Rabbit said, "I cannot eat it, for I am old and I have lost all my
teeth. Give me an axe to cut it up small." So the woman brought him a
sharp axe and he chopped the meat into small pieces and ate it all up.
And he said, "I will keep the axe by me, for I shall need it at all my
meals," and he placed it beside his bed. The giant said, "We are
going away to see some friends, but we shall be back before midnight."
But before they went away Rabbit said to the woman, "I hope your
husband sleeps soundly; I have a bad cough and I sometimes moan
because of the pain in my face and head and I do not wish to disturb
him."
And the old giant woman answered, "He slumbers too well. When we sleep
we both snore loudly, and when you hear us snoring you may cough as
much as you please, for then you will know that we are sound asleep."
Then the man and his witch wife went away.
When the giants came home, Rabbit pretended to be fast asleep. They
brought back with them much food which they hid in a secret place at
the side of the cave. Rabbit watched them through the holes in the old
shawl around his head. Soon they went to bed, drowsy after their fat
meal. When Rabbit heard them snoring loudly like a great waterfall,
"chr-r-r, chr-r-r," he arose very quietly and crept softly to their
bedside. With two blows of his axe he killed the giant and his wife,
one after the other. Then he ran away as fast as he could, carrying
with him his old dress and hat and shawl, for he thought he might need
them again.
In the morning he went to the Chief's house and told the Chief what he
had done. The Chief laughed scornfully and he would not believe it
until Rabbit brought him to the cave and showed him the slain giants
cold and stiff in their bed. The Chief's men then took back to the
village the great store of food the giants had hidden in the secret
place. But the Chief and his warriors, although they were glad to be
rid of the thieves, were angry at heart because Rabbit whom they had
laughed at had done what they had failed to do, for they were very
jealous of Rabbit's power.
One day soon afterwards the Chief called all the birds and the animals
to a council, and he said, "Now that the giants who robbed us of our
food are dead and gone, and that we shall never again want for
nourishment in my country, I am going to let each animal and bird
choose the kind of food he would most like to live on if he could get
it. And they shall never want for that kind of food if it can be
provided." And he called on each to make the choice. And the birds
said "Grain and seeds and worms," and the Squirrel said "Nuts," and
the Fox said "Chickens," and the cat said "Milk," and the dog said
"Meat and bones," and the weasel said "Eggs," and the wolf said
"Lambs," and the bear said "Fish from the frozen sea," and so on until
each animal was called upon and declared his liking. And the Chief
said, "It shall be as you have chosen." But the Chief had purposely
neglected to summon poor Rabbit to the council, and Rabbit was absent
on a long journey. When he came home, he was very angry when he heard
what had happened, for only the left-over in the world's food remained
for him to choose. So he went to the Chief and said in great wrath,
"This is a fine return for ridding your land of giants. But that is a
way you have; you always reward good deeds with evil."
The Chief was very angry because of Rabbit's insolence, and he said,
"You are telling lies again." But Rabbit called as witnesses to the
truth of what he said Sheep and Goat and Duck who chanced to be
passing by and who stood listening to the quarrel. And old Sheep said,
"Rabbit has spoken truly. When I was young I gave the Chief much wool
to make clothes for his back and he used me well. But now that I am
old he is going to kill me and eat me up. That is my reward." And old
Goat said, "Rabbit has spoken wisely and justly. I served the Chief
well in my time and gave him milk, but now that I am old and have no
more milk he is fattening me and getting me ready for slaughter. That
is my reward." And old Duck said, "That is a true saying of Rabbit.
Once upon a time I gave the Chief many eggs and young ducklings, but
now that I have stopped laying he is soon going to roast me in a pot.
That is my reward." The Chief could make no answer to these charges,
for he knew them to be true, and he offered to do what was in his
power for Rabbit. But Rabbit refused to make choice of food, for he
said the best was already gone. He sulked for many months and lived
alone by his own efforts as best he could.
At last he decided to take vengeance on the Chief. And he hit, as was
his custom, on a crafty trick. The Chief had an old Bear which he
prized very highly, for the Bear did for him many wondrous tricks and
brought laughter to him and his warriors when he danced at their
feasts. In those olden times Bear had a long bushy tail of which he
was very proud. One day as Rabbit sat on the ice fishing--for it was
now winter--Bear came along. There was to be a feast that night and he
was going to dance for the Chief, and he was in very good spirits.
