The Chemawa American, November 03, 1926, Page 4, Image 4

THE CHEM AW A AMERICAN
PAGE 4
THE RAVEN AND THE FISH-HAWK
(Continued from page 1)
saw the Fish-hawk fall as if he were dead, right down
on the ice, right through the ice, and the Raven was
certain that he had been killed at once. The Raven
ran to the edge of the river, but could find no trace of
the Fish-hawk until after a few seconds he saw him
come up from under the ice with a number of trout.
Of course the Raven was greatly surprised at this new
way of fishing and decided he would like to try it him­
self. So after the Fish-hawk had given him a feast
and the Raven had all he could possibly eat, he started
back home again and invited the Fish-hawk over to his
house for a feast the next day.
The next day Mr. Fish-hawk went over to the Rav­
en’s house and as he entered the place he was aware
of the fact that there was no food anywhere in sight,
yet he felt quite sure that the Raven would not have
asked him to visit him if he had no food at all. He
watched the Raven carefully and saw that he built the
fire and then walked out of the house. The Fish-hawk
wondered what he was going to do. He saw the Rav­
en climb a high tree growing close to the river. When
he reached the top of the tree, the Fish-hawk heard
him singing and his song sounded very much like the
one the Fish-hawk himself had used the day before,
so the Fish-hawk was certain that the Raven could do
just as he did. When the Raven finished his song he
permitted himself to fall down swiftly and he hit the
ice with a great thud, but did not break through the
ice as the Fish-hawk had done and so when he landed
on the ice all the bones in his body were broken and
he died instantly.
The Fish-hawk, who was watching from the window
in the house could not see down to the river and did
not know that the Raven had been killed. He thought
that the Raven was as skilled in doing this stunt as he
himself was and therefore he waited to see the Raven
come up towards the house with a catch of fish. After
he waited for him several minutes he suspected some
evil, so he walked down to the creek and there he dis­
covered the broken body of Raven. It made the Fish-
hawk feel very badly that his neighbor was killed just
because he was foolish enough to try to do this trick
and so he tried his best to bring him to life again. He
picked up the pieces and placed them together and then
he sang and danced around them until the Raven
finally came back to life.
The Raven looked up and said: “Why, I must have
been asleep for quite a time,” but the Fish-hawk told
him that he had not been asleep, but dead, adding:
“I did not think that you were foolish enough to try
to perform such a dangerous stunt as you must have
known that you were unable to do it. In the future
you want to be sure you know how to do a thing be­
fore you try it.” Then he carried the Raven up to
his house and came down to the stream again. He
climed the tree from which the Raven had fallen and
after singing his great song, he let himself fall to the
ice, breaking through it and after a second or two he
came up with several fine fish. These he took up to
the Raven’s house and left them there so that the Rav­
en might have food while he was recovering from his
fall.
Mr. Fish-hawk went home that day very much dis­
gusted with his neighbor, the Raven. He had discov­
ered that the Raven was not a great man at all, but
merely a fraud, and he was greatly disappointed in him.
Now the lesson part of this story is that one should
not attempt to do the impossible. If you know you
are not qualified to do certain things, do not try
just because you see someone else doing them, and so
cause others to laugh at you and call you a fool. Test
your strength, your power, your knowledge, and then
act accordingly!
GENIUS AND WORK
Anyone can work, but it takes a genius to create
something new. For, after all, work is only an ex­
ertion of one’s strength to effect something. One
works according to certain set rules and regulations
set by man and nature, and directs his efforts toward
an end. But the genius is not satisfied with working
out his problems by the usual tried methods; he is
anxious to explore and try out his own ideas. He is
the one that gives the finishing touches that transform
a common, every-day task to one of beauty and admir­
ation.
Anna Peratrovich
Many people have an idea that genius and work are
twins and must be put together before making a suc­
cess. Genius seems to be a mental peculiarity of an
individual. It is a certain disposition of the mind
which qualifies a person for certain kinds of actions,
ora special success in a given pursuit. Work is a
task which one undertakes to do. Many people see a
task which should be done and take it upon him- or
herself to do it. Not because he is a genius; but he
sees the necessity of it. To put genius and work to­
gether is a gift, we have had some great people who
possessed the genius and labored hard to make it of
benefit, not for himself, but for every one else. For
an excellent example, Thomas Edison is a man that
possessed the genius and went behind locked doors to
accomplish something and develop more of the genius
which was his gift.
May belle Bremner
Genius. How many of us have longed for that
quality, which is given to a favored few. Yet if we
all work for the thing we love and believe that it will
come to us, we will accomplish just as much as the man
who is a Genius and more, as we will naturally study
other subjects to help us attain our object. The words
of Lowell bring this out plainly, “Talent is that which
is in a man’s power, and Genius is that in whose power
man is.” We can only have talent by working and
striving for the object in view, and in doing so work
for an education to better ourselves for the task. The
man who works is usually a success in many things,
while the Genius may be a success, but has only the
one gift.
Williamette Blakeslee