Storyteller Numero Dos

Debra Morningstar on storyteller.net tells the story of "Grasshopper Song." This story is told with wind instruments and traditional Native American song (though it's not clear what is the particular origin of the song). According to this story, the Grasshopper Song is a prayer to make the grass grow. The Coyote wants to learn the song and tries; he forgets and tries to force the grasshopper to teach him. Eventually, the story tells the tale of how the coyote has short front teeth and how people learned how to save grass seeds and plant them in order to make the grass grow.

Her voices for the different characters are entertaining and different. she makes the coyote seem slightly menacing (and he is the villain in the story) and the grasshopper sounds very happy. When she has the characters sing, they do not sing zany tunes, but rather sings the Native American song. (Again, I don't know what the particular Nation is, but it is from the Americas).

She keeps the story going by threading in wind instruments, whose music sets the tone for the story. The story was very interesting and quite different from others I'd heard.