great furrows of\nearth, and uprooted the trees. He came so fast that he could not stop\nhimself.\n\nBrother Fox scampered into a hole to hide, but he left the tip end of\nhis tail sticking out. Old Rock just grazed it as he went by, and that\nis why the tip of Brother Fox\u2019s tail is pointed.\n\nOn and on went old Rock until he came to a river. Splash, in he went,\nand that was the last that anybody saw of Rock, for he went straight to\nthe bottom.\n\nWhen the rain was over, Brother Wolf and Brother Fox went down to the\nriver bank to look for old Rock, but they could not find him anywhere.\nOn the top of the water floated Brother Wolf\u2019s gay blanket, so they\nwaited until it came ashore, and they dried it in the sun.\n\nThen Brother Wolf said \u201cGood-by\u201d to Brother Fox, and put on his blanket\nagain, and traveled.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE BEAR.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, there was an Indian boy and he had a little sister.\nNow the little sister was not like an Indian child, for she was a bear.\n\nEarly one morning the boy started out to seek his fortune, but Little\nBear wished to go too.\n\n\u201cNo, no, Little Bear, you cannot go. You must stay at home and watch\nthe fire,\u201d said her brother. Then he tied Little Bear to the door posts\nthat she might not run away.\n\nHe had not gone very far on his journey when he heard TRAMP, TRAMP,\nTRAMP, in the path behind him. There was Little Bear following with the\ndoor posts on her back.\n\n\u201cOh, Little Bear, I told you to stay at home and watch the fire,\u201d said\nthe boy.\n\nHe led Little Bear back, and this time he tied her to a pine tree.\n\nHe had not gone very far when he heard once more, TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP,\nin the path behind him. There was Little Bear following with the pine\ntree on her back.\n\n\u201cOh, Little Bear, you must stay at home and watch the fire,\u201d said the\nboy.\n\nHe led Little Bear back, and this time he tied her to a rock.\n\nHe started on his journey again, but he had not gone a stone\u2019s throw,\nwhen he heard THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, in the path behind him. There was\nLittle Bear following him with the rock on her back.\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do with you, Little Bear?\u201d said the boy. But just then\nthey came to a wide brook with no bridge to span it.\n\n\u201cHow shall I cross?\u201d said the little boy.\n\nLittle Bear pushed the rock into the water. She laid the pine tree\nacross the rock for a bridge. They both walked across the brook in\nsafety.\n\n\u201cWell, you may come with me, Little Bear,\u201d said the boy.\n\nThey journeyed for many days until they came, at last, to some very\ndark woods. In the woods they met Brother Wolf carrying a candle to\nlight him on his way.\n\n\u201cThe sun is lost from the sky,\u201d said Brother Wolf; \u201cthe old squaw\npulled it down.\u201d\n\n\u201cOho, I can find the sun,\u201d said Little Bear, \u201cbut you must first give\nme two lumps of maple sugar.\u201d\n\nBrother Wolf gave Little Bear two lumps of maple sugar and she hurried\nalong until she came to the old squaw\u2019s wigwam. The old squaw was\nstirring a kettle of rice over her fire. Little Bear crept up behind\nher. Little Bear dropped the two lumps of maple sugar into the kettle.\nAs the old squaw stirred, she tasted her rice.\n\n\u201cIt is too sweet,\u201d she said; \u201cI must go to the field for more.\u201d\n\nWhile she was gone, Little Bear found the sun, which the old squaw had\nhid in her wigwam. Little Bear tossed it back to the sky again.\n\nWhen the old squaw came back from the rice fields and missed her sun,\nshe was very angry. She looked for it many, many days, but the clouds\nhid it from her. Then, one night, she pulled the moon down, and hid\nthat away in her wigwam.\n\nSo there was no light in the evening. Brother Wolf lighted his candle\nagain, and he hurried after the boy and Little Bear, who had started on\ntheir journey again.\n\n\u201cThe moon is gone from the sky,\u201d said Brother Wolf, \u201cthe old squaw has\npulled it down.\u201d\n\n\u201cOho, I can find the moon,\u201d said Little Bear; \u201cgive me two pinches of\nsalt, Brother Wolf.\u201d\n\nBrother Wolf gave Little Bear two pinches of salt, and Little Bear\ncrept up to the old squaw again, and threw the salt in her kettle of\nrice.\n\n\u201cThe rice is too salty,\u201d said the old squaw, tasting as she stirred; \u201cI\nmust go to the field for more.\u201d\n\nWhile she was gone, Little Bear snatched the moon from the wigwam,\nwhere the old squaw had hid it, and tossed it up to the sky again.\n\nBrother Wolf snuffed his candle, for he did not need it any more, but\nthe old squaw was very angry. The old squaw ran after Little Bear. She\ncaught her, and she put her in a bag, and tied the bag to a tree. Then\nshe went for her spoon with which to beat Little Bear.\n\nBut while she was gone, Little Bear bit a hole in the bag with her\nteeth. She slipped out. Then she filled the bag with the old squaw\u2019s\npots and pans. When the old squaw came back, and began beating the bag,\nshe broke all her dishes.\n\nThen the boy and Little Bear picked up enough sun gold and moon silver\nwhich had fallen by the road to make them rich for always. And Little\nBear traveled with her brother wherever he went after that. Was she not\na clever Little Bear?\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE PIGS CAN SEE THE WIND.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, Mrs. Pig lived in a fine house of her own with her\nfive little pigs. Four of the little pigs were black, but the smallest\npig was white and he was as the apple of his mother\u2019s eye.\n\nAround the hill from Mrs. Pig\u2019s house lived Brother Wolf, and Brother\nWolf had a mighty good mouth for pig meat. Every night Mr. Wolf came\nthrough the garden gate, and he walked round and round Mrs. Pig\u2019s\nhouse, sniffing and snuffing, and calling in a soft voice:\n\n    \u201cMrs. Pig, Mrs. Pig, let me come in,\n     The corn is ripe, and the frosts begin.\u201d\n\nBut Mrs. Pig always locked her door fast, and Brother Wolf had to go\nhome without any pig meat.\n\nOne night Brother Wolf thought of a trick. He put a very high hat on\nhis head. He put shoes on his feet. He tied a necktie around his neck,\nand he looked just like Mr. Man.\n\nThen he put a bag of corn over his shoulder, and he walked, TRAMP,\nTRAMP, up the brick walk that led to Mrs. Pig\u2019s house, and he rapped\nloudly on Mrs. Pig\u2019s door.\n\n    \u201cMrs. Pig, Mrs. Pig, let me come in,\n     The corn is ripe, and the frosts begin,\u201d\n\nhe said.\n\n\u201cWho knocks?\u201d asked Mrs. Pig, peeping through the window, the little\nwhite pig under her arm.\n\n\u201cMr. Man, come to put a mark on your little pigs,\u201d said Brother Wolf.\n\nThen Mrs. Pig opened the door, and she turned out the four little black\npigs. But the little white pig was as the apple of her eye, and she hid\nhim in the cupboard.\n\nSo Brother Wolf emptied all the corn out of his bag, and he put in the\nfour little pigs, and he carried them home with him.\n\nBy and by, Brother Wolf was hungry for more pig meat, so he dressed\nhimself in his clothes again. He put his bag of corn over his shoulder,\nand he rapped loudly at Mrs. Pig\u2019s door, calling:\n\n    \u201cMrs. Pig, Mrs. Pig, let me come in,\n     The corn is ripe, and the frosts begin.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho knocks?\u201d asked Mrs. Pig.\n\n\u201cMr. Man, come to put a mark on your little white pig,\u201d said Brother\nWolf.\n\nBut Mrs. Pig barred the door, and locked the window, and hid the little\nwhite pig in the dresser, for he was as the apple of her eye.\n\nThen Brother Wolf was very angry, and he took off his hat and his shoes\nand his necktie. He hurried up and down the roads until he met Mr.\nWind, who wore a red cloak, and was sweeping the fields.\n\nBrother Wolf told Mr. Wind how he had a mighty good mouth for pig meat.\nMr. Wind said he would help Brother Wolf, for he always liked a romp.\n\nSo Mr. Wind and Brother Wolf went to Mrs. Pig\u2019s house and they rapped\nloudly on the door, and Brother Wolf called out:\n\n    \u201cMrs. Pig, Mrs. Pig, let me come in,\n     The corn is ripe, and the frosts begin.\u201d\n\nBut never a word did Mrs. Pig say.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWho knocks?\u201d asked Mrs. Pig.]\n\n\u201cBlow, Mr. Wind,\u201d said Brother Wolf.\n\nThen Mr. Wind began to puff himself out bigger and bigger. He huffed\nand he puffed and he blew a mighty gale. He blew round the garden,\nand he pulled up the corn and threw it down on the ground. He slammed\nthe gate and he rattled the window. He shook the door, and he cried,\n\u201cWHE-EE, WHE-EE,\u201d in the keyhole, did Mr. Wind.\n\nBrother Wolf was so frightened that his hair stood up straight on his\nback. Out of the garden he ran, and around the hill. He never stopped,\nnor looked behind him, and no one ever saw him in Mrs. Pig\u2019s garden\nagain.\n\n\u201cWHE-EE, WHE-EE, let me in,\u201d called Mr. Wind.\n\nMrs. Pig opened her door a crack, and peeped out with the little white\npig under her arm, for he was the apple of her eye.\n\nHUFF, PUFF, the door blew open wide. When Mrs. Pig saw Mr. Wind in his\nred cloak running around the garden, she hurried off to the woods with\nher little white pig, and she never came home for a day and a night.\n\nAnd that is how the pigs first came to see the wind. If you do not\nbelieve it, just watch them run when Mr. Wind comes huffing and puffing\nthrough the garden.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TALKING GRASS.\n\n\nOnce upon a time when there were only Indians and animals in our land,\nthere was a green hill covered with long talking grass. The four winds\nof heaven brought the grasses news of what was going on in the world,\nand of the coming of hunters. Then the grasses whispered this news to\ntheir friends, the little red Fox, the Hare, the Deer, and the Wolf. If\nthe animals were too far away to hear the soft voices of the grasses,\nthey gave the messages to the Butterflies. The hill was the refuge of\nthese animals, and the talking grasses were their friends.\n\nOne day a great band of hunters came from their camp in the valley, up\nthe hill. They were armed with bows and arrows. They planned to kill\nenough game to give them food for a long time. But the grasses knew\nthat the hunters were on their way. They warned the animals, who hid at\nonce. When the hunters reached the hill, they saw nothing but green\ngrass waving in the wind. Many bright butterflies flew above it.\n\nThe hunters listened and heard the grasses talking to one another. They\nsaw, too, the trails of the animals as they had passed through it. They\nguessed at once what had happened.\n\n\u201cThe grasses have told the animals to flee and hide from us,\u201d they\nsaid. \u201cWe must kill them. To-night we will rest and sleep among them,\nfor we are tired with our long journey. But to-morrow we will tear\nevery blade of grass up by its roots.\u201d\n\nAt these cruel words the grasses became still. They loved their life on\nthe hill, with their roots in the earth and their green blades reaching\nup to the sunshine. Now they knew that they were going to die in the\nmorning. They could neither sing nor talk any more. But the Butterflies\nknew the grasses\u2019 peril. They flew away, one by one, so that the\nhunters would suspect nothing, until they came to the Fox\u2019s den. They\ntold him of the great danger of the talking grasses. They begged him\nto do anything that he could to save them.\n\nThe Fox set off at once. He did not stop until he came to a dark cave\non the side of a mountain. Here the Fire Manito lived. Few dared speak\nto him, for he was a very mighty Manito. He was able to destroy man or\nbeast at his will. But when he saw the eager, trembling little Fox,\nwaiting outside, the Fire Manito asked him his errand. The Fox told him\nthat the grasses were to be killed in the morning, unless something was\ndone to save them.\n\nThe Manito went to the back of his cave and brought out a heap of black\nstones. There was no light in them. He told the Fox about them.\n\n\u201cThey came from the depths of the earth,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Great Spirit\nmixed a million sunbeams in each. Then he hid them in the earth until\nthey should be needed to give heat and light to man. Now we will use\nthe black stones to save the grasses.\u201d\n\nThe Manito heated the stones in his wood fire and they glowed like\nred rubies. He sent the Fox ahead to tell the grasses to be brave. He,\nhimself, followed with his arms full of the glowing stones which did\nnot burn him because he was the Fire Manito.\n\nThe hunters had arisen early and waited at the foot of the hill, ready\nto rush up and tear up the grasses. But the Manito laid the brightly\nburning stones in a circle about the hill. The hunters were not able\nto get through. It was a ring of fire and it frightened them. They had\nnever seen burning coals before. They went back to their camp and the\ngrasses were safe, for the coals burned to ashes without touching them.