Photo: Alaska-in-Pictures.com

I enjoy folktales and legends that explain why our world is like it is.  Today’s tale is a fun, little example. “The Raven and the Goose” from Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen tells how the raven became black. On the day when all the birds were getting their patterns and colors, the raven and goose agreed to paint each other. The raven painted the goose first, a nice nice black with a lovely white pattern showing through. The goose was quite pleased, and began to paint the raven in the exact same way.

But then the raven fell into a rage, and declared the pattern was frightfully ugly, and the goose, offended at all the fuss, simply splashed it black all over.

So that’s why the raven is black, at least according to this story. I’d be pretty upset if I was the goose, too. The goose thought the pattern was nice and was trying to make the raven beautiful too, and all she gets is yelled at. Of course, ravens are rarely pleasant creatures.

Do you have a favorite animal legend?

Friday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. I would love it if you joined me. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, share with us. If you have a link, please include it in your comment.

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