Humble Mouse is small and quiet, but she searches for
answers to big questions. She often gazes at the sky and wonders, "Where
do stars come from? Why are they so bright?" Humble Mouse wants to learn
everything about the never-ending forest in which she lives, and about the
mountain she climbs when the sun comes out. The sun - she is most curious about
the sun, and the rays of light that shine from it.
"Where do all of these things come from?" she asks
her friends.
"Humph!" snorts Gruff Bear, when Humble Mouse asks
him this big question.
"Why would I need to know that?" Gruff Bear
continues. "All I need to know is which berries are tasty, which make me
sick, and where I should sleep in winter. Go away now, and stop thinking about
silly things."
Every morning, Humble Mouse wakes up excitedly in her home,
which is nestled in the trunk of an old pine tree. Eagerly, she scurries up her
tree and plops herself on a thick branch, where she waits to meet the first ray
of sun.
She remembers what her Grandmother shared with her before
she passed away. "She told me that if I sit quietly and look closely, I
can meet the first ray of sun, and it will give me answers to my
questions!"
Before the first ray appears, Gruff Bear and Worker Deer
stroll by the pine tree and see their friend staring at the sky. Humble Mouse
tells them her plan, but Gruff Bear teases her, "All you're going to get
is sunburn on your nose!"
Worker Deer says, "Look, Humble Mouse, life in our
forest is simple and everything is so beautiful. Why question it? I gather food
for my family and make sure they are safe. You should just do the same."
Gruff Bear adds, "The sun will not speak to you -
you'll only be disappointed. Besides, if the sun did speak, it would talk to
bigger animals like me or Worker Deer. It won't see you. You're too
small!"
Even though Humble Mouse is small and quiet, she has a big
heart and a lot of courage. She sits still on the branch and tries to hide her
tears from her friends as they walk past her.
One morning, Humble Mouse sees soft streaks of yellow and
orange light outside her window. She jumps out of bed and rushes to her branch.
"This morning," Humble Mouse says to herself, "I will meet the
first ray of sun."
She patiently looks up at the sky. Suddenly, she sees the
most wonderful thing that she has ever seen. The first ray of sun has come! Not
only does she see it, she feels it, and it's like nothing she has ever felt
before. As Humble Mouse sits on her branch with a big grin, Worker Deer and
Gruff Bear pass by the pine tree again and wonder about Humble Mouse's strange
look.
Worker Deer says, "What are you doing now, Humble
Mouse? You look different. What happened to you?"
"The first ray of sun came to me!" exclaims Humble
Mouse.
"Not that again," says Gruff Bear. "The rays
of the sun fall on everything in the forest. It's nothing special."
"You don't understand," Humble Mouse explains
gently. "The ray came directly to me. It touched my heart. The ray of sun
spoke to me, like Grandmother said it would."
"What did it say, Humble Mouse?" asks Worker Deer,
who is now curious.
"It spoke without words. The ray of light connected me
with the forest, the mountains, and the sun," says Humble Mouse. "The
ray said that, because I opened my heart, I could really learn about where all
things come from. It told me that there is a Maker of all things, Who is both
gentle and strong, but is unseen, like the wind."
Worker Deer and Gruff Bear look at each other, and then they
look at Humble Mouse with curiosity. Worker Deer asks, "Will you show us
how to meet the first ray of sun?" Gruff Bear nods his head and adds:
"I want to learn about this ‘Maker,' too."
"I will show you where you can find the first ray of
sun," replies Humble Mouse, "but only you can open your heart to
it."
(by Alesia Lopatina, adapted
from a Russian fairy tale. Art by C. Aaron Kreader; ‘The Brilliant Star’
magazine, May-June 1999)
