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Show Tell Me an Indian New Years Story The ceremonial for the snow has passed, when enemies are forgiven and harsh words forgotten, as a new trail has been blazed for all through the New Year's festivities. The story-telling grandmother has taught the ancient chants and customs cus-toms through the beads pf the strings of historic wampum; but now she again has time to entertain the I children. " Gathered around her lodge-fire, they plead for another story with their bright eyes and shrill voices. To satisfy them, she tells an ancient legend about the clouds. "Long moons ago when the world was first made, the sky at wintertime win-tertime was cloudless much as it is on clear midsummer days. The ground was covered with white snow and the trees, except the pines, stood bare. The cold wind whistled around the bark cabins; and with a cloudless cloud-less sky, everything above and below be-low .looked dreary. "The children, too, missed the green leaves and changing colors over the landscape and they gave a wish that the sky might have clouds cow and then. It is true, dark-gray, fierce-looking clouds came in great masses and covered all the sky and let down snowflakes to amuse the children. But the children also wished for bright clouds and the old bear in the sky heard their wishes. "So the old bear blew his moist breath into the heavy clouds and broke them up; he even made humps in some of them, and held on to the corners of others, until when they passed over the village, each (loud had a different shape, some Ike bears, some like wild cats, some like hills and even some like funny people. Ever afterward, the clouds took these strange shapes to bring smiles and imagination to all children in midwinter." Dr. E. A. Eates, Cornell. |