Favorite legend
For jacquelee, in the Challenge 20: Autumn Ask Meme. I learned this story a long time ago at camp.
In the time before humans, animals roamed the Earth and the Great Spirit kept a watchful eye on them. He placed a large sun in the sky which shined all the time, allowing them to keep warm and grow food all year. This was called Day.
At first, the animals were grateful. They were kind to each other, and co-operated together freely whenever anything needed to be done. But as time passed, this changed. The animals started to fight. Lions chased zebras; bears attacked deer; wolves went after rabbits; and so on.
This displeased the Great Spirit immensely, so he decided to punish them. He placed a blanket over the sky, muting the sun to only a tiny fraction of its brightness and covering the world in darkness. This was called Night.
Soon, the animals were distraught. They were no longer warm, and they could no longer grow food. They begged the Great Spirit to remove the blanket, saying they would change, but the Great Spirit refused to believe them. He'd watched them at odds with each other for too long.
So the animals gathered together to try to solve the problem on their own.
"I know!" said Rabbit. "I can jump! I will jump as high as the sky and pull the blanket off!" The others discussed this and agreed that Rabbit had a good idea, so they encouraged him to jump as high as he could. Rabbit jumped and jumped, but he never jumped as high as the sky. So the blanket stayed on.
"Maybe I can reach it," mused Elephant. "I can raise my trunk to reach the blanket and pull it down." This excited the other animals, as yes, Elephant had a very long trunk indeed. So she lifted her trunk as high as she could, but alas, could not reach the blanket either. So the blanket stayed on.
"This is ridiculous," grumbled Giraffe. "We need the tallest to reach the sky, and I'm the tallest of all of you. I'll take it off." Giraffe then stretched his neck up as far as he could, but even with a neck as long as his, he still could not reach the sky. So the blanket stayed on.
"I'll get it," said Monkey. "You're not the tallest, Giraffe. This tree is. I'll climb the tree and reach up to pull the blanket down." This excited everyone, as Monkey was right. The tree was much taller than Giraffe. They all watched as Monkey climbed to the very top, then stood on the tip of his toes and extended his arms as far up as he possibly could to reach the sky - but still, as high up as he was, not even Monkey could not reach it. So the blanket stayed on.
In despair, the animals started crying. "What will we do? We cannot reach the blanket, and the Great Spirit will not take it off! Surely we will all die!"
A small voice managed to make its way through the din. "I can reach it," it said with confidence.
All the animals turned in shock to the owner of the voice. It was Hummingbird. "How?" they asked. "You're so little!"
"You'll see," Hummingbird replied. She then took off and flew up towards the sky. She flew and flew and flew and flew. Everyone started to cheer and encourage her on when they saw her tiring out, which gave Hummingbird the strength to keep flying even farther.
Finally, she reached the sky. She knew she could not take the blanket off as it was too heavy for her. So she did the next best thing: she started poking holes in it with her beak. She flew around poking as many holes as she could. Holes here, holes there, holes everywhere. Soon, enough light was streaming through the blanket that the animals back on the ground could feel the warmth and see each other much better.
Exhausted, Hummingbird finally returned to the Earth. Everyone was thanking her and thanking her for bringing back at least some of the light and saving them. Monkey caught her at the top of the tree and carried her down; Elephant brought her water; Giraffe took some flowers off the tree for her to get nectar; Rabbit laid down so she could warm herself in his fur.
The Great Spirit saw all of this and was impressed. "You have all remembered your old ways and helped each other again," He said. "For this, I will take off the blanket. However," Great Spirit warned, "I do not want you to forget and start fighting again. So I will only take off the blanket for half the time. You will have Day and Night." The animals all agreed this was a good compromise and once again were grateful to the Great Spirit for teaching them such a valuable lesson.
...and that is how the stars were created.
In the time before humans, animals roamed the Earth and the Great Spirit kept a watchful eye on them. He placed a large sun in the sky which shined all the time, allowing them to keep warm and grow food all year. This was called Day.
At first, the animals were grateful. They were kind to each other, and co-operated together freely whenever anything needed to be done. But as time passed, this changed. The animals started to fight. Lions chased zebras; bears attacked deer; wolves went after rabbits; and so on.
This displeased the Great Spirit immensely, so he decided to punish them. He placed a blanket over the sky, muting the sun to only a tiny fraction of its brightness and covering the world in darkness. This was called Night.
Soon, the animals were distraught. They were no longer warm, and they could no longer grow food. They begged the Great Spirit to remove the blanket, saying they would change, but the Great Spirit refused to believe them. He'd watched them at odds with each other for too long.
So the animals gathered together to try to solve the problem on their own.
"I know!" said Rabbit. "I can jump! I will jump as high as the sky and pull the blanket off!" The others discussed this and agreed that Rabbit had a good idea, so they encouraged him to jump as high as he could. Rabbit jumped and jumped, but he never jumped as high as the sky. So the blanket stayed on.
"Maybe I can reach it," mused Elephant. "I can raise my trunk to reach the blanket and pull it down." This excited the other animals, as yes, Elephant had a very long trunk indeed. So she lifted her trunk as high as she could, but alas, could not reach the blanket either. So the blanket stayed on.
"This is ridiculous," grumbled Giraffe. "We need the tallest to reach the sky, and I'm the tallest of all of you. I'll take it off." Giraffe then stretched his neck up as far as he could, but even with a neck as long as his, he still could not reach the sky. So the blanket stayed on.
"I'll get it," said Monkey. "You're not the tallest, Giraffe. This tree is. I'll climb the tree and reach up to pull the blanket down." This excited everyone, as Monkey was right. The tree was much taller than Giraffe. They all watched as Monkey climbed to the very top, then stood on the tip of his toes and extended his arms as far up as he possibly could to reach the sky - but still, as high up as he was, not even Monkey could not reach it. So the blanket stayed on.
In despair, the animals started crying. "What will we do? We cannot reach the blanket, and the Great Spirit will not take it off! Surely we will all die!"
A small voice managed to make its way through the din. "I can reach it," it said with confidence.
All the animals turned in shock to the owner of the voice. It was Hummingbird. "How?" they asked. "You're so little!"
"You'll see," Hummingbird replied. She then took off and flew up towards the sky. She flew and flew and flew and flew. Everyone started to cheer and encourage her on when they saw her tiring out, which gave Hummingbird the strength to keep flying even farther.
Finally, she reached the sky. She knew she could not take the blanket off as it was too heavy for her. So she did the next best thing: she started poking holes in it with her beak. She flew around poking as many holes as she could. Holes here, holes there, holes everywhere. Soon, enough light was streaming through the blanket that the animals back on the ground could feel the warmth and see each other much better.
Exhausted, Hummingbird finally returned to the Earth. Everyone was thanking her and thanking her for bringing back at least some of the light and saving them. Monkey caught her at the top of the tree and carried her down; Elephant brought her water; Giraffe took some flowers off the tree for her to get nectar; Rabbit laid down so she could warm herself in his fur.
The Great Spirit saw all of this and was impressed. "You have all remembered your old ways and helped each other again," He said. "For this, I will take off the blanket. However," Great Spirit warned, "I do not want you to forget and start fighting again. So I will only take off the blanket for half the time. You will have Day and Night." The animals all agreed this was a good compromise and once again were grateful to the Great Spirit for teaching them such a valuable lesson.
...and that is how the stars were created.