Fairy tale information

Many, many moons ago, in the beginning of time, the Earth was all water. There was no land. All the animals and the winged-ones lived up in the sky on the clouds. They were waiting for the land to dry, but it would not dry. They would send one animal but he would come back unable to find dry land. Finally they sent the water beetle. The water beetle dove into the water, grabbed a handful of mud at the bottom, brought it up and placed it on top of the water. It started to dry, started to build land. He brought more and more, and still they waited for it to dry. Finally, they sent grandfather buzzard down and the land was almost dry. The buzzard flew close to the land and every time he would flap his mighty wings he would form a mountain and a valley. That's why the Cherokee land has mountai ...

One sunny day a rabbit came out of her hole in the ground to enjoy the fine weather. The day was so nice that she became careless and a fox snuck up behind her and caught her. "I am going to eat you for lunch!" said the fox. "Wait!" replied the rabbit. "Oh yeah? Why should I wait?" "Well, I am just finishing my thesis on 'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'" "Are you crazy? I should eat you right now! Everybody knows that a fox will always win over a rabbit." "Not according to my research. If you like, you can come into my hole and read it for yourself.""You really are crazy!" But since the fox was curious, he went with the rabbit. The fox never came out. A few days later the rabbit was again taking a break from writing and sure enough, a wolf came out of the bushes and was ...

The Jade Emperor called the animals. "I have made a calendar," he announced. "I will name each of the 12 years in my calendar after one animal. I will choose those animals in a few days." Every animal prayed and whispered silently, "Please choose me." Dragon was the most worried of all. He had shimmering scales and fiery breath, but he despised his brown head. "If only I had a fabulous headdress, the Emperor would choose me," he moaned. Dragon made a deal with his friend Centipede. Centipede would get Rooster's beautiful headdress for Dragon, and Dragon would make Centipede powerful and quick. So Centipede searched for Rooster and his exquisite crown of flaming colors. Centipede found Rooster outside the Emperor's palace. "What do you want?" Rooster crowed. "Please let me borrow your crown ...

Abraham's son, Ishmael, made a name for himself when he invented the bow and arrow. But most marvelous of all was the gift that came to Ishmael one night when he was alone in the desert wilderness.Ishmael was preparing to sleep when he saw a desert tornado whirling toward him. From the center of the tornado came the voice of the angel Gabriel. Out of that mass of swirling sand came an extraordinary sight一one of the most beautiful animals Ishmael had ever seen. Gabriel called to Ishmael, "Welcome this creature." He gathered his people to show them the magnificent beast. They called it a "drinker of the wind." Later, people called it a horse. Many years later, the prophet Mohammed was traveling across the desert with the Bedouin, and with them traveled hundreds of camels and horses.One day, ...

Long ago, Gaia married Uranus and gave birth to giants, the Titans. Cronus, the leader, possessed power over every creature on Earth."I will rule forever," he said, "And so it shall be." Gaia, who foresaw the future, said, "One day, one of your own children will defeat you." To prevent this, each time his wife gave birth, Cronus swallowed the child whole.When Gaia realized Cronus's doings, she devised a plan. Gaia replaced the next-born baby with a stone she wrapped in a blanket. Cronus swallowed the stone disguised as his son.Gaia then carried the baby Zeus to Amalthea of Crete. "Care for Zeus as if he were your own," Gaia instructed. "Protect him from Cronus. He must never find this boy." Amalthea took Zeus into her arms and into her heart. Then she gathered young men and trained them to ...