Long ago, back in the days when animals could talk, Bear was out walking around. As he walked, Bear was boasting.
"Hmmph!" he said. "I am the strongest of all the animals. "Hmmph!" he said. "I am the strongest of all the animals.
"Hmmph!" "I am the biggest of all the animals. "Hmmph!" he said. "I can do anything because I am Bear. If I want anyone to do my bidding, I only have to tell them because I am Bear. Bear, can do anything."
Just as Bear said that, a little voice down near the ground spoke up. It said, "You cannot do everything." Bear looked down. There was Chipmunk, sticking his head out of his hole.
Bear looked down at him and said, "I Bear, can do anything I wish."
"If this is so," said the Chipmunk, "can you tell the sun not to come up this morning?"
Bear thought for a moment and said, "Yes, That I can do. I, Bear, can tell the sun not to rise. In fact, tomorrow, the sun will not come up."
"That is good," said Chipmunk. "I will stay and watch." And the two sat down right there. The sun was going down, and Bear and Chipmunk turned to face the east and wait for the sun not to come up the next morning.
As they sat there through the night, Bear was chanting under his breath. He was saying, "The sun will not come up. The sun will not come up. I, Bear, command it. The sun will not come up."
But sitting next to him, Chipmunk was chanting under his breath, "The sun is going to rise. The sun is going to rise. Bear will be foolish. The sun is going to rise."
As the night ended, a little bit of light began to appear there in the east. Bear began to chant louder, "The sun will come up. The sun will not come up."But little Chipmunk next to him was saying, The sun is going to rise."
As Bear chanted as hard as he could, facing the direction of the sun and telling it not to come up.
Chipmunk began to laugh. He rolled over and over with laughter. "Bear is a fool!" he said. "Bear is so foolish! The sun came up, the sun came up! The sun came up!"
Suddenly Whomp! a big paw came down on top of Chipmunk. Bear looked down as he held Chipmunk there on the ground, and he said, "Indeed the sun did come up. But you will never see another sunrise!"
Chipmunk knew now how foolish he had been. Thought quickly. "Oh Bear," he said, "you are right to kill me. I am a foolish little Chipmunk. I am worthless and I mean nothing in the world. You, Bear, are the greatest of all, and if only you would lift your paw a little bit so that I could catch my breath, I would tell you how wonderful you are before you kill me."
Bear said, "That is a good idea." He lifted up his paw just a little bit, and Chipmunk scooted out and Whoosh!
Bear's claws scraped right down Chipmunk's back just as he dove into his hole.
Chipmunk stayed in his hole all through the winter while those wounds on his back healed up. And when he came out in the spring, he had stripes on his back. To this day, if you see Chipmunk, you will see those stripes, and it may remind you, as it reminds Chipmunk, to be careful whom you make fun of. You may be the one who is foolish in the long run..
That is how that story of Chipmunk and Bear goes. Ho? Hey.
