and the boy sat talking to the old woman. And she said to him, "You
are very young and beautiful and innocent--the most handsome I have
yet seen in this place. And because of that, I will take pity on you
and warn you of your danger. The man whom you met in the forest and
whom you supped with to-night is none other than the dragon-man of
whom you have often heard. He cannot be killed in ordinary combat, and
it would be folly for you to try. To-morrow he will kill you if you
are still here. Take these moccasins that I will give you, and in the
morning when you get up put them on your feet. With one step you will
reach by their power the hill you see in the distance. Give this piece
of birch bark with the picture on it to a man you will meet there, and
he will tell you what next to do. But remember that no matter how far
you go, the dragon-man will overtake you in the evening." The youth
took the moccasins and the birch bark bearing the mystic sign and hid
them under his coat, and said, "I will do as you advise." But the
woman said, "There is one more condition. You must kill me in the
morning before you go, and put this robe over my body. Then the
dragon-man's spell over me will be broken, and when he leaves me, I
will rouse myself with my power back to life."
The youth went to sleep, and the dragon-man slept all night beside him
so as not to let him escape. The next morning, when the dragon-man was
out to get water from the stream some distance away, the boy at once
carried out the old woman's orders of the night before. First of all
he killed the old woman with a blow and covered her body with a bright
cloak, for he knew that when the dragon-man would leave the place she
would soon rise again. Then he put the magic moccasins on his feet and
with one great step he reached the distant hill. Here, sure enough, he
met an old man. He gave him the piece of birch bark bearing the mystic
sign. The man looked at it closely and smiled and said, "So it is you
I was told to wait for. That is well, for you are indeed a comely
youth." The man gave him another pair of moccasins in exchange for
those he was wearing, and another piece of birch bark bearing another
inscription. He pointed to a hill that rose blue in the distance and
said, "With one step you will reach that hill. Give this bark to a man
you will meet there, and all will be well."
The boy put the moccasins on his feet, and with one step he reached
the distant hill. There he met another old man, to whom he gave the
birch bark. This man gave him another pair of moccasins and a large
maple leaf bearing a strange symbol, and told him to go to another
spot, where he would receive final instructions. He did as he was
told, and here he met a very old man, who said, "Down yonder there is
a stream. Go towards it and walk straight into it, as if you were on
dry ground. But do not look at the water. Take this piece of birch
bark bearing these magic figures, and it will change you into whatever
you wish, and it will keep you from harm." The boy took the bark and
did as he was told, and soon found himself on the opposite bank of the
stream. He followed the stream for some distance, and at evening he
came to a lake. As he was looking about for a warm place to pass the
night, he suddenly came upon the dragon-man, now in the form of a
monster dragon, hiding behind the trees. The old woman's words had
come true, for his enemy had overtaken him before nightfall, as she
had said. There was no time to lose, so the boy waved his magic bark,
and at once he became a little fish with red fins, moving slowly in
the lake.
When the dragon-man saw the little fish, he cried, "Little fish of the
red fins, have you seen the youth I am looking for?" "No, sir," said
the little fish, "I have seen no one; I have been asleep. But if he
passes this way I will tell you," and he moved rapidly out into the
lake.
[Illustration: THE MAN GAVE HIM ANOTHER PAIR OF MOCCASINS IN EXCHANGE
FOR THOSE HE WAS WEARING]
The dragon-man moved down along the bank of the lake, while the youth
watched him from the water. He met a Toad in the path, and said,
"Little Toad, have you seen the youth I am looking for? If he passed
this way you would surely have seen him." "I am minding my own
business," answered the Toad, and he hopped away into the moss. Then
the dragon-man saw a very large fish with his head above water,
looking for flies, and he said, "Have you seen the boy I am looking
for?" "Yes," said the fish, "you have just been talking to him," and
he laughed to himself and disappeared. The dragon-man went back and
searched everywhere for Toad, but he could not find him. As he looked
he came upon a musk-rat running along by the stream, and he said
angrily, "Have you seen the person I am looking for?" "No," said the
rat. "I think you are he," said the dragon-man. Then the musk-rat
began to cry bitterly and said, "No, no; the boy you are looking for
passed by just now, and he stepped on the roof of my house and broke
it in." The dragon-man was deceived again. He went on and soon came
upon old Turtle splashing around in the mud. "You are very old and
wise," he said, hoping to flatter him, "you have surely seen the
person I am looking for." "Yes," said Turtle, "he is farther down the
stream. Go across the river and you will find him. But beware, for if
you do not know him when you see him, he will surely kill you." Turtle
knew well that the dragon-man would now meet his fate.
