Cultural Background Storyteller's Cabin			-3- Well, a little while after Christmas, a warm spell set in. And the sun came up bright and shining over the hills one morning, and it hit the Snowman first. He sighed with pleasure. "Of course, I should be the first one warm," he thought, "For I am the Snowman. And the sun feels so good shining on me. It's so..." Suddenly, he felt something drip into his eyes. "Wait a minute," he thought. "What's going on here? It doesn't appear to be raining. Why is there water in my eyes?" Just as he said that, more water poured into his eyes. A stream of water gushed down his belly. Before he could react - SHOOM! - everything went dark. The Snowman first thought that the sun had suddenly gone down. Then he realized that it was his fancy hat - it had fallen over his eyes! "Why has my hat gotten bigger?" he thought, now beginning to panic. "It fit me a few days ago. I can't see a thing! And all this water, it's..." Then he suddenly figured it out. "It's me!" he said. All this water is coming from me! I'm melting!" And before long, the Snowman was nothing but a puddle in the front yard, with a pile of coal, his fancy clothes, the pipe and the carrot being all that remained of him. Since it was a nice warm day, Sally and Billy's mama ran them out of the house. They'd been cooped up inside since Christmas, and she wanted them to go out and play with their new toys. While they were outside playing, they noticed that their Snowman was gone. They were sad, but they knew that there'd be more snow coming soon enough, and they could always build another one. As they carried all the items they'd put on the Snowman toward the house, they suddenly noticed, for the first time in months, the trustworthy Scarecrow standing in the back garden. They saw that he no longer had a scarf, that his coat was in tatters, and his hat was worn out and had a big ol' hole in the back - with a bird's nest in it! Sally and Billy both came up with the same idea. They headed toward the Scarecrow, took off his old hat and replaced it with the Snowman's fine top hat. They took off his worn coat and dressed him in the black swallow-tailed coat. Then they wrapped the fine woolen scarf around his neck. They stepped back, smiled and admired their handiwork. Both agreed that he was just about the finest looking Scarecrow they'd ever seen. Just goes to show you that you ought to do good every chance you get. 'Cause when you're just a puddle, it's not the stuff you had that folks remember, but the good things you've done. And that's the story of the Snowman and the Scarecrow. - THE END - To find out where this story came from, visit the cultural background page.
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