A Tale of a Tail
Genre: Folktale
Long ago, there lived a beaver named Ray.
Ray was quite proud of his nice thick tail. He spent a lot of time brushing and fluffing it.
“I have a splendid tail,” Ray bragged.
“It is the best tail that an animal can have!”
One fine day in April, Ray went out.
“It is a nice day to chop wood,” he said. So Ray got his ax. He chopped, chopped, chopped a big tree eight times.
The big tree swayed this way and that. Then it fell—on top of Ray's tail! Ray tugged and tugged at his tail. He gasped when he pulled it out.
“My tail is flat!” Ray wailed.
The sun looked down at him. She could tell that Ray felt bad about his tail.
“A flat tail will help you swim fast,” the sun explained. “A flat tail can send a signal, too. Just slap it on the water.”
That made Ray happy.
“I have a special tail!” yelled Ray.
Then Ray slapped his tail on the water. SLAP, SLAP, SLAP!
His pals came running. “Do you want our help?” they asked.
“I want to give you a ride,” said Ray.
“Hop on my tail. I will carry you across the lake.”
And happy Ray swam off as fast as a fish!