Nature Myths and Stories for Little Children Read online

He sent many animals up to set it free, but all were instantly burned toashes.

  At last the mole said, "Let me try, I shall bore through the ground ofthe sky and gnaw off the cords which hold the trap."

  He did this, but just as he loosened the last cord the sun sprang forthand the bright light shone full in his eyes.

  The poor mole dropped to the earth and though his friends were able tosave his life, he was blind.

  "You need not pity me," he said, "I prefer to live underground, wherereally there is no use for eyes."

  All the moles were so proud of this hero mole that they tried to be likehim in every way.

  They, too, went to live in a dark hole in the earth.

  Their eyes, which they did not need to use, became so small that theywere entirely hidden by their fur. Indeed it is now so hard to find themthat many people think the entire mole family is blind.

  HOW THE SPARK OF FIRE WAS SAVED.

  Long ago when fire was first brought to earth, it was given into thecare of two beldams at the end of the world.

  The Cahroc Indians knew where it was hidden. They needed fire and werealways planning ways to get it.

  They went at last to the wise coyote.

  "That is simple enough," said he, "I will show you a way to get it. Fireis a great blessing and should be free to all people."

  The coyote knew every inch of the road to the beldams' hut.

  Along the path leading to it, he stationed beasts, the strongest andbest runners nearer the hut and the weaker ones farther off.

  Nearest the guarded den, he placed one of the sinewy Cahroc men.

  Then he walked boldly up to the door of the hut and knocked.

  The beldams, not fearing a coyote in the least, invited him in.

  They were often lonely, living so near the end of the world.

  When the coyote had rested before the fire for some time, he said, "TheCahroc nation need fire. Could you not give them one small spark? Youwould never miss it. Here it is of no use."

  The beldams answered, "We do not love it, but we dare not give it away.We must guard it while we live."

  The coyote had expected them to say this.

  He sprang to the window, and instantly outside were heard such sounds,that the beldams rushed out to see what the frightful noise could be.

  Each animal in the line was sounding the watch-word of fire in his ownway.

  The wild horse neighed, the mountain lion roared, the gray wolf howled,the serpent hissed, the buffalo bellowed, and every small animal did itspart equally well.

  Indeed, it is no wonder that the beldams were frightened nearly todeath.

  The Cahroc man brought water and told them not to fear for themselves.

  The coyote seized a half-burned brand and was off in an instant.

  The beldams sprang after him and followed him closely over hill andvalley. Faster than the wind they flew.

  They were stronger than he, and though he put all his wild-wood nerve tothe strain, they steadily gained.

  Soon the race must end!

  But Puma, the monstrous cat, was watching, and leaped up just in time tosave the brand.

  Each animal was in its place and the good fire passed on.

  It came at last to the Cahroc nation, and was afterwards free to allpeople under the sun.

  There were only two mishaps in all the race.

  As the squirrel turned a corner of stumps and bowlders, his beautifultail caught fire, and a brown track was burned up over his back to hisshoulders, and the curl has remained in his tail to this day.

  The frog had a harder fate.

  He was the last one in the line of beasts. When the brand reached him itwas smaller than the smallest coal in the grate.

  He seized it carefully and jumped forward as fast as he could, but thehand of the foremost beldam caught him and held him fast.

  How his heart beat!

  His eyeballs bulged out of his head, and he has looked ever since muchin the same scared way.

  He did not lose his courage, however. He swallowed the coal and spranginto the water.

  Sad to tell, the beldam still held in her hand his special pride andcare, his tail.

  Henceforth only the tadpoles could wear tails.

  The frog sought a log and sat down upon it to think.

  "I did my duty, even if I lost my beauty," he thought; "that is enoughfor a frog. This spark must be saved."

  After much choking he spat the swallowed spark well into the bark.

  The gift came, in this way, to all men; for, in even the wettestweather, if you rub two sticks together, fire is sure to come.

  Because we know how the frog hurt his throat that day, we like to listento his hoarse voice when we hear him singing to his children in thespring.

  BALDER.

  The people in the North once believed that high above the clouds was thebeautiful plain of Asgard.

  Odin, ruler of Asgard, mighty Thor, and many other heroes lived on theplain.

  Their homes were great castles, splendid with silver and gold.

  In the middle of the plain, and apart from the other dwellings, stood apure white palace.

  Nothing that was not fair and good had ever dared to enter it.

  It was the home of Balder.

  Because of his great beauty and wisdom, he was called "Balder thebeautiful," and "Balder the good."

  Everything loved him.

  The dull rocks and the gray old mountains met him with a smile.

  The flowers opened, the birds sang and the water sparkled when they sawhis face.

  One night he dreamed that he must soon leave Asgard and all the thingsthat he loved.

  The next night he dreamed that he was living in the gloomy undergroundworld.

