A Legend of the Northland

Answer: "The Northland" refers to the cold, northern regions of the world, possibly Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland) or the northern parts of Russia and Canada.

Answer: Saint Peter asked the old lady for one cake from her store of cakes because he was hungry and faint. The old lady was selfish and greedy. She kept making smaller and smaller cakes but would not give him even one, thinking they were too large to give away.

Answer: Saint Peter punished the old lady by changing her into a woodpecker. She went up through the chimney and flew out as a bird. She still has a scarlet cap on her head (her red cap), but her clothes were burned black. She now lives in trees and bores into wood for her food.

Answer: The woodpecker gets her food by boring, boring, and boring all day in the hard, dry wood. She digs into trees with her beak to find insects and grubs.

Answer: No, the old lady would not have been so ungenerous if she had known that the visitor was Saint Peter. She would have given him a cake and perhaps treated him with great respect, hoping for blessings in return.

Answer: No, this is not a true story; it is a legend or folk tale. The most important part of the poem is the moral lesson — that greed and selfishness are punished, and we should be generous and kind to others.

Answer: A legend is a traditional story from the past that is believed by many people but cannot be verified as true. This poem is called a legend because it tells a folk tale from the Northland about how the woodpecker came to be, which has been passed down through generations.

Answer: In the Northland, a hungry Saint Peter came to a little woman's cottage and asked for a cake. The woman made a tiny cake, but thought it was too big to give away. She kept making smaller cakes but still refused to give any. Saint Peter grew angry and punished her by turning her into a woodpecker. She flew up the chimney and became a bird. Her red cap remained, but her clothes turned black. She now lives in the woods and bores into trees for food. This legend teaches us that greed and selfishness are wrong.