The First Americans: Legends, Folklore & Myths Across the U.S.A.. Phyllis Ph.D. Goldman

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Rabbit watched his trap, suddenly the sky became very dark, as if the moon had been swallowed up.

      Rabbit was more puzzled than frightened, but he continued to watch the place where his trap lay, straining his eyes to see through the darkness.

      It was a long time before Rabbit noticed a strange pale light coming towards him and his trap. This must be the thief, Rabbit thought to himself. The light became brighter and brighter until the entire clearing was illuminated by a familiar glow.

      Rabbit had to keep his eyes almost shut so he would not be blinded, but now he could see his trap.

      After a moment, the light stopped moving and rested in the center of Rabbit's snare. He immediately tugged on the rope, capturing the creature in a tight loop. He heard some odd sounds from the trap, but

he was already running back home. "Grandmother!" Rabbit shouted as he entered the lodge. "Grandmother! Come quick! I have caught the creature that has been robbing my traps!"

      Rabbit led his grandmother back to the spot where the trap lay. The walk was slow because it was still so dark, but the light remained where Rabbit had left it, still in the center of the snare.

      

If anything, the light seemed even brighter, and now Rabbit was growing frightened. Shielding his eyes with an arm, he reached down and lifted a great handful of snow. With one hand, he worked the snow into a ball and threw it at the creature, hoping to extinguish the brilliant light.

      There was a loud grunt and then the sound of water being boiled into the air. Growing more frightened every moment, Rabbit reached through the snow and pulled out a large stick.

      

He threw the stick at the creature, hoping to stun it. There was a louder grunt, followed by the sound of the stick crackling as if on fire.

      "Why have you trapped me?" it shouted. "Why do you keep me here? I am the Man in

the Moon, and I must return to the sky before morning. Let me free!" "Go and let it free," his grandmother said. "Nothing good can come from keeping it bound here."

      Trembling and more scared than he had ever been before, Rabbit walked slowly to where the Man in the Moon stood bound. "If I release you, you must swear to not steal from my traps again," Rabbit said, his voice struggling to sound strong. "I swear not to steal from your traps," answered the prisoner. "And you must swear never to return to Earth again." "I swear never to return to Earth again."

      

Content, Rabbit chewed through the tough rope and released the Man in the Moon who immediately returned to his place in the night sky. Because of Rabbit's success in catching the Man in the Moon, all rabbits since that time have had their eyes made sensitive to light, forcing them to blink if a bright light is too near.

      

The Man in the Moon has kept his word and never returned to Earth. The moon still shows the bruises where Rabbit's weapons struck him.

      Every so often the moon will vanish, trying to make those marks go away. But, when the moon returns, the marks always remain on his pale and glowing face!

      How the Raccoon Got Its Dark Eyes and Tail

      

In the forests of Maine, there lived two old blind men. Every week, the women of the tribe would come down to the river give them food to eat. To get water, the men sat at the edge of the riverbank and threw two roped pails into the river. When they felt a slight pull from the rushing waters, the men would pull the pails up to the riverbank.

      One warm Spring afternoon, while the men were collecting their water for the day, Mika, a small raccoon was playing nearby. Throughout the forest, Mika was known to be mischievous and sneaky. Everyone in the forest knew that whenever Mika was close by trouble would soon follow. Unfortunately the blind men did not see Mika playing across the river as they continued to collect water.

      After chasing a small chipmunk around, Mika soon discovered the two blind men sitting on the riverbank. The raccoon, being so crafty, decided to play a trick on them. Mika quietly swam right up to them and poured the water out of their pails. He then crept back into the forest to watch the blind men. When they pulled the pails up to drink, nothing came out. In shock one replied, "The river has dried up! What are we going to do for water?" The other replied, "We need to go back to the village and tell the others. But because it is so late, we will start our journey back to the tribe tomorrow."

      As the two men began to cook their food, one exclaimed, "We only need to eat four pieces of meat tonight so we can save the rest for tomorrow's trip." The two men put the remaining food in their pockets.

      During this time, Mika, the raccoon realized he had not eaten and was very hungry when he smelled the meat cooking on the open fire. He then began to creep towards the men. With his tiny paws, Mika snatched the four pieces of meat and scurried back into the forest.

      The men soon realized that the meat was gone and their stomachs were rumbling with hunger. So they had to ended up eating the food that they had saved for the next day. The sun was beginning to set and the night air began to cool. The two decided to go to bed early and start their journey in the morning.

      Shortly after eating the stolen food, Mika went back down to the river to clean up. As the raccoon was washing his hands and face, he felt a freezing wind on his back. Mika turned around and saw a beautiful woman standing over him. The raccoon immediately recognized the woman as the Earth spirit.

      She reached down and rubbed his two eyes with black coal explaining to him, "This is for the two pails of water that you poured out." Then she grabbed his tail and smeared four black rings around it and said, "And this is for the four pieces of meat you stole."

      

When Mika saw his reflection in the river, he was ashamed and tried to wash the black coal off of his eyes and tail but they remained dark. The Earth spirit replied, "From now on, these black rings will let everyone know what a little thief you are."

      Since then, raccoon have had rings around their eyes and tails that make them look like bandits.

      Why the Bear Has a Short Little Tail

      

One day, Bear was walking through the woods, thinking about how thirsty he was. He came to a clearing in the trees and saw a lake of fresh water.

      "Aahhh," he said, "just what I need!"

      Bear went up to the edge of the lake, and as

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