Why Ducks Have Short Tails And The Coon Must Go Barefooted [Red Folk And Wild Folk]
Ever since the coon was made small he has played all sorts of tricks on the animal people, to get the kind of food he liked best. Once he caught a frog sitting upon a rock by the side of a lake. In the lake lived many little fish, and the coon wanted them ; so he told the frog to go down into the water and tell the fish to shut their eyes and swim about in the warm, spring sunshine.
"If you promise to do as I say," said the coon, “I
will let you go." Of course the frog did not want to be eaten; so he
promised, and down he went into the water and sent the poor little fish to be
eaten by the hungry coon. They swam to the top, and, before any of them knew
what was happening, the coon had eaten all he wanted. That was why the fish
became enemies of the frog, and now the fish eat frogs whenever they catch
them.
After the coon had eaten all the breakfast he wanted, he
went to sleep and did not awaken all day until it was getting dark; then he
opened his eyes and hurried to find his supper, for he was hungry again. “I
will look for a frog," he thought, and hunted all around the lake; but he
could not find one. Then he put his hands into all the little holes around the
edge, and still he could not catch a frog. “I must have some more fish,"
said the coon. “Frogs, frogs!” but the frogs were afraid to come and only
answered, “croak, croak."
“They say, ' Drink ! Drink ! ' " thought the coon, and
he went to the water to drink. Then he called again.
“Croak, croak, croak," answered the frogs,
“Why do you say, 'drink more water ‘? I cannot drink any
more, I am hungry! "
“Croak, croak, croak," answered the frogs.
“I will not listen to
your stupid, ' Croak, croak, croak,' I am hungry! “called the coon impatiently.
As the coon started to go away, he looked far out on the
lake, and there he saw some ducks swimming about, with their beautiful long
tails spread out on top of the water. Ducks had long tails in those days, and
they were very proud of them. “I shall get some supper now," thought the
delighted coon. “I will play a trick on those vain old ducks." So he built
a good big fire on top of a little ridge, and then he lay down, pretending to
be dead. He knew the inquisitive ducks would want to find out what it all might
mean. Pretty soon the ducks saw the fire and started for the shore. They
stopped every little while to eat something floating on top of the water —
perhaps a frog, some wild celery or rice—and it took them a long time. When they
finally reached the shore they looked around. Everything seemed all right there;
so they shook the water off their backs, settled their feathers and then shook
their fine long tails.
“Quack," said the leader. That surely meant, “Follow
me," in their language, for all the ducks followed, and such a quacking
you never heard! They were not at all polite; but all talked together, each
trying to tell first what that strange light might mean.
In the mean while the
big fire the coon had built began to spread. It got closer and closer to the coon;
but he did not dare move, lest he should frighten the ducks.
"If they will only hurry ! This fire is burning my
feet. I can stand it no longer! “and up jumped the coon on the rocks. Then he
ran as fast as he could go
“Quack!” cried the
leader. “Quack," answered the others, and they ran as fast as their waddling
little legs would carry them. The coon kept getting nearer and nearer. He could
ran much faster than the ducks, and he would have caught them if the fire had not
got quite so hot. As it was he just caught the leader by his beautiful long
tail. The duck was so anxious to get away that he pulled as hard as he could,
and the tail came out. Since that day ducks have short tails.
A little Indian village was not far away, and, when the boys
saw this big fire on top of a hill in the woods, they hurried out to see what
it might mean. When they reached the lake, they saw the coon standing there
with a handful of feathers, while the ducks and their leader who had lost his
beautiful tail were swimming off. How the boys did laugh! and when they looked
at the coon's hands and feet, they were bare. He had left the hair and skin
where ever he had jumped on the rocks.
“Now you will always
have to go barefooted, because you play so many mean tricks on the little
animal people who are weaker than you are." And the coon has had to go
barefooted ever since as a punishment.
The hair and skin that he left upon the rocks started to
grow, and now people who do not know what they really are, call them lichens
and mosses.
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