The Crow and the Crooked Banana Plant

A fable about how people got hair.

          Long ago, people had no hair on their shiny, round heads. All the furry animals and all the leafy plants felt sorry for the baldy, boldy humans. All except one. The blue-black crow loved to fly over the unprotected pink noggins and drop twigs and pebbles or leaves and old feathers on unsuspecting victims. All the furry animals and all the leafy plants felt sorry for the baldy, boldy humans. None of them thought to help - except for the crooked banana plant. It was grateful. Humans took care of the banana plant and protected it from disease, waiting for the time to harvest the fruit. So there was nothing the crooked banana plant wanted more than to catch that cackling crow and pluck out all of his blue-black feathers. But of course, a crooked banana plant can't catch anything, not having any hands. Even so, it didn't give up.

          The banana plant first tried pulling the crow's own trick, dropping a green banana as the crow shaded below. Alas, the swift-winged blue-black crow was away almost before the banana came loose.

          The crooked banana plant came up with a second plan. The boistrous little crow often came to peck at the fruit of the banana plant. If only its blue-black wings got tangled pitifully in the banana plant's broad leaves. Then the humans would suffer no more!

          But again the crow managed to escape, dodging as the long leaves swayed and rustled in his direction. As I've said, a crooked banana plant can't catch anything.

          So the poor banana plant gave up at last, and the poorer humans continued to be annoyed and tormented by the crow's painful pranks.

          Harvest day came, but none of the men felt like harvesting bananas, their heads ached and tickled so. The crooked banana plant just felt like crying for them.

          Then it got yet another idea in its leafy head. It gently let out the fruit from their skins and let them fall, already ripe enough to "splat" on the ground. All the humans, which were few back then, gathered around to see what was happening to their beloved banana plant. Then the banana skins came loose, "plop, plop," and each landed on the head of a baldy, boldy man, or a baldy, boldy woman, or a baldy, boldy child.

          Why, it felt so lovely and cool after all those sticks and rocks! The people smiled and walked about, not nearly as afraid of being hit on the head by a little pebble or twig, or a tickly leaf or feather. The banana skins did get shredded into soft fibers after a while, and after even longer the silky stuff grew ito hair, which was a little like animals' fur, but not quite.

          That old crow was beaten at last. He was afraid to drop anything larger than a twig or pebble. Who knew what an innocent-looking crooked banana plant might think up next?

 

Author's Note

I wrote this when I was 14, for my little brothers, on a long trip.

Reviews

[matpat]

I liked your fable and thought it was very creative!

[J.E. Stroud]

Haha, I think it's very cute!