The dragon-man followed the lake till he came to the river. For
greater caution, so that he might be less easily seen, he changed
himself to a Snake. Then he attempted to cross the stream. But the
youth, still in the form of a fish and still using the power of his
magic bark with the mystic sign, was swimming round and round in a
circle in the middle of the river. A rapid whirlpool arose where he
swam, but it was not visible on the surface. As the Snake approached
it, he saw nothing but clear water. He failed to recognize his enemy,
and as Turtle had told him, he swam into the whirlpool before he was
aware of it, and was quickly drawn to the bottom, where he was
drowned.
The youth fished him up and cut off his head. Then he changed back to
his own form. He went to the dragon-man's lodge to see how the old
woman had fared, but she had gone with her bright robe, and the lodge
was empty. Then the youth went back to his home and reported what he
had done. And he received many rich gifts from the Chief for his brave
deed, and the land was never troubled again by dragons. But from that
time the snake family was hated because its shape had concealed the
dragon-man, and to this day an Indian will not let a snake escape with
his life if he meets one of them in his path. For they still are
mindful of the adventure of their ancestor in the old days, and they
are suspicious of the evil power the snake family secretly possess.
OWL WITH THE GREAT HEAD AND EYES
Long ago, when Glooskap was the ruler of the Indians in Eastern
Canada, and when the animals all worked for him and talked like men,
Wolf was one of Rabbit's enemies. On the surface they seemed to be
friends, but each was afraid of the other and each suspected the other
of treachery. Rabbit was very faithful to his work as the forest guide
who showed people the way to far places. But he was also a great
trickster, and he delighted to play pranks on every one he met. He
liked more than all to pester Wolf, for he had a hatred for his cruel
ways, and he was always able to outwit him.
It happened that Rabbit and Wolf lived close together, deep in the
Canadian forest. Some distance from them, in a little house, lived a
poor widow woman who had only one daughter. She was a very beautiful
girl, with hair as black as the raven's wing, and with eyes like the
dark of the underwater. Rabbit and Wolf each fell in love with her,
and each in his own way sought her as his wife. Rabbit tried hard to
win her love. When he went to her house he always dressed himself in
a soft brown coat, and he put a bangle around his neck and bells upon
his feet. And often he played sweetly on his flute, hoping to charm
her with his music, for he was a great player upon the Indian pipe.
And he tried to grow a moustache to hide his split lip; but he had
little success, for his whiskers would not grow thick, and he has the
thin scraggy moustache of a few hairs to this day. But no matter what
Rabbit did to adorn himself, the girl gave him cold looks, and old
Wolf seemed to be deeper in her favour, for she liked his willowy form
and his sleek and bashful ways. And poor Rabbit was sore distressed.
One fine day in the spring-time, Rabbit came upon the girl and her
mother gathering May-flowers among the moss. He crept close to listen
to their talk. He heard the mother say, "I have no stomach for little
Rabbit, but Wolf pleases me well. You must marry Wolf. They tell me he
is a great hunter, and if you marry him we shall never want for food."
When Rabbit heard this he was very sad; he determined that on no
account should Wolf marry the widow's daughter, and that he must use
all his power to prevent it. That night he went alone to the girl's
house. He spoke sneeringly of Wolf, saying with a bitter frown, "Wolf
is no hunter; he never catches any game because he is lazy and has no
brains; I always have to feed him to keep him from starving; he is
but a beast of burden; I always ride upon his back when I go to a far
country, for he is good for nothing else." The girl's mother wondered
greatly, and she was very startled by this news, for she did not want
her daughter to marry a good-for-nothing; but she was not sure that
Rabbit spoke the truth, for she had heard that sometimes he told great
lies. So she said, "If you will ride Wolf over here I will believe
you, and he shall not marry my daughter, and you shall marry her
yourself." And Rabbit went home well pleased and sure of a happy
ending to his trick.
