Why The Beaver Slap His Tail

By: Georgia 

One day, far from here, there was a beaver. But, this beaver had a problem. He was sleek and he could swim, but he had no idea why he had such a big fat tail. His tail just seemed to get in the way whenever he wanted to cut down a tree. It was so fat that when he was swimming it weighed him down. He wasn’t very happy about this. 

One day Beaver was swimming and he heard Squirrel, Bear, and Deer talking. They were talking about a Wise Tortoise. Beaver swam up to the shore and asked Squirrel who they was talking about. 

“ We were talking about an old wise tortoise who lives on a rock just beyond the valley. Why?” 

“I have a problem. It’s my tail. It keeps getting in the way when I’m cutting down a tree, I trip over it, and when I’m swimming it weighs me down. I want to go to the wise tortoise and find out what I’m supposed to do with my tail” said Beaver. 

“It’s a long way.” Deer cut in. 

“So, I need to know why my tail is so fat otherwise my dam won’t be complete by winter and I’ll freeze.” 

“Well if you must go, you should pack a lot of food and water and go to the lake to talk to him. But I must warn you it is very dangerous.” Squirrel explained.

 “It is said that a witch lives up there. She can turn herself into anything she wants, so keep your eyes open.” Bear warned. 

“Thank you Squirrel. You have been very kind, I will try and bring home something for you. I will leave for the lake at dawn.” Beaver said. 

That night Beaver gathered up some young plants and water before he went to bed. In the morning Beaver went out in search of the wise tortoise. When he had gone a short distance he decided to sit and eat a little bit of food. 

“If I eat now I will be able to walk that much farther.” said Beaver.

 In the woods a little beyond where Beaver sat, there lived the witch. She was watching him at that very moment. The witch had transformed herself into a rock. 

“Nobody ever comes to visit me. I guess this little Beaver doesn’t know that I am an evil witch with magical powers. I think I’ll show him what I can do.” 

She changed into an ugly little squirrel and started leaping innocently over towards him. When the witch got close to Beaver she started jumping and pulling his tail. Beaver was furious! He shooed the little squirrel away. Beaver thought maybe it's time to get going again. But the witch wasn’t done. She turned back into herself and went inside her cabin. Beaver had been so mad he dropped most of his food.

 “I guess I’ll have to find more” he said aloud, “but the plants are much different. I’ll have to look a bit harder to find what I need”, Beaver thought. “I should bless the food when I get it, then the Great Spirit will always give me more when I need it.” 

Beaver walked on for many moons. One day he met a beautiful young lady (who was really the witch). She was selling birch bark and Beaver could tell that the bark was from his part of the forest. It smelt so good because he was used to it. 

“Oooooh! What could I give you for a piece of that bark? I’ll give you anything!” Beaver pleaded. 

“Well, maybe you could give me your water.” said the witch greedily. 

“Sure, anything!” 

The witch gave Beaver a piece of the bark and Beaver gave the witch the water. Beaver ate the bark but when he was done.... 

"I’m so thirsty!” Beaver yelled. “Could you spare some water?” 

“Never! No trade backs!” cried the witch. 

Beaver got so mad he slapped his tail very hard, four times. He was so mad that he didn’t realize that his tail had gotten a bit thinner. As the days went on Beaver got more frustrated with the witch’s evil disguises. After each trick he kept slapping his tail. As a result Beaver’s tail got thinner and thinner. Each time Beaver met the witch, he lost something that would help cure or protect him from what the witch had given him. 

One day Beaver ran into a squirrel. 

“Hello” said Beaver “Who are you?” 

“I am Naomi the Quick!” The squirrel started jumping and twirling. “But I am very afraid! The witch has been tricking everybody near here. I have run into several ladies along the way. Each on selling something."

" How can you tell which one is the witch?” There was a long silence. 

“Well, one clue is if it’s the witch, she will scratch her ankles four times. If she doesn’t do that, she is not a witch. If she is the witch, she will jump when she sees you. If she doesn’t do that she is not the witch. If she is the witch, she will rub her neck. If she doesn’t do that she is not the witch. That is all you will have to look for.” 

So Beaver went on walking. Finally he ran into this old lady. She was standing looking up. 

“What are you looking at?” asked Beaver. 

The old lady turned, saw Beaver and jumped. Beaver glanced around him, he was positive the old lady was the witch. She bent down and scratched her ankles, but only twice, stood up, frowned bent down and scratched them two more times. She is the witch! Beaver was so anxious when he saw her rub her neck. 

The witch said, “Well now, who are you and why are you walking along this dangerous path? There are witches out here.” 

Beaver laughed and said, “You will not get me this time. I’m not trading anything.” Suddenly the old lady started trembling, her nose grew and her shoes turned black. Her umbrella turned into a wand and her face turned ugly and hideous. Just as fast as her change started, it finished. She was no longer a kind old lady, she was now a hideous witch with a wand. 

“I will get you this time Beaver! You will not be able to see the wise tortoise” 

But Beaver was too quick for the witch. The Beaver lunged at the witch and slapped with his tail four times and quickly ran away. When he looked behind him the witch was lying on the ground. As Beaver looked back, he finally realized that his tail had gotten thinner and lighter. He looked up and there was the wise tortoise rock. Beaver started running. When he reached the rock he saw the tortoise smiling. Beaver started talking about what had happened and why he was here but the tortoise cut him off. 

“I know why you are here”, he exclaimed, “You already answered your own question.” 

“I have? Well what is it? I don’t think I have it.”

 “You have to use your tail to communicate, by slapping it on the water. It won’t get in the way once you know how to move with it”, said tortoise slowly. “Haven’t you noticed your tail has gotten thinner?” 

“I have” said Beaver. “I guess I will go home and tell everybody what you said.” 

Beaver turned around and started walking. He looked around him, and he saw Naomi, the Quick at the side of the rock. He was down there with another squirrel, and deer! Beaver thought quickly before he left, “I’ll slap my tail!” He raised it up and brought it down as hard as he could. The sound echoed all the way down the hill. Naomi, Squirrel, and Deer look up at Beaver. 

“Do you know ?” asked Deer. 

“Yes!” called Beaver. 

Beaver met up with them they started walking back to the lake. Beaver told them everything that had happened to him. After a few moons Naomi had to go back to his squirrel friends. 

“If you don’t come to see us I’ll turn your eyes red.” Beaver joked. 

They got home the next day and as soon as he got into the water he slapped his tail as hard as he could. He swam up to the surface and said “I’m very sorry I didn’t bring anything home for you!” 

“That’s all right it’s better to have you alive than to have you turned into stone.” “You’re probably right” said Beaver. 

The next day a strange mist came over the water. A figure was standing at the edge of the water. It was the witch! She raised her hand and shouted TURN THIS BEAVER, COLD AND LONE MAKE HIS BODY A LUMP OF STONE! But Squirrel was to quick. He put four leaves in front of the spell. These leaves turned gray and fell, down, down, down. They lay in a lump on the ground. The witch yelled. Beaver jumped up and swatted the witch with his tail. The witch fell and Squirrel threw the stone leaves at her. She was dead. Her body slowly turned into a black rose. The witch had still left a mark. Squirrel looked at him, “You’re eyes they're black!” 

And that is why the Beaver slaps his tail.

The End