なぜ　とうもろこし が　きいろい か

(Note - I have not suddenly become smarter - my teacher already corrected this! I post it because it might be interesting)　

　

ビデオテープの多色のとうもろこし

この　ものがたり　は　モントリオール　の　となり　の　カナワケ　の　モハクが　ぼく　に　はなしました。

ふるきよきじだい、　とうもろこし　　は　たくさん　の　いろ　が　ありました。　きいろ　も　くろ　も　かっしょく　も　しろ　も　むらさき　 も！　にじ　の　よう　です。

とうもろこし　は　いま　なぜ　きいろい　の　か。

いまはむかし、　のうふ　が　はたけ　に　いって　とうもろこし　を　みました。
かれは　おくさんに　　" とうもろこし　が　たべごろ　です。　あした　とうもろこしをとろう。”　と　いいました。でも　アライグマのふうふが　はたけ　に　いて　それを　きいてしまいました。アライグマ　の　おくさんが　”　のうふ　が　とうもろこしをとる　まえ　に、　とうもろこしを　もらってしまいましょう。"　と　いいました。そして　ひとばんじゅう　とうもろこし　を　たべてしまいました。のうふ　は　おこって　　からし　を　とうもろこし　に　つけました。アライグマ　は　それをたべて、　からくて　　なきました。いけ　に　いって　めを　あらいましたが、　いけのみず　が　にごっていたので　め　が　よごれてしまいました　。こうして、　いま、　アライグマ　は　ふくめん　を　かけていて、　とうもろこしは　きいろい　のです。

(I'll put the English here because some of my Lang-8 friends don't read Japanese)

I heard this story from a Mohawk storyteller who lived in Kahnawake, near Montreal.

IN the old days, corn had many colours, not just yellow, but also black, brown, white and even purple. Like a rainbow. This tells why the corn we eat nowadays is only yellow.

Once upon a time an old farmer went out to his field to look at his corn.
He said to his wife "The corn looks ripe - tomorrow we should pick it"
But there was a racoon in the field and he heard this.
The racoon said to his wife, "We should get some of that corn before the farmer does!"
So all that night they ate the corn.
The farmer was very angry, so he took some very hot mustard and painted the rest of the corn with the mustard.
"That will teach them a lesson!" the farmer said.
The next night the racoon and his wife went to eat the corn, but as soon as they started to eat, they started to cry.
So they ran to the stream and washed their eyes, but the water was muddy , so their eyes got very dirty.
And this is why today, corn is yellow, and racoons wear masks