Why the Robin Has a Red Breast? Inuit legend

Far away there is a land with snow on the ground all the time. The people of that land live in houses made of snow called igloo. They dress in furs all the time. And even with their furs and houses, they still need fire to keep them warm and to make some food.

In one of those igloo houses lived a father with his son. The father would always tell his son “Remember never let the fire die.” The father always made sure that there was plenty of wood to make fire. The father was a good hunter. So the animals would always run away from him as fast as they could.

There was a white bear, who didn’t like the father. The bear knew how important the fire was to the family. So he decided to wait for the right time and put an end to the fire.

One day, the father got sick. He wasn’t able to go hunting or to take turns with his son to keep the fire going. The boy tried staying awake for as long as he could. But one night he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer and he fell asleep.

The white bear saw his chance. He approached the fire and stomped on it with his paws till the fire was gone. “Now will see how you make your meat without fire” said angry bear and left.

Without fire it was getting cold very fast. The frost was starting to gather around boy’s bed. But he was so tired that even coldness wasn’t bothering him. He was still in deep sleep.

The boy had a very tiny special friend. It was a bird, whom he fed and sheltered during blizzards. Now it was bird’s turn to help the boy. The bird got there just in time, when bear was leaving. The bird scratched with his tiny claws among the ashes looking for a spark that would ignite the fire. “Ah, here it is” said excited bird and started fanning with his wings quickly to bring the fire to life. The bird flapped so much that the fire began to spread from one stick to another. “Oh, no, my chest is on fire” yelled bird and flew away from the fire.

Meanwhile the boy woke up and saw the fire almost gone. “Oh, no” he rushed to get more wood. Then he saw his father turning on the bed. This made the boy very happy, he rescued the fire and his father was gaining his strength back. “What a wonderful morning” thought the boy.

One day, the bird visited the boy. The boy was very happy to see his friend. He was saving some crumbs for the bird. But then he was startled to see that his tiny friend had a red chest. “What happened to you” asked boy. The bird only smiled and thought “It’s a secret.” Only I and you know it.

 

The Legend of the Poinsettia, Mexican Folktale

In a small village nestled in the country of Mexico, there was a little girl, who was known for her hard work. She helped her parents with every day chores. She fed the donkey, took part in cleaning the house, preparing meals, caring for her younger brother and sister.

The whole family attended the Mass on Sundays and participated in holy processions throughout the year. One day before the Christmas time, father from the nearest church came to the girl’s mother and asked her, “Would you be so kind to make a blanket for the Baby Jesus. The one we have is pretty worn out.”

“That will be my pleasure” answered girl’s mother, who was known for fine weaving.

Following day both mother and the girl went to the market to purchase the best thread. At home, they died the thread in different colors. The girl was very proud to be helping with the blanket. “I’m helping my mom to weave a blanket for the Baby Jesus,” she would say to all the kids she knew.

Meanwhile everyone in the village was busy with preparation for Christmas. Mothers were cleaning the houses thoroughly and preparing variety of dishes. Fathers were decorating the church with Christmas ornaments.

The Christmas was just around the corner, when the girl’s mother got sick. She was so sick that she had to stay in bed. She couldn’t finish the blanket. The girl got very worried about her mom being sick and about disappointing the people from the village. So she decided to finish the blanket herself. “One down and one up,” the girl tried weaving, but unfortunately the thread got tangled. “One down and one up,” the more she tried the more tangled it became.

The girl got almost teary, when she realized that it was too hard to do it on her own. She went to her aunt and asked, “Aunty will you help me finish the blanket?”

“Oh, dear child,” said the aunt, “There is not enough time to fix it. Don’t worry. We will do another blanket for the next Christmas.” The girl was not satisfied and she was sad that she would disappoint the village people.

All people from the village gathered at the church except the girl. She was hiding behind the walls of the adjacent building. “Dear child why aren't you with the others inside the church?” The girl turned around and saw an elderly lady. She explained what has just happened recently. “Don’t worry, your mother will be fine,” said the elderly lady. “And don’t worry about a gift. Any gift is meaningful. So whatever you decide to give to the Baby Jesus will be cherished by him.”

The girl looked around as looking for an idea, “But what else could I make?” The elderly lady was already gone, nowhere to be seen. The girl looked around her again and saw some tall grasses. She picked a handful of them and went to the church.

“Oh, what is she carrying? Some weeds,” whispers spread through the church. The girl ignored the whispers and put the tall grasses in front of the Baby Jesus. “Oh, look at these charming weeds,” heard the girl while praying. She raised her head and saw beautiful red flowers in a shape of a star blooming from each weed.

After the Mass, when people got outside, they were even more surprised. All tall grasses outside were flourishing with red stars. As the elderly lady said to the girl every gift is beautiful. The girl’s gift meant so much to her that it showed through the whole village by shining in red stars. Till today, every Christmas, the red stars called poinsettias decorate the whole village. 