"Where did you get all the fine fish?" he asked, for he was a great
fish eater. "I caught them through the hole in the ice," said Rabbit.
"It is very easy. Just drop your tail down through the hole and it
will soon be covered with fine big fish."
Bear did as he was told, and he sat on the ice for a long time waiting
for his prey. He sat so long that the hole froze up, for it was very
cold, and in it was frozen poor Bear's long bushy tail. "Now," said
Rabbit, "jump quick, for many fish are hanging to you." Bear jumped
with all his might, but his tail was held fast in the ice and it broke
off close to the root. Rabbit laughed in great glee and ran away. And
poor Bear howled with pain and shame. He could not dance at the feast
because his stub of a tail was sore, and the Chief and the warriors
were very angry at Rabbit because he had harmed their dancing pet. And
since that time Bear has had a short stubby tail which to this day he
tries to wag feebly.
Rabbit then hid for some days far from the Chief and his warriors.
Then he decided to try another trick. The Chief's wood-cutter was old
Beaver, who lived in a little house of reeds on the bank of a stream.
He was very busy now cutting down trees for the Chief, for it was near
to spring-time and the people were in need of logs for building roads
over the rivers. One day Rabbit went to Beaver and said, "The Chief
sent me to you to bring you to a great tree he wishes you to cut down
at once." So Beaver went along with him. But when Beaver was busy at
his task cutting down the tree, Rabbit hit him a savage blow on the
head with a big stick hoping to kill him and thus again to anger the
Chief. Poor Beaver fell to the ground and Rabbit ran away. But Beaver
was only stunned. He got up after a time and went home muttering to
himself and rubbing his sore head. Soon Rabbit came back to the tree
and found Beaver gone. He knew that his blow had failed. Then he put
on again his tattered old dress and his ragged shawl and his coloured
spectacles and the hat with the red feather sticking to the top, and
he went to Beaver's house by the stream, hobbling along with a stick.
"The Chief sent me to you to bring you to a great tree he wishes you
to cut down at once," he called. And Beaver said, "I have already
tried to cut a great tree for him to-day and I should have finished it
had I not been beaten with a stick until I was stunned by the blow."
"Who struck you?" asked Rabbit, laughing to himself. "Rabbit struck
me," answered Beaver. "He is a great brigand and a liar and a thief,"
said Rabbit. "He is all that," said Beaver, rubbing the lump on his
head. So Beaver went along with Rabbit. And Rabbit asked as they went
along, "How is it that you are alive after that cruel blow?" And
Beaver said, "Rabbit hit me on the head. If he had hit me on the back
of my neck he would have killed me, for there I keep the secret of my
life."
When Beaver was busy again at his task cutting down the tree, Rabbit
hit him a powerful blow on the back of the neck and poor Beaver fell
down dead. Then he cut off his tail that was made like a file, and
went away happy, for he knew that the Chief would be very angry when
he found what had happened to his wood-cutter.
[Illustration: HE WENT TO BEAVER'S HOUSE BY THE STREAM, HOBBLING ALONG
WITH A STICK]
When the Chief learned that Beaver had been killed, his wrath knew no
bounds, for he could ill afford at this time to lose his best
wood-chopper. He blamed Rabbit for the deed, but he could not be sure
that his suspicions were well-founded. Rabbit kept out of the Chief's
sight for some weeks. But one day in early summer he was very hungry.
He saw all the other animals filling their bellies with their
favourite food, and he decided to forget his sulks and to ask the
Chief for help. So he went to the Chief and said haughtily, "I want
you to give me food for my own special use as you have done with the
other animals. You must do it at once or I will do you much harm."
Then the Chief remembered what Rabbit had done to his dancing Bear,
and he thought of the death of Beaver, for which he blamed Rabbit
without proof, and he grew red with anger. He seized Rabbit by the
heels and said, "Henceforth the dogs will always chase you, and you
will never have peace when they are near. And you will live for the
most part on whatever food I throw you into now." Then he whirled
Rabbit around his head by the heels, and he threw him from him with
great force, hoping to drop him in a great black swamp near-by. Poor
Rabbit went flying through the air for a great distance, farther than
the Chief had hoped, and he dropped with a thud into a field of clover
on the edge of which cabbages and lettuce were growing. And since that
time the dogs have always chased Rabbit and he has lived for the most
part on cabbages and lettuce and clover which he steals on moonlight
nights from farmers' fields.
