HOW THE TURKEY GOT HIS BEARD
But the Turkey was not satisfied and told the others there must be some trick about it. Said he, "I know the Terrapin can't run—he can hardly crawl—and I'm going to try him."
So one day the Turkey met the Terrapin coming home from war with a fresh scalp hanging from his neck and dragging on the ground as he traveled. The Turkey laughed at the sight and said, "That scalp don't look right on you. Your neck is too short and low down to wear it that way. Let me show you."
The Terrapin agreed and gave the scalp to the Turkey, who fastened it around his neck. "Now," said the Turkey, "I'll walk a little way and you can see how it looks." So he walked ahead a short distance and then turned and asked the Terrapin how he liked it.
Said the Terrapin, "It looks very nice; it becomes you."
"Now I'll fix it in a different way and let you see how it looks," said the Turkey. So he gave the string another pull and walked ahead again.
"Oh, that looks very nice," said the Terrapin.
But the Turkey kept on walking, and when the Terrapin called to him to bring back the scalp, he only walked faster and broke into a run.
Then the Terrapin got out his bow and by his conjuring art shot a number of cane splints into the Turkey's leg to cripple him so that he could not run, which accounts for all the many small bones in the Turkey's leg that are of no use whatever.
But the Terrapin never caught the Turkey, who still wears the scalp from his neck.
Story Title: How The Turkey Got His Beard
Book Title: Myths of the Cherokee
Author: James Mooney
Published: 1900
Rights: CC0 Public Domain
Online Source: Sacred Texts
Process: Light editing for paragraphing and punctuation.
