Stories
With a Moral, Miscellaneous Stories, Scouting Stories
Won Lee was a stone cutter
who lived in ancient China. He cut large stones and he cut small stones.
He made them into ornaments for gardens. Some he cut to build houses.
He was proud of his work, but sometimes he would think, "If only I had
more money" or "If only I had less work."
One day, Won Lee was
walking home from work. The sun was very hot and he was tired, so he
sat down at the side of the road. He felt the heat of the sun and thought,
"It's the sun that gives us the daylight, the warmth to grow our crops.
Surely the sun must be the most powerful of all things."
Won Lee said quietly
to himself, "God, if only I could be the sun. I would love to feel what
it is like to be the most powerful, the greatest of all things."
God answered Won Lee.
"You may become the sun." He said. And Won Lee became the sun. He felt
wonderful; so strong and powerful. He shone down on the world far below.
After a few days, a puffy
white cloud appeared in the sky. It drifted about and, when it came
near Won Lee, it blotted out his rays and cast a shadow on the world.
Won Lee was sad. Surely this cloud was more powerful than he ? "If only
I were the cloud. That would make me the greatest of all things," he
said.
God heard, and again
He answered: "Won Lee, you may become the cloud." So Won Lee floated
about the sky feeling very grand.
One day, Won Lee saw
a great black cloud coming his way. Soon it surrounded him, and he saw
the black cloud dripping droplets of water. The drops fell on the earth
and made a mighty river.
Won Lee thought that
this black cloud must be very powerful to swallow up a cloud and turn
itself into a river, so he said, "If only I were the river. How mighty
I would be. Then I would be truly happy."
Again God heard and answered:
"Okay. You may be the river."
So Won Lee flowed along,
feeling the mighty rush of water. Then he came to a bend in the river.
There was a great boulder jutting out into the river. The great boulder
held the river, swirling it back on itself.
Won Lee thought, "The
rock ! The rock ! At last I have found the mightiest of all things.
If this rock can hold back the raging river, then it is the greatest.
If only I were this great big rock, I would be happy."
So God made Won Lee into
the boulder and he stood there, holding back the water and feeling very
great and happy. Then, one day, along came a man who cut a large piece
off the boulder. Won Lee was sad. No longer was he the greatest if this
man could come along and cut him up.
"If only I could be the
man who cut up the stone, I would surely be the greatest," Won Lee thought.
And God said to Won Lee:
"But you are the Stone Cutter!"
-- Australian Scout magazine
During our 1991 (Feb) winter
camp, I was called to tell a story during campfire. The weather outside
was bitterly cold (-25 Celsius) and the wind was howling. I hadn't given
a story much thought, because I usually have one tucked away in the back
of my mind for all occasions. This time I was stumped. After a couple
milliseconds, the brain kicked in and the light went on. We were inside
the main cabin for an indoor fire. I turned the lights down low, leaving
only a small spotlight on the Wolf's head above the fireplace. I got a
chair, turned it around & sat down on it backwards. The atmosphere
was somber, and quiet. You could hear the wind howling outside.
-- Start of Story
Years ago, right here
at this camp, a Cub pack, much like ours came out for the weekend. As
with most every pack, there's always one Cub, who's much better than
everyone else in his camping skills. This Pack had an exceptional Cub,
who everyone looked up to, to help them out if they were having any
problems. This Cub could walk farther than anyone else, catch bigger
fish, make a better snow-fort to sleep in, start a fire with one match
every time, could snowshoe faster than the leaders, and many more skills.
Everyone would ask him for help, because he was so good. The leaders
relayed on him to help teach all the Cub skills, and he did it with
a smile on his face. Everyone liked him because he was so friendly.
Saturday night, he and
a few of his friends decided to sleep outside in a snow fort. The Cub
helped everyone to get settled, before turning in himself. The Camp
Chief came out to check on them periodically, so no one would get cold.
In the middle of the night, the Cub was awoken by the call to nature.
He woke up a couple of his buddies to go with him, as he knew that no
one should go anywhere without a buddy. His friends told him that since
he was the best Cub in the pack, and knew so much, that there was no
chance for something to go wrong. You all know, that flattery is great
for one's ego, and this Cub was no different. He got dressed and ventured
outside to one of the biffies, to complete his task.
