Part 2 Section 5 Summary and Analysis

This section of "The World Around Us" contains several stories of "How and Why" things are as they are.

"The Painted Turtle" (Sauk) The introduction to this story comments on how the so-called "little" stories, about how and why things became as they became, have over time all become influenced by stories brought by Europeans and also by African slaves.

Once upon a time, in the days when the people all made their home on the shores of a giant lake, the cleanest house in the village belonged to Jesus and his grandmother, who were both good-hearted and generous. Across the village, however, lived a soft-shelled Turtle, who had a bad reputation for using women sexually and making trouble for everyone. One day, Jesus' grandmother tells him to do something about Turtle and make life safe again for all...