\n\nThe grasses soon found their voices again, and they have been talking\nto their friends, the animals, ever since. In the summer they tell\nthe Field Mouse and the Hare where to hide safely. In the spring they\ntell the Deer that they are fresh and green for his food. When it is\nwinter, a few of the grasses stand up, stiff and tall, above the snow\nas the lone gray Wolf runs by. They guide him to food. In the fall the\nwhispering of the dry grasses helps the Fox to double his trail so that\nno one may catch him.\n\nWho of you have heard the voices of the grasses?\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE FOX PLAYED HERDSMAN.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a little old woman who had a farm of her\nvery own with sheep, and cows, and swine. But the little old woman was\nso busy making butter and minding the dairy that she had no time to\nlook after the herds.\n\nOne fine morning she started out to hire a herdsman. Now she had not\ngone very far when she met a bear.\n\n\u201cWhither away, Goody?\u201d asked Bruin of the little old woman.\n\n\u201cOh, I am off to engage a herdsman for my farm,\u201d said Goody in reply.\n\n\u201cWhy not hire me, Goody?\u201d asked Bruin.\n\n\u201cCan you call the flocks at evening?\u201d asked the little old woman.\n\n\u201cYou should just hear me,\u201d said Bruin, and he called in a very loud and\ngruff voice, \u201cOW, OW.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, I won\u2019t have you,\u201d said the little old woman as soon as she\nheard his gruff voice, and off she went on her way.\n\nShe had not gone a day\u2019s journey farther when she met a wolf.\n\n\u201cWhither away, Goody?\u201d asked the wolf of the little old woman.\n\n\u201cOh, I am off to engage a herdsman for my farm,\u201d said Goody.\n\n\u201cWhy not hire me, Goody?\u201d asked the wolf.\n\n\u201cCan you call the flocks at evening?\u201d asked the little old woman.\n\n\u201cYou should just hear me,\u201d said the wolf, and he called in a shrill\nvoice, \u201cUH, UH.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d said the little old woman as soon as she heard that, and off\nshe went on her way.\n\nBut before the end of another day\u2019s journey, whom should the little\nold woman meet but Brother Fox, sitting beside a blackberry bush, and\nsunning himself.\n\n\u201cWhither away, Goody?\u201d asked Brother Fox.\n\n\u201cOh, I am off to engage a herdsman for my farm,\u201d said Goody in reply.\n\n\u201cWhy not hire me, Goody?\u201d said Brother Fox.\n\n\u201cCan you call the flocks at evening?\u201d asked the little old woman.\n\n\u201cAh, you should hear me,\u201d said Brother Fox. He opened his mouth very\nwide, and sang in a sweet voice:\n\n\u201cTum-ti-ti, tum-ti-ti-tra-la-la.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will do very well,\u201d said the little old woman, quite carried away\nwith the fox\u2019s sweet singing. \u201cYou shall come home with me, and be my\nherdsman.\u201d\n\nThings went very well for a little while at the farm. Early each\nmorning Brother Fox led the sheep and the cows and the swine to\npasture, and at night he led them home again, and locked the barn, and\nbolted the pigpen.\n\nBut, somehow, after a week, the flocks and the herds seemed smaller\neach night when the little old woman went out to make the rounds of the\nfarm.\n\n\u201cWhere is the small black pig?\u201d she asked of Brother Fox.\n\n\u201cLoitering in the meadow,\u201d said Brother Fox, wiping his mouth with his\npaw.\n\n\u201cWhere is the old ram?\u201d asked the little old woman.\n\n\u201cHe stops behind at the brook,\u201d said Brother Fox, turning his head away\nthat Goody might not see him laughing.\n\nSo Goody went back to the dairy, and she wondered and wondered what\nmade the flocks grow smaller.\n\nAt last she had churned enough butter to make a fine cake and she went\nout to the poultry roost for eggs with which to enrich it.\n\nAlas, such a hubbub, and cackling, and fussing did she find.\n\nThe cock stood on the pump, crying loudly, \u201cCock-a-doodle-do.\u201d\n\nThe hens ran about cackling, and out of their midst walked Brother Fox\nwith a chicken over his back, and his hat full of eggs.\n\nAnd as he went along he sang to all the poultry yard:\n\n    \u201cTum-ti-ti, Tum-ti-ti,\n     Tum, tum, ti,\n     Old Goody\u2019s herdsman,\n     Sly Reynard, am I.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, it\u2019s certainly a very poor herdsman you are,\u201d cried the little\nold woman. \u201cWhere is the small black pig? Where is the old ram?\u201d\n\nShe ran after Brother Fox, who dropped his eggs and broke every one,\nand tipped over the churn as he passed the dairy. The little old woman\npicked up the dasher, and would have beaten Brother Fox, but he was too\nquick for her, and reached the woods, with a drop of cream on the tip\nend of his tail.\n\nSo the little old woman learned what had become of her herds, and\nBrother Fox was never able to get that cream from off his tail, The tip\nend has been white ever since he played at being a herdsman.\n\n\n\n\nMR. ELEPHANT AND MR. FROG.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when Mr. Elephant and Mr. Frog lived together in the\nsame wood with Mr. Fox and Mr. Tiger and Mr. Hare and Mr. Lion, the\nanimals were all very good friends.\n\nMr. Elephant was very, very big, and Mr. Frog was very, very little,\nbut every day they went walking together, Mr. Elephant going in front,\ntramp, tramp, tramp; and Mr. Frog going on behind, hop, hop, hop.\n\nOne night when they came home, Mr. Hare, who was a saucy little fellow,\nran to meet them, and he said:\n\n\u201cOho, Mr. Frog says Mr. Elephant is his horse.\u201d\n\nThen Mr. Fox and Mr. Tiger and Mr. Lion all followed after Mr. Hare,\ncrying:\n\n\u201cOho, oho, Mr. Elephant is Mr. Frog\u2019s horse.\u201d\n\nMr. Elephant turned around, and he said in a very gruff voice to Mr.\nFrog:\n\n\u201cDid you tell them, grandson, that I was your horse?\u201d\n\nAnd Mr. Frog said in a high, squeaky voice:\n\n\u201cNo, no, grandfather.\u201d\n\nBut all the time Mr. Frog was thinking of a trick to play on Mr.\nElephant.\n\nThe next day, Mr. Elephant and Mr. Frog started off for a long walk.\nMr. Frog had heard of a place where the swamps were deep and muddy. Mr.\nElephant knew a place where the bananas grew ripe and thick. And they\nspent a pleasant day. On the way home Mr. Frog hopped up close to Mr.\nElephant, and he said in his high, squeaky voice:\n\n\u201cGrandfather, I have no strength to walk. Let me get up on your back.\u201d\n\n\u201cClimb up, my grandson,\u201d said Mr. Elephant.\n\n[Illustration: And just then they came toward home.]\n\nHe put his trunk down for a ladder, and Mr. Frog climbed up. They had\nnot gone very far when Mr. Frog hopped up close to Mr. Elephant\u2019s ear,\nand he said:\n\n\u201cI am going to fall, grandfather. Give me some small cords from the\nroadside that I may bind your mouth, and hold myself upon your back.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will, grandson,\u201d said Mr. Elephant.\n\nSo Mr. Elephant stripped some small cords from a birch tree by the\nroadside, and handed them to Mr. Frog. Then Mr. Frog bound Mr.\nElephant\u2019s mouth, and they went on a little farther. It was not long,\nthough, before Mr. Frog spoke again to Mr. Elephant.\n\n\u201cGrandfather,\u201d he said, \u201cfind me a small, green twig that I may fan the\nmosquitoes from your ears.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will, grandson,\u201d said Mr. Elephant, so he broke a small, green twig\nfrom the birch tree, and reached it up to Mr. Frog; and just then they\ncame toward home.\n\n\u201cSee Mr. Elephant,\u201d cried Mr. Hare.\n\n\u201cSee Mr. Elephant,\u201d cried Mr. Tiger.\n\n\u201cSee Mr. Elephant,\u201d cried Mr. Lion and all the others, \u201cMr. Elephant is\nMr. Frog\u2019s horse.\u201d\n\nMr. Elephant turned himself about, and he saw Mr. Frog on his back,\nholding the reins and the whip.\n\n\u201cWhy, so I am, grandson,\u201d said Mr. Elephant.\n\nThen Mr. Frog jumped down to the ground, and he laughed and he laughed\nuntil he nearly split his coat, because he had played a trick on Mr.\nElephant.\n\n\n\n\nHOW DRAKESTAIL WENT TO THE KING.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a wee little duck, with a very long tail, so\nhe was called Drakestail. Now, Drakestail had some money of his very,\nvery own, and the king asked if he might take it. So Drakestail loaned\nall his money to the king.\n\nBut the king kept Drakestail\u2019s money for a year and a day, and still he\ndid not send it back. Drakestail said he would go to the king and bring\nback the money himself.\n\nSo off he started, one very fine morning, for the king\u2019s house. The sun\nwas shining on the ponds, and Drakestail waddled along in the middle of\nthe road, feeling very fine. As he traveled, he met a fox, and the fox\nsaid, \u201cWhere do you go this fine morning, Friend Drakestail?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the king,\u201d said Drakestail, \u201cfor he owes me money.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will travel along with you,\u201d said the fox.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said Drakestail, \u201cyour four legs would soon tire. Come along with\nme this way,\u201d and he opened his wee little bill very wide, and down his\nwee little throat went the fox.\n\nThen Drakestail traveled on a little farther. As he went he came to a\nladder lying beside the road.\n\n\u201cWhere do you go this fine morning, Friend Drakestail?\u201d asked the\nladder.\n\n\u201cTo the king,\u201d said Drakestail, \u201cfor he owes me money.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will travel along with you,\u201d said the ladder.\n\n\u201cYour wooden legs would soon tire,\u201d said Drakestail. \u201cCome along with\nme this way,\u201d and he opened his little bill very wide, and down his wee\nlittle throat went the ladder.\n\nThen Drakestail traveled on a bit farther until he came to his friend,\nthe river, lying and glistening in the sunshine.\n\n\u201cWhere do you go this fine morning, Friend Drakestail?\u201d asked the\nriver.\n\n\u201cTo the king, for he owes me money,\u201d said Drakestail.\n\n\u201cI will travel with you,\u201d said the river.\n\n\u201cYou would soon tire if you ran so far, my friend,\u201d said Drakestail.\n\u201cCome along with me this way.\u201d He opened his wee bill very wide, and\ndown his wee little throat went the little river.\n\nThen Drakestail traveled and traveled until he came to the king\u2019s\nhouse. Now Drakestail thought that the king would meet him at the gate,\nso he called out very loudly:\n\n\u201c_Honk! Honk!_ Drakestail waits at the gate.\u201d\n\nBut the king did not come out to meet him. Who should appear at the\ngate but the king\u2019s cook, and the cook took Drakestail by his two\nlittle legs and flung him into the poultry yard. The other fowls, who\nwere ill-bred birds, ran up to Drakestail and bit him, and jeered at\nhis large tail. It would have gone very badly with Drakestail, but he\ncalled to his friend, the fox:\n\n    \u201cReynard, Reynard, come out to the earth,\n     Or Drakestail\u2019s life is of little worth.\u201d\n\nSo the fox came out, and he ate up all the ill-bred fowls in the king\u2019s\npoultry yard. But still Drakestail was badly off. He heard the king\u2019s\ncook putting the broth pot over the fire.\n\n    \u201cLadder, ladder, come out to the wall,\n     Drakestail does not wish to be broth at all,\u201d\n\nhe cried. So the ladder came out and leaned against the wall, and\nDrakestail climbed over in safety. But the king\u2019s cook saw Drakestail\nand set out after him. He caught poor Drakestail and clapped him into\nthe broth pot, and hung him over the fire.\n\n    \u201cRiver, my sweetheart, put out this hot fire,\n     The flames that would cook me rise higher and higher,\u201d\n\ncried Drakestail. So the river put out the fire with a great noise and\nsputtering, which the king heard. And the king came running to the\nkitchen.\n\n\u201cGood morning to you, King,\u201d said Drakestail, hopping out of the broth\npot, and making a very low bow, \u201care you through with my money, which\nyou have kept for a year and a day?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I am, Drakestail,\u201d said the king. \u201cYou shall have it at once.\u201d\n\nSo the king gave Drakestail the money that he owed him, and Drakestail\nwaddled home again to tell of all his travels.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GREEDY CAT.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a cat and a mouse, and they thought they\nwould ask each other to dinner, turn and turn about. First it was the\ncat\u2019s turn to ask the mouse, and he set his table and invited her, but\nhe did not have much to eat; only a dry crust of bread and some water.\nBut the mouse, who was very polite, ate it and thanked the cat.\n\nWhen it was the mouse\u2019s turn to give a dinner, she spread a fine feast,\nplatters of fish, and saucers of milk, and joints of meat. Then she\nbaked a large cake with sugar on the top for the cat, and for herself\nshe made a very tiny cake with no frosting.