And then the enchantment of the little Star changed all of them to Fairies, and joining hands they danced and sang in the starlight, while the Evening Star looked down upon them from his far-away home in the sky.
WHY THE ASPEN LEAVES ARE NEVER STILL
(Blackfeet)
WHY are the leaves on the aspen tree never still, Grandmother?” asked one of the Indian children of the old basket weaver. “I have watched them so many times, and they always talk together.”
“You are right, my daughter. When there is no breath in the heavens, the aspen leaves still talk.”
“Is there a story about the aspen tree, grandmother?” asked the little girl. “Will you tell it to me, if there is?”
“Yes daughter,” replied the old woman, “there is a story about the aspen tree which it is good that you should hear.”
Taking her basket upon her knees and continuing her weaving, the grandmother told her story:
“Many, many moons ago there was a young warrior who was lonely in his father’s lodge, and he said to himself, ‘I will seek a maiden to wed, and make ready a lodge of my own.’
“So he watched the maidens of the village, and he found two sisters who seemed so modest, and kind, and good, that he knew not which of them to choose.