Rainbow Bird, Aboriginal Folktale

A very long time ago, there was Crocodile, who lived on a big island called Australia. He was not so nice and not so courteous. He had the control of fire. Fire was a very important component of life. It was giving you light during the night and keeping you warm, when you were cold. What can you do when you deal with a mean, ill-mannered crocodile? Many animals pleaded with Crocodile, but the more they begged, the meaner Crocodile would get. One day even a little kangaroo pleaded with Crocodile “Please give us some fire.” You know what was Crocodile’s response? He exhaled some fire from his throat, scaring little kangaroo.

High up on a tree, there was a very nice Bird, who was observing everything. The bird also suffered from the lack of fire. She didn’t like eating her food raw. So, Bird also pleaded with Crocodile to give some light not only to the animals, but also to the people. “Please share some light with others” begged Bird on many occasions. Once, Crocodile blew some fire at Bird, almost burning her feathers. Another time, it snapped “What do you need the fire for?” “Well, for example, to cook our food” Bird was nicely explaining to Crocodile. “Eat it raw” retorted Crocodile. “Well, it tastes so much better, when it’s cooked” continued Bird. “I will cook you with my fire, if you don’t disappear right night” Crocodile replied angrily. So she flew away not to anger Crocodile even more.

However, Bird continued to observe Crocodile from her house in the tree. She was patiently watching and waiting. Then, one early morning, Crocodile was still half asleep, stretching and yawning. At his last yawn, he opened his jaws so wild that it took him quite some time to close them. During that time, Bird quickly flew down, snatching the fire-stick. Before Crocodile realized what has just happened, Bird was already flying up with the fire-stick.

Bird flew around each tree putting fire into tree’s core. This way a tree could be used as wood to create fire. So people could cook their food, stay warm, and light their way through darkness. This creation was very magical. It looked as Bird was creating a rainbow with the yellow fire flying around green trees and with the blue sky shining on her. “Now, the people can have fire” said Bird proudly.

Bird flew back to Crocodile and warned it “From now on, you need to stay in the swamps. Don’t you dare to come out on land or I will light you up.” The scared Crocodile now stays deep in the swamp. From time to time, he only ventures with his eyes above the water curious what is going on with the other animals on the land.

So now you know why crocodiles live in the swamps and why the hero bird was called Rainbow Bird.

 
Source: Rainbow Bird: an aboriginal folktale from Northern Australia by Eric Maddern

The Battle of the Wind and the Rain, Philippines Folktale

One sunny day, there were some harmless clouds dotting the sky. But what you don’t know is that on those harmless clouds were resting four natural forces named Thunder, Lightning, Rain and Wind.

It didn’t take long for Wind to say “Guys are you as bored as I am?” “No” the other free forces answered immediately. “Oh, come on” said Wind “Little storm won’t harm anybody.” “I feel so fluffy on this cloud” said Lightning “Leave me alone.” Wind couldn’t stand still and stirred the pot by blowing some wind at Thunder’s cloud. “Stop it” yelled Thunder. “Ha ha ha” laughed Wind. “Hey Rain” said Wind “Do you want me to blow some wind your way, too?” “No” snapped Rain.

“Oh, come on” continued Wind “Let’s have some fun.” “Can’t you be still at least for a second” Rain was getting more and more irritated. Wind sensing it, persisted “Let’s play a game, who is more powerful.” “Under one condition” retorted Rain “If I win, you will never get in my way. It will mean rainy days without wind.” Wind with a smirk on his face said “But if I win, you will never ever drop another tear on this earth.” Earth without rain means nothing would survive on earth. That’s not a good promise to make. But Rain was getting so annoyed by Wind “Fine. You asked for it. I’ll show you who is more powerful.”

So Rain and Wind looked for a place to start their battle. Rain very quickly spotted a monkey on a bamboo tree. Rain knowing that a bamboo tree is very flexible; it can bend instead of breaking as other trees. She just wasn’t sure if the monkey could hold on to the tree. But this was her best chance. So she challenged Wind “If you can knock down that monkey, then you win.” “As you wish” Wind answered boldly.

Not wasting any time, Wind started blowing heavy winds. With every breath he took in, his cheeks were getting bigger and bigger, as they were about to explode. Wind was getting more and more agitated as he was realizing that he can’t break the bamboo tree. Out of exhaustion he gave up and turned to Rain “Let’s see how smart you can get.”

“No problem” answered Rain and started her magic with dark sky and grey clouds creating a heavy rain. Monkey, with her flexible arms and legs, was still holding on to the bamboo tree. It made Wind very happy, because none of them was winning. “Let’s call it even” Wind said hastily. “Not so fast” answered Rain and swiftly changed the rain into big drops that were hitting the wet monkey very hard. Exhausted monkey climbed down to look for a place she could hide from rain.

“Does it make me a winner?” asked Rain with a big smile on her face. But Wind was already gone, too upset to face Rain. Orrrr maybe he was already showing the first signs of keeping the promise that he wouldn’t get in Rain’s way, what do you think?

Now you know when strong winds come in and they are so strong that they are taking people’s houses with them, this is why people hope for rain. When Rain comes in, the Wind should go away.