Legends today

                                                 A legend from the USA

     5. Another legend is from the United States of America.

     Many years ago in the  USA, two Indian tribes (the blue tribe and a red tribe ) were living on the opposite sides of a beautiful but dangerous lake. The blue tribe hater the red tribe and the red tribe hated the blue tribe. They were always at war. One day, Black Eagle, a tall young Indian from the blue tribe crossed the lake in his canoe and went into the forest. He was hoping to kill some Indians from the red tribe. He was walking slowly and carefully through the forest when suddenly he saw somebody. He   saw an Indian girl from the red tribe. She was washing some clothes in the lake.

     Black Eagle wanted to kill her but he couldn't because she was really beautiful. The girl's name was Nakoma .  At   first she was afraid, but they talked and laughed and walked in the forest, and soon they fell in love. That night they went back to their tribes but before they said good-bye, Black Eagle made a promise to Nakoma . He promised to go back and to see her again. They planned to meet every fool moon. So Black Eagle hid his canoe near the lake and, every month, he crossed the lake to be with Nakoma. They were madly in love.

     But one night when he looked for his canoe, it wasn't there. Black  Eagle  looked everywhere  but  he  couldn't  find  it.' So, he  decided  to  swim  across  the  lake. The  lake was  wide and  the water  was  freezing  but   Black  Eagle  was  young  and  strong. He swam  quickly  and  soon  he  could  see  Nakoma  waiting  for  him  on  the  other  side  but he  was  getting   tired. He  began  to  swim  slowly,  until  finally  he  disappeared  into  the lake  and  drowned.

     Nakoma  couldn't  do  anything  to save  him  But  she  never  forgot  the  boy  who died  for  her, and  she  promised  never  to  fall  in  love again. And  the  legend  is  that  the Indians  named  the  lake  in  memory  of  the  pure  Indian  boy. 

                                                      Ancient Greece legends

     6. There are also many famous legends, which came to us from Ancient Greece. These legends are called myths. Some of them are given below.

     Midas and the Golden Touch

     Midas was a greedy man who happened to be a king. He ruled over the Land of the Roses. It was called that because so many roses grew there.

     One day, King Midas found a man under a rose bush. "Where did you come from?" Midas asked the man. " I was at the party with Bacchus, the god of wine," answered the man. "I must be lost."

     King Midas led the man inside. He took care of him for 10 days. Then he sent him back to Bacchus.

     The wine god was always happy to get people back. '"Thank you!" he told Midas. "For your trouble, you may make a wish. Wish for anything you want!"

           "I want everything I touch to turn to gold," King Midas said.

        " It shall be done!" said Bacchus. 

     King Midas couldn't believe   his good luck. How wonderful! All he had to do was touch something and it would turn to gold! Midas looked forward to becoming very rich.

     He  sat  down to eat his dinner. He picked up his fork. As soon as his fingers touched it, it turned to gold. " Who needs silver forks when I can have gold?" Midas laughed.

     Then he picked up a piece of  bread. It , too, turned  to gold. Midas  started  to put the   bread in his mouth. But it was gold. He couldn't eat gold!

     He picked up his glass to take a drink. The glass turned to gold. And as  soon as the water  touched  his mouth, it also turned to gold.

 

     

     " Daughter! Daughter!" he called to his dear child. "Help me! Everything  I touch turns to gold!"

     He reached out to the young girl. Sure enough, she turned to gold. She froze in place. She couldn't move. It was as if she were dead.

     "Oh, dear!" cried Midas. "Now I've really done it." He looked up to the sky. 'Please, oh please, Bacchus! Take my wish away! I am hungry and thirsty! I have lost my daughter! I don't want everything to turn to gold!"

     Bacchus heard Midas crying. "Go down to the river," said Bacchus. "Wash yourself in the clear water. Your wish will wash away. Then pour the water of the river on your daughter. You will have her back."

     Midas did as Bacchus told him. When he touched the grass by the river, it did not turned to gold. It stayed as green as grass should be. The terrible wish was gone! But for years after, people found gold near the river   where Midas had washed.

                                       Narcissus and Echo

       Echo was a young woman who talked all the time. Zeus's wife, Hera couldn't stand to hear Echo talking so much. So she put a spell on her "You will never be able to speak first," Hera told Echo. "You will only be able to repeat what is said to you."

     This was very hard on a person who loved to talk. Echo would open her mouth, but nothing would come out. However, when some one finished speaking, she would repeat what was said.

