_Wyandot_
Once there were three men along a river making a canoe. As they had
just finished the canoe, they heard a Stredu approaching. She was a
giantess. Two of the men fled at once, without warning their friend,
who sat with his back to them in the canoe.
The Stredu said to the man in the canoe, “Now I have got you!” He
swiftly launched his canoe, and paddled across the river, saying
unconcernedly, “Now I will see how good it is.”
The Stredu said, as if speaking to herself, “Try your canoe if you
wish to, but there is more than one way of crossing a river.” She at
once started across, walking on the river bottom. The water was far
over her head, and the Indian could see her on the bottom. He was
now returning in his canoe.
When the Stredu reached the other side, she was surprised still to
see the Indian on the other side. But she thought, “This will not
prevent me from walking back. But perhaps he has supernatural
power.” So she started back, walking on the bottom of the river bed.
The Indian at once started to recross. He said, unconcernedly, “My
canoe is not quite water-tight. I will now patch it.” But he forgot
and left his stone ax on the shore when he began to cross this time.
When the Stredu had recrossed, she again saw that Indian on the
other side. Then she saw the stone ax. She said, “He has forgotten
his weapon,” for she did not know what it was. She said, “I will
smash it against that rock.” Then she hit the rock with the ax and
the rock was shattered into bits. The ax was not broken. Then the
Stredu became afraid. She ran away.