  The third night, when the same terrible dream came to him, he wasgreatly troubled.

  He told Odin, his father, and Frigga, his mother, about it.

  Odin, in great fear, called together his wisest heroes.

  They shook their heads but could do nothing to help him.

  Frigga cried, "It shall not be! I, his mother, will save him."

  She went straight way to Heimdal, who guarded the rainbow bridge.

  Bifrost, which was the name of the bridge, was the only path which ledfrom Asgard to the earth.

  Heimdal allowed only those who lived in the plain to pass over it.

  All feared Heimdal, yet they loved him.

  He could see to the ends of the world.

  He could hear the wool growing on the sheep's back, and knew when eachgrass blade broke into the sunshine.

  Heimdal loved Balder and when he heard what troubled Frigga, pitied her.He gave her his swift black horse and showed her the way to the ends ofthe earth.

  For nine days and nights she traveled without food or rest.

  She asked everything she met to promise not to harm Balder.

  Animals, flowers, trees, water, air, fire, everything she asked gladlygave the promise.

  They smiled in wonder at the question.

  Who could wish to hurt the gentle Balder?

  Alas, the mistletoe did not promise.

  Frigga saw it growing high up on an oak tree.

  It seemed too small and weak to do any harm. She did not ask it topromise.

  On the tenth day of her journey, she came back again to Asgard.

  She told the sorrowing Odin and his friends what she had done.

  In their joy they found a new way to do Balder honor.

  He stood in their midst while the most skillful heroes hurled theirarrows at him.

  At first, they threw only small twigs and pebbles.

  Everything, however, had soon proved itself true to its promise.

  Then the heroes lost all fear of harming him and threw their warlikeweapons.

  Balder stood unharmed and smiling among them.

  Each day they met on the plain and in this sport proved the love of allthings for him.

  The blind Hoder was the only one
in Asgard who could not join in thegame.

  He was Balder's brother and loved him very dearly.

  Hoder was not unhappy, but always cheered and shouted as gaily as theothers.

  One day as he stood alone, Loki saw him.

  Loki was a mischief maker.

  His jokes were often cruel; indeed, most of the unhappiness in Asgardwas caused by Loki's unkindness.

  "Hoder, why do you not do Balder honor?" asked Loki.

  "I am blind," Hoder answered, "and besides I have nothing to throw."

  "Here is my arrow," said Loki. "Take it; I will guide your hands."

  Alas, the cruel Loki had made the arrow of mistletoe.

  He knew that this was the only way in which Balder could be harmed.

  He longed to see the surprise of the heroes when Balder should at lastbe wounded.

  Away flew the arrow.

  Balder, the beautiful, fell lifeless to the ground.

  Then all Asgard was dark with sorrow.

  Strong heroes wept and would not be comforted.

  The earth grew cold, white and still.

  The water would not flow, and the seeds refused to grow.

  The birds were silent. No flowers breathed their perfumes into the air.

  There was not a smile in all the world.

  Odin said, "This cannot be.

  "Balder shall return. I, myself, will go and bring him from Hela's darkregions."

  But Frigga had already sent a messenger to the spirit world to beg QueenHela to release Balder.

  While waiting for the messenger to return, the heroes were not idle.

  For twelve days and nights they worked as only love can make men work.They did not pause for food nor rest.

  They built a great funeral pyre, and no one was too small to help in thework of love.

  They found Balder's ship upon the seashore.

  They brought great logs from the forest and bound them upon the deck.

  Upon these they placed his beautiful white horse, his dogs, his shiningarmor, and many things which he had loved on earth.

  When it was finished, they raised the sails, set the ship on fire andpushed it out upon the sea.

  They sang and wept all night until at sunrise the sails fell.

  They watched the flames die down and the waves wash over the sinkingship.

  As they turned sadly from the shore, they met the messenger from Hela'sregions.

  "Rejoice," he said, "Hela says, 'If everything living and lifeless weepfor Balder, he may return to us.'"

  There was great happiness in Asgard that day.

  "Surely," they thought, "everything in the world will weep for Balder."

  They had forgotten the cruel Loki.

  He sat with dry eyes though rocks and trees, birds and flowers, wind andclouds were shedding tears.

  When Odin found that Balder could not return to life, his anger andgrief were terrible to see.

  In fear, Loki hid himself deep in the earth under a mountain.

  Frigga knew that he was conquered, and she patiently waited for the timewhen Balder should again be allowed to bring gladness to the earth, andfill all the heavens with the glory of his smile.

  HOW THE CHIPMUNK GOT THE STRIPES ON ITS BACK.

  Do you all know the little striped chipmunk which lives in our woods?

  He has a cousin in far off India called the geloori.

  It is said the stripes came on the back of the geloori in a wonderfulway.