\n\nThe cat came to the mouse\u2019s dinner, and he ate the fish and the meat,\nand lapped the milk, and ate the cake. Then he looked around in a\ngreedy way, and he said:\n\n\u201cWhat a very light dinner. Have you nothing more in the house to eat,\nmouse?\u201d\n\n\u201cHere is my cake,\u201d said the mouse, who was not at all greedy.\n\nSo the cat ate the mouse\u2019s cake, and then he looked about again in a\ngreedy way, and he said:\n\n\u201cHave you anything more to eat, mouse?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing, kind sir,\u201d said the mouse, \u201cunless you eat me.\u201d\n\nShe thought the cat would never be so greedy as that, but he opened his\nmouth wide, and down his throat went the mouse.\n\nThen the greedy cat walked out of the mouse\u2019s house and down the road,\nswinging his tail, for he felt very fine.\n\nOn his way he met an old woman. Now the old woman had been peeping in\nat the window, and she had seen what that greedy cat had done.\n\n\u201cYou greedy cat,\u201d she said, \u201cto eat your friend, the mouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreedy, indeed,\u201d said the cat, \u201cI have a mind to eat you.\u201d\n\nThen he opened his mouth very wide, and down his throat went the old\nwoman.\n\nThen on down the road went the cat, swinging his tail, and feeling\nfiner than ever. As he went he met an old man taking his load of\napples to market. The old man was beating his donkey to make it go\nfaster.\n\n\u201cScat, scat, pussy,\u201d said the man, \u201cmy donkey will tread on you.\u201d\n\n\u201cTread on me, indeed,\u201d said the cat, shaking his fat sides, \u201cI have\neaten my friend the mouse, I have eaten an old woman. What is to hinder\nmy eating you?\u201d\n\nSo the greedy cat opened his mouth very wide, and down his throat went\nthe man and his donkey.\n\nThen he walked along in the middle of the road again. After a while he\nspied a great cloud of dust, and he heard a great tramping of feet.\nIt was the king riding in his chariot, and behind him marched all his\nsoldiers and his elephants.\n\n\u201cScat, scat, pussy,\u201d said the king, \u201cmy elephants might step on you.\u201d\n\n\u201cStep on me, indeed,\u201d said the cat, \u201cI have eaten my friend the mouse,\nI have eaten an old woman, I have eaten an old man and a donkey. What\nis to hinder my eating a king and a few elephants?\u201d\n\nSo the cat opened his mouth wide, and down his throat went the king and\nthe soldiers and all the elephants.\n\nThen the cat started on again, but more slowly. He was really not\nhungry any more. As he traveled he met two land crabs, scuttling along\nin the dust.\n\n\u201cScat, scat, pussy,\u201d squeaked the crabs.\n\n\u201cI have eaten my friend the mouse,\u201d said the cat, \u201cI have eaten an old\nwoman, and a man and a donkey, and a king and all his soldiers and all\nhis elephants. What is to hinder my eating you, too?\u201d\n\nThen the cat opened his mouth wide, and down his throat went the two\ncrabs.\n\nBut the crabs began to look about them there in the dark. There\nwere the soldiers trying to form in fours, but there was not room.\nThe elephants were stepping on each other\u2019s toes. The old woman was\nscolding, and in a corner sat the poor little mouse, her paws and ears\nall drooping.\n\n\u201cWe must go to work,\u201d said the crabs.\n\nThen they began snipping and snipping with their sharp little claws.\nSoon there was a hole large enough, and they crept out.\n\nThen out came the king and his soldiers and all his elephants. Out came\nthe old woman scolding her cat. Out came the man and his donkey. Last\nof all, out came the little mouse with one little cake under her arm,\nfor one cake was all that she had wanted.\n\nBut the greedy cat had to spend all the rest of the day sewing up the\nhole in his coat.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were three Billy Goats, and one was a very large\nGoat, and one was a middle-sized Goat, and one was a tiny Goat, but the\nthree had the very same name, which was Gruff.\n\nOne morning the three Billy Goats started away from home, for they had\ndecided to go far, far to a hillside where there was a quantity of\ngreen grass, and they might eat of it and make themselves fat.\n\nNow, on the way to the hillside there ran a brook, and over the brook\nwas a bridge, and under the bridge lived a Troll with eyes as large\nas saucers, and a nose as long as a poker. And this Troll was fond of\neating Billy Goats.\n\nFirst of all came the youngest Billy Goat Gruff to cross over the\nbridge. Trip trap, trip trap, his little feet pattered upon the boards.\n\n\u201cWho is that tripping over my bridge?\u201d called up the Troll in a surly\nvoice.\n\n\u201cOh, it\u2019s only I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff, going over to the\nhillside to make myself fat,\u201d the Goat called back in a wee small voice.\n\n\u201cI am going to gobble you up, Billy Goat Gruff,\u201d said the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh, no, pray do not take me,\u201d said the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff; \u201cI\nam too little, that I am. Wait until the second Billy Goat Gruff comes\nalong. He is ever so much bigger than I.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, be off with you,\u201d said the Troll.\n\nThen came the middle-sized Billy Goat Gruff, to cross the bridge. Trip\ntrap, trip trap, his middle-sized feet pattered upon the boards.\n\n\u201cWho is that tripping over my bridge?\u201d called up the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh, it\u2019s only I, the middle-sized Billy Goat Gruff, going over to the\nhillside to make myself fat,\u201d the Goat called back in a middle-sized\nvoice.\n\n\u201cI am coming to gobble you up, Billy Goat Gruff,\u201d said the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh, no, pray do not take me,\u201d said the middle-sized Billy Goat Gruff;\n\u201cI am a little larger than the tiniest Billy Goat, but I am not large\nenough to make a mouthful for you. Of that I am quite sure.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, be off with you,\u201d said the Troll.\n\nThen, last of all, came the great Billy Goat Gruff, to cross over the\nbridge.\n\nTrip trap, trip trap, his great feet tramped across the boards.\n\n\u201cWho is that tramping over my bridge?\u201d called up the Troll.\n\n\u201cIt is I, the great Billy Goat Gruff, going over to the hillside to\nmake myself fat,\u201d the Goat called back in a great voice.\n\n\u201cI am coming to gobble you up, Billy Goat Gruff,\u201d said the Troll.\n\n\u201cCome along,\u201d said the great Billy Goat Gruff.\n\nSo the Troll, whose eyes were as large as saucers and his nose as long\nas a poker, came hurrying up to the top of the bridge,\u2014but, ah, this is\nwhat happened to him.\n\n[Illustration: The Goat tossed the Troll so high with his horns.]\n\nThere on the bridge stood the great Billy Goat Gruff with his feet\nfirmly planted on the boards and his head lowered, and as soon as the\nTroll came near\u2014rush, scamper\u2014the Goat tossed the Troll so high with\nhis horns that no one has ever seen a Troll under a bridge from that\nday to this.\n\nThen the great Billy Goat Gruff went on to the hillside, and the three\nBilly Goats ate, and ate, and made themselves so fat that they could\nscarcely walk home again.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOBYAHS.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a little old man and a little old woman in\na house all made of hemp stalks. And they had a little dog named Turpie\nwho always barked when any one came near the house.\n\nOne night when the little old man and the little old woman were fast\nasleep, creep, creep, through the woods came the Hobyahs, skipping\nalong on the tips of their toes.\n\n\u201cTear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away\nthe little old woman,\u201d cried the Hobyahs.\n\nThen little dog Turpie ran out, barking loudly, and he frightened the\nHobyahs so that they ran away home again. But the little old man woke\nfrom his dreams, and he said:\n\n\u201cLittle dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor\nsleep. In the morning I will take off his tail.\u201d\n\nSo when it came morning, the little old man took off little dog\nTurpie\u2019s tail to cure him of barking.\n\nThe second night along came the Hobyahs, creep, creep through the\nwoods, skipping along on the tips of their toes, and they cried:\n\n\u201cTear down the hemp stalks. Eat the little old man, and carry away the\nlittle old woman.\u201d\n\nThen the little dog Turpie ran out again, barking so loudly that he\nfrightened the Hobyahs, and they ran away home again.\n\nBut the little old man tossed in his sleep, and he said:\n\n\u201cLittle dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor\nsleep. In the morning I will take off his legs.\u201d\n\nSo when it came morning, the little old man took off Turpie\u2019s legs to\ncure him of barking.\n\nThe third night the Hobyahs came again, skipping along on the tips of\ntheir toes, and they called out:\n\n\u201cTear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away\nthe little old woman.\u201d\n\nThen little dog Turpie barked very loudly, and he frightened the\nHobyahs so that they ran away home again.\n\nBut the little old man heard Turpie, and he sat up in bed, and he said:\n\n\u201cLittle dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor\nsleep. In the morning I will take off his head.\u201d\n\nSo when it came morning, the little old man took off Turpie\u2019s head, and\nthen Turpie could not bark any more.\n\nThat night the Hobyahs came again, skip-ping along on the tips of their\ntoes, and they called out:\n\n\u201cTear down the hemp stalks. Eat the little old man, and carry off the\nlittle old woman.\u201d\n\nNow, since little dog Turpie could not bark any more, there was no one\nto frighten the Hobyahs away. They tore down the hemp stalks, they took\nthe little old woman away in their bag, but the little old man they\ncould not get, for he hid himself under the bed.\n\nThen the Hobyahs hung the bag which held the little old woman up in\ntheir house, and they poked it with their fingers, and they cried:\n\n\u201cLook you! Look you!\u201d\n\nBut when it came daylight, they went to sleep, for Hobyahs, you know,\nsleep all day.\n\nThe little old man was very sorry when he found that the little old\nwoman was gone. He knew then what a good little dog Turpie had been to\nguard the house at night, so he brought Turpie\u2019s tail, and his legs,\nand his head, and gave them back to him again.\n\nThen Turpie went sniffing and snuffing along to find the little old\nwoman, and soon came to the Hobyahs\u2019 house. He heard the little old\nwoman crying in the bag, and he saw that the Hobyahs were all fast\nasleep. So he went inside.\n\nThen he cut open the bag with his sharp teeth, and the little old woman\nhopped out and ran home; but Turpie got inside the bag to hide.\n\nWhen it came night, the Hobyahs woke up, and they went to the bag, and\nthey poked it with their long fingers, crying:\n\n\u201cLook you! Look you!\u201d\n\nBut out of the bag jumped little dog Turpie, and he ate every one of\nthe Hobyahs. And that is why there are not any Hobyahs now.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KID WHO WOULD NOT GO.\n\n\nOnce upon a time I was walking across London Bridge, and I found a\npenny. So I bought a little kid. But the kid would not go. And I saw\nby the moonlight it was long past midnight. It was time kid and I were\nhome an hour and a half ago.\n\nThen I met a staff, and to the staff I said:\n\n\u201cStaff, staff, drive kid. I see by the moonlight it is long past\nmidnight. It is time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.\u201d\n\nBut the staff would not drive kid.\n\nThen I met a hatchet, and to the hatchet I said:\n\n\u201cHatchet, chop staff, staff will not drive kid. I see by the moonlight\nit is long past midnight. It is time kid and I were home an hour and a\nhalf ago.\u201d\n\nBut the hatchet would not chop staff.\n\nThen I met a torch, and to the torch I said:\n\n\u201cTorch, burn hatchet, hatchet will not chop staff, staff will not drive\nkid. I see by the moonlight it is long past midnight. It is time kid\nand I were home an hour and a half ago.\u201d\n\nBut the torch would not burn the hatchet.\n\nThen I met the wind, and to the wind I said:\n\n\u201cWind, put out torch, torch will not burn hatchet, hatchet will not\nchop staff, staff will not drive kid. I see by the moonlight it is long\npast midnight. It is time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.\u201d\n\nBut the wind would not put out the fire.\n\nThen I met a tree, and to the tree I said:\n\n\u201cTree, stop wind, wind will not put out torch, torch will not burn\nstaff, staff will not drive kid. I see by the moonlight it is long past\nmidnight. It is time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.\u201d\n\nBut the tree would not.\n\nThen I met a wee mouse, and to the mouse I said:\n\n\u201cMouse, gnaw tree, tree will not stop wind, wind will not put out\ntorch, torch will not burn staff, staff will not drive kid. I see by\nthe moonlight it is long past midnight. It is time kid and I were home\nan hour and a half ago.