The story begins with a Native American sibling, Morning Glory and her little brother, Eagle Feather were in the wigwam decorated with bear skins for enough warmth in the winter, Morning Glory and Eagle Feather sat patiently with their grandfather to listen for a story. Out of sudden, a white-footed mouse leave its nest and stand on its hind legs. At that moment, Eagle Feather wanted to attack the mouse but has been blocked in the arm by his sister. " There is enough game in the forest to kill without harming this little animal. Do not use your strength on this weak little mouse. " said Morning Glory. Eagle Feather realized that his sister's words are true and agreed with her. Out of the blue, their grandfather interrupted them and said that once there was a time when a thousand boys would have been no match for the mouse he used to be. Morning Glory and Eagle Feather were very curious about what has the old man said.
Their grandfather told them a story about a great dormouse, the largest animal on earth. There was a time that the number of animals were larger than humans. The humans have not discovered yet about fire and they did not eat animals flesh. Berries and other edible plants are their only food source. Unfortunately the humans were famished because of lack of food source due to the large number of animals that also feed on berries and other edible plant. The earth was ruled by the animals and the biggest animal among all is the mastodon. Confused by his grandfather's words about which was the biggest animal is, Eagle Feather decided to ask about it but get ignored by the old man. He continues the story and said that there were only two humans left on the earth. A girl like Morning Glory and a boy like Eagle Feather. Winter was coming, the girl has to teach the boy how keep warm using coat of grasses and entertain himself using the bow and arrow if she has to travel for a long trip. While the boy was working on his coat, he saw a flock of geese flying above his head and thought that he could use the arrow to get the feather of the geese and patch it on his coat to get extra warmth for the winter. However, the boy has not know how to use the bow and arrow. Thus, he trained himself to use the bow and arrow until he has the skill to shoot the arrow. Finally, he managed to shoot down a several number of goose. Proudly he brought it to his sister to ask her to make him a coat made of the geese skin and feather.
When the coat was ready, he quickly wear it and go to the hill for hunting. After a while, he felt tired and decided to take a nap under a large tree. When he was sleeping, the heat from the sun made his geese-skin coat shrink and the coat became tight. The boy was so angry because his new coat has damaged and swear that he will avenge to the sun. He decided to catch the sun with a noose. Quickly he ran home and asked her sister to make him a rope that is strong enough to pull down the sun. His sister made a rope from her braided hair and gave it to her brother. The boy kissed the rope and it turned into something that is as strong as metal. After that, he waited for the sun to rise and when it happened, he captured the sun with his snare. The world became dark and cold; because of that and the animals became distress. All the animal gather and brainstorming on the solution to cut the snare that has made the sun cannot rise again every morning. The eagle offer to fly near the sun to cut the snare but unlikely, he failed and fall onto the ground. He realized that his fall does not wake the sleeping dormouse. The wolf said that there is only one way to wake the dormouse up by the sound of the thunder. The sound of the growling thunder woke the dormouse up and he stand very tall and big. So the animals decided that the dormouse is the animal that will cut of the snare on the sun. He agreed because that he wanted to help other animals, so he went to the sun and chew off the noose. But the sun has made his back became hot and has turned it into ashes and the dormouse became smaller and smaller until he finished cut off the snare. And that is how the dormouse get its size now.
-DEFINITIONS
Wigwam : a dome-shaped hut or tent made by fastening mats, skins, or bark over a framework of poles, used by some North American Indian peoples.
Dormouse: an agile mouselike rodent with a hairy or bushy tail, found in Africa and Eurasia. Some kinds are noted for spending long periods in hibernation.
Mastodon: a large, extinct, elephantlike mammal of the Miocene to Pleistocene epochs, having teeth of a relatively primitive form and number.
Noose: a loop with a running knot, tightening as the rope or wire is pulled and typically used to hang people or trap animals.
Snare: a trap for catching birds or animals, typically one having a noose of wire or cord.
No comments:
Post a Comment