Why Owl Has Big Eyes

Adapted from an Iroquois Tale

Long ago Raweno, the Everything-Maker, was busy creating various animals. He had been struggling with Rabbit for quite a while, and his patience was growing very short.  Rabbit kept making requests.  "I want long legs and long ears like a deer, and sharp fangs and claws like a panther."

Raweno sighed, but he kept working.  "I do them the way they want to be," he grumbled.  "I give them what they ask for."  He started on Rabbit's hind legs, making them long, just like Rabbit wanted them to be.

Owl, meanwhile, was sitting on a tree branch nearby, still unformed and not very patiently waiting his turn.  Raweno had been fiddling with various parts of Rabbit for a very long time.

"Hoo!  Raweno!" he called.

Raweno stopped stretching the legs and look up, clearly annoyed.  "Can it wait?" he asked.

Owl ignored Raweno's sighs and grumbles, and spoke up.  "I want a beautiful long neck like Swan's.  And I want beautiful red feathers like Cardinal's."

Raweno held up a hand to stop him,  but Owl was not to be deterred.  He continued.

"I want a giant crown of plumes like heron's only bigger.  And I want you to make me the most beautiful and the fastest and the best of all birds."

Raweno, who was behind schedule as it was and struggling with rabbit's long ears, didn't want to hear any more.  "Owl," he said.  "Turn around and look at something else for a while.  Better yet, close your eyes.  It makes me nervous when others watch me work and you're making me angry."

He pulled at the ears some more, making them even longer, as Rabbit had requested, though he might have used a little unnecessary roughness at that point.

But Owl wouldn't stop.  By then, he couldn't stop, so excited was he at the vision he had of his future self.  "Whoo, whoo," Owl said.  "You know what would be even better?  You could give me eyes that watch better than anyone's.  Better than Heron's or Crane's or Rabbit's.  I could have the best eyes that saw everything!"

That did it.  Then Raweno blew up. He grabbed Owl right off the branch and shoved Owl's head deep into his body.  Then he shook Owl until Owl was afraid his eyes would be rattled right out of his head.  Owl's eyes were huge with fright.  Finally Raweno pulled at Owl's ears until they were sticking up at both sides of his head.

"There!" said Raweno.  "That ought to teach you.  Now you won't be able to crane your neck and look at things you shouldn't be looking at.  And you have great big ears so you san listen and hear what I say when I tell you what to do.  And you have big eyes, too.  But you won't be able to watch me!"
"Why not?" asked Owl, in a very small voice.

"Because from now on, Owl, you're on the night shift.  You'll only be awake at night and not during the day when I'm busy working."

"But, but..." said Owl.

But Raweno wasn't finished.  "You know those red feathers you wanted?  The ones like Cardinal's?"
With that Raweno took a huge handful of mud and rubbed it all over Owl.  "You're going to have gray feathers as punishment for bothering me!"

Owl started to speak, but he thought better of it.  The daylight was starting to hurt his eyes.  And so off he flew, looking for a nice dark home, muttering "Whoo, whoo, whoo" to himself.

Finally Raweno turned back to finish Rabbit.  But Rabbit had heard enough.  He was terrified after Raweno's rant, and he took off, unfinished.

And that is the reason that Rabbit's hind legs are long.  Those are the legs Raweno completed.  But Rabbit's front legs are short, because he was only half done.  That is why Rabbit hops instead of walking and running.

Rabbit was quite traumatized by the whole experience, and never did get those claws and fangs he asked for, and as a result, he is quite incapable of defending himself.  Had he not run (or hopped) off prematurely, Rabbit would be quite a different animal.

As for Owl, Raweno never relented and never worked his magic on Owl again.  Owl remains as he was made, with big eyes, a short neck, and ears that stick up on the sides of his head. And he sleeps all day and only ventures out at night, so that Raweno never has to look upon him again.

While Owl can appear in many different shapes and sizes and colors, he still works the night shift.

Run, Run, as Fast as You Can...!

The True Story of the Gingerbread Persons and Their Sad Demise

Once upon a time, a little old woman and a little old man lived in a cottage, which they held onto through a loan modification. One day the little old woman make some gingerbread people.  Her husband was quite deaf and she needed someone to talk to. She gave them currants for eyes and cherries for buttons. Then she popped them in the oven to bake.

The little old woman and little old man were very hungry and wanted to eat the gingerbread men and women.  She brewed a pot of coffee and they waited for the oven timer to DING. As soon the timer went off, the little old woman opened the oven door.  But the gingerbread people. who clearly were made from more than flour, butter, and molasses, leapt off the cookie sheet and ran out of the open window shouting, "Don't eat us!"

The little old woman and little old man ran after the gingerbread people."Stop! Stop!" they shouted.  But the gingerbread people didn't even look back. They ran on, and started to chant:
'Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!'  (The gingerbread girls chanted "Run, run as fast as you can. Gingerbread girls outrun any man!")

Down the lane they sped until they saw a pig.  The pig said, "Snort, stop!   would like to eat you!"

"First you'd have to get out of the mud," answered the gingerbread crew as they raced down the road.  They started up their chants again.  "Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me,
I'm the gingerbread man"  and "Run, run as fast as you can. Gingerbread girls outrun any man!"

A little further on they met a cow. "Stop! Stop! " mooed the hungry cow.  "You look good enough to eat!"

But the gingerbread people were too fast.  They sped on down the road, shouting, "Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man"  and "Run, run as fast as you can. Gingerbread girls outrun any man!"

The cow began to chase the gingerbread crew along with the pig, and the little old woman. (The little old man had gone back to the cottage and to drink all the coffee.) But the gingerbread people were too fast for them.

It was not long before the gingerbread troops came to a horse. "Stop! Stop!" shouted the horse. "I want to eat you all!"

And did they stop?  Nooooo.  Instead they ran on, shouting "Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man"  and "Run, run as fast as you can. Gingerbread girls outrun any man!"

The horse joined in the chase. The gingerbread people laughed and laughed, until they came to a river. "Uh-oh!" they moaned.  "How will we cross the river?"

That's when the sly fox appeared.  "I can help you cross the river," said the fox. "Just jump on to my tail and I will swim across."

"But won't you eat us?" asked the gingerbread folk.

"Of course not," said the fox. "I just want to help."

Having crumbs for brains, the gingerbread people climbed onto the fox's tail. Soon they began to get wet.  Very wet.

"Climb onto my back," said the fox. So they did.  (Did I mention they had crumbs for brains?)

As he swam the fox said, "You are very heavy and I am getting very tired.  Please jump onto my nose." The Gingerbreads did as they were told.

No sooner had they reached the other side, than the fox tossed the gingerbread people up in the air. He opened his mouth and 'Snap!' that was the end of the gingerbread people.  Except on this bracelet, where they are safe.

They're pretty safe on the earrings, too.