Young Beaver Learns About Anger: Sue Tanida
Young Beaver Learns About Anger
As told by the Beaver Elder to Sue Tanida
Young Beaver worked industriously, cutting down trees and saplings with his strong, white teeth. He pulled the branches and limbs together into a fine dam in the stream, the best he’d ever built! Actually, the only he’d ever built as this was his first dam. But he’d seen his Mama build dams before and he knew how it should be done. So he was very satisfied with his work, and went off into the woods when he was done.
He returned to find the dam collapsed. Rubble. Anger rose in his throat and he felt like shouting. “Who did this?” He fumed. “Who would tear down my dam? That is SO mean. That is SO unfair. I worked HARD to build that dam….” He was angry. THWACK! He used his tail on the water. THWACK! He hit the water again to warn whoever it was, away.
Thinking only about whoever it was, and why would they mess with HIM, Young Beaver built another dam. He dragged the branches back into place. He cut a few more trees to replace parts that had floated downstream. “I’ll show THEM!!!” Young Beaver chortled with satisfaction at the end. “This is EVEN BETTER. SO THERE!”
He practically skipped away into the woods this time. He was full of satisfaction-and he wanted to find nice pieces of moss to stuff into the structure of his dam. But when he returned, he just wanted to topple WHOEVER just like a felled tree. The dam was destroyed AGAIN!!! Young Beaver was trembling, he was so full of rage. He poured all of his anger into the physical effort to rebuild his dam.
“THIS time, I’ll find out who it is!” Young Beaver hid behind a tree. He waited. Quietly, he sat. Quietly, the thoughts about whoever it was were replaced by calm and only a sense of waiting.
BAM!!! The logs and branches suddenly collapsed. Young Beaver was mortified–NO ONE had ruined his dams–they were collapsing by themselves! “Good thing I didn’t go ranting to all my friends when I was so angry,” he whispered. “I have been SO foolish, being so angry when I was only angry at myself, really.”
Young Beaver went to the Elder Beaver of his tribe and explained that his first attempts at dam building had failed. He poured out the story of his anger to the Elder and asked for guidance on how to build a better dam.
The Elder Beaver smiled. His teeth were much less white, much less new. His teeth were teeth with experience. And his mind was a mind with experience. “Child, I can tell you how to build a better dam. But the better teacher has been your experiences. You have learned that your anger is a great teacher. On one hand, you can expend a lot of energy needlessly on speculation with anger–and as it turns out, there was no one sabotaging your dams. On the other hand, you have found the great gift of anger, in that it provided fuel for your physical efforts in rebuilding the dam. I will come with you to watch you rebuild the dam, and I will see where your dam lacks strength and advise you then.”
“Thank you, Grandfather Beaver,” said Young Beaver. “I see the gifts now. Anger is my teacher, and it has shown me that anger can be like a lantern, illuminating the areas in my life where I need guidance. Anger shows me where I lack control. It is better to seek further teachings from you, from the ancestors and from the spiritual helpers than it is to allow the anger to further flare into blame. I see that anger is best as a beginning for learning–and then must be let go. Thank you.”