The Pussy-Willow Tree - A legend for kids
A mother cat and her three kittens were walking on the bank of the river, They were happy and the kittens were very playful. They were out for the day and were having a lot of fun.
These kittens were very special. They had magic in them....
Everywhere their little paws stepped, a beautiful flower would start growing. It was spring and the flowers were in bloom and the extra flowers that started growing because of the kittens' foot prints were making the bank of the river look like a paradise.
There were pink and yellow and blue flowers, even white and red ones. The kittens smelled the flowers and the mother cat was very impressed that her kittens could create such beautiful flowers with their little feet.
The tiniest one of the kittens were falling behind and he was distracted by a beautiful butterfly flying from one flower to another. The little kitten ran after him and jumped in a mock attack and soon he and the butterfly were playing hide and seek.
Without him realizing it, his mom and sisters were walking further away from him, but even worse, he did not see how close he was getting to the side of the bank of the river.
Their mom told them before they came there that they have to be careful not to fall into the river, but now he was having so much fun, he totally forgot her warning.
He jumped high into the air and the next moment there was no ground to land on. He was in mid-air and all he could see was the river beneath him....
With a splash he landed in the cold water of the river. He was afraid and started crying as loud as he could. Would his mom even hear him? Will he drown in this river today?
The mother cat heard his cries but she was far away. She ran back as quickly as she could but she did not know what to do to save the little kitten.
The willow trees standing on the edge of the bank saw what was happening and they felt very sorry for the little kitten struggling to keep his head above the water. They all bend down and let their branches hang into the water.
The little kitten saw what was happening, he took a big breath and closed his eyes and just grabbed onto the first branch he felt underneath his little paws.
In no time he could climb up the branches and the willows bend back so that he could safely climb down onto the bank of the river.
"O thank you, thank you so much" the mother cat cried. "How can I ever repay you for what you have done?"
The oldest willow tree said after a while "We saw that the kittens have magic in their feet, and where they step the flowers will grow. We would also like to have some flowers in Spring time."
The kittens did not even think about this, they quickly climbed into the tree and started stepping on all the branches.
Before long all the willow trees had beautiful flowers that looked liked little puffs of cat hair.
And that is why they are now named Pussy Willow Trees and every Spring you will see them standing proudly on the river banks with their beautiful flowers in full bloom.
