FOLK TALE

Holding Up the Sky

a tale from China

One day an elephant saw a hummingbird lying on the ground with its tiny feet up in the air. “Why are you doing that?” the elephant asked.

“I heard that the sky might fall today,” the hummingbird replied. “I am going to help hold it up.”

The mighty elephant made fun of the little bird. “Do you think,” he sneered, “that those tiny feet could hold up the sky?”

The hummingbird kept his feet up in the air as he replied, “Not alone. But everyone must do whatever he can. And this is what I can do.”