After he had done, he
got dressed again, and started back to his snow fort. But when he opened
the door to the biffie, he saw that a storm had moved in. He started
to return to his fort, but the tracks he had left had been blown over
by the storm. He tried to find his way back, but the wind was driving
the snow in his eyes and he couldn't see anything. He walked as fast
as he could to where he thought the fort was, but he couldn't find it.
He walked, and stumbled in the storm for what seemed a long time, when
he realized he was in trouble. He remembered the first rule when lost
in the winter: stop and build a fire. He found a spot to dig out a cave
in a snow bank, and crawled in. He had an emergency kit with him, and
quickly had a fire going.
The next morning, everyone
awoke to find a clean, crisp layer of white snow had covered the camp.
It didn't take long for the Cub's friends to realized that he was missing,
and they ran to tell the rest of the camp. Everyone got dressed in their
warmest clothes and quickly started a search party. They scoured the
entire camp for hours, but couldn't find the Lost Cub. For the rest
of the day, everyone searched for him. They called the police to help,
but still couldn't find him. For days, search parties combed the area
looking for the Cub, but he was never found.
It was a sad year for
that Cub Pack. They had lost a great friend. In the Spring, they gathered
again at the camp to search for the Cub's remains. Again, everyone searched
everywhere, but couldn't find him.
I often walk through
these woods at night, and often think about the Lost Cub. It's been
said that if you are walking alone through these woods at night, you
may feel a cold draft shiver down your back. It maybe the Lost Cub reminding
you to get a BUDDY!
-- End of Story
I've told this story
a couple other times, and have gotten the same re-action; sadness &
remorse from all. It's really helped to emphasize the "buddy system"
in our Pack. I still get questions from older Cubs - Was that story
real? I never answer.
-- Thanks to Randy Carnduff
A Rabbi and a soap maker
were walking along and the soap maker questioned the Rabbi by asking,
"What good is religion? There's been religion for a long time, but people
are still bad to each other"
The Rabbi was silent
until they say a boy who was dirty from playing in the street. The Rabbi
asked the soap maker, "What good is soap? We've had soap for many, many
years and people still get dirty"
The soap maker protested
the comparison and insisted that the soap had to be used in order to
keep people clean. "Exactly my point", said the Rabbi. "Religion", he
said, "has to be applied in order to do anybody any good."
Long ago, somewhere in Africa,
a little place called Koolamunga had a Scout troop but no Cub Pack. When
the missionary, John Cristy, sent out word that he was going to start
a pack, all the boys who were too young to be Scouts rushed over to join.
John looked out at rows
and rows of faces - black, white, brown, yellow, and some so dirty you
couldn't tell. It was impossible to start a pack with 40 or 50 Cubs
! "You can't be a Cub until you are eight," he said, "so would everybody
younger please go home."
Nobody left. The six
and seven-year-olds stood as tall as they could and tried to look tough.
John realized he would have to sort them out some other way. So he told
them the Cub Law. And then he said, "Next week, we will have an obstacle
race. You can all come, but I shall start the pack with the 12 boys
who do their best to keep the Law during the race."
A big crowd gathered
on race day. The Scouts came along to help John pick his 12 Cubs. John
designed an obstacle course so tough that it automatically eliminated
the boys who were too young. The others had to run half a kilometer
downhill to the river through prickles and a mangrove swamp with knee-deep
mud. Then they had to swim across the river. On the other side, they
had to climb a steep bank, go along the top, cross over the river again
by a fallen tree bridge, and finally climb 300 m up the hill to the
finish.
"This is not a race,"
John told them. "It's a test to see who can really do his best to keep
the Cub Law." And he was already sorting them out. Some jabbered away
and didn't listen to the rules. One put his foot over the starting line.
"Ready, steady, GO!" John shouted, and off they went.
Very soon, some of them
were yelling and swearing at the prickles. In the swamp, some gave up,
pretending they were hurt. One boy thought he would be clever and sneak
along the bank instead of swimming across the river.
A small boy caught his
foot in a floating branch and thought it was a crocodile. John didn't
blame him for yelling, but noticed a red-headed boy swim back to pull
the branch free. Then he saw a white hand shoot out and duck a black
head. That settled the white boy's chances, but the black face came
up smiling and the boy swam on without complaint. On the tree bridge,
there was a good deal of bumping, some by mistake and some by mistake-on-
purpose.
Only 20 boys finished
the race, and the first 12 home were sure they would be chosen. But
the Scouts put aside those who had cheated or taken short cuts, those
who had pretended to be hurt, and those who had sworn or lost their
temper.
