Divide the group into five smaller groups and assign each group one of the words listed below. Read the story. After each of the words is read pause for the group to make the appropriate response.
ARACHNE
(pronounced a-RAK-nee?): "I'm the Best!"
ATHENA
"A goddess"
TAPESTRY
"Is it real?"
SHUTTLE
"Shoosh, shoosh"
EVERYONE
"Aaaah" (The entire audience does this)
Long ago, there was a weaver who had a great skill. Her name was ARACHNE___. ARACHNE___ made Tapestries that were so lovely, people paid a fortune for then. EVERYONE___ came from miles around just to watch ARACHNE___ weave. Her fingers would make the SHUTTLE___ fly over the cloth. ARACHNE___'s friends said the gods had given her an amazing talent. ARACHNE___ replied, "There is nothing the gods can teach me about weaving. I can weave better than the gods and goddesses!"
Her friend turned pale with fright. "You better not let the goddess ATHENA___ hear you say that!"
"I don't care who hears me. I'm the best there is!" replied ARACHNE___.
An old lady was sitting behind ARACHNE___, examining the Tapestries. "So you think you weave better than the goddess ATHENA___?" she asked.
"ATHENA___ wouldn't stand a chance against me," said ARACHNE___.
All of the sudden the old lady's hair began to float like smoke and turned to golden light. Her robe turned white and she grew taller and taller. The old lady turned into the goddess ATHENA___. "A contest between you and me!"
ARACHNE___'s friends bowed down to ATHENA___, but ARACHNE___ just threaded another SHUTTLE___ and agreed to the contest. "Now we'll see who is the best weaver in the world," she said.
To and fro the shuttles went, fast as could be. ATHENA___ wove a picture of Mount Olympus and all the gods and goddesses. All the animals were in her TAPESTRY___ and EVERYONE___ wanted to touch them. They seemed so real. ARACHNE___ made fun of the gods in her tapestry. She made them look like ordinary people. But her butterfly looked as though it would fly away and the grain waved in the breeze. When ARACHNE___ wove a lion, EVERYONE___ shrieked and ran away in fright. Indeed, ARACHNE___'s TAPESTRY___ was lovelier than nature itself.
ATHENA___ laid down her SHUTTLE___ and looked at ARACHNE___'s TAPESTRY___. "You are a better weaver, said ATHENA___. "Your skill is unmatched. Even I don't have your magic."
ARACHNE___ was very smug. "Didn't I tell you so?"
"But your pride is even greater than your skill," said ATHENA___, "and your irreverence cannot be forgiven. No one makes fun of the gods." With that, ATHENA___ turned ARACHNE___ into a spider. "Now you will weave your Tapestries forever, said ATHENA___. "But no matter how beautiful they are, people will shudder at them and destroy them!"
Return to Scouting Bear's Cave.