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Rainbow Crow Brings Fire
Lenape legend
Rainbow Crow was the most beautiful and enchanting creature on Earth. The other animals in the world were amazed by his beauty. His feathers were all the colors of the rainbow and sparkled like raindrops in the sunlight. Rainbow Crow also had a lovely song that made all Earth’s creatures happy when they heard it. The other animals looked up to Rainbow Crow and depended on his leadership.
All the animals lived together mostly in harmony. They were happy living in the warm sun. Then one day, the Snow Spirit appeared. The Snow Spirit brought freezing temperatures and ice. The animals shivered in the cold and could not hunt the way they used to. The animals talked to Rainbow Crow and begged him to help them. They wanted him to talk to the Creator and ask the Creator for help.
Rainbow Crow agreed to help the animals. He knew his beautiful song was difficult for anyone to resist, so he planned to sing a song for the Creator in hopes of gaining a favor in return. Rainbow Crow planned to fly the far distance to see the Creator in the sky. Rainbow Crow started on his journey, and he flew and flew until his muscles ached. He looked out at his beautiful wings, which looked rumpled and dull from the wind and dust. But, Rainbow Crow continued on as he would not give up on his journey. Finally, he reached the area where the Creator lived. He took a deep breath and began to sing his beautiful melody. The tune was soft but elegant. Soon, the Creator said, “Rainbow Crow, is that you? Come into my house, so you can entertain me with your beautiful song.”
Rainbow Crow flew into the Creator’s home and entertained him with another song. When he was finished singing, Rainbow Crow told the Creator about the animals’ plight. The Creator felt bad for the animals. He told Rainbow Crow that he wanted to help; however, he could not make the Snow Spirit leave. Instead, the Creator said he would give the animals fire.
“Fire will help you stay warm, even when it is cold and snowy. But I must warn you, fire is a powerful tool, and you must always treat it with care,” said the Creator.
The Creator held a long branch up to the sun, and the end of the branch began to crackle and smoke. Eventually the branch burst into flames, and Rainbow Crow felt the warmth of the fire burning on the stick.
“Fly quickly back to Earth, Rainbow Crow, or the fire will burn up the whole branch and be lost. I will not give you a second chance.”
Rainbow Crow was nervous. He realized that the other animals were depending on him. He snatched the branch from the Creator’s hand. “I understand, and I will deliver the fire back to Earth.”
Rainbow Crow flew as quickly as he could. He felt the warmth of the fire at the end of the branch. The fire’s light was very bright, and he had to narrow his eyes because of it. As the time passed, the fire burned farther down the branch. The black smoke trailed from the fire like long strings. As the strings came nearer to Rainbow Crow, the smoke burned his throat and made him cough.
Rainbow Crow could see the forest, but he was becoming very nervous. The fire was burning much farther down the branch. He adjusted the branch in his mouth so that he was holding only a very small portion in his beak. The fire burned closer and closer to Rainbow Crow, and his beautiful feathers began to be coated in gray from the soot. His throat and eyes burned.
Only a bit farther, he told himself. He started to fly even faster and finally reached the forest. The animals cheered, and Bear took the branch from Rainbow Crow’s beak. Bear placed the stick on a pile of twigs. Woosh! The twigs caught fire. The animals added more wood, and soon they had a large bonfire.
In all their excitement, the animals had nearly forgotten about Rainbow Crow. Then Bear turned to thank the bird. Bear could hardly believe his eyes. Rainbow Crow looked completely different. The fire had burned and stained his feathers black. His beak was gray. When Rainbow Crow opened his beak to sing, he could make only a loud squawk because the smoke had damaged his voice. From that day on, all the animals of the forest called him Crow. They were always thankful to Crow for sacrificing his beautiful feathers and singing voice so they would have fire.
Question
Which word BEST matches the theme of the story?
Responses
A greedgreed
B lovelove
C sacrificesacrifice
D vanityvanity
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