\u201d\n\nThen the wee, wee mouse began to gnaw the tree, the tree began to stop\nthe wind, the wind began to put out the torch, the torch began to burn\nthe staff, the staff began to drive the kid, and the kid began to go.\n\nSee by the moonlight it is almost midnight. But kid and I were home an\nhour and a half ago.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ROBIN\u2019S CHRISTMAS SONG.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old gray Pussy and she was down by the\nwaterside when the trees and ground were white with snow. And there she\nsaw a wee, wee Robin Redbreast hopping upon a branch, so Pussy said to\nhim:\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Robin Redbreast, this frosty Yuletide weather?\u201d\n\nThen the wee, wee Robin said to the Pussy, \u201cI am going to the King to\nsing him a song this good Yule morning.\u201d\n\nAnd the gray Pussy replied, \u201cGo not yet. Come here, Robin Redbreast,\nand I will let you see the bonny white necklace I wear around my neck.\u201d\n\nBut the wee, wee Robin said, \u201cNo, no, gray Pussy. You may show the\nbonny white necklace that you wear around your neck to the little mice,\nbut not to me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWhere are you going, Robin Redbreast?\u201d]\n\nThen off flew the wee, wee Robin until he came to a wall of turf and\nthere he saw a greedy Hawk sitting and watching to see what small\nbirds passed by. And the greedy Hawk called to him and said, \u201cWhere are\nyou going, Robin Redbreast, this frosty Yuletide weather?\u201d\n\nThen the wee, wee Robin said to the Hawk, \u201cI am going to the King to\nsing him a song this good Yule morning.\u201d\n\nAnd the greedy Hawk replied, \u201cGo not yet. Come here, Robin Redbreast,\nand I\u2019ll let you see a bonny green feather that I wear in my wing.\u201d\n\nBut the wee, wee Robin said, \u201cNo, no, greedy Hawk. You have pecked all\nthe tiny birds but you\u2019ll not peck me.\u201d\n\nThen off flew the wee, wee Robin until he came to a hollow in the\nhillside and there he saw a sly Fox sitting. The sly Fox saw Robin\nand called to him, \u201cWhere are you going, Robin Redbreast, this frosty\nYuletide weather?\u201d\n\nThen the wee, wee Robin said to the Fox, \u201cI am going to the King to\nsing him a song this good Yule morning.\u201d\n\nAnd the sly Fox replied, \u201cGo not yet. Come here, Robin Redbreast, and\nI will show you a bonny spot on the tip of my tail.\u201d\n\nBut the wee, wee Robin said, \u201cNo, no, sly Fox. You may show the bonny\nspot on the tip of your tail to the lambs but not to me.\u201d\n\nThen off flew the wee, wee Robin until he came to a little shepherd Lad\nsitting beside his cot. The little shepherd Lad saw Robin and called\nto him, \u201cWhere are you going, Robin Redbreast, this frosty Yuletide\nweather?\u201d\n\nThen the wee, wee Robin said to the shepherd Lad, \u201cI am going to the\nKing to sing him a song this good Yule morning.\u201d\n\nAnd the shepherd Lad replied, \u201cGo not yet. Come here and I will give\nyou some crumbs from my pouch.\u201d\n\nBut the wee, wee Robin said, \u201cNo, no, little shepherd Lad. You caught\nthe goldfinch but you\u2019ll not catch me.\u201d\n\nThen off flew the wee, wee Robin until he came to the King, and he sat\ndown upon a plowshare just outside of the King\u2019s window, and he sang\nhim a pretty song because it was such a good Yule morning. The King\nwas very much pleased indeed and he said to the Queen, \u201cWhat shall we\ngive the wee, wee Robin Redbreast for singing us such a pretty song?\u201d\n\nThe Queen thought and thought and at last she decided. \u201cI think we will\ngive the wee, wee Robin Redbreast a wee Wren to be his wife,\u201d the Queen\nsaid to the King.\n\nSo the wee, wee Robin Redbreast and the wee Wren were married and the\nKing, and the Queen, and all the court, and the whole countryside\ndanced at their wedding. And after the wedding the two flew home to the\nRobin\u2019s own waterside.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF IBBITY.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a little brown boy named Ibbity. He lived in\na warm country where there are jungles and tigers and sandy deserts.\nNow Ibbity was always wondering about things, and one day he said to\nhis mother:\n\n\u201cI wonder, oh, I do wonder what is the strongest thing in the world.\u201d\n\nBut his mother could not tell him, so Ibbity started off by himself to\nfind out.\n\nHe went a long, long way, and at last he came to a tree. Up the tree\nclimbed Ibbity and looked abroad over the jungle and the desert for\nsomething very big and strong. But just then the top of the tree broke.\nBump, down fell little Ibbity to the ground.\n\n\u201cOh, Tree, you are the strongest thing, are you not?\u201d cried Ibbity,\nsitting up and rubbing his head. \u201cYou are able to throw Ibbity to the\nground.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I am not as strong as the wind,\u201d sighed the tree, \u201cit was the\nwind that broke my branch.\u201d\n\nThen Ibbity ran far away to the place where the wind was blowing the\nsand in the desert, and he said:\n\n\u201cOh, Wind, the tree threw Ibbity, but you broke the tree. Are you not\nthe strongest one?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I am not the strongest one,\u201d said the wind, \u201cthe hill is able to\nstop my blowing.\u201d\n\nSo Ibbity ran on and on, until he came to a high hill, and to the hill\nhe said:\n\n\u201cOh, Hill, the tree threw Ibbity, and the wind broke the tree, but you\nare able to stop the wind. Are you not the strongest one?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d said the hill. \u201cAt my feet lives a small mouse. She is cutting\na tunnel straight through me.\u201d\n\nSo Ibbity went down the hill, and looked around in the bushes until he\nfound a small brown mouse. To the mouse he said:\n\n\u201cO Mouse, the tree threw Ibbity, the wind broke the tree, and the hill\ncan stop the wind, but you have dug a tunnel through the hill. Are you\nnot the strongest one?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the mouse. \u201cCannot the tiger catch me?\u201d\n\nSo Ibbity traveled to the jungle, where the tiger lives, and he said:\n\n\u201cOh, Tiger, the tree threw Ibbity, the wind broke the tree, the hill is\nable to stop the wind, and the mouse has dug a tunnel through the hill,\nbut you can catch the mouse. Are you not the strongest one?\u201d\n\nBut the tiger was caught fast in a net, and he said to Ibbity:\n\n\u201cNo, this rope is stronger than I.\u201d\n\nAnd Ibbity said to the rope:\n\n\u201cOh, Rope, the tree threw Ibbity, the wind broke the tree, the hill can\nstop the wind, the mouse has dug a tunnel under the hill, the tiger is\nable to catch the mouse, but you have caught the tiger. Are you not the\nstrongest one?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the rope, \u201cfor the fire burns me.\u201d\n\nSo Ibbity ran and ran until he came to a fire, and to the fire he said:\n\n\u201cOh, Fire, the tree threw Ibbity, the wind broke the tree, the hill\nstops the wind, the mouse tunnels the hill, the tiger catches the\nmouse, the rope catches the tiger, but you are able to burn the rope.\nAre you not the strongest one?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the fire, \u201cmy heat is less than that of the great sun.\u201d\n\nThen Ibbity looked up at the sky, and he called loudly to the sun:\n\n\u201cOh, great Sun, the tree threw Ibbity, the wind broke the tree, the\nhill stops the wind, the mouse tunnels the hill, the tiger catches the\nmouse, the rope catches the tiger, the fire burns the rope, but your\nheat is greater than that of the fire. Are you not the strongest one?\u201d\n\nThen the sun winked its large yellow eye at Ibbity, and never a word\ndid it say, for it was too far off to hear Ibbity\u2019s little voice.\n\nSo Ibbity clapped his hands and cried, \u201cI have found the strongest one.\nIt is the sun.\u201d\n\nAnd little Ibbity went home again to tell his mother.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHIPMUNK WHO CHATTERED TOO MUCH.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when Indians and animals lived together in the same\nforest and animals could speak, the Chipmunk was the greatest talker of\nthem all.\n\nHe lived in a lodge in the middle of the woods with his grandfather who\nwas very old and wise as well. But the Chipmunk was young, and very\ndaring. He was able to run so fast and climb trees, and jump from one\nbranch to another that he thought nothing in the world could harm him.\nHe had a louder voice then than he has now. He chattered all day long,\nboasting about himself. At last he became very tiresome to the other\nanimals.\n\nThey came at last and spoke to the Chipmunk\u2019s grandfather about him.\n\n\u201cYour grandson chatters so loudly,\u201d scolded the Blue Jay, \u201cthat the\nbirds are not able to hear me when I warn them of danger in the\nforest.\u201d\n\nAnd the Frog came to the Chipmunk\u2019s grandfather with tears in his eyes.\n\u201cYour grandson chatters so loudly,\u201d croaked the Frog, \u201cthat no one can\nhear me when I sing on the edge of the stream in the evening.\u201d\n\nIt was quite true. The Chipmunk talked and boasted all the time. He\nchattered as he started out from his lodge in the morning and all the\nway down the path to let every one know that he was on his way. He\nchattered when he came to a nut tree and when he picked up some nuts.\nHe had pockets in his cheeks, so he could chatter even when he came\nhome with a mouthful of nuts. There seemed to be no way of keeping this\nyoung Chipmunk quiet, and at last his grandfather decided to speak to\nhim about it.\n\n\u201cYou are not using your voice as it was meant that you should, my son,\u201d\nsaid the Chipmunk\u2019s grandfather. \u201cAll the creatures in feathers and fur\nin the forest speak for a reason. The Ground Hog whistles to call his\nyoung, and the Frog croaks when wild beasts creep toward the lodges,\nand the Robin sings of rain. But you, my son, chatter for no reason\nexcept your foolish pride. Beware! the Great Chief will hear you and\ncatch you some day if you do not stop!\u201d\n\nThe Chipmunk thought that night of what his grandfather had said.\nBut when morning came, he forgot all about it and took his noisy way\nthrough the woods again. He made just as much noise as he could, even\nafter he had reached a hickory-nut tree, and climbed up among the\nbranches.\n\nSuddenly, though, he was still. He heard the leaves on the ground\nrustle and the twigs crackle with heavy footsteps. Peering down between\nthe branches, the Chipmunk saw the Great Chief of whom his grandfather\nhad warned him. He looked as tall as a young tree and as dark as a\nthunder cloud. He carried a long bow and a quiver of arrows. He had\ncome for the Chipmunk, and he waited under the tree, looking up among\nthe branches to see when he should come down.\n\nBut the leaves on the branches hid the Chipmunk. He gathered a handful\nof nuts and tossed them down. The Great Chief was thrown off his guard\nby the trick. He jumped, thinking it was the Chipmunk, but the little\nfellow scampered down the other side of the tree. He got home to his\nlodge in safety.\n\nThe next day the Chipmunk was even more noisy than ever as he started\nout. He reached a tree, climbed up in it, and again the Great Chief\ncame with his bow and arrows to kill the chattering little pest. But\nthe Chipmunk gathered a handful of twigs which he threw down at the\nfeet of the Great Chief.\n\n\u201cHere I come,\u201d the Chipmunk chattered. As the Great Chief watched to\nsee him follow the twigs he dropped down on the other side of the tree\nand once more reached home safe.\n\nWhen the Chipmunk started out the third morning he had a great piece of\nnews to tell the whole world. He told it just as loudly as he could.\n\n\u201cThe Great Chief can\u2019t catch me. He can\u2019t catch me,\u201d boasted the\nChipmunk.\n\nHe kept on chattering this after he had scampered up a tree, and a very\nbold plan entered his head.\n\nThe Great Chief came at last. He strode angrily until he came to the\ntree where the Chipmunk sat looking down at him.\n\n\u201cCome down! Come down from this tree!\u201d called the Great Chief in a loud\nvoice.\n\nThat was just what the Chipmunk planned to do. He was going to come\ndown and dare the Great Chief to catch him. He felt that he would be\nsafe in doing this. So the Chipmunk came down and stood a second,\nchattering to the Great Chief, who was so surprised that he did not\nmove at first.\n\nThen the Chipmunk ran and the Great Chief ran after him. It was a race\nfor life, the Chipmunk soon found out, for the Great Chief gained at\nevery step. The Chipmunk leaped and jumped, and panted for breath. On,\nand on they went, in and out among the trees. The Chipmunk lost his\nloud voice in fear and no other member of the family has had such a\nloud one since that day. He could see his lodge with his grandfather\nwaiting for him in the door, but it did not seem possible that he could\nreach it.\n\nOh, there he was at the door; but just as he went inside the Great\nChief took hold of the Chipmunk with his strong fingers. Although the\nChipmunk pulled himself loose, he had a row of long white stripes on\nhis back where the Great Chief had clutched him.