This is the story of Bear's tail. I've heard it told in Germany,
and in North America by the Iroquois Indians.
A long time ago, Bear had a beautiful, long, furry tail. He thought
it was really cool. He laid it out behind him and people had to
walk round it.
He asked everyone: "Don't you think my tail is the most beautiful
tail you've ever seen?"
People thought Bear was very vain, but they were frightened of his
big claws and didn't want to make him angry
So they told him he looked totally cool with his big, black, shiny
tail. One cold winter's day, Bear went lumbering down to the
lake.
Fox was sitting on the frozen water, surrounded by fish.
He knew that Bear was hungry, and decided to play a trick on him.
"Hello brother Fox" said Bear, his mouth watering. "Where did you
get all those fish?"
"I caught them" said Fox, pointing to a hole in the ice. "But you
don't have anything to fish with" said Bear.
"I used my tail" said Fox. Bear was totally blown away by this.
"You used your Tail?" he shouted.
"Sure. It's the best thing for catching fish. Shall I show how?Then
you'll always have as many fish as you want to eat."
"Yes please" said Bear in his deep, gruff voice. His mouth watered
again.
Fox pointed to the hole in the ice. "There's no fish left in there.
Let's go to another part of the lake where there's more."
Trying not to laugh, Fox led Bear to a shallow part of the lake.
Bear dug a hole in the ice with his claws.
Now, sit with your back to the hole and drop your beautiful tail
into the water," said Fox.
"You'll feel when a fish bites. Then you can pull your tail out
with the fish on the end of it."
Bear wanted the fish big time.
He put his tail into the icy water.
"Now" said Fox, "this is important. You must sit very still and
only think about fish. Pretend to count the fish you catch with
your tail. The more you count, the more you will catch."
