Bullberries by Shelby

Napi went wandering through the forest one day. He was very hungry. He came to a lake. Stopping for a drink, he saw lying at the bottom of the lake a cluster of bright berries. This is just what he wanted. So he tried to reach them by diving in. Again and again he dived into the clear water but he could not reach the bottom. Each time he stood on the bank he saw them there. At last he made a plan, which would not fail. Tearing strips of bark from the trees, he tied heavy stones about his wrist and neck and waist. He tied them there with the bark and he dived again. This time he reached the bottom but there were no berries there. When he wanted to come up the stones still held him to the bottom down, feet floating up. He had to struggle to get the stings of bark off but at last he threw himself onto the bank of the pool. He laid there choking for air. He looked up into tangled branches above and there, just above his own head there was the berries he was diving for. He was so mad at being tricked that he took a stick and beat the bushes until the branches were broken and the berries dropped to the ground. “Your branches will always look broken and people will always gather your berries by beating you,” he told the tree. People always have.