\n\nAnd every other Chipmunk, since then, has had white stripes on his\nback, because of the first Chipmunk who chattered too much.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE SQUIRREL GOT WINGS.\n\n\nOnce upon a time the Indians tell us that the Manito was the good\nspirit of the woods. He taught every wild creature, bird, beast, or\nfish its own special work. It was then that the Beaver learned how to\nbe a mason, and the Oriole to be a weaver. The Mole learned how to dig\nlong, secret tunnels although he was blind. The Spider was taught to\nspin and the Bee to make honey.\n\nThen, too, the Manito made the Squirrel the little harvester of the\nwoods, gathering nuts in the fall and digging holes in the earth in\nwhich to bury them for the winter. It was planned that the Squirrel\nshould be an example to man of the wisdom of working while others\nfeasted. He gathered food for the days when the wind would howl and the\nsnow drift about his lodge. So the Squirrel spent his days looking for\nnuts and laying them away for cold weather. With him went his friend,\nthe Woodchuck.\n\nIn those days, the Woodchuck ate nuts, and as his legs were short\nand his feet flat he could not climb trees. His feet were shaped like\nshovels. He used them for digging himself a little house in the side of\na hill where he planned to sleep through the winter until spring should\ncome. But he was very fond of nuts. His friend, the Squirrel, was good\nenough to take him about the woods and show him the places where nuts\nwere scattered on the ground. The Squirrel gave him half of all the\nnuts there were. The Woodchuck cracked these with his sharp teeth and\nate them all.\n\nThe Manito was apt to walk through the forest at night to see if\neverything was safe. He wished, too, to see if his little wild children\nhad done their work during the day. One evening in the late fall the\nManito went through the forest in the form of a night wind. He looked\nin the door of the Woodchuck\u2019s house in the side of the hill. It was\nempty!\n\nTaking his way through the trees the Manito saw a little creature in a\ngray fur blanket creeping softly along from one spot to another. He\nhad short legs, and feet shaped like shovels. It was the Woodchuck. As\nhe came to a place for which he had been looking, the Woodchuck would\ndig deep down in the earth with his paws. He would bring up a store of\nnuts and carry them back to his hole in the side of the hill.\n\n\u201cThis is not as it should be,\u201d the Manito thought. \u201cI did not plan that\nmy son, the Woodchuck, should harvest at night. Nor did I decree that\nhe should gather nuts.\u201d\n\nThen it came to the mind of the Manito what the Woodchuck was up to!\n\nThe next night the Manito had a council fire in the woods and bade all\nthe wild creatures to come to it. He, himself, dressed in fine blankets\nand feathers like an Indian Chief, sat on a rock before the fire. All\nhis sons, the Squirrel, the Beaver, the Wolf, the Deer, the Otter,\nthe Fox, and the rest, sat in a circle around the fire. There was one\nvacant place, though. The Woodchuck had not yet come.\n\nAt the time for the council to open, the Manito stood up and spoke.\n\n\u201cWe are gathered here as a court of law,\u201d he said. \u201cI have learned\nthat my thrifty son, the Squirrel, has been the victim of a thief. He\nhas been busy and saving, as I have taught him to be. He has done his\nharvesting for the winter. But while he slept a friend robbed him of\nhis nuts. What shall we do to such a false friend?\u201d\n\n\u201cDrown him!\u201d said the Beaver.\n\n\u201cStarve him!\u201d said the Otter.\n\n\u201cEat him!\u201d barked the Fox and the Wolf.\n\n\u201cWho is he?\u201d asked the gentle Deer.\n\nJust then the Woodchuck tried to slip into his place in the circle\nwithout being seen. He had a nut in his mouth so that every one knew\nat once that he was the thief. He was the false friend of the thrifty\nSquirrel! The animals rose in a body and would have torn the Woodchuck\nto pieces at once, or thrown him into the fire. But the Manito raised\nhis hand to quiet them. Then he called the Woodchuck and the Squirrel\nto come to his side.\n\n\u201cI gave you a place to harvest, in the corn field,\u201d the Manito said to\nthe Woodchuck. \u201cAnd I gave you a friend who was good enough to share\nhis nuts with you because you are so fond of them. You have disobeyed\nme, and stolen from your friend. As a punishment I will take out your\nsharp teeth so that you can never crack a nutshell again. You shall\nhave grinding teeth, for eating only corn.\u201d\n\nThen the Manito asked the Squirrel to come closer to him, and he\nfitted a pair of wings to his back. \u201cThese wings are a reward for your\nindustry,\u201d he said, \u201cand to help you gather another harvest in place of\nthat which the Woodchuck stole from you.\u201d\n\nFrom the night of that council fire to the present time the Woodchuck\nhas eaten only grains and vegetables. And there have been flying\nsquirrels because of the first Woodchuck who stole from his friend.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THEY BROUGHT HAIRLOCK HOME.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, at the foot of a hill, there lived little Boots and\nhis mother and their nanny goat, who was named Hairlock. Now Hairlock\nloved to run away over the hill to the mountain, and she could never be\nfound when milking time came at night.\n\nOne day Boots was ready with his pail and his milking stool, and he\ncalled, \u201cHairlock, Hairlock, come home to Boots,\u201d but Hairlock did not\ncome.\n\nThen Boots\u2019s mother climbed to the top of the hill, and she looked, and\nshe looked, and there she spied Hairlock on the top of a crag, a long\nway off.\n\n\u201cNaughty Hairlock,\u201d she cried, \u201ccome home to Boots. Boots, run to\nReynard, the fox, and tell him to bite Hairlock.\u201d\n\nSo Boots ran to Reynard, the fox, and he said:\n\n\u201cGood Reynard, bite my nanny goat, Hairlock, who stands on the top of\nyonder crag, and will not come home to be milked.\u201d\n\nBut Reynard said, \u201cNot I, Boots; I\u2019ll not dull my teeth on old\nHairlock\u2019s skin, for I hunt to-night. Another time, Boots, another\ntime.\u201d\n\nAnd Boots went back and told his mother what Reynard had said.\n\n\u201cThen go to Greylegs, the wolf, Boots,\u201d said his mother, \u201cand tell him\nto bark at naughty Hairlock.\u201d\n\nSo Boots ran to Greylegs the wolf, and he said:\n\n\u201cGood Greylegs, bark at my nanny goat, Hairlock, who stands on the top\nof yonder crag, and will not come home to be milked.\u201d\n\nBut Greylegs said, \u201cSome other time, Boots, some other time. The night\nis cold. I must stay at home and sleep and cover my cubs.\u201d\n\nAnd Boots went back and told his mother what Greylegs had said.\n\n\u201cThen go to Bruin, the bear,\u201d said his mother, \u201cand bid him chase\nnaughty Hairlock.\u201d\n\nSo Boots ran to Bruin, the bear, and he said:\n\n\u201cGood Bruin, chase my nanny goat, Hairlock, who stands on the top of\nyonder crag, and will not come home to be milked.\u201d\n\nBut Bruin said, \u201cAh, Boots, I am much too fat to chase Hairlock. Go to\nthe fir tree and ask him to trap Hairlock.\u201d\n\nSo Boots ran to the fir tree, and he said:\n\n\u201cGood Fir Tree, trap my nanny goat, Hairlock, who stands on the top of\nyonder crag, and will not come home to be milked.\u201d\n\nBut the fir tree only bent and swayed in the wind, and said, \u201cAsk the\nwoodcutter to fell me, Boots.\u201d\n\nSo Boots ran to the woodcutter, and he said:\n\n\u201cGood Woodcutter, fell the fir tree, that he may trap my nanny goat,\nHairlock, who stands at the top of yonder crag, and will not come home\nto be milked.\u201d\n\nBut the woodcutter said, \u201cAsk the joiner if he will buy my wood, Boots.\u201d\n\nSo Boots went to the joiner, and he said:\n\n\u201cGood Joiner, will you buy wood from the woodcutter, that he may fell\nthe fir tree? Then the fir tree will trap my nanny goat, Hairlock, who\nstands at the top of yonder crag and will not come home to be milked.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I will, Boots,\u201d said the joiner.\n\nThen the woodcutter felled the fir tree and gave the wood to the\njoiner. The joiner took the wood and made a strong yoke, which he gave\nto Boots.\n\nThen Boots and his mother ran to the top of the crag and put the yoke\non Hairlock.\n\nAnd that is how they brought Hairlock home.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEAR WHO LOST HIS SUPPER.\n\n\nOnce upon a time old Mother Red Cap was out walking in the forest and\nshe came to a wild cherry tree, the branches of which hung low with\ncherries. She climbed up the tree to pick her apron full of cherries\nwhen along came Bruin, the Bear, walking under the tree. He looked up\namong the branches and there he saw old Mother Red Cap.\n\n\u201cCome down, Mother,\u201d he growled, \u201cthat I may eat you.\u201d Old Mother Red\nCap did not want to be eaten by Bruin, the Bear, so she thought, and\nthought, and then she said:\n\n\u201cYou do not want to eat an old woman like me. I will throw you down my\nshoe and you may gnaw upon that until I can come down to the ground and\nlead you to my house. I have two little kids there who will make you a\nsavory meal. Have patience, Bruin, until I can climb down.\u201d\n\nThis was what old Mother Red Cap said, and she threw down her shoe.\nBruin gnawed and gnawed upon the shoe, but he found it very dry\neating, so he grew angry. He called up the tree to old Mother Red Cap:\n\n\u201cCome down, Mother, that I may eat you.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust wait a little longer, Bruin, until I have gathered a few more\ncherries,\u201d said she, and she threw down her other shoe. \u201cGnaw on this,\u201d\nshe said, \u201cand I will climb down in a few minutes and show you the way\nto my house.\u201d\n\nBruin gnawed upon the second shoe but he found it no better than the\nfirst. But he contented himself with the thought of the two little kids\nthat he would soon be eating, and he waited beneath the tree until old\nMother Red Cap climbed down.\n\nDown she came, with her apron full of cherries; home she went, and\nBruin tramped along behind her. When they reached her house, old Mother\nRed Cap took Bruin, the Bear, out to the barn and showed him the two\nlittle kids. He was in a great hurry to get his paws around them, but,\n\u201cWait,\u201d said Old Mother Red Cap. \u201cFirst I must give the two little\nkids a fine supper that they may be fatter. Go back to the forest for\nthe night and return in the morning. Then the two little kids will be\nfat enough for you to eat.\u201d\n\nSo Bruin, the Bear, went back to the forest for the night. Old Mother\nRed Cap gave the two little kids a fine, large supper and then she\nlocked the door of the barn and went to bed. Very early in the morning\nshe went out to the barn and unlocked the door and let out the two fat\nlittle kids. They scampered off to pasture and were soon so far away\nthat neither hide nor hoof of them could be seen. Then old Mother Red\nCap locked the door of the barn again.\n\nAlmost as soon as the sun was up, Bruin, the Bear, tramped back from\nthe forest, growling:\n\n\u201cOpen the barn door, Mother, that I may eat the two little kids.\u201d\n\nMother Red Cap stooped down to peep through the key hole of the barn\ndoor. Then she shook her head sadly.\n\n\u201cWhat a pity it is,\u201d sighed old Mother Red Cap, \u201cthat the two little\nkids are gone. Can it be that my two mischievous little grandchildren,\nJanko and Mirko, unlocked the door and let the kids out?\u201d\n\nAt that Bruin, the Bear, was very angry. \u201cThen I must eat your two\nlittle grandchildren, Janko and Mirko,\u201d he growled.\n\nThis frightened old Mother Red Cap greatly. She thought and thought,\nand then she said: \u201cMy two little grandchildren, Janko and Mirko, are\nvery thin indeed. I must give them three fine meals or they will not be\nfat enough for you to eat. In the meantime, do you run about through\nthe forest to get yourself a better appetite.\u201d\n\nSo Bruin, the Bear, went away and ran about in the woods all the rest\nof the day. When it was evening he came back with a fine appetite and\nrapped at the door of old Mother Red Cap\u2019s house.\n\n\u201cSend out Janko and Mirko,\u201d he growled, \u201cand see what short work I will\nmake of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cOho, I\u2019ll not do that,\u201d laughed old Mother Red Cap from inside the\nhouse. \u201cYou are too late, Bruin. Janko has just bolted the door so fast\nthat you will not be able to open it and I have put Mirko to bed, where\nhe is fast asleep. You must go back to the forest and come some other\nday.\u201d\n\nSo Bruin, the Bear, saw that old Mother Red Cap had got the best of him\nand he went back to the forest, hungry, to look for his supper there.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RABBIT WHO WAS AFRAID.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, a very long way from here, a little wild Rabbit sat\nunder a tall palm tree. All about him were other tall palm trees and\nlarger animals than he, and the wild rabbit thought and thought. And\nafter the Rabbit had thought a while he said to himself, \u201cWhat if the\nearth should crack and swallow me up.