The Legend of Lost Mable LbNA #51246

In the Texas Hill Country there’s a river called Sabinal, which is Spanish for Cypress. It is born in the canyon of the same name: Sabinal. It’s no wonder, then, that a baby bear lived in this canyon long, long ago, when Texas had recently won its independence from Mexico. One day a pioneer family moved into the canyon and settled on the banks of the Sabinal River. A little girl named Mabel was a member of that family. Mabel was very artistic and she would spend her days mixing paint from the mud of the river and the wildflowers that grew in the canyon and she would paint the trunks of the large Cypress trees that grew on the banks of the river and along the walls of the canyon. Her mother cautioned her to stay close to home so she wouldn’t get lost. “Don’t worry, Mother”, Mabel would say, “I have my music box and I will play it loudly so you can find me if I stray too far.” Her father had brought the music box to her from one of his trips to Mexico, and it was her favorite possession. It had a ballerina on top and she would dance, round and round, up and down, as long as the music would play, and Mabel would dance with her. The baby bear would watch Mabel as she played, painting on the trees and dancing to the music box. One day he approached the little girl and asked her to come visit him in his home on top of the mountain. Mabel had never seen a talking bear before, but she was not afraid, because he was only a baby bear, so what harm could he do? She agreed to go with the bear on the condition that she could play her music box so that her mother would know that she was safe. Mabel followed the baby bear to the top of the mountain, taking the east trail past the pond and climbing the road to the top. She was exhausted and she laid down on the bench to take a nap. While she was sleeping, the baby bear took her music box and covered it up with rocks at the base of a bent live oak tree that he could see between the bench and the canyon. The music box played it’s song, but it could not be heard from beneath the rocks. When Mabel awoke, the bear was gone and her music box was gone and she couldn’t find her way back home. Mabel was lost and was never seen again. Since that time, every fall Mabel paints the trees with the red and orange and yellow paint that she makes herself. People come from all over Texas to see the beautiful trees in the beautiful canyon that now bears the name of the little girl, “Lost Mabel”. Maybe, on a still day if the breeze is just right, you can hear the faint notes of a music box coming from somewhere on top of the mountain. And, if you see a baby bear watching you from the woods, run!