_Eastern Eskimo_
Wolverene was out walking one day, out on a hillside, when he came
to a large rock. Wolverene asked, “Was it you who was out walking
just now?”
“No,” said Rock, “I cannot walk.”
“Well, I’ve seen you walking,” said Wolverene sharply.
“That isn’t true,” said Rock. But Wolverene insisted that it was. He
said, “You are the very Rock I have seen out walking.”
Wolverene then ran off a little way and jeered at Rock. He shouted,
“Catch me if you can!” Then Wolverene went close to Rock and hit him
with his paw. He shouted, “See if you can catch me.”
“I can’t walk, but I can roll,” said Rock, who was very indignant.
“That’s just what I wanted,” said Wolverene, and he began to run.
[Illustration: Sun Dance Cañon
Near Banff, Alberta, Canada
_Courtesy of Canadian Pacific Ry._]
[Illustration: Castle Mountain
Banff, Alberta, Canada
_Courtesy of Canadian Pacific Ry._]
But Rock began to roll. Wolverene raced away and Rock tore after
him, close to his heels, all down that hillside. Then Wolverene
began to jump and leap and Rock rolled faster and faster, touching
his heels. Then Wolverene tripped over a stick and fell. Rock rolled
right on top of him and stopped there. He stopped rolling.
Wolverene yelled, “Get off of me. You are breaking my bones!” Rock
stayed right there. Then Wolverene yelled to the Wolves and Foxes to
come and save him. They all gathered around Rock and Wolverene.
“How did you get under Rock?” they asked. Wolverene was not a
favorite. Wolverene said, “I dared Rock to run after me, and he
rolled.” Then they all said, “It served you right.”
But yet they tried to push Rock away. Rock stayed right there. The
animals pushed and pushed. Rock did not roll.
Then Wolverene began to shout to his other brother, Thunder and
Lightning. In a few minutes a dark cloud rushed up from the
southwest. It made so much noise and was so black that all the
Wolves and Foxes ran away. Lightning suddenly drew back and then
rushed forward and hit Rock, while Thunder crashed. Lightning
knocked Rock into tiny small pieces, but he also tore Wolverene’s
coat all to pieces.
Wolverene picked himself up and saw that he had no fur at all. He
could find only a few bits of his coat so he said sharply to
Lightning, “You needn’t have torn my coat all to pieces when I only
asked you to strike Rock!”