The Book of Nature Myths | Page 7

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.
[Illustration]
"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 butterfly 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
butterfly.
"'They are snowflakes,' answered the spirit of the sky, 'but they are
magic snowflakes. Watch them closely.'
"The swallow and the butterfly watched. Every snowflake showed two
bright eyes, then two long ears, then some soft feet, and there were the
whitest, softest little hares that were ever seen."
"Were we the little white hares?" asked the listeners.
"You were the little white hares," 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.
A long time ago all the birds met together to talk about building nests.
"Every Indian has a wigwam," said the robin, "and every bird needs a
home."
"Indians have no feathers," said the owl, "and so they are cold without
wigwams. We have feathers."
"I keep warm by flying swiftly," said the swallow.
"And I keep warm by fluttering my wings," said the humming-bird.
"By and by we shall have our little ones," said the robin. "They will
have no feathers on their wings, so they cannot fly or flutter; and they
will be cold. How shall we keep them warm if we have no nests?"
Then all the birds said, "We will build nests so that our little ones will
be warm."
The birds went to work. One brought twigs, one brought moss, and one
brought leaves. They sang together merrily, for they thought of the
little ones that would some time come to live in the warm nests.
Now the magpie was lazy, and she sat still and watched the others at
their work.
"Come and build your nest in the reeds and rushes," cried one bird, but
the magpie said "No."
"My nest is on the branch of a