  One day the great Shiva saw a little gray chipmunk on the seashore.

  He was dipping his bushy tail into the sea, and shaking out the water onthe shore.

  Twenty times a minute he dipped it into the ocean.

  In wonder, Shiva said, "What are you doing, little foolish, gray,geloori? Why do you tire yourself with such hard labor?"

  The geloori answered, "I cannot stop, great Shiva.

  "The storm blew down the palm tree, where I built my nest.

  "See! the tree has fallen seaward, and the nest lies in the water; mywife and pretty children are in it; I fear that it will float away.Therefore all day and all night I must dip the water from the sea.

  "I hope soon to bale it dry.

  "I must save my darlings even if I spoil my tail."

  Shiva stooped and with his great hand stroked the little squirrel.

  On the geloori's soft fur from his nose to the end of his tail, therecame four green stripes! They were the marks of Shiva's fingers, placedthere as signs of love.

  Shiva raised his hand, and the water rolled back from the shore. Safeamong the rocks and seaweeds, the palm tree lay on dry land.

  The little squirrel hastened to it; his tail was now high in the air. Hefound his wife and children dry and well in their house of wovengrass-blades.

  As they sang their welcomes to him, the geloori noticed with delightthat each smooth little back was striped with marks of Shiva's fingers.

  This sign of love is still to be seen upon the back of chipmunks.

  That is the reason why in India, good men never kill them.

  A man who loves both children and chipmunks says, when he tells thisstory, "Perhaps our squirrels, though Shiva never stroked them, would begrateful if we left them, unharmed, to play in the maples in ourwoods."

  THE FOX AND THE STORK.

  A fox met a stork and invited him to dinner.

  "With all my heart, friend," said the stork.

  When they arrived at the home of the fox and dinner was served, he wasnot so happy.

  The fox had fine hot soup, but he served it in shallow plates.

  The poor stork could only stand by and watch the fox eat.

  The fox seemed to think that it was a very good joke.

  The next day the stork met the fox and invited him to dinner. The storkbrought out fine hot soup in a high narrow necked bottle, but the foxcould not see the joke at all.

  The stork said, "Friend fox, enjoy your dinner. I hope that the soup isas well flavored as yours was yesterday."

  As he said this he poured out half of the soup into a bowl and set itbefore the fox.

  The cunning old fox felt so ashamed that he has never looked anyonestraight in the face since that day.

  PROMETHEUS.

  Greece is far away to the east over a great ocean. It is a very smallcountry with high mountains in every part of it.

  The people who lived there long ago could not easily go from one placeto another.

  Some of the mountains reached above the clouds and made great wallsaround their homes. Men sometimes lived all their lives near the sea andnever saw it.

  These people who were shut up in the little valley of Greece did manywonderful things.

  As they could not go far from their homes they had time to see howbeautiful the things around them were.

  Perhaps they looked at the sky so much that they wished to haveeverything on earth just as beautiful.

  They gave their children work to do which made them strong and graceful.

  Some of the Greeks carved statues from the marble in the mountains. Somebuilt great temples of it.

  Some painted pictures, while others made gardens more beautiful thanpictures.

  Others wrote books. Many of the stories you like were written by thepoets who lived in Greece long ago.

  In all these ways the Greeks showed their love for their country andmade it a better place in which to live.

  Though they were so wise they had many thoughts which seem strange tous.

  They believed that long before they were born a race of giants had livedamong the mountains.

  At one time the giants grew angry with Zeus, their king, and wished totake his throne away from him.

  There was a wise giant, named Prometheus, who begged them not to attemptto do this.

  He tried to show them how foolish they were.

  They would not listen to him. Zeus lived upon Mount Olympus, the highestmountain in Greece.

  The giants brought great rocks to this moun
tain and piled them up,higher and higher, until they reached the sky.

  Zeus waited until the giants had finished their work and were ready forbattle.

  Then he put out his hand and touched the great mound. Instantly it fellover into the sea.

  Prometheus and his brother were now the only people on earth.

  They were so lonely that Zeus told them to model some people from clay.

  Prometheus made animals and men and Epimetheus, his brother, gave themgifts of courage, swiftness and strength.

  To some he gave feathers and wings, to others fur and claws, and toothers a hard shelly covering.

  When he came to man he had no covering left.

  Zeus said, "I will clothe man," and that is the reason his covering isso delicate and beautiful.

  Prometheus' people could not breathe.

  Zeus sent him to AEolus, the god of the winds, for help.

  AEolus sent his strong son, North Wind, back with Prometheus.

  When North Wind saw the people of clay he whistled with surprise.

  He blew his breath upon them.

  They turned as white as snow and began to breathe.

  They were a cold people, however, and Prometheus did not love them.

  He went to AEolus again and this time South Wind and the zephyrs camewith him.