\u201d\n\nJust then the wind blew a cocoanut down from a tree and it fell upon\nthe ground right beside the little wild Rabbit. Up he jumped in great\nfear for now he was sure that what he had dreaded was happening.\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, and off he hopped as fast as\nhe could, never stopping to try and find out what it was that had made\nthe noise.\n\nAs he ran he met his Mother and she said to him, \u201cWhy do you run so\nfast?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cand I run that I may not be\nswallowed up by it.\u201d\n\nOn ran the Rabbit, and his Mother ran with him.\n\nAs they ran, they met his Father and he said to the Rabbit, \u201cWhy do you\nrun so fast?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cand we run that we may not\nbe swallowed up by it.\u201d\n\nOn ran the Rabbit and his Mother, and his Father ran with them.\n\nAs they ran they met an Elephant, and he said to the Rabbit, \u201cWhy do\nyou run so fast?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cand we run that we may not\nbe swallowed up by it.\u201d\n\nOn ran the Rabbit and his Mother and his Father, and the Elephant ran\nwith them.\n\nAs they ran they passed a Deer. \u201cWhy do you run so fast?\u201d he asked of\nthe Rabbit.\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cand we run that we may not\nbe swallowed up by it.\u201d\n\nOn ran the Rabbit and his Mother and his Father and the Elephant, and\nthe Deer ran with them.\n\nAs they ran they met a Fox. \u201cWhy do you run so fast?\u201d the Fox asked of\nthe Rabbit.\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cand we run that we may not\nbe swallowed up by it.\u201d\n\nOn ran the Rabbit and his Mother and his Father and the Elephant and\nthe Deer, and the Fox ran with them.\n\nAs they ran they met all his Relations, and they said to the Rabbit,\n\u201cWhy do you run so fast?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cand we run that we may not\nbe swallowed up by it.\u201d\n\nOn ran the Rabbit and his Mother and his Father and the Elephant and\nthe Deer and the Fox, and a hundred of his Relations ran with him.\n\nAs they ran they came upon the Lion, who is the king of the beasts, and\nthe Lion said to the Rabbit, \u201cWhy do you run so fast?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe earth is cracking,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cand we run that we may not\nbe swallowed up by it.\u201d\n\nBut the Lion, who is the king of the beasts, did not run. He spoke\nagain. \u201cWhich one of you is it who saw the earth cracking?\u201d he asked,\nbecause he felt sure that there must be some mistake about it.\n\n\u201cIt was not I, O King,\u201d replied the Elephant.\n\n\u201cNor was it I, O King,\u201d said the Deer and the Fox and each of the\nRabbit\u2019s hundred Relations and his Father and his Mother, until all had\nspoken except the Rabbit himself.\n\n\u201cIs it true that the earth is cracking?\u201d asked the Lion of the Rabbit.\n\n\u201cIt is true, O King,\u201d replied the Rabbit. \u201cI sat under a palm tree\nthinking of what would happen to me if the earth were to break up.\nSuddenly I heard a loud noise as it cracked.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWhat a foolish Rabbit you are!\u201d said the Lion.]\n\n\u201cThen we must go back and see how wide the crack is,\u201d said the Lion.\n\u201cRabbit, jump upon my back and show me the way.\u201d\n\nSo the Rabbit jumped upon the Lion\u2019s back and away they went as fast\nas the wind, while the other animals all waited for them. The Rabbit\nguided the Lion to the place where he had sat beneath the palm tree,\nand the Lion saw the cocoanut lying on the ground.\n\n\u201cWhat a foolish Rabbit you are!\u201d said the Lion, who is king of all the\nbeasts. Then he went back to the other beasts and told them that the\nearth had not yet cracked.\n\nIf it had not been for the Lion they might all have been running until\nto-day.\n\n\n\n\nHOW MAPLE SUGAR CAME.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a little Indian boy named Son-of-a-Brave. He\nwas very fond indeed of going to the lodge of the village medicine man.\nHere he listened to all the wise stories that the medicine man told\nabout the forest.\n\nThis medicine man was very much thought of by the Indians and they had\nmade him the best lodge in the village. It stood in that part of the\nforest where the trees were stately, and old, and straight. The lodge,\nitself, was covered with the most valuable skins. It was filled with\ngifts of beads, and drums, and arrow heads, and blankets with pictures\nwoven in them.\n\nSon-of-a-Brave used to gather some of the herbs that the medicine man\nbrewed. In return, the Indian boy was allowed to sit inside the lodge,\nbeside the medicine man\u2019s kettle, and listen to his sayings.\n\n\u201cThe Indians have something to learn from every beast, and fish, and\nbird of the forest,\u201d the medicine man said one day.\n\nSon-of-a-Brave felt very proud, because his father was one of the big\nchiefs of the tribe. He was proud, too, that he, twelve years old,\ncould shoot an arrow as straight as the young braves. So he found it\nhard to understand the medicine man.\n\n\u201cWhat does the clumsy Bear teach us?\u201d Son-of-a-Brave asked.\n\n\u201cThe value of sleep,\u201d replied the medicine man. \u201cYou like to sit up\nlate at night, listening to the talk of your parents around the camp\nfire. In the morning you have dull eyes and heavy limbs. The Bear comes\nout from her winter sleep ready to rule the den and fight the whole\nforest.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, what does the silly Salmon that hurls himself down the rapids\nteach us?\u201d asked Son-of-a-Brave.\n\n\u201cThe greatest lesson of all\u2014that home is the best place,\u201d replied the\nmedicine man. \u201cThe Salmon swims far away from home, but always comes\nback to the hatching ground through the rapids.\u201d\n\nAs Son-of-a-Brave went out through the lodge he was thinking very hard.\nThere had been one question that he had wanted to ask the medicine man,\nbut he had not dared, Of what use was the great stupid Woodpecker that\nflew from tree to tree? It ran up and down the trunks like a senseless\nbird, and pounded like a drum with its huge bill.\n\nThere was a Woodpecker now. Son-of-a-Brave could see it, head down,\non the trunk of a tree, making a hole. It wore a bright red cap, and\nits black eyes were as bright as those of an Indian. Its big black\nclaws looked like hands. The boy stopped to watch the odd bird. The\nWoodpecker bored awhile, standing on its head. Then it righted itself\nand made the hole larger. Last, it put its bill in the hole and pulling\nit out, tipped its head back as if it were drinking. This was very\nstrange.\n\nWhen the Woodpecker flew away, Son-of-a-Brave went up to the tree, for\nhe was curious about it. It was still too early in the spring for the\ntree to have leaves. There was a little snow left on the ground. But\nthe boy knew what kind of tree it was by its bark. He could find others\nlike it all through the woods. He had a very sharp arrow head stuck in\nhis belt. He took it out and began chipping the hole in the tree trunk\nwhich the Woodpecker had started, until it was larger. To the Indian\nboy\u2019s surprise thin sap began to run out of the tree. He put his lips\nto the hole.\n\nIt was sweet sap\u2014as sweet as wild honey!\n\nSon-of-a-Brave stripped some bark from the tree and made a little cup.\nHe filled this with the sweet sap and ran from one lodge to another\nin the village, asking the braves to taste it. They all said that the\nsweet sap was good. All the village followed Son-of-a-Brave back to the\nforest, while he pointed out trees like the one which the Woodpecker\nhad tapped. They bored holes in them, and from each there flowed the\nfirst maple syrup. It proved that the medicine man had been right.\nEven the Woodpecker, who worked upside down, could teach the Indians\nsomething.\n\nSo the Indians tell us how maple sugar came. But the story tells us\nalso the great wisdom of our little wild brothers in feathers and fur.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RABBIT WHO WANTED RED WINGS.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a little white Rabbit with two beautiful\nlong pink ears, and two bright red eyes, and four soft little\nfeet\u2014_such_ a pretty little white Rabbit, but he was not happy.\n\nJust think, this little white Rabbit wanted to be somebody else instead\nof a rabbit!\n\nWhen Mr. Bushy Tail, the gray squirrel, went by, the little white\nRabbit would say to his Mammy:\n\n\u201cOh, Mammy, I wish I had a long gray tail like Mr. Bushy Tail\u2019s.\u201d\n\nAnd when Mr. Porcupine went by, the little white Rabbit would say to\nhis Mammy:\n\n\u201cOh, Mammy, I wish I had a back full of bristles like Mr. Porcupine\u2019s.\u201d\n\nAnd when Miss Puddle-Duck went by in her two little red rubbers, the\nlittle white Rabbit would say:\n\n\u201cOh, Mammy, I wish I had a pair of red rubbers like Miss\nPuddle-Duck\u2019s.\u201d\n\nSo he went on and on wishing until his Mammy was all tired out with his\nwishing and Old Mr. Ground Hog heard him one day.\n\nOld Mr. Ground Hog is very wise indeed, so he said to the little white\nRabbit:\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you go down to the Wishing Pond? If you look in the water\nat yourself and turn around three times in a circle you will get your\nwish.\u201d\n\nSo the little white Rabbit went off, all alone by himself, through the\nwoods until he came to a little pool of green water lying in a low tree\nstump. That was the Wishing Pond. There was a little, little bird, all\nred, sitting on the edge of the Wishing Pond to get a drink, and as\nsoon as the little white Rabbit saw him he began to wish again.\n\n\u201cOh, I wish I had a pair of little red wings!\u201d he said. Just then he\nlooked in the Wishing Pond and he saw his little white face. Then he\nturned around three times and something happened. He began to have a\nqueer feeling in his shoulders, like the feeling in his mouth when he\nwas cutting his teeth. It was his wings coming through. So he sat all\nday in the woods by the Wishing Pond waiting for them to grow, and by\nand by, when it was almost sundown, he started home to see his Mammy\nand show her. He had a beautiful pair of long, trailing red wings.\n\nBut by the time he reached home it was getting dark. When he went in\nthe hole at the foot of the big tree where he lived, his Mammy didn\u2019t\nknow him. No, she really and truly did not know him, because she had\nnever seen a rabbit with red wings in all her life. And so the little\nwhite Rabbit had to go out again, because his Mammy wouldn\u2019t let him\nget into his own bed. He had to go out and look for some place to sleep\nall night.\n\nHe went and went until he came to Mr. Bushy Tail\u2019s house, and he rapped\non the door and said:\n\n\u201cPlease, kind Mr. Bushy Tail, may I sleep in your house all night?\u201d\n\nBut Mr. Bushy Tail opened his door a crack and then he slammed it\ntight shut again. You see he had never seen a rabbit with red wings in\nall his life.\n\nSo the little white Rabbit went and went until he came to Miss\nPuddle-Duck\u2019s nest down by the marsh, and he said:\n\n\u201cPlease, kind Miss Puddle-Duck, may I sleep in your nest all night?\u201d\n\nMiss Puddle-Duck poked her head up out of her nest just a little way.\nThen she shut her eyes and stretched her wings out so far that she\ncovered her whole nest.\n\nYou see she had never seen a white rabbit with red wings in all her\nlife.\n\nSo the little white Rabbit went and went until he came to Old Mr.\nGround Hog\u2019s hole and Old Mr. Ground Hog let him sleep with him all\nnight, but the hole had beech nuts spread all over it. Old Mr. Ground\nHog liked to sleep on them, but they hurt the little white Rabbit\u2019s\nfeet and made him very uncomfortable before morning.\n\nWhen it came morning, the little white Rabbit decided to try his wings\nand fly a little. He climbed up on a hill, and spread his wings, and\nsailed off, but he landed in a low bush all full of prickles. There his\nfour feet got mixed up with the twigs so he couldn\u2019t get down.\n\n\u201cMammy, Mammy, Mammy, come and help me!\u201d he called.\n\nHis Mammy didn\u2019t hear him, but old Mr. Ground Hog did. He came and\nhelped the little white Rabbit out of the prickly bush.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you want your red wings?\u201d Mr. Ground Hog asked.\n\n\u201cNo, _no_!\u201d said the little white Rabbit.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Old Ground Hog, \u201cwhy don\u2019t you go down to the Wishing\nPond and wish them _off_ again?\u201d\n\nSo the little white Rabbit went down to the Wishing Pond and he saw his\nface in it. Then he turned around three times, and, sure enough, his\nred wings were gone. Then he went home to his Mammy, who knew him right\naway and was so glad to see him. And he never, _never_ wished again to\nbe something different from what he really was.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE FIRST MAYFLOWERS CAME.