9 The Beaver's Tail

The Beaver's Tail

Long, long ago there was a beautiful river. It ran down a steep hill. The water was deep and clean and sparkled in the sun. The river was the home of two friends — Hanee, the beaver and Tindui, the otter. Hanee lived on one side of the river and Tindui lived on the other.

Hanee, the beaver, liked to work hard. All day long she chewed down trees, and carried logs to make her home bigger and stronger. Tindui, the otter, liked to play. All day long he splashed about in the water, and chased his tail. Every day, Tindui watched the busy beaver working hard. "I wish Hanee would stop working just for a while and play with me," he thought.

Then, one day, Tindui had a clever idea. He began to build something. After a while, he called across the river to his friend, "Hanee! Look at what I have built. It's a slide!" Hanee didn't answer. "I bet you can't build a slide as big as this one," said Tindui.

Hanee stopped working and looked up. Tindui smiled to himself. His plan was working. "I bet I can," Hanee called across the river. "I can build a bigger and better slide than you have ever seen!" The beaver quickly began moving all the rocks and logs she could find. All morning Hanee worked. She worked harder than Tindui had ever seen. and higher. and higher, Hanee built her slide higher,

When Hanee had finished, she called to the otter, "Look at my slide! I bet this is the biggest and best slide you have ever seen." Then she climbed to the top of her slide and slid down. "Ouch!" cried Hanee. "Those logs are hard. Next time, I will have to sit on my tail." Hanee climbed up to the top of her slide again. This time, she sat on her tail and slid all the way down in to the sparkling water. Tindui climbed up the slide and slid down after her. They climbed and slid and splashed all afternoon. They had great fun, and for once, Hanee forgot all about work.