GREAT HEART AND THE THREE TESTS
Somewhere near the sea in olden times a boy was living with his father
and mother. He had no brothers or sisters. His father was a great
hunter and the boy inherited something of his power, for he was always
very successful in the killing of game. And his mother said, "Some day
he will be a great man, for before his birth a vision came to me in
the night and told me that my son would win wide fame. And fairy gifts
were laid by the fairies in his cradle." And his father, listening to
her boasting, said, "Time will tell; time will tell; but if he is to
be a great man it is his own deeds and not your boasting that must
prove it." As the boy grew up he became strangely beautiful and he had
great strength. And his father said, "It is time he set out to seek
his fortune. I was in the forest doing for myself when I was no older
than he." And his mother said, "Wait a little and be not so impatient.
He is yet young and there is yet much time." So the boy remained at
home a while longer.
Now it happened that far away in a distant village there lived a young
girl of very great beauty and grace. Her father had been a great
Chief, but he was now dead. Her mother too was dead, and she was all
alone in the world. But her parents had left her vast lands and a
great store of goods and many servants, and because of her treasures
and her great beauty she had many suitors. But she was not easily
pleased by men and on all who came to seek her hand she imposed severe
feats of skill to test their sincerity and their worth. She was
carefully guarded by an old woman and many servants who kept
troublesome and meddlesome people away.
Soon the fame of the girl's wealth and beauty spread through all the
land. It reached the sea coast village where the young man dwelt. His
father thought to himself, "Here is a good chance for my son to prove
his worth." So he called his boy to him and said, "It is time you were
setting out to seek your fortune in the world and to find a wife, for
your spring-time is passing and your summer of life will soon be here,
and before you know it your autumn will be upon you and your winter
will be near. There is no time to lose. Seek out the beautiful girl of
the rich treasures in the distant inland village and try to win her as
your wife." And his mother gave him the fairy gifts which had been
laid in his cradle at his birth, and he said good-bye to his parents
and set out on his long journey. He had no misgivings, for he was very
vain of his beauty and he was sure, too, of his strength.
As he travelled inland he came one day upon a man clad in scarlet
sitting on the side of a rocky hill tying stones to his feet. "Hello,"
he said to the man, "why are you tying these heavy rocks to your
ankles?" "I am a hunter," replied the man, "but when I follow the deer
I run so fast that I am soon far in front of them instead of behind
them, and I am putting heavy weights on my feet so that I will not run
so rapidly." "You are indeed a wonderful man," said the boy; "but I am
alone and I need a companion. Let us go along together." "Who are
you?" said the man. "I am Lad of the Great Heart," said the boy, "and
I can do great deeds and I can win for you great treasure." So the
Scarlet Runner went along with him.
Towards evening when they were now far inland, they came to a large
lake. Among the trees on the fringe of the lake a large fat man was
lying flat on his stomach with his mouth in the water drinking as hard
as he could. For some time they watched him, but still he drank and
the lake grew smaller and smaller and still his thirst was not
quenched. They laughed at such a strange sight, and as they approached
him the boy said, "Hello! Why do you lie there drinking so much
water?" "Oh," answered the fat man, "there are times when I cannot get
enough water to drink. When I have drunk this lake dry I shall still
be thirsty." "Who are you?" asked the boy. "I am Man of the Great
Thirst," said the fat man. "That is well," said Great Heart, "we two
need a third companion. We can do great deeds and we can win for you
great treasure." So the three went along together.
[Illustration: HE CAME ONE DAY UPON A MAN CLAD IN SCARLET SITTING ON
THE SIDE OF A ROCKY HILL TYING STONES TO HIS FEET]
They had not gone far when they came to a wide open plain where they
saw a man walking along with his face raised upwards, peering at the
sky. He moved along rapidly and seemed to find his way without his
eyes, for he gazed steadily at the heavens. "Hello," said Great Heart
as the sky-gazer rushed past him and almost knocked him over, "what
are you looking at so intently?" "Oh," said the man, "I have shot an
arrow into the sky and I am waiting for it to fall. It has gone so far
that it will be some time before it drops." "Who are you?" asked the
boy. "I am the Far-Darter," said the sky-gazer. "We three need a
fourth companion," said the boy. "We can do great deeds and win for
you much treasure. Come along with us." So the four went along
together.
