One day the Great Spirit asked all the animals that he had made to come to his lodge. Those that could fly came first: the robin, the bluebird, the owl, the b.u.t.terfly, the wasp, and the firefly. Behind them came the chicken, fluttering its wings and trying hard to keep up. Then came the deer, the squirrel, the serpent, the cat, and the rabbit. Last of all came the bear, the beaver, and the hedgehog. Every one traveled as swiftly as he could, for each wished to hear the words of the Great Spirit.
"I have called you together," said the Great Spirit, "because I often hear you scold and fret. What do you wish me to do for you? How can I help you?"
"I do not like to hunt so long for my food," said the bear.
"I do not like to build nests," said the bluebird.
"I do not like to live in the water," said the beaver.
"And I do not like to live in a tree," said the squirrel.
At last man stood erect before the Great Spirit and said, "O Great Father, the serpent feasts upon my blood. Will you not give him some other food?"
"And why?" asked the Great Spirit.
"Because I am the first of all the creatures you have made," answered man proudly.
Then every animal in the lodge was angry to hear the words of man. The squirrel chattered, the wasp buzzed, the owl hooted, and the serpent hissed.
"Hush, be still," said the Great Spirit. "You are, O man, the first of my creatures, but I am the father of all. Each one has his rights, and the serpent must have his food. Mosquito, you are a great traveler. Now fly away and find what creature"s blood is best for the serpent. Do you all come back in a year and a day."
The animals straightway went to their homes. Some went to the river, some to the forest, and some to the prairie, to wait for the day when they must meet at the lodge of the Great Spirit.
The mosquito traveled over the earth and stung every creature that he met to find whose blood was the best for the serpent. On his way back to the lodge of the Great Spirit he looked up into the sky, and there was the swallow.
"Good-day, swallow," called the mosquito.
"I am glad to see you, my friend," sang the swallow. "Are you going to the lodge of the Great Spirit? And have you found out whose blood is best for the serpent?"
"The blood of man," answered the mosquito.
The mosquito did not like man, but the swallow had always been his friend. "What can I do to help man?" he thought. "Oh, I know what I can do." Then he asked the mosquito, "Whose blood did you say?"
"Man"s blood," said the mosquito; "that is best."
"_This_ is best," said the swallow, and he tore out the mosquito"s tongue.
The mosquito buzzed angrily and went quickly to the Great Spirit.
"All the animals are here," said the Great Spirit. "They are waiting to hear whose blood is best for the serpent."
The mosquito tried to answer, "The blood of man," but he could not say a word. He could make no sound but "Kss-ksss-ksssss!"
"What do you say?"
"Kss-ksss-ksssss!" buzzed the mosquito angrily.
All the creatures wondered. Then said the swallow:--
"Great Father, the mosquito is timid and cannot answer you. I met him before we came, and he told me whose blood it was."
"Then let us know at once," said the Great Spirit.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"It is the blood of the frog," answered the swallow quickly. "Is it not so, friend mosquito?"
"Kss-ksss-ksssss!" hissed the angry mosquito.
"The serpent shall have the frog"s blood," said the Great Spirit. "Man shall be his food no longer."
Now the serpent was angry with the swallow, for he did not like frog"s blood. As the swallow flew near him, he seized him by the tail and tore away a little of it. This is why the swallow"s tail is forked, and it is why man always looks upon the swallow as his friend.
WHY THE WHITE HARES HAVE BLACK EARS.
In the forest there is a beautiful spirit. All the beasts and all the birds are dear to him, and he likes to have them gentle and good. One morning he saw some of his little white hares fighting one another, and each trying to seize the best of the food.
"Oh, my selfish little hares," he said sadly, "why do you fight and try to seize the best of everything for yourselves? Why do you not live in love together?"
"Tell us a story and we will be good," cried the hares.
Then the spirit of the forest was glad. "I will tell you a story of how you first came to live on the green earth with the other animals," he said, "and why it is that you are white, and the other hares are not."
Then the little hares came close about the spirit of the forest, and sat very still to hear the story.
"Away up above the stars," the gentle spirit began, "the sky children were all together one snowy day. They threw snowflakes at one another, and some of the snowflakes fell from the sky. They came down swiftly between the stars and among the branches of the trees. At last they lay on the green earth. They were the first that had ever come to the earth, and no one knew what they were. The swallow asked, "What are they?" and the b.u.t.terfly answered, "I do not know." The spirit of the sky was listening, and he said, "We call them snowflakes."
""I never heard of snowflakes. Are they birds or beasts?" asked the b.u.t.terfly.
""They are snowflakes," answered the spirit of the sky, "but they are magic snowflakes. Watch them closely."
"The swallow and the b.u.t.terfly watched. Every snowflake showed two bright eyes, then two long ears, then some soft feet, and there were the whitest, softest little hares that were ever seen."
"Were we the little white hares?" asked the listeners.
"You were the little white hares," answered the spirit, "and if you are gentle and good, you will always be white."
The hares were not gentle and good; they were fretful, and before long they were scolding and fighting again. The gentle spirit was angry. "I must get a firebrand and beat them with it," he said, "for they must learn to be good."
So the hares were beaten with the firebrand till their ears were black as night. Their bodies were still white, but if the spirit hears them scolding and fighting again, it may be that we shall see their bodies as black as their ears.
WHY THE MAGPIE"S NEST IS NOT WELL BUILT.