Crawfish Tales
One morning Alligator woke up with a powerful taste for crawfish.
“I will get my biggest pot, and start a nice hot fire” he said.
Alligator then grabbed his net and put on his hip waders and headed out into the swamp.
First Alligator went to his favorite fishing spot near the old sunken boat.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Nothing.
Next Alligator went to the abandoned trapper’s cabin
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Nothing.
Finally Alligator went to the palmetto thicket
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
At last Alligator had a crawfish in his net.
“One is better than none” he said.
As Alligator was about to empty his catch into the pot the crawfish spoke.
“Oh please Mr. Alligator, please don’t eat me!”
“But I have a taste for crawfish!” said Alligator.
“Ok then, but before you throw me into the pot, can I at least tell you a story?” said the crawfish.
It was a well known fact that alligators could not resist a good story.
“Alright crawfish, tell me your story.”
The Swamp Cypress
Long before Jean Lafite and his pirates. Even before the Choctaw (choc-taw), Ouachita, (watcha taw), or
Calcasieu (Kal-cuh-shoo) their lived the most beautiful tree in all the
world.
Her name was Cypress.
Cypress had the most beautiful flowers, bore the sweetest fruit, and her bark shimmered like gold.
One day the Great Sun God stopped to watch and admire her.
“Cypress you are the most beautiful thing on Earth!”
“You are too kind!” she replied.
As the years passed Cypress grew more beautiful.
And birds came to perch on her branches.
And beasts came to sleep in her shade.
And Cypress listened to them as they whispered sweet things to her.
One day The Great Sun God once again stopped to admire her.
“Cypress you are the most beautiful thing on Earth!”
“I know” said Cypress.
As the years passed Cypress grew even more beautiful.
And more birds came to perch on her branches.
And more beasts came to sleep in her shade.
And Cypress listened to them as they whispered sweet things to her.
One day The Great Sun God once again stopped to admire her.
“Cypress you are the most beautiful thing on Earth!”
“I am the most beautiful thing on Earth as well as the sky!” said Cypress.
Furious with her words the Great Sun God vanished.
And the sky turned black and the winds grew cold and icy.
Cypresses’ flowers began to wither.
Her fruit began to rot.
And her once golden bark was now scaly and gray.
And the birds now fell limp upon her branches.
And the beasts now sat lifeless at her feet.
One day the Great Sun God returned to see if Cypress had learned her lesson.
When the light shone upon her she was taken back in horror.
Cypress then began to cry. In fact she cried so much a great pool of water formed around her.
When she saw her reflection she cried even more.
Soon the land around Cypress was filled with her tears.
The Great Sun God spoke again to Cypress.
“Oh once fair Cypress for now you are humble and to make sure you stay humble you and all your future children will look as you do”.
Cypresses’ tears are the swamp. And the birds that perched upon her branches are now moss. And the beasts that slept in her shade are cypress knees.
“A fine story Crawfish, but now it is time for you to get in my pot!”
“Wait!” shouted the crawfish
“Don’t you want to hear how the Muffuletta sandwich came to be?”
“I love Muffulettas!” said Alligator
Mouse and the Muffuletta
Mouse lived above a grocery store in the French Quarter.
It was a good life for Mouse with plenty of food and shelter.
But one winter it became bitterly cold.
Mouse tried his best to keep warm, but still he could not shake his chill.
“Perhaps there is something in the grocery store that can keep me warm” said Mouse.
First Mouse found a big piece of flat bread.
“A very comfy bed!” said Mouse.
“But now I need to cover up”.
Next Mouse grabbed some slices of salami and mortadella for a blanket.
It was better, but not warm enough.
Mouse then added slices of ham, mozzarella, and provolone.
“Almost perfect!” said Mouse. Mouse then slid the other half of the flat bread over himself and fell fast asleep.
Mouse was so warm and comfy that the next morning he did not hear the grocer open the grocery store.
“YAAAAAAAA!” cried the grocer.
Startled by the scream, Mouse jumped up knocking the marinated olive salad all over his bed.
And there before the grocer sat the first Muffuletta sandwich.
“Okay crawfish, now I’m really hungry!
“Oh Please! I have one more story to tell you, and then I promise to go into the pot!” cried the crawfish.
The Gumbo of Everlasting Life
Down in the swamp, pretty close to where we are now their lived a cow named Madame Beauxvine.
Madame Beauxvine was no ordinary cow though, she was actually a very powerful Moodoo priestess.
In fact Madame Beauxvine was so powerful she could take the shape of any animal she chose.
But as the years passed Madame Beauxvine grew very old and had forgotten some of her greatest magic.
One bit of magic she tried to remember was a gumbo so powerful that eating one bowl would keep you alive forever.
From Opossum snouts to Pelican’s pouches Madame Beauxvine tried everything to make that gumbo
just right. And then one day, while she was crawling along the swamp bottom by the palmetto thicket,
she remembered the missing ingredient.
The crawfish paused.
Alligator grew impatient.
“Well? What was the missing ingredient?” snapped Alligator.
“I cannot tell you for it will frighten you to death” said the crawfish.
“Tell me now, or into the pot you go!” said Alligator.
“Okay, okay! But I cannot say it out loud” said the crawfish. So Alligator bent over to listen.
Then in a soft voice the crawfish whispered “a l l I g a t o r e y e b a l l s”
Alligator became nervous.
“OH NO! SHE’S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!” yelled the Crawfish.
Alligator was so frightened he stumbled backwards into the boiling pot of water.
“EEEYOWWWWWW!”
The crawfish laughed and laughed and soon its laugh grew louder and deeper.
And there before Alligator where the crawfish once stood was an old cow dressed in robes.
“Now let’s SEE if you can help me make my gumbo.” she laughed.
