courtesy of the manzanita project
In an effort to save the spotted owl. Corsi copyright COS
The
two kept pace and found a good shady area to look for deer. Ududu and
Morning-Dawn crouched down near the bushes and watched the opening
intently.
Ududu motioned for his grandson to take hold of his bow and pull the
string
taut. He had seen something in the nearby bush. It was small and just
the right
size for a small doe resting. Morning-Dawn could hardly wait. In
anticipation
he let his arrow fly and it whistled through the air. The animal in the
bush
heard the whistling and fled. Ududu saw that this was no doe. It was a
large
spotted owl that had been feasting on the field mice.
"It is all right my son;
he
was not what we are spying today." Ududu tried to encourage the boy,
but
he knew that the skill was a hard one to master and took many trips
like this
one to get the hang of it. "The owl is much smarter than the deer. He
is a
very wise animal. We will wait for your doe and I will tell you another
tale,
one of these wise creatures."
"Grandfather, how will I
ever
master my skills? I know that I must keep trying and be patient, but I
am
filled with worry that I may not ever know how. Do you have any of
those 'Good
luck berries'? I am sure that they will help! "
Morning-Dawn, anxious,
but also disappointed,
wanted to be a warrior now.
"Ududu had to master the
skills also Morning-Dawn. I did not become a great warrior at one try.
The
master hunter always tries many times and is patient in doing so. This
is also
what a master hunter of life does. He waits patiently for others and
hunts that
which he wants in his life. Take your bow and let it rest. I will tell
you of
the wise owl and his patients."
"You see, the owl had
lifted
his eyes upon a woman as beautiful as the sunset. He fell in love with
her
instantly. She also felt the same for him. The owl was wounded in his
heart
because the woman was human and he was an owl. This did not wound the
woman.
She saw nothing but the love for the white owl. He had such a beautiful
coat
and spoke such fine language. She wanted him to meet her parents and
family.
The owl refused and said it would not be a good time. The woman kept
asking and
finally the owl decided that he could hide in the shadows so that he
would not
be seen and the family would like him regardless. "
"Did it work, Ududu?"
Morning-Dawn thought it a good idea for the owl to hide himself.
"Well, listen and you
will
find out. The owl met the family of the woman and stayed in the
shadows. He
kept his eyes fixed on the younger brothers. They looked mischievous.
The owl
knew they were up to something. He noticed that they kept asking him
why he
wouldn't come out of the shadows. The owl just responded that he was
comfortable there and nothing more. The boys began to grow angry and
wanted to
see the being that loved their sister so much. So one night they
plotted to
have the owl sit closer to the fire so that the glow of the embers
would show
his being. So that night they all sat around the fire and the owl crept
in
back. The boy’s anticipation grew and they could wait no longer. They
blew the
ash of the fire towards the owl and the embers fell all over his white
coat. He
then became spotted with the burns as the leopard is. "
"Was the owl alright? Did
the
woman marry him?" Morning-Dawn was angry. He knew that some boys in the
village
were mean like that also. He wanted the owl to marry the woman.
"Yes, my grandson. She
married
him and taught everyone how beautiful other animals can be."
Author's note: I changed
the story
quite a bit. I did not include how the boys actually went to the woods
to
gather wood for the fire and gathered some with wild sumac to make the
fire
crack and pop. I also changed the fact that the woman and owl had been
dating
awhile in the original story. The parents of the woman fell in love
with the
owl and invited him over many times but I also left that out. I wanted
to get
the basic idea across and leave out some little details. This tale
reminds me a
lot of the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin. That was the first thing
that came
to mind when I decided to rewrite the tale. The original tale is found
on www.cherokee.org in their heritage
section.
They have a lot of material on Cherokee literature and a few variations
of this
story. Please email me at Dana Brashear and click on this to return to my storybook. To
see my other
stories visit these sights: Selu, The Good Luck Berries, and The Sun's daughter. Thanks.