The Forest of Animals and Birds

Once upon a time there was a huge fight between the animals and the birds in a forest. The forest they lived in was full of huge trees, plentiful nuts, plants, and fruits, and large rivers. The forest stretched on for miles and miles in all directions. Even though there was enough food and water for everyone the animals and birds could not seem to live together in the forest peacefully. There were constant fights over the water, food, and where each of the animals and birds lived. The animals bickered and bickered and neither the birds nor the animals would ever make an agreement on sharing the forest.

One day the leader of the animals, the bear, and the leader of the birds, the eagle, decided that they would play a game of baseball in order to decide who would be in charge of the forest. This game would decide who would get to make the rules in the forest.

All of the animals and birds gathered in an open field on one Saturday morning. There was tension in the air as each of the teams warmed up and got their heads in the game. The birds were nervous because they were facing the meanest animals in the forest such as the bear and the lion.

The animals thought that they were easily going to win. They were not nervous at all. Right before the game was about to begin two little mice walked up to the birds and asked the eagle if they could join his team. The eagle was very confused by this because the mice could not fly, did not have wings, and should obviously be on the animals' team. However, the mice said that they tried to play with the animals, but the animals did not accept them because they were so small. Out of pity, the eagle decided that they could play on the birds' team. The eagle thought and thought about how to make wings for the mice so that they could be disguised as birds. Finally, he decided that he would stretch out the skin of both mice to make it look like they had wings. After doing this, the mice turned into flying squirrels. They were able to jump from tree to tree and glide through the sky.

Flying Squirrel

When the game began the tension increased. In the eighth inning the birds and the animals were tied. It went back and forth. One team would score and then the other one would score. In the last inning, the flying squirrel made a game-winning catch by jumping off of a tree and gliding to the ground with the ball in its hand. The birds won! They were so excited and surprised that they had won. The animals tried to say that the birds cheated by having the mice on their team. However, the mice were no longer mice anymore. They were flying squirrels. All animals big and small learned that day that they should never judge a book by its cover. Though the mice were small, they ended up being the key for winning the game in the end.

In the days following the game, the birds were in charge. The birds, however, decided that they did not want to be mean to the animals or take anything away from them. The birds wanted to make friends with the animals and not have any more problems in the forest. Instead of punishing the animals, they set simple rules so that the animals and birds could live in the same forest in harmony. To this day animals and birds still live together in this special forest with no problems.

Author's Note: This story is from the Cherokee tradition. The beginning of this story is very similar to the story The Ball Game of the Birds and Animals. The birds and animals decided to play a ball game in order to sort out some of their differences. The animals enter the game thinking that they are going to win without a doubt and the birds enter the game very scared and nervous. The mice who are not accepted on the animals' team because they are "too small" then turn to the birds' team to be accepted. Although the birds accept them out of pity, the mice are the reason why the birds win the game. In the original story, one of the mice is stretched into a flying squirrel and the other one is made into a bat with some pig skin as wings. In my story, I go into detail about what happens after the game is over. The birds are now the rulers of the forest, but decide that they want to live in peace with the animals and do not want to be cruel leaders. They set simple guidelines for how the forest will run and still today animals and birds live together in forests. I always enjoy a happy ending to the story. That is why I ended the story this way.

Source:

The Ball Game of the Birds and Animals

Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).

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