Native American Legends
The Artichoke and the Muskrat
A Lakota Legend
On the shore of a lake stood an artichoke with its green leaves
waving in the sun. Very proud of itself it was, and well satisfied
with the world. In the lake below lived a muskrat in his tipi, and
in the evening as the sun set he would come out upon the shore and
wander over the bank. One evening he came near the place where the
artichoke stood.
"Ho, friend," he said, "you seem rather proud of
yourself. Who are you?"
"I am the artichoke," answered the other, "and I
have many handsome cousins. But who are you?"
"I am the muskrat, and I, too, belong to a large family. I
live in the water. I don't stand all day in one place like a stone."
"If I stand in one place all day," retorted the artichoke,
"at least I don't swim around in stagnant water, and build
my lodge in the mud."
"You are jealous of my fine fur," sneered the muskrat.
"I may build my lodge in the mud, but I always have a clean
coat. But you are half buried in the ground, and when men dig you
up, you are never clean."
"And your fine coat always smells of musk," jeered the
artichoke.
"That is true," said the muskrat. "But men think
well of me, nevertheless. They trap me for the fine sinew in my
tail; and handsome young women bite off my tail with their white
teeth and make it into thread."
"That's nothing," laughed the artichoke. "Handsome
young warriors, painted and splendid with feathers, dig me up, brush
me off with their shapely hands and eat me without even taking the
trouble to wash me off."
Native American Legends
Back to Top
Other Native American Legends
|
Native American Legends A-B