Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Title: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
Author: Verna Aardema
Genre: Folk Literature

This story explains why it is that mosquitoes buzz in peoples ears. The story begins with a mosquito telling an iguana about a farmer that was harvesting very big yams. The iguana thought this was a lie, so he shoved sticks in his ears so as to not hear the mosquito, and went along his way. When the python said hello to the iguana, the iguana did not respond. This lead the python to believe that the iguana was plotting some kind of mischief for him, so he hid in the rabbit's hole scaring the rabbit. Each misunderstanding lead to another misunderstanding, which led to a monkey accidentally killing one of the owl's owlets while she was away. When she returned, she was so sad to find one of her owlets dead that she wouldn't call to wake the sun. This caused the animals to all meet to figure out who was ultimately responsible for the owlet's death. Each animal was called back to explain what happened, until they all figured out that it was the mosquito who started the chain of misunderstandings that led to the owlet's death. The mosquito overheard them realize that it was his fault, so to this day he buzzes in people's ears asking "Is everyone still angry with me?" and he is honestly answered with a swat.

This story is an excellent example of cause and effect. A good follow up lesson to be used in the classroom would be to have the students write their own pourquoi tale to explain why a certain aspect of nature or society came to be.