     Now, all the young women were in love with a young man named Narcissus. To be sure, he had a beautiful face. However, Narcissus had a cold heart. The women all run after him, but he never even looked at them. He just run away. 
 
 

 

     

     Echo, too, fell in love with Narcissus. With Hera's spell on her, she could not speak first. One day she followed him through the woods. Narcissus heard her behind him. He turned around. He saw no one. "Is someone here?" he called.

     "Here," answered Echo, who could only repeat what hi said.

     "What do you want if I find you?" asked Narcissus.

     "You," answered Echo.

           " I will die before I love you," warned Narcissus.

     " I love you," answered Echo.

     This went on and on until Narcissus had had enough. He went along his way and left Echo behind.

     Echo felt very sad. Like all the other women, she could not catch Narcissus. She went off to a cave and melted away. Only her voice was left. You can still hear her if  you call.

     The gods on Mount Olympus saw what had happened. They decided it was time for Narcissus to learn a lesson about love. He would find out how it felt to love someone without return.

     Here is how it happened. Narcissus bent down to take a drink of water from a pond. As good-looking as hi was, this was the first time he had ever seen himself. "Look at that beautiful face!" he cried to the face in the pond. His cold heart melted. He tried to touch the face in water. But when he did, the water moved and the face went away.

     Time and time again, Narcissus tried to get close to the face in water. Time and time again, it went away without a word.

     " Now I know the young women felt when I ran away from them," said Narcissus.  
 

 

     

     He was so sad. He never felt that spot by the pound. Narcissus was in love. He began to waste away. As he was dying, he called out " Good-bye" to the face in water. "Good-bye", came the sound of Echo from the cave.

     The next spring, there was nothing left of Narcissus. But on the spot where he has sat grew a new, white flower. These flowers still grow today. They are named after Narcissus.

                                              Pandora's Box

     At one time, there were men on earth but no women. Zeus asked for the gods' help in making the first woman. The son of Zeus took some clay and gave the woman shape. The Four Wizards blew life  into her. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, gave the woman soft skin and a pretty smell and filled her with love. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, gave the woman a strong mind. Hera, the queen of the gods, made her curious. The woman would always want to know about things.

     The first woman have everything. The gods named her Pandora, this means "the gift of all." Then they gave her to a mortal named Epimetheus, to be his wife. Along with Pandora came a box. It was a gift to her new husband from the gods. They did not tell Pandora what was inside.

     Epimetheus and Pandora fell very much in love. "Why should I be so lucky?" Epimetheus wondered. "Why should the gods such a perfect woman?"

     "Please don't   ask such questions," said Pandora. "Just open the box. I want to see my gift to you. "

     "No," said Epimetheus. "I don't trust the gods. We must never open the box. It may be a trick."

       So the box stayed closed. 
 

 

     

     But Pandora grew more and more curious as to what was inside it. One day Epimetheus was away. "I must see what in the box," Pandora said to herself. "I will only look inside. I will not touch a thing."

     She slowly lifted the lid of the box. Out flew all sorts of ugly monsters. Sickness, Sadness, and Hate flew out of the box and into the world. Pandora banged down the lid as fast as she could. But all the bad things were already loose. Now the world would just have to live with them.

     When Epimetheus got home, Pandora told him what she had done. He was very sad to her news. He went over to the box "Listen" he said. "I hear a noise. Something else is still in there. Go ahead and lift the lid again. Surely, nothing could be worse than what already flew out."

     Pandora lifted the lid. There, at the bottom, was Hope. It, too, flew out of the box and into the world.

     This was just what the world needed. The people would have many bad things to deal with. But now, no matter what happened, there would always be Hope.

                                                    Flying to the Sun

     Deadalus was a bright man. He was full of ideas on how to build and make new things. His king asked him to build a life-sized maze. The king put people inside the maze, hoping they would never find their way out.

     But  some  people  did  find  their  way  out  of  the  maze. The   King  believed   that Deadalus had told them how. So he put Deadalus and his son Icarus into the maze to see if they could find their way out.

     The father and son walked and walked in the maze. Before long they hit a dead end. 

 

     

They tried again, and again they hit a dead end.

     "Are we  stuck in here for the rest of our lives?" cried Icarus.

     Deadalus raised his eyes to the blue sky above. "I am thinking of a way to escape," he said. "We might be stopped by land or water. But the air and the sky are free. They only way out of here is up. Son, we must fly out!"