John chose only boys
who had done their best to keep the Cub Law. There were 11 of them.
For the 12th, he chose a boy named Peter who was watching but hadn't
taken part in the race. John knew his mother was ill. She'd asked Peter
to look after the younger children to make sure they didn't fall into
the river, and he did it without a grumble.
And who do you think
he asked to be his sixers ? He chose the red-haired boy who had turned
back to help with the crocodile that wasn't a crocodile, and the black
boy who came up smiling after being ducked.
And that's how the 1st
Koolamunga Pack began. If you'd been there, would you have been one
of the 12 chosen ?
-- Leader Magazine, January,
1989
There was this farmer who
had many fields. And throughout all his fields, he worked very very hard
at keeping all the animals away, and as such, out of his crops that he
worked very very hard to plant.
And ... He was successful
in keeping all the animals out. No birds, no deer, NOTHING got through
all his wire fences and traps that he had set out to keep the animals
out.
As time went on, this
farmer got more and more lonely. So lonely as a matter of fact, that
one day, he went out into his fields, held his arms out wide and called
to all of the animals to come. He stood there all day and night with
his arms out wide, calling to all the animals, but you know what, none
of the animals came ... No, not one. ... And what was the reason none
came?
All of the animals were
afraid of the farmers ... new scarecrow out in the field.
-- Thanks to Brad George
This Poem was written by
a Grade 12 Student who committed suicide some 2 weeks later.
He always wanted to explain
things.
But no one cared.
So he drew.
Sometimes he would draw
and it wasn't anything. He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in
the sky. He would lie out on the grass and look up in the sky. And it
would be only him and the sky and the things inside him that needed
saying. And it was after that he drew the picture. It was a beautiful
picture. He kept it under his pillow and would let no one see it. And
he would look at it every night and think about it. And when it was
dark, and his eyes were closed, he could still see it. And it was all
of him. And he loved it. When he started school he brought it with him.
Not to show anyone, but just to have it with him like a friend. It was
funny about school. He sat in a square, brown desk. Like all the other
square, brown desks. And he thought it should be red. And his room was
a square brown room. Like all the other rooms. And it was tight and
close. And stiff. He hated to hold the pencil and chalk, With his arm
stiff and his feet flat on the floor, Stiff. With the teacher watching
and watching. The teacher came and spoke to him. She told him to wear
a tie like all the other boys. He said he didn't like them. And she
said it didn't matter. After that they drew. And he drew all yellow
and it was the way he felt about morning. And it was beautiful. The
teacher came and smiled at him. "What's this?" she said. "Why don't
you draw something like Ken's drawing? Isn't that beautiful?" After
that his mother bought him a tie. And he always drew airplanes and rocket
ships like everyone else. And he threw the old picture away. And when
he lay alone looking at the sky, it was big and blue and all of everything.
But he wasn't anymore. He was square inside And brown And his hands
were stiff. And he was like everyone else. And the things inside him
that needed saying didn't need it anymore. It had stopped pushing. It
was crushed. Stiff. Like everything else.
-- Thanks to Heather
McCaslin, Troop Scouter
Hear now the Webelos legend;
The tale of the Webelos tribe; The tale of Akela its Chieftain.
'Hoo', called the owl
in the darkness and Mowglie, the Indian boy Lay in his tipi and listened
to the rustle of trees in the night.
'Boom' went the deep
muffled beat of the great ceremonial drum; the braves of the tribe were
convening, He wished he could answer that call.
Quick, like the flight
of an arrow; Quiet, in the hush of the night; Before a great fire ring
they gathered Awaiting Akela their Chief.
Here in the great council
ring fire On top of the cliff there they met. Here often they come for
decisions Here, too, the Great Spirit they sought.
Here they sought help
from the Spirit On hunt or on warpath; in peace. Here they met their
Chief Akela; Awaited his final decrees.
Now with the 'boom' of
the big drum All was quiet, the night was quiet still. The great ceremonial
fire, when lighted, illuminated the hill
The tom-toms began, set
the rhythm, Akela stepped into the Ring. First low and slow, then ...
like thunder... The beat as he danced near the fire.
Dancing with grace, full
of gesture, In costume he told of his life. He told of the strength
of his father, The powerful 'Arrow of Light'
'Kind Eyes' his mother,
taught those things that only a mother can know. He once save her life
with his arrow; His father helped fashion his bow.
