[Illustration: 0000]
on Grasshopper. "Pooh!" he would say. "Why should an Indian bother his
head with planting corn, when he can draw his bow and kill a good fat
deer?" Then he shook his wolfskin pouch, and rattled the pieces of
bone and wood. "As long as I have these," he said to himself, "I need
nothing more. After all, it is everybody else that works for the man who
knows how to use his head."
He walked through the village, very proud and straight, with his fan of
turkey-feathers, a swan's plume fastened in his long, black hair, and
the tails of foxes trailing from his heels. In his white deer-skin
shirt, edged with ermine, his leggings and moccasins ornamented with
beads and porcupine quills, he cut a fine figure. There was to be a
dance that night, and Grasshopper, who was a great dandy and a favorite
with all the young girls and women, had decked himself out for the
occasion. He had painted his face with streaks of blue and vermilion;
his blue-black hair, parted in the middle, and glistening with oil, hung
to his shoulders in braids plaited with sweet grass. The warriors might
call him Shau-go-daya, a coward, and make jokes at his expense, but he
did not care. Could he not beat them all when it came to playing ball or
quoits, and were not the maidens all in love with his good looks?
Meanwhile, Grasshopper wished to pass the time in some pleasant way.
Glancing through the door of a lodge, he saw a group of young men seated
on the ground, listening to one of old Iagoo's stories.
"Ha!" he cried. "Have you nothing better to do? Here's a game worth
playing."
He drew from his pouch the thirteen pieces of bone and wood, and juggled
them from one hand to the other. But no one paid any attention to him.
After all, Grasshopper had "more brains in his heels than in his head."
For once he had been too cunning; fearing his skill, no one could be
found who would play with him.
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"Pooh!" muttered Grasshopper, as he turned away. "I see how it is. The
pious Man-a-bo-zho has been preaching to them again. This village is
getting to be pretty tiresome to live in. It's about time for me to
strike out, and find a place where the young men don't sit around and
talk to the squaws,"
He walked along, bent on mischief. Even the dance was forgotten; he
wondered what he could do to amuse himself. As he came to the outskirts
of the village, he passed the lodge of Man-a-bo-zho. "I would like to
play him some trick," he said, under his breath, "so he will remember me
when I am gone." But he was well aware that Man-a-bo-zho was much more
powerful than himself; so he hesitated, not knowing exactly what do to.
At last he walked softly to the doorway, and listened, but could hear
no sound of voices. "Good!" he said with a grin. "Perhaps nobody is at
home." With that, he spun around the outside of the lodge, on one leg,
raising a great cloud of dust. No one came out; but on the ridge-pole
of the lodge, the captive Kah-gah-gee, King of ravens, flapped his big
black wings, and screamed with a hoarse, rasping cry.
"Fool!" cried Grasshopper. "Noisy fool!"
With a bound; he leapt clear over the lodge, and then back again; at
which the raven screamed more harshly than ever. But within the lodge
all was silent.
Grasshopper grew bolder. Going to the doorway again, he rattled the flap
of buffalo hide. Nobody answered; so, cautiously drawing the curtain to
one side, he ventured to peer in. Then he chuckled softly. The lodge was
empty.
"This is my chance!" he exclaimed. "Man-a-bo-zho is away, and so is his
foolish wife. I'll just pay my respects before they come back, and then
I'll be off for good."
Saying this, he went in, and began to turn everything upside down. He
threw all the bowls and kettles in a corner,
[Illustration: 0000]
filled the drinking gourds with ashes from the fire, flung the rich furs
and embroidered garments this way and that, and strewed the floor with
wampum belts and arrows. When he finished, one might have thought a
crazy man had been there. No woman in the village was more neat and
orderly than the wife of Man-a-bo-zho, and Grasshopper knew this would
vex her more than anything else he could do.
"Now for Man-a-bo-zho," he grinned as he left the lodge, well pleased
with the mischief he had wrought.
"Caw, caw!" screamed the King of ravens.
"Kaw!" answered Grasshopper, mocking him. "A pretty sort of pet you are.
Does Man-a-bo-zho keep you sitting there because you are so handsome? Or
is it your beautiful voice."
