When the world was young, the Great Spirit spoke to all the trees on earth when they were newly made, "I want you to stay awake and watch over the earth for seven nights," he
said.
All of the trees intended to obey, so the first night, everyone remained awake. The second night was more difficult, and just before dawn the sourwoods nodded off.
On the third night, the trees whispered to each other in the wind in an effort to stay awake, but even so, the dogwoods dozed off.
On the fourth night the maples slept and on the fifth night the beeches did the same. By the sixth night, even the oaks were fast asleep.
After seven nights the only trees that remained awake were the pine, the spruce, the fir, the cedar, the holly and the laurel.
The Great Spirit was very pleased. "You have great strength and great loyalty. And so, you shall be, for all time, the
guardians of the forest," he said.
Ever since then, while the other trees lose their leaves and sleep through the long, cold winter, the evergreens stay awake, keeping watch over the earth.
(This is a legend I learned severa years ago, but I never learned from which nation. If anyone knows, sound off.)
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-IronRaven
When a man dare not speak without malice for fear of giving insult, that is when truth starts to die. Truth is the truest freedom.