They had gone but a short distance across the plain to the edge of a
forest when they came upon a man lying down at full length with his
head upon his hand. The edge of his hand was on the ground and it was
half closed around his ear, which rested upon it. As he saw the four
men approaching him he placed a finger of his other hand upon his lips
and signalled to them to keep quiet. "Hello," said Great Heart in a
whisper, "what are you doing there with your ear to the ground?" "I am
listening to the plants growing far away in the forest," he answered.
"There is a beautiful flower I wish to find, and I am trying to hear
it breathing so that I may go and get it. Aha! I hear it now." So
saying he rose from the ground. The boy said, "Who are you?" "I am
Keen Ears," said the listener. "We four need another companion," said
Great Heart. "We can do great deeds and win for you much treasure.
Come along with us." So the four men and the boy went along together,
Keen Ears, and Scarlet Runner, and Far Darter, and Man of the Great
Thirst, and Lad of the Great Heart. Then Great Heart unfolded to the
others his plan to win the beautiful girl who lived with her treasures
in the distant village. And they gladly agreed to help him in his
dangerous undertaking.
When they reached the village, the people were all very curious when
they saw the five strangers. They marvelled at Great Heart's beauty.
But when they heard that he wished to marry the daughter of the former
Chief they shook their heads gravely and said, "It will never be. She
places hard conditions on all who seek her hand. He who fails in the
tests is doomed to death. Many suitors have tried and failed and
died." But Great Heart was not alarmed, and with his four companions
he went to the girl's home. The old woman who guarded her met him at
the door and he made known his wishes. She laughed scornfully when she
saw his great beauty, and she said, "You look more like a girl than
like a warrior. You cannot endure the tests." But the young man
insisted on making the trials.
The old woman said, "If you fail in the tests you will die," and Great
Heart said, "It is so agreed." Then the woman said, "If you wish to
win the maiden you must first push away this great rock from before
her window. It keeps the sunlight from her in the mornings." Then
Great Heart, calling to his aid the fairy gifts of his cradle, placed
his shoulder against the huge stone which rose higher than the house,
and he pushed with all his strength. With a mighty crash it rolled
down the hill and broke into millions of pieces. The bits of rock flew
all over the earth so great was the fall, and the little pebbles and
stones that came from it are seen throughout the world to this day.
The sunlight streamed in at the window, and the maiden knew that the
first test had been successfully passed by a suitor.
Then came the second test. The old woman and her servants brought
great quantities of food and drink and bade the strangers consume it
all at one meal. They were very hungry, for they had eaten nothing all
day and they easily ate up the food. But when Great Heart saw the
great barrels of water, his spirits sank, and he said, "I fear I am
beaten." But Man of the Great Thirst said, "Not so fast, my friend.
The spell of great stomach-burning is again upon me. I am very dry as
if there was a fire in my belly. Give me a chance to drink." He went
from barrel to barrel and in a twinkling he had drained them all of
every drop. And the people wondered greatly.
But there was still another test. "You must have one of your party run
a race," said the old woman to Great Heart. And she brought out a man
who had never been beaten in running. "Who is your choice of runners?"
she asked; "he must race with this man, and if he wins you may have
the maiden for your wife and all the treasure with her, for this is
the final test. But if he loses the race you shall die." Great Heart
called Scarlet Runner to the mark and told the old woman that this was
the man selected. Then he untied the rocks from the runner's feet, and
when all was ready the race began. The course lay far across the
plains for many miles until the runners should pass from sight, and
back again to the starting point. The two runners kept together for
some distance, talking together in a friendly way as they ran. When
they had passed from sight of the village the maiden's runner said,
"Now we are out of sight of the village. Let us rest here a while on
this grassy bank, for the day is hot." The Scarlet Runner agreed to
this and they both stretched out on the grass. Now this was an old
trick of the maiden's runner, who always won by craft rather than by
speed. They had not lain down long on the grass when Scarlet Runner
fell asleep under the hot sun, just as his rival had hoped. When the
latter was sure that his rival was sound asleep, he set out for the
village, running as fast as he could. The people soon saw their runner
approaching far off on the plains, but there was no sign of the
stranger, and they thought that the new suitor for the girl's hand
had at last failed like all the others before him.