With that, he made a leap to the ridge-pole, seized the raven by
the neck, and whirled it round and round till it was quite limp and
lifeless. Then he left it hanging there, as an insult to Man-a-bo-zho.
He was now in high good humor, and went his way through the forest,
whistling and singing, and turning hand-springs to amuse the squirrels.
There was a high rock, overlooking the lake, from the top of which one
could view the country for miles and miles. Grasshopper climbed it. He
could see the village plainly, so he thought he would wait there till
Man-a-bo-zho came home. That would be part of the joke.
As he sat there, many birds darted around him, flying close over his
head. Man-a-bo-zho called these fowls of the air his chickens, and he
had put them under his protection. But Grasshopper had grown reckless.
Along came a flock of mountain chickens, and he strung his bow, and
shot them as they flew, for no better reason than because they were
Man-a-bo-zho's, and not because he needed them for food. Bird after bird
fell, pierced by his arrows; when they had fallen, he would throw their
bodies down the cliff, upon the beach below.
[Illustration: 0000]
At last Kay-oshk, the sea-gull, spied him at this cruel sport, and gave
the alarm. "Grasshopper is killing us," he called. "Fly, brothers! Fly
away, and tell our protector that Grasshopper is slaying us with his
arrows."
When Man-a-bo-zho heard the news, his eyes flashed fire, and he spoke in
a voice of thunder:
"Grasshopper must die for this! He cannot escape me. Though he fly to
the ends of the earth, I shall follow, and visit my vengeance upon him."
On his feet he bound his magic moccasins with which, at each stride,
he could step a full mile. On his hands he drew his magic mittens with
which, at one blow, he could shatter the hardest rock. Then he started
in pursuit.
Grasshopper had heard the warning call of the sea-gull, and knew it
was time to be off. He, too, could run. So fleet of foot was he that
he could shoot an arrow ahead of him, and reach the spot where it fell
before it dropped to earth. Also, he had the power to change himself
into other shapes, and it was almost impossible to kill him. If, for
example, he entered the body of a beaver, and the beaver was slain,
no sooner had its flesh grown cold than the _Fee-bi_, or spirit, of
Grasshopper would leave the dead body, and Grasshopper would become a
man again, ready for some new adventure.
But at first he trusted to his legs and to his cunning. On rushed
Man-a-bo-zho, breathing vengeance; swiftly, like a moving shadow, fled
Grasshopper. Through the forest and across the hills he fled, faster
than the hare. His pursuer was hot on the trail. Once he came upon the
forest bed where the grass was still warm and bent; but the Grasshopper,
who had rested there, was far away. Once Man-a-bo-zho, high on a
mountain, spied him in the meadow below. Grasshopper had shown himself
on purpose, and mocked the great Manito, and defied him. The truth is,
Grasshopper was just a bit conceited.
[Illustration: 0000]
At last he grew tired of running. Not that his legs ached him or his
feet were sore. But this kind of life was not much to his liking, and
he kept his eye open for something new. Pretty soon he came to a stream
where the water was backed up by some kind of a dam, so that it flooded
the banks. Grasshopper had run about a thousand miles that day--counting
all the turns and twists. He was hot and dusty, and the pond, with
its water-lilies and rushes, looked cool and refreshing. From far, far
away came a faint sound; it was the voice of Man-a-bo-zho, shouting his
war-cry.
"Tiresome fellow!" said Grasshopper. "I could almost wish I were a
beaver, and lived down there at the bottom of the pond, where no one
would disturb me."
Then up popped the head of a beaver, who looked at him suspiciously.
"Don't be alarmed. I left my bow and arrows over there in the grass,"
explained Grasshopper. "Besides, I was just thinking I would like to be
a beaver myself. What do you say to that?"
"I shall have to consult Ahmeek, our chief," answered the friendly
animal.
Down he dived to the bottom, and pretty soon Ahmeek's head appeared
above the water, followed by the heads of twenty others.
"Let me be one of you," said Grasshopper. "You have a pleasant home down
there in the clear, cool water, and I am tired of the life I lead."
Ahmeek was pleased that such a strong, handsome young Indian should wish
to join their company.
"But I can help you," he answered, "only after you have plunged into the
pond. Do you think you can change yourself into one of us?"
"That is easy," said Grasshopper.