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| A sad, fat marmot. (Image source) |
Marmot
and Raven were terrible enemies. Raven
had been dancing the best he could with his eyes closed, but Marmot only
laughed at him and hid from Raven before he could catch him. Raven shrieked in rage and vowed to capture
him, but Marmot was safely in his hole and Raven could not get him out. Raven flew away, plotting how he could get
his revenge on Marmot.
One day, Raven returned to Marmot with a large branch of
berries in his beak and said:
“I’m sorry Marmot, I should not have gotten mad at you. Please take these berries as my apology.”
“Why thank you, Raven” replied Marmot. “That’s very kind.” And he quickly gulped down the juicy berries.
The next day, Raven returned with a large, juicy fish.
“Here Marmot, take this fish. I was fishing and there was no way I could
ever eat such a large meal.”
Marmot happily accepted the fish and swallowed the whole
thing in one gulp. Marmot sat back quite
contentedly and thanked Raven again for his thoughtful gift.
The next day, Raven returned with a large bundle of
nuts. Marmot’s eyes grew wide at the
bounty offered him, and greedily gulped down the offered food.
“Do you want more?” Raven inquired. “I can return tomorrow”
“Ooh, yes please, Raven.
You are too kind”
“Very well,” replied Raven, his eyes flashing. “I shall return shortly”
On the following morning, Raven could barely fly, laden down
as he was with all kinds of food. He had berries, nuts, fruit, fish, insects,
and every kind of treat that Marmot could possibly imagine. Marmot’s eyes began to water at the sight of
such a bounty, and he squeezed himself out of his hole (which had already begun
to seem a little small) and excitedly greeted Raven.
“I hope you have enough here,” Raven remarked. “I spent all
night searching the entire land to bring these to you, for I know how much you
love them.”
“Thank you, Raven” said Marmot in between bites. “This is the tastiest meal I have ever had.”
With a hungry gleam in his own eye, Raven replied “No
problem, my friend. Eat as much as you can.”
At last, Marmot had finished all of the wonderful food that
Raven had brought him. Marmot looked
like a big round ball, so stuffed he was, and could barely walk, let alone
run. He slowly began crawling back to
his hole, but upon reaching the entrance, found that there was no way he could
hope to fit back down the narrow entrance.
“Help me Raven!” Marmot cried. “I have eaten too much and cannot squeeze
into my hole. Perhaps if you gave me a
little push”
“Oh no, I think not” Raven said. “I want you to dance for me.”
Suddenly, Marmot remembered how only a few days ago, he had
humiliated Raven by making him dance so foolishly. A small shiver of fear pierced his fattening
body as he realized that he was completely helpless before Raven.
“Dance, Marmot” Raven said coldly, “Or I will eat you up.”
Marmot, who could no longer escape to his hole like he had
before, recognized that he had no other choice but to do as Raven
demanded. He began to dance, a slow,
clumsy, pitiful dance. Raven called out
to the other animals, and they gathered around Marmot as he painfully tried to dance,
his enormous stomach keeping his normally graceful movements seem quite
awkward. Raven and the animals laughed
and laughed, until Marmot could go on no further, and dropped exhausted to the
ground.
“Now, Marmot” Raven began, “I hope you have learned your lesson. Not all of us can dance, but some of us can
think.”
Marmot dipped his head in shame and vowed to never mock
another animal again.
Author’s Note: This
is based off of the original story called “Raven and Marmot” from an Eskimo legend
found in the book Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson
(1911). In the story, Marmot tricks
Raven into dancing and embarrassing himself in front of a lot of animals. Raven tries to catch and eat Marmot, but he
quickly escapes and hides in his hole, where Raven cannot capture him. Since Raven is the hero of many of these
tales, I wanted to write a story that had him actually winning an encounter
with Marmot, who I didn’t like in the first place. So, this is the result.
Hi Blake!
ReplyDeleteWow, this was a great read. I really enjoyed this story. I like the aspect you took in your storytelling by changing the role of the character, Raven. I have never read the original story, so I'm not familiar with happened. But, I really like the amount of detail and how much development you have given the characters. Nice job!
Hi Blake, this story was a really nice read! It gave such a good message about how bullying and humiliation can impact people. i like that the Raven was able to outsmart the Marmot in this story, but they just chose to humiliate him, rather than eat him like I expected. The ending was very satisfying to read as well! Great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Blake. This story was a very good read. I think that message in the end was delivered really well with the line, 'Not all of us can dance, but some of us can think.' After reading your author's note it also made clear so of the other things you were trying to accomplish, like flipping who the winner of the encounter was.
ReplyDeleteHi Blake, I loved your version of the story. It's actually quite comical and I always love a story where a character learns their lesson the hard way. I wasn't sure what a marmot was but the picture you chose helped clarify. I did expect the marmot to be eaten at the end, but I'm glad the severity of his punishment was simply humility. I think the added dialogue, "Not all of us can dance, but some of us can think," was a great addition to the ending. Great story!
ReplyDelete