\n\n\nOnce upon a time everything in the woods was covered deep with snow,\nthe berries, the juicy young bushes, and the roots. The animals had\nstowed themselves away for the winter to sleep; the bear in a deep\ncave, the chipmunk in a hollow log, and the wild mouse in a cozy hole\nbeneath the roots of a tree. The wind sang a high, shrill song in the\ntops of the pine trees, and the doors of the wigwams were shut tight.\n\nBut the door of Son-of-a-Brave\u2019s wigwam suddenly opened a little way\nand the Indian boy, himself, looked out. He had his bow and a newly\ntipped arrow in his hands.\n\nWhile the snow and the ice had been piling up outside in the Indian\nvillage, Son-of-a-Brave had been very busy. He had been working beside\nthe home fire making his new arrow head. First, he had gone to the\nwigwam of the village arrow maker to ask him for a good piece of stone.\nThe arrow maker had been good enough to give Son-of-a-Brave a piece\nof beautiful white quartz. Then Son-of-a-Brave had set to work on it.\nHe had shaped it with a big horn knife and chipped it with a hammer.\nHe had polished it in a dish of sand until it shone like one of the\nicicles outside. Then he had fitted it to a strong arrow and wished\nthat he had a chance to shoot. That was why Son-of-a-Brave stood at the\ndoor of the wigwam, looking out across the snow. Not even a deer had\ntracked it because the winter was so cold.\n\nAll at once Son-of-a-Brave saw something. An old Hare came out of a\nsnow bank and limped down the path that led by the wigwam. In the\nsummer the Hare was gray, the color of the trees among which he lived.\nBut in the winter he turned white so as not to be seen by hunters when\nhe went along through the snow. He did not care now whether any one saw\nhim or not. He was a very old Hare, and the winter was too hard for\nhim. He was lame and hungry and half frozen. He stopped right in front\nof Son-of-a-Brave and sat up on his haunches, his ears drooping.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t shoot me,\u201d he was trying to say. \u201cI am at your mercy, too\nstarved to run away from you.\u201d\n\nSon-of-a-Brave slipped his newly tipped arrow in his bow and aimed at\nthe old Hare. It would be very easy indeed to shoot him, for the Hare\ndid not move. The boy thought what a warm pair of moccasin tops his\nskin would make. Then Son-of-a-Brave took his arrow out again, for\nanother thought had come to him. He knew that he would be a coward to\nshoot a Hare that was too weak to run away.\n\nThe boy stooped down and picked up the old Hare. He wrapped him close\nup to his own warm body in his blanket. Then he went with him through\nthe snow of the woods until they came to a place where a stream ran.\nThere were young willow trees growing along the edge. Here he set down\nthe Hare. He began to dig away the ice and frozen earth with his\nnew arrow tip, until the roots of the trees and the soft bark could\nbe seen. How the Hare did eat these! Son-of-a-Brave left him, still\neating, and went home.\n\nThe Indian boy did not see the Hare again that winter. He knew that\nhe had dug a large enough hole so that the Hare could find shelter\nand have enough food. His bow and arrow were hung on the wall, and\nSon-of-a-Brave sat by the fire with his mother and father until spring\ncame.\n\nOne day a bird sang out in the forest. Then the streams began to sing.\nThe moss made a carpet all over the ground outside of the wigwam.\nSon-of-a-Brave felt like running and shouting. He left off his blanket\nand went out into the woods to play.\n\n[Illustration: Oh, what did the boy see there!]\n\nHe had scarcely gone a rod from the wigwam when he saw a large gray\nHare following him. This was strange for hares usually ran away.\nSon-of-a-Brave waited, and the Hare came close to him. Then he saw,\nbecause it limped, that it was the old Hare that he had befriended in\nthe winter. He was now fat and well fed, and dressed in his summer\ncoat.\n\nThe Hare flopped his ears to Son-of-a-Brave and hopped a little way\nahead, so the boy followed. The Hare went on, without stopping, until\nhe came to the very spot beside the stream where Son-of-a-Brave had dug\naway the snow to give the Hare food.\n\nOh, what did the boy see there!\n\nBlossoming out of the bare earth were beautiful flowers, as white\noutside as a hare\u2019s ears in the winter time, and pink inside, like\ntheir lining. They had a sweet perfume, different from anything that\nhad grown in the woods before. The grateful Hare stood beside them. He\nseemed to say that these new flowers were his gift to the boy who had\nhelped him.\n\nThe Indians say that those were the first Mayflowers. They say the\nMayflowers have been blossoming in the woods ever since because the\nHare brought them out of thankfulness to Son-of-a-Brave.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE RABBIT TRIED TO COAST.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, the Rabbit lived in the woods in a lodge with his\nold grandmother. Summer was a fat time for the two, but things went\nvery badly with them in the winter. Then, ice and snow covered up the\nberries, and there were no juicy, green shoots to be had.\n\nThe Rabbit might have hunted, or gone to a field and dug down through\nthe snow to find some buried ears of grain. But he was a lazy young\nfellow and disliked the cold. His grandmother had a hard time filling\nthe dinner pot, and their cupboard shelves were more often empty than\nfull.\n\nThe Rabbit wished very much that he might find some easy way of making\na living in the winter. With this thought in mind he went one frosty\nday to the lodge of the Otter, just before dinner time.\n\nThe Otter lived in a lonely wigwam by the side of a river. It was quite\na long distance from the regular camp of the animals. But the Otter\nseemed to be well fed and to have no trouble in getting his dinner. The\nRabbit watched him.\n\nThe Otter put his dinner pot full of water over the fire. Then he took\nhis fish line and hooks and went outside. He had built a long, smooth\nice slide that went from his door down the bank of the river. He slid\ndown this, diving into the water through a little hole in the ice. In\na very short time the Otter was up again, and carried a long string of\nfat eels up to the bank to his lodge. He popped these into his dinner\npot and invited the Rabbit to stay and share the feast with him.\n\nIt was the first hot meal that the Rabbit had eaten in a long while.\nInstead of saving some of the food for his grandmother, he ate of it\ngreedily. He tried to think how he could imitate his friend\u2019s way of\ngetting a living. He was off as soon as dinner was over, for he had a\nplan in his head.\n\nAs soon as the Rabbit reached his lodge, he told his grandmother to put\non her blanket and tie the kitchen pots together with a piece of deer\nthong. He said that they were going to move. She begged him to think it\nover. It was deep winter, she told him, and she, herself, was an old\nrabbit. But the Rabbit took down the lodge poles while she was talking,\nand they started away through the forest to the river beside which the\nOtter lived. He set up his lodge on the opposite bank from that of the\nOtter. As the weather was crisp and cold, the Rabbit had no trouble at\nall in making an ice slide from his door to the river, just like the\nOtter\u2019s slide.\n\nThen the Rabbit told his grandmother to build a fire, and hang the\ndinner pot, and make ready for a great feast. He had invited the Otter\nto take dinner with him. The Rabbit\u2019s grandmother threw up her paws.\n\n\u201cWhat shall I cook?\u201d she asked. \u201cThere is no food of any kind in the\nhouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will attend to all that,\u201d the Rabbit said. Then he started out with\nhis fishing line to catch a mess of eels as the Otter had.\n\nHe stood a moment at the top of his ice slide, and then he started\ndown it. But, oh, it was hard for the Rabbit, who was used to hopping,\nto keep a straight course on the ice. He went from one side to the\nother, and then turned head over heels, growing quite dizzy. Then he\nstruck the ice cold water, and went under, numb with cold. He did not\nknow how to swim a stroke. He was almost drowned before he rose to the\nsurface and was able to cling to a cake of ice. From this he struggled\nover to the bank. He crawled up wet, his teeth chattering, and his fur\nfreezing all over in tiny icicles.\n\nThe Otter had come across the river to the Rabbit\u2019s dinner party and he\nstood laughing on the bank as he saw the Rabbit.\n\n\u201cWhat ails him?\u201d the Otter asked of the Rabbit\u2019s grandmother.\n\n\u201cHe saw somebody fishing,\u201d she explained, \u201cand he tried to do the same.\nHe never thinks for himself.\u201d\n\nThe Otter laughed harder than before, as they helped the Rabbit into\nthe lodge and warmed him beside the fire. Then the Otter caught a\nmess of eels. The Rabbit\u2019s grandmother cooked them, and they had quite\na merry dinner after all. But the Rabbit was very much ashamed of\nhimself. He learned how to hunt in a rabbit\u2019s way, after that, and took\ngood care of his grandmother all the rest of the winter.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE FIELD MOUSE IS LITTLE.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, before there were any big folks, or any real houses\nin the world, the little First Man, and the little First Woman lived in\na tiny lodge on the banks of a big river. They were the only people in\nthe whole world, and they were very, very small, not any larger than\nyour finger.\n\nThey ate wild gooseberries, and twin berries, and black caps. One berry\nmade a very fine meal for them.\n\nThe little First Woman took very good care of the little First Man.\nShe made him a beautiful green bow and arrow from a blade of grass,\nwith which he could hunt crickets and grasshoppers. From the skin\nof a humming bird she made him a most beautiful hunting coat, all\nembroidered and jeweled with bits of gay shells and shining particles\nof sand.\n\nOne day the little First Man was out hunting and he grew very weary,\nwading through the deep grass, so he laid him down beneath a clover\nleaf and fell fast asleep. A storm came up, and the thunder roared and\nthe lightning flashed, but it did not waken the little First Man. Then\nthe sun shone, warm, as it does in hot countries, and the little First\nMan awoke. Alas, where was his gay little hunting coat? The rain had\nsoaked it, and the sun had scorched it, and it had fallen to pieces,\nand dropped quite off the little First Man.\n\nThen he was very angry and he shook his fist at the great sun. \u201cIt is\nall your fault,\u201d he cried. \u201cI will pull you down from the sky.\u201d\n\nHe went home and told the little First Woman, who cried many tears when\nshe thought of all the stitches she had put into the coat. And the\nlittle First Woman stamped her little foot at the sun, and she, too,\nsaid it should stay up in the sky no longer. The sun should be pulled\ndown.\n\nThe next thing was to arrange how to do it. They were such small\npeople, and the sun was so great and so far away. But they began\nplaiting a long rope of grass that should be long enough to catch the\nsun, and after they had worked for many moons, the rope was quite long.\n\nThen they could not carry it, because it made such a heavy coil; so the\nlittle First Man tried to think of one of the beasts who could help\nhim, and he decided that the Field Mouse would be the most willing.\n\nIn those far away days, the Field Mouse was much larger than he is\nnow, as large as a buffalo. The little First Man found the Field Mouse\nasleep under a tree, and he had great trouble awaking him, but the\nField Mouse was very obliging. He took the coil of rope upon his back,\nallowed the two little people to sit, one on each ear, and they started\naway to find the woods where the sun first drops down in the evening.\n\nIt was a journey of many moons, and most tiresome. There were many\nrivers to be forded, and at each one the Field Mouse was obliged to\ntake one end of the rope in his mouth, and swim over with it. Then he\nwould coil it up, and go back for the little First Man, and the little\nFirst Woman.\n\nBut at last they came to some deep, dark woods where the beasts, the\nelk, the hedgehog, and the others, assured them the great sun dropped\ndown every night, last of all.\n\nThen the little First Man climbed to the tops of the trees, making slip\nknots of the rope, and fastening it to the branches until he had made a\nhuge net, larger than any fish net you ever saw. When it was done, they\nall hid to wait for evening, and to see what would happen.\n\nSuch a terrible thing happened! Lower, and lower, fell the sun toward\nthe woods that he always touched the last thing at night. And before he\ncould stop himself\u2014down into the little First Man\u2019s net he dropped, and\nhe could not get out.\n\nNo one had ever thought what would happen if the sun were caught. Of\ncourse everything was set on fire. The trees smoked, and the grasses\nblazed. The little First Man and the little First Woman started\nrunning toward home as fast as ever they could, because of all the\nmischief they had done. The elk had his antlers scorched. The hedgehog\nwas obliged to dance to keep his feet from burning, and the other\nbeasts crowded around the Field Mouse.