Great Heart was much puzzled when Scarlet Runner did not appear, and
as he saw the maiden's runner coming nearer, he said, "What can have
happened? I fear I am beaten." But Keen Ears threw himself flat on the
ground and listened. "Scarlet Runner is asleep," he called; "I hear
him snoring on the plains far away." And with his keen sense of sound
he located the exact spot where the runner was lying. "I will soon
wake him," said Far-Darter, as he fitted an arrow to his bow-string.
The people all thought him mad, for they had never seen an arrow shot
so great a distance beyond their sight. But Far-Darter was not
dismayed. He quickly shot an arrow from his bow to the spot which Keen
Ears had indicated. His aim was so true that the arrow hit Scarlet
Runner on the nose and aroused him from his sleep. But when he rose to
his feet he found that his rival was gone and he knew that he had been
deceived. So in a great rage because of the trick and the pain in his
nose, he set out for the village running like the wind. His rival had
almost reached the end of the race, but by putting all his strength
into his effort, Scarlet Runner quickly over-took him and passed him
near the winning-post and won the race. And the people wondered
greatly at these great deeds of the strangers.
Then the old woman said to Great Heart, "You have won the maiden as
your wife, for you alone have succeeded in these tests." So the two
were married with great ceremony. Great Heart gave much treasure to
his companions, and they promised to help him always in his need. Then
with his wife and her servants and her great store of goods he went
back to his native village by the sea. His father and mother were glad
to see him again and to hear of his success, and his mother said, "I
told you he would win great fame because of the fairy gifts that were
laid in his cradle at his birth." And they all lived together and were
henceforth very happy.
THE BOY OF THE RED TWILIGHT SKY
Long ago there dwelt on the shores of the Great Water in the west a
young man and his younger wife. They had no children and they lived
all by themselves far from other people on an island not far from the
coast. The man spent his time in catching the deep-sea fish far out on
the ocean, or in spearing salmon in the distant rivers. Often he was
gone for many days and his wife was very lonely in his absence. She
was not afraid, for she had a stout spirit, but it was very dismal in
the evenings to look only at the grey leaden sky and to hear only the
sound of the surf as it beat upon the beach. So day after day she said
to herself, "I wish we had children. They would be good company for me
when I am alone and my husband is far away."
One evening at twilight when she was solitary because of her husband's
absence on the ocean catching the deep-sea fish, she sat on the sand
beach looking out across the water. The sky in the west was pale grey;
it was always dull and grey in that country, and when the sun had gone
down there was no soft light. In her loneliness the woman said to
herself, "I wish we had children to keep me company." A Kingfisher,
with his children, was diving for minnows not far away. And the woman
said, "Oh, sea bird with the white collar, I wish we had children like
you." And the Kingfisher said, "Look in the sea-shells; look in the
sea-shells," and flew away. The next evening the woman sat again upon
the beach looking westward at the dull grey sky. Not far away a white
Sea-gull was riding on the waves in the midst of her brood of little
ones. And the woman said, "Oh, white sea bird, I wish we had children
like you to keep us company." And the Sea-gull said, "Look in the
sea-shells; look in the sea-shells," and flew away.
The woman wondered greatly at the words of the Kingfisher and the
Sea-Gull. As she sat there in thought she heard a strange cry coming
from the sand dunes behind her. She went closer to the sound and found
that the cry came from a large sea-shell lying on the sand. She picked
up the shell, and inside of it was a tiny boy, crying as hard as he
could. She was well pleased with her discovery, and she carried the
baby to her home and cared for him. When her husband came home from
the sea, he, too, was very happy to find the baby there, for he knew
that they would be lonely no more.
The baby grew very rapidly, and soon he was able to walk and move
about where he pleased. One day the woman was wearing a copper
bracelet on her arm and the child said to her, "I must have a bow
made from the copper on your arm." So to please him she made him a
tiny bow from the bracelet, and two tiny arrows. At once he set out to
hunt game, and day after day he came home bearing the products of his
chase. He brought home geese and ducks and brant and small sea birds,
and gave them to his mother for food. As he grew older the man and his
wife noticed that his face took on a golden hue brighter than the
colour of his copper bow. Wherever he went there was a strange light.
When he sat on the beach looking to the west the weather was always
calm and there were strange bright gleams upon the water. And his
foster-parents wondered greatly at this unusual power. But the boy
would not talk about it; when they spoke of it he was always silent.