     "But we are not birds," said Icarus. "How we can fly?"

     Deadalus worked out a plan . Each day, they caught a bird. They took two feathers from each bird. That way, the bird could still fly. Day by day, the pile of feathers grew.

     Together the father and son used the feathers to make wings. They got some wax from the bees that made their home in the maze. They stuck the wings together with the wax. Soon, they tried out their new wings.

     "This is great!" called the boy as he flew low to the ground. "We are liked the birds!"

     "Be careful!" called back Daedalus to his son. "We can't fly too close to the sun. The heart from the sun will melt the wax, and our wings will fall apart."

     But, like many young people, Icarus did not listen to his father. Each day he flew a little higher. The wings stayed in place. "See, Father!" laughed Icarus. "I am flying close to sun, and everything is fine!"

     At last, the day came to fly out of the maze and away to a   safe place.

     "I warn you!" said Deadalus as they rose toward the sky. "Do not fly so dose to the sun!"

     But Icarus only flew closer that ever to the sun and its heat. As he did, the wax began to melt. One by one, the feathers fell off. Before long, his wings fell apart. 
 

 

     

     Icarus fell down, down, down. Deadalus could not help his son. Icarus dropped into the sea. The water covered him, and he was gone.

      Deadalus flew on. He made it to safe land where he lived for many years. But he was sad for the rest of his days.

                           The Legend about the Cherokee Rose

     7.There is a legend from Europe, which is called "The Legend of the Cherokee Rose".

     The Old Ones say that long, long ago in the Year of the big Harvest, the land of t he Cherokee was becoming  too densely populated and they realized they must spread out into neighboring lands in order to grow and prosper. The Place Chief sent out a party of the leading men of the Nation to talk with the neighboring Creeks, who claimed vast areas of land which would be suitable. The Creeks were not as strong as the Cherokees; they had been at war for a long time.

     The Cherokees set in Council with the Creeks to arrange the terms of the exchange of territory. This Council lasted for many amenities to be observed. It is polite to sit in complete silence at the beginning. First the Medicine Man must enact the lengthy Invocation; then the Peace Pipe Ceremony must be performed. The Pipe is passed leisurely around to each member in turn. Some elaborate speeches of greeting and the presentation of gift must express the good will of  the visitors. These must be answered by the hosts. All this must not be hurried, lest it appear that they were eager to get the business over with and go on home. At the end of each day, the Creeks prepared an elaborate feast which was served by the young maidens. The most beautiful maiden of them was the Daughter of the Chief. 
 

 

     

     In the ranks of the Cherokee group was Little Hawk, nephew heir of one of the powerful Red Chiefs. The first night he seat long around the campfire composing a love song. The next afternoon he did not appear at the Council meeting. He was playing a new song on his flute near the lodge  of the Chief of the Creeks.

     They met in secret and enjoyed the thrill of a forbidden adventure. They gathered wild-flowers; they waded barefoot across the stream following after the shill cry of the blue jay. He told her of the land of his people, where the son is always shining and the cold winds never blow. He knew he was expected to choose a wife from the proper Clan of an important Cherokee Village, thus increasing the power and solidarity of the Nation. But the Redbird Spirit of Love pays no heed to the notions of nations at the breast of the young Muskokee maiden, the Daughter of  the Chief.

     The young lovers finely agreed that when the Council was ended, and his people went on their way, he would come for her. They planned that if he should be detained, she would hide in the thicket at the bend of the river, and he would come for her there.

     The Creeks agreed to move back past the blank of the Chattahoochee to allow for the expansion of the Cherokee Nation. Some of the Creek Warriors objected to the trading away of their lands and wanted to fight for it, but the Chief could see that there was no chance of saving the land. He argued that it was better to trade it away then to lose it, along with many lives. So when the Cherokees had left, and the Daughter of the Chief was missing, the Creek Warrior joined in the search for her. Unfortunately, they were the first to find her hiding place. 

 

      When the Little Hawk arrived, he found her – dead. He buried her there, and rejoining his own group, started the long journey homeward. He returned the next Spring and found among the bright green leaves that grew over the mound the tender white petals of the wild rose. He knelt beside it and called it THE ROSE OF THE CHEROKEE, for he had claimed her for his own. He carried it back to his home and planted it. But long before the long winter was over he grew eager to see the blossoms again; so he went back to her grave and waited until death came.