\n\n\u201cGood, kind Field Mouse,\u201d they cried, \u201cwill you not set the sun free?\nYour teeth are sharp. Gnaw the rope, and loose him, we pray of you.\u201d\n\nSo the Field Mouse, who was always most good natured, climbed to the\ntop of a tree and gnawed the rope with his sharp teeth, although it was\nvery hot and uncomfortable for him. Gnaw, gnaw, and at last the sun was\nloose. With a bound it jumped to the sky, and there it has stayed ever\nsince.\n\nBut what do you think happened to the Field Mouse? The heat melted him\ndown to the size he is now, and that is the reason the Field Mouse is\nso very little.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE FIRST BEARS CAME.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, there were only Indians upon the earth, and the\ntribes had a Great Spirit who was their ruler. He had a little\ndaughter, the Wind-Child.\n\nIt was thought that the Great Spirit and his daughter lived in the\nlargest wigwam of the world. It was a mountain that stood, tall and\npointed, on the edge of the sea. The winds raged about the sea coast,\nand no one seemed to have any power over them except the Wind-Child.\nThey would sometimes obey her, if she came out of her father\u2019s wigwam,\nthe mountain, and begged them to be still.\n\nNo wonder the winds obeyed the Wind-Child. Her eyes were as bright\nas the stars when the west wind blew the clouds away from the sky at\nnight. She was as fleet and strong as the north wind. She could sing as\nsweetly as did the south wind. And her hair was as long and soft as the\nmists that the east wind carried.\n\nThe Wind-Child had only one fault. She was very curious about matters\nwhich did not concern her.\n\nOne day, when the winter was almost over, there was a gale at sea. The\nsurf rolled up and beat against the Great Spirit\u2019s mountain. The wind\nwas so strong that the mountain shook. It seemed as if it would topple\nover. The Great Spirit spoke to his daughter.\n\n\u201cGo out to the lodge of the cave, at the base of the mountain,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cand reach out your arm and ask the wind to cease. But do not go\nbeyond the cave, for the storm rages and it is not safe for you to go\nany farther.\u201d\n\nSo the Wind-Child did as her father had asked her. She stood at the\nedge of the cave. She stretched out her arm and the wind quieted. Then\nthe Wind-Child forgot to obey her father. The sun came out, and she\nsaw many bright shells lying on the sand. The waves had washed them\nup during the storm. She left the mountain, and ran along the beach\ngathering shells.\n\nAs soon as the Wind-Child had picked up one shell, she dropped it to\ngo on farther in search of one that was larger. On and on she went,\nalways looking for a shell that was brighter. She suddenly found that\nshe had gone a long way from home. She could not see the wigwam. She\nfound herself, where the magic trail of the shells had led her, in a\ndeep, dark forest. It was a frightful place, and the trees shut the\nWind-Child in on all sides.\n\n[Illustration: They seemed glad to see the Wind-Child.]\n\nThe forest was settled by a strange race of grizzly people. They were\ndark, rough in their ways, and wore shaggy fur clothing. Their wigwams\nwere made of the trunks of trees. They had great fires in the open\nplaces of the woods about which they sat. They seemed glad to see the\nWind-Child. The mothers crowded around her, and the children brought\nher nuts. They gave her a fur cloak and one of the best wigwams in\nwhich to live. When the Wind-Child begged to go home to her father,\nthese grizzly people of the forest gave her sweets to eat. They let\nher taste of the thick, sweet maple syrup that they cooked in their\nkettles. They gave her wild honey that the bees had left the season\nbefore in the hollow trees. After eating these, the Wind-Child forgot\nall about her home, and lived with and learned the ways of these forest\npeople. Years and years passed and she was still among them, grown as\nwild and savage as they themselves were.\n\nThe Great Spirit looked for his daughter season after season all over\nthe earth, and still he could not find her. His mountain was deserted.\nHis voice could be heard calling her in every wind that blew. Great\ndrought and famine came upon the land because he neglected the earth.\nIt was a time of great suffering. But one day he came upon the grizzly\npeople. They were moving their camp from one part of the forest to\nanother. In their midst was the Wind-Child, looking almost like one of\nthem. She knew her father, though, and ran to him, begging to go home\nwith him. He took her in his arms, but he turned in anger toward her\ncaptors.\n\nAs the Great Spirit gazed in anger upon the grizzly people they drew\ntheir fur cloaks over their heads. They dropped down to the ground at\nhis feet to beg for mercy. The Great Spirit left the forest. As he\ndid so these wild people of the woods found that they could not rise\nto their feet again. They were not able to draw their fur cloaks from\ntheir heads. They went about on all fours, covered from head to foot\nwith shaggy fur. They could not speak, but could only growl.\n\nThey were the first bears, and there have been bears ever since in\nplace of the strange savages who captured the Wind-Child.\n\nThe Great Spirit took the Wind-Child to the top of the mountain and\nthey lived there always. On her return the rain fell and the sun shone,\nand there was plenty in the earth again. But the bear tribe prowled the\nearth, hunted by the Indians, because of the Wind-Child\u2019s curiosity.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE BEAR HAS A STUMPY TAIL.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, in the far away days, when the beasts walked the\nland, and talked like real people, the bear had a long, beautiful,\nbushy tail, as fine as the tail of any other creature, and you may be\nsure he was very proud of it.\n\nOne winter day the bear was out traveling, and whom should he meet but\nBrother Fox, hastening along with a string of fish dangling down his\nback.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said Bruin, \u201cstop a bit, friend; where did you find such fat\nfish?\u201d\n\nNow, very likely Brother Fox had helped himself to the fish from some\none\u2019s larder, but he never told the bear; not he.\n\n\u201cIt is a secret, about these fish,\u201d he said to Bruin; \u201ccome close, and\nI will tell you.\u201d\n\nSo Bruin went close to Brother Fox, and Brother Fox said:\n\n\u201cYou must go to the river where the ice is thick, make a hole in the\nice, sit down with your tail in the hole, and wait for the fish to\nbite. When your tail smarts, pull it out, quickly. That is the way to\nfish.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, is it?\u201d said Bruin. \u201cWell, if you say it is so, it must be true,\nBrother Fox,\u201d and he walked toward the river swinging his tail as he\nwent, and Brother Fox hid behind a tree to laugh up his sleeve, and\nwatch.\n\nWell, poor old Bruin got a stick, and made a hole in the ice. Then he\nsat down with his long, beautiful, bushy tail in the water and waited,\nand, oh, it was very cold indeed.\n\nHe waited, and waited, and then his tail began to smart. He gave a\nquick pull to bring up the fish, and, alas, the ice had frozen fast\nagain.\n\nOff came the bear\u2019s beautiful, long, bushy tail, and he never was able\nto put it on again.\n\nAnd that is why the bear has a short, stumpy tail, because he tried to\nfish, as Brother Fox told him to, through the ice.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE BEAR SLEEPS ALL WINTER.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, little Brother Rabbit lived, quite sober and\nindustrious, in the woods, and just close by lived a big, brown Bear.\n\nNow little Brother Rabbit never troubled his neighbors in those days,\nnor meddled with their housekeeping, nor played any tricks the way he\ndoes now. In the fall, he gathered his acorns, and his pig nuts, and\nhis rabbit tobacco. On a frosty morning, he would set out with Brother\nFox for the farmer\u2019s; and while Brother Fox looked after the chicken\nyards, little Brother Rabbit picked cabbage, and pulled turnips, and\ngathered carrots and parsnips for his cellar. When the winter came,\nhe never failed to share his store with a wandering field mouse, or a\ntraveling chipmunk.\n\nNow, in those days, old Bear was not content to do his own\nhousekeeping, and doze in the sun, and gather wild honey in the summer,\nand dig for field mice in the winter. He was full of mischief, and was\nalways playing tricks. Of all the beasts of the wood, the one he loved\nbest to trouble was sober little Brother Rabbit.\n\nJust as soon as Brother Rabbit moved to a new tree stump, and filled\nhis bins with vegetables, and his pantry with salad, along came old\nBear and carried off all his stores.\n\nJust as soon as Brother Rabbit filled his house with dry, warm leaves\nfor a bed, creepy, creepy, crawly, along came old Bear, and tried to\nsqueeze himself into the bed, too, and of course he was too big.\n\nAt last, Brother Rabbit could stand it no longer, and he went to all\nhis friends in the wood to ask their advice.\n\nThe first one he met was Brother Frog, sitting on the edge of the pond,\nand sticking his feet in the nice, cool mud.\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do, Brother Frog?\u201d asked Brother Rabbit; \u201cBrother Bear\nwill not leave me alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us ask Brother Squirrel,\u201d said Brother Frog.\n\nSo the two went to Brother Squirrel, cracking nuts in the hickory tree.\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do, Brother Squirrel?\u201d asked Brother Frog; \u201cBrother Bear\nwill not leave Brother Rabbit alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us ask Brother Mole,\u201d said Brother Squirrel, dropping his nuts.\n\nSo the three went to where Brother Mole was digging the cellar for a\nnew house, and they said:\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do, Brother Mole? Brother Bear will not leave Brother\nRabbit alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us ask Brother Fox,\u201d said Brother Mole.\n\nSo Brother Mole, and Brother Squirrel, and Brother Frog, and Brother\nRabbit went to where Brother Fox was combing his brush behind a bush,\nand they said to him:\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do, Brother Fox? Brother Bear will not leave Brother\nRabbit alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us go to Brother Bear,\u201d said Brother Fox.\n\nSo they all went along with little Brother Rabbit, and they hunted\nand hunted for old Bear, but they could not find him. They hunted and\nhunted some more, and they peeped in a hollow tree. There lay old Bear,\nfast asleep.\n\n\u201cHush,\u201d said Brother Fox.\n\nThen he whispered to Brother Frog, \u201cBring a little mud.\u201d\n\nAnd he whispered to Brother Squirrel, \u201cBring some leaves.\u201d\n\nAnd he whispered to Brother Mole, \u201cBring some dirt, little brother.\u201d\n\nAnd to Brother Rabbit he said, \u201cStand ready to do what I tell you.\u201d\n\nSo Brother Frog brought mud, Brother Squirrel brought leaves, Brother\nMole brought dirt, and Brother Rabbit stood ready.\n\nThen Brother Fox said to Brother Rabbit, \u201cStop up the ends of Brother\nBear\u2019s log.\u201d\n\nSo Brother Rabbit took the mud and the leaves and the dirt, and he\nstopped up the ends of the log. Then he hammered hard with his two\nback feet, which are good for hammering. And they all went home, for\nthey thought that old Bear would never, never get out of the log.\n\nWell, old Bear slept and slept, but after a while he awoke, and he\nopened one eye. He saw no sunshine, so he thought it was still night,\nand he went to sleep again.\n\nAfter another while, he awoke again, but he heard the rain and sleet\nbeating outside, and it was very warm and dry inside.\n\n\u201cWhat a very long night,\u201d said old Bear, and he curled up his paws, and\nhe went to sleep again.\n\nThis time, he just slept, and slept, until it began to be very warm\ninside the log, and he heard in his dreams the footsteps of birds\noutside.\n\nThen he awoke, and he stretched himself, and he shook himself. He\nrubbed his eyes with his paws, and he poked away the mud, and the\nleaves, and the dirt, and he went outside.\n\nBut was he not surprised?\n\nIt had been a frosty night when he had gone to sleep, and now the woods\nwere green. Old Bear had slept all winter.\n\n\u201cThat was a fine, long sleep,\u201d said old Bear, as he set out for little\nBrother Rabbit\u2019s house to see if he had anything good for breakfast; \u201cI\nshall sleep again, next fall.\u201d\n\nSo every summer, old Bear plays tricks on little Brother Rabbit, but\nwhen the fall comes, he creeps away to a warm, dark place to sleep\nuntil spring.\n\nAnd so have his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren ever since.\n\n\n\n\n  Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n  pg 25 Changed: \u201cThe rice is too salt,\u201d\n             to: \u201cThe rice is too salty,\u201d","title":"Once upon a time animal stories","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":22179}