The tom-toms beat on
and his dance Told of trips to the forest, where wolf Taught him the
ways of the wild life of the ground, of the tracks, ways to food.
Through dancing and gesture
he told how he next faced the Bear and learned The meaning of Courage;
and then He became a young Scout on the trail.
Akela, the Wise, closed
his dance. By sign and by gesture he told How the Tribe can be strong
only when The boys of the Tribe are quite strong.
He said this, 'The future
is hidden But if we are strong and are brave, If we can teach our boys
to be square, Our tribe will continue to be strong.'
"Let us name our tribe
for the Bobcat, The Wolf and the Bear and the Scout, The Webelos Tribe
we'll be called and The strongest of all we will be."
Akela thus ended his
dance The beat of the tom-tom was stilled. In silence the warriors stood,
Then gave the great guttural "HOW"!
The fire burned low,
all was still. No sound broke the hush on the hill, Save the crackle
of embers and all The mysterious half- noises of night.
The braves raised their
right hand toward heaven. "Living Circle" was formed with their left.
The Webelos pledge was then given; "To live and help live' was their
pledge.
This, then, is the Webelos
legend. This, then, is the reason they're strong. They honor the pledge
which they make; "To live and help live" is their goal.
-- Arranged from the
prose by Milton Klint, Salina, Kansas
I found this as a skit in
a 1962 edition of The How To Book Of Cub Scouting. I modified it for an
advancement ceremony. I changed the main character from Brave Heart to
Akela. I also changed the events a little to fit the advancement ranks
we had. I left it as a ceremony when I included it here. You can uses
it as a ceremony or change it into a story or skit.
Baloo: Akela had to pass
a test to prove himself worthy of becoming chief. All the braves were
given four arrows. These were special arrows, once they had been used
they would shatter. They could only eat food they had caught themselves.
The brave who stayed out the longest would become chief.
Akela: I walked far from
camp and stopped at the side of a clearing. I waited all night for a
deer to come by. I took careful aim and shot. It provided me with food
for many days. It's hide provided me with clothing.
Baloo: This showed that
Akela had learned the basic skills he needed. It also showed the virtue
of patience. The rank of Bobcat indicates the Cub Scout has learned
the basic skills. Will _____ come up an join us by the campfire. Your
parents will join you later. ____ has earned his (their) Bobcat badge(s).
Akela: I walked along
the trail near the stream. There, I came upon a friend laying in the
trail. He had used up all his arrows and was starving. I saw a squirrel
in a near by tree. I wanted to save my arrows for bigger game, but my
friend was starving. So, I shot the squirrel for my friend.
Baloo: This showed Akela
had learned the value of friendship and that he was unselfish. The Wolf
badge indicates the Cub Scout has learned new things has he travels
the trail of Scouting. Will _____ come up an join us by the campfire.
____ has earned his (their) Wolf badge(s).
Akela: As I followed
the trail by the stream, I came face to face with a huge bear. It growled
and started running toward me. I strung my bow, took careful aim and
when he was near I shot and killed him. He provided me with food for
many more days. His heavy coat provided me with shelter from the cold
nights.
Baloo: This showed Akela
is brave. This is also why honor the Cubs at the next level of accomplishment
with the Bear badge. Will _____ come up an join us by the campfire.
____ has earned his (their) Bear badge(s).
Akela: The meet from
the bear lasted for many days, but soon I had to continue on to search
of more food. I came upon a wolf that had just killed a dear. The wolf
saw me and ran off. I was hungry, but I had promised to only eat food
I had killed, so I continued on.
Baloo: This showed Akela's
honesty. To earn the Webelos badge, the Cub Scout must learn the Boy
Scout law which includes honesty. Will _____ come up an join us by the
campfire. ____ has earned his (their) Webelos badge(s).
Akela: I was many days
from our camp. I needed food to give me the strength to make it back
to camp. So, I tracked the wolf I had seen before. I took my last arrow,
took careful aim and missed. I was scared because I had no food or arrows.
As I started back to camp, I prayed to the great spirit. Suddenly, I
saw the arrow; it was still whole. I followed the wolf's trail again.
I took aim and shot him. I now had enough food to return home
Baloo: Akela learned
that sometimes you have to ask for help. Our Cub Scouts sometimes need
help also. Their parents provide that help. So, will the parents please
come up and stand behind their sons.
-- Thanks to Rick Clements,
Cubmaster, Pack 225
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