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Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales, Part A


This week, I chose to read American Indian Fairy Tales. In the story "The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds," the Story-Teller Iagoo sits looking into a fire. The children know not to disturb him, as he is thinking through the great things he had heard and seen. One night, though, the children begin to worry they would not get a story from Iagoo. One girl named Morning Glory asks Iagoo if the mountains were always there. He replies that he often thinks about this himself, then says that yes, the mountains and hills were always there. He goes on to say, however, that there was one hill that was not always there bur rather it grew like magic. He asks the children if he has told them the story of the Big Rock and how it carried a boy and girl up to the clouds. In the old days, in the time when men and animals got along pleasantly, there lived a little boy and girl. They lived in a beautiful valley filled with green grass, colorful flowers, berries, birds, and nothing to fear. The animals all lived free, and the children's favorite animals were Jack Rabbit and Antelope. A river ran through the valley, where Beaver taught the children to swim.

 One day after swimming, the children were tired and looked for a place to rest and dry off. They decide on a big, flat rock and fall asleep. The rock was only a few feet tall when they first got on it, but it grew and grew while they slept. The children's parents try to find them, but none of the animals know where the children are. They find Coyote, the most clever animal, and he sniffs out where the children are. None of the animals know how to reach the top of the rock. They try jumping, but none can jump high enough. The Measuring Worm says he will try climbing the rock, and the other animals laugh at him but let him try. It takes him an entire month, but he finally reaches the top of the rock. He wakes up the children and brings them down a path nobody knew about. The patience and perseverance of the Measuring Worm proved to be better than the strength of the Lion or size of the Bear. People remember the Measuring Worm and the Big Rock, called Tu-tok-a-nu-la. The story ends with the line "Tu-tok-a-nu-la, they call it, a big name indeed for a little fellow, yet by no means too big when you come to think of the big, brave thing he did," to explain the meaning behind the story. 

 This story uses a great deal of setting description. The valley the story takes place in is described as very beautiful and lush. There are also several mentions of the animals that live in the valley and how they are free and happy. I want to keep the end lesson that no feat it too big even for the littlest creature in my retelling. 

Inchworm by Joshua Mayer

 Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921)
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