One morning Alligator woke up with a powerful taste for crawfish.
“I will get my biggest pot, and start a nice hot fire” he said.
Alligator then grabbed his net and put on his hip waders and headed out into the swamp.
First Alligator went to his favorite fishing spot near the old sunken boat.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Nothing.
Next Alligator went to the abandoned trapper’s cabin
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Nothing.
Finally Alligator went to the palmetto thicket
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
At last Alligator had a crawfish in his net.
“One is better than none” he said.
As Alligator was about to empty his catch into the pot the crawfish spoke.
“Oh please Mr. Alligator, please don’t eat me!”
“But I have a taste for crawfish!” said Alligator.
“Ok then, but before you throw me into the pot, can I at least tell you a story?” said the crawfish.
It was a well known fact that alligators could not resist a good story.
“Alright crawfish, tell me your story.”
The Swamp Cypress
Long before Jean Lafite and his pirates. Even before the Choctaw (choc-taw), Ouachita, (watcha taw), or
Calcasieu (Kal-cuh-shoo) their lived the most beautiful tree in all the
world.
Her name was Cypress.
Cypress had the most beautiful flowers, bore the sweetest fruit, and her bark shimmered like gold.
One day the Great Sun God stopped to watch and admire her.
“Cypress you are the most beautiful thing on Earth!”
“You are too kind!” she replied.
As the years passed Cypress grew more beautiful.
And birds came to perch on her branches.
And beasts came to sleep in her shade.
And Cypress listened to them as they whispered sweet things to her.
One day The Great Sun God once again stopped to admire her.
“Cypress you are the most beautiful thing on Earth!”
“I know” said Cypress.
As the years passed Cypress grew even more beautiful.
And more birds came to perch on her branches.
And more beasts came to sleep in her shade.
And Cypress listened to them as they whispered sweet things to her.
One day The Great Sun God once again stopped to admire her.
“Cypress you are the most beautiful thing on Earth!”
“I am the most beautiful thing on Earth as well as the sky!” said Cypress.
Furious with her words the Great Sun God vanished.
And the sky turned black and the winds grew cold and icy.
Cypresses’ flowers began to wither.
Her fruit began to rot.
And her once golden bark was now scaly and gray.
And the birds now fell limp upon her branches.
And the beasts now sat lifeless at her feet.
One day the Great Sun God returned to see if Cypress had learned her lesson.
When the light shone upon her she was taken back in horror.
Cypress then began to cry. In fact she cried so much a great pool of water formed around her.
When she saw her reflection she cried even more.
Soon the land around Cypress was filled with her tears.
The Great Sun God spoke again to Cypress.
“Oh once fair Cypress for now you are humble and to make sure you stay humble you and all your future children will look as you do”.
Cypresses’ tears are the swamp. And the birds that perched upon her branches are now moss. And the beasts that slept in her shade are cypress knees.
“A fine story Crawfish, but now it is time for you to get in my pot!”
“Wait!” shouted the crawfish
“Don’t you want to hear how the Muffuletta sandwich came to be?”
“I love Muffulettas!” said Alligator
Mouse and the Muffuletta
Mouse lived above a grocery store in the French Quarter.
It was a good life for Mouse with plenty of food and shelter.
But one winter it became bitterly cold.
Mouse tried his best to keep warm, but still he could not shake his chill.
“Perhaps there is something in the grocery store that can keep me warm” said Mouse.
First Mouse found a big piece of flat bread.
“A very comfy bed!” said Mouse.
“But now I need to cover up”.
Next Mouse grabbed some slices of salami and mortadella for a blanket.
It was better, but not warm enough.
Mouse then added slices of ham, mozzarella, and provolone.
“Almost perfect!” said Mouse. Mouse then slid the other half of the flat bread over himself and fell fast asleep.
Mouse was so warm and comfy that the next morning he did not hear the grocer open the grocery store.
“YAAAAAAAA!” cried the grocer.
Startled by the scream, Mouse jumped up knocking the marinated olive salad all over his bed.
And there before the grocer sat the first Muffuletta sandwich.
“Okay crawfish, now I’m really hungry!
“Oh Please! I have one more story to tell you, and then I promise to go into the pot!” cried the crawfish.
The Gumbo of Everlasting Life
Down in the swamp, pretty close to where we are now their lived a cow named Madame Beauxvine.
Madame Beauxvine was no ordinary cow though, she was actually a very powerful Moodoo priestess.
In fact Madame Beauxvine was so powerful she could take the shape of any animal she chose.
But as the years passed Madame Beauxvine grew very old and had forgotten some of her greatest magic.
One bit of magic she tried to remember was a gumbo so powerful that eating one bowl would keep you alive forever.
From Opossum snouts to Pelican’s pouches Madame Beauxvine tried everything to make that gumbo
just right. And then one day, while she was crawling along the swamp bottom by the palmetto thicket,
she remembered the missing ingredient.
The crawfish paused.
Alligator grew impatient.
“Well? What was the missing ingredient?” snapped Alligator.
“I cannot tell you for it will frighten you to death” said the crawfish.
“Tell me now, or into the pot you go!” said Alligator.
“Okay, okay! But I cannot say it out loud” said the crawfish. So Alligator bent over to listen.
Then in a soft voice the crawfish whispered “a l l I g a t o r e y e b a l l s”
Alligator became nervous.
“OH NO! SHE’S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!” yelled the Crawfish.
Alligator was so frightened he stumbled backwards into the boiling pot of water.
“EEEYOWWWWWW!”
The crawfish laughed and laughed and soon its laugh grew louder and deeper.
And there before Alligator where the crawfish once stood was an old cow dressed in robes.
“Now let’s SEE if you can help me make my gumbo.” she laughed.