Hard times had fallen on the rabbit and his grandmother. The
season for hunting was approaching fast, yet the rabbit found himself
ill-prepared. He had used the last of his arrowheads the previous season and
had failed to prepare more. It would be worthless to fire off any of the plethora
of arrow sticks he had without a sharp head.
His
grandmother instructed him that he must go and make new arrow heads with flint,
but the rabbit did not know where to find the flint. His grandmother then told
him that he would only find flint in the body of the old bear chiefs.
The rabbit
then began his journey to the village of the Bears where he would find the old
bear chief. The rabbit used his great speed to travel to the far away village.
He wanted to make great haste, so he did not make a single stop and even
traveled through the night, despite the danger he risked running into. However,
the rabbit made it safely to the village of the Bears by the next morning.
The rabbit
was welcomed into the chief’s home, and was even offered a pipe to smoke while
he and the chief spoke. When the small talk had run its course, the chief asked
the rabbit what he wanted. The rabbit then told the chief of his predicament,
and made the request to take some flint so that he could make new arrow heads.
The chief then pulled off his robe and, to the rabbit’s great surprise,
revealed that his body was composed half of flesh and half of solid flint.
The chief
then instructed his subjects to bring a hammer and a chisel to the rabbit. He
told the rabbit that he was allowed to take his fair share of the flint. He
also warned him that if the rabbit took too big of a piece, his guards would
surely chase him down and eat him. The rabbit ignored the warning, however,
thinking that he was fast enough to outrun any bear in the village. Thus, he
struck off a piece much larger than what he needed.
The chief
then cried out in agony, for no creature had ever stuck off a piece as large as
the rabbit’s. The chief’s guards responded immediately and took chase after the
rabbit. The rabbit began to take flight; however, he found himself weary from
the previous night’s travel and weighed down by the mass of the flint he
carried. The guards were able to catch him easily. Two of them took the flint
back to the chief in hopes to mend him, and the other two killed the rabbit and
began to prepare him for a stew that they would offer to the chief.
 |
| (original drawing in book) |
Author's Note: The original story, The Rabbit and the Bear with the Flint Body, was much like the story that I told. Only, when the rabbit runs away, the bears get stuck in a snow storm and the rabbit kills them one by one. This is then given as an explanation for why there are now so few bears. I didn't like the ending of the original or the theme behind it, so I decided to rewrite it. I wrote it with the proverb "Pride cometh before destruction" in mind, just incase I would like to add this to my storybook.
Bibliography:
"The Rabbit and the Bear with the Flint Body" by Marie McLaughlin from Myths and Legends of the Sioux (1916). Websource: Un-Textbook
Joshua,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story this week! I definitely got the proverb "Pride cometh before destruction" from your story. However, I like the original ending with the rabbit killing off the bears. It definitely would explain why there are not that many bears left. It also gives us a reason to blame the rabbits and not ourselves. I like that you kept so close to the original. Sometimes it is a great thing to stick close to the original story.
Hi Joshua, I think you did a really good job this week. I really enjoyed reading your story. To me it is strange that the rabbit was able to kill the bears. But, then again these are myths. I liked how you kept it close to the original story but also making it your own. I think you did a good job in getting the message of your story across. Great job.
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