The next day Rabbit purposely met Wolf in the forest, and he said,
"Let us go together to see the widow's daughter." And Wolf was glad to
go. They had not gone far when Rabbit began to cry. Then he lay down
on the ground, and rolled and moaned and rubbed his belly as if in
great distress. "I have a sharp pain in my belly," he sobbed, "I
cannot walk any farther. If I walk I shall surely die, and I cannot go
on unless you carry me on your back." Wolf willingly agreed, for he
wanted to see the beautiful girl, and he was very sorry for poor
Rabbit in his pain; and Rabbit, laughing to himself, climbed on Wolf's
back. Wolf ran along, not feeling the load, for Rabbit was very light.
They had not gone far when Rabbit cried again and said, "I cannot ride
without a saddle, for your bare back hurts me and gives me blisters."
So they borrowed a little saddle from a field by the way and put it
on Wolf's back. Soon Rabbit said, "This is fine fun; let us play that
you are a horse and that I am a great rider. I should like to put a
little bridle on you, and to wear spurs on my feet and to carry a
whip." And Wolf, wishing to please Rabbit to make him forget his pain,
gladly agreed. So they borrowed a little bridle and spurs and a whip
from another field near by, and did as Rabbit asked, and together they
went to the girl's home, Wolf trotting along like a little horse, and
Rabbit laughing to himself, sitting in the saddle, with his spurs and
his whip, holding the bridle reins. When they drew near the house,
Rabbit made a great noise so that the mother and her daughter might
look out to see where the shouting came from. He called loudly, "Whoa,
Whoa." And the girl and her mother opened the door and looked out at
them in wonder. Then as they were looking on, Rabbit, chuckling to
himself, struck Wolf a stinging blow with his whip, and stuck his
spurs deep into Wolf's sides and called him loudly a lazy beast. Wolf
jumped and plunged and kicked because of the prick of the spurs and
the sting of the whip; he was very cross, but he said nothing.
Some distance away, Rabbit tied Wolf to a tree, saying, "Stay here and
I will send the girl to you." Then he went to the house, and he said
to the woman, "Now you will believe that Wolf is a beast of burden,
for I have ridden here on his back." And the woman believed him. She
told him to give Wolf some corn or grass. But Rabbit said, "He doesn't
eat corn or grass; he eats only fresh meat," for he knew well that
Wolf would be quite contented if he got a good meal of meat. Then she
gave him some fresh meat, which he brought to Wolf. And Wolf was
happy, and his anger disappeared, and he forgot the pain of the spurs
and the whip, and he thought it was fine fun to get a good meal so
easily. The woman promised that Rabbit should marry her daughter, and
when night fell Rabbit went home well pleased, leaving Wolf still tied
to the tree. It was so dark that Wolf did not see him leaving the
house, and for a long time he thought he was still inside, and he
waited long in the starlight. At last he grew tired waiting, for he
was hungry and he was cold standing still in the chill night air of
early spring. He cut with his teeth the bridle rein that tied him to
the tree, and then he went to the woman's house. But the woman would
not let him in. She told him to go away, that she never wished to see
him again, and she called him a lazy beast of burden. He went home in
great anger, for he knew now that he had been tricked, and he swore
that he would have vengeance on Rabbit.
[Illustration: WOLF TROTTED ALONG LIKE A LITTLE HORSE, AND RABBIT
LAUGHING TO HIMSELF SITTING IN THE SADDLE]
The next day Rabbit learned from the woman that she had spurned Wolf
from her door, and he knew that Wolf realized he had been deceived. He
was somewhat frightened, for he dreaded Wolf's vengeance, and for
several days he hid among the trees. Then hunger drove him out and he
went forth to look for food. One evening he entered a garden in search
of cabbage, and he was busy robbing it, when the people who owned the
garden spied him. And they said, "Here is the thief who has been
stealing our vegetables. We will catch him and teach him a lesson."
Before Rabbit knew it, they were upon him, for he was eating heartily,
he was so hungry, and they caught him and bound him fast to a tree and
went to get scalding water to pour upon his back to teach him not to
rob their garden again. But while they were away Wolf came along. He,
too, was very hungry, for he had eaten no meal for many days, but he
was glad when he saw Rabbit, for now he thought he would have his
revenge. Rabbit saw him at a distance, and he resolved to try another
trick on him, and to hail him as if he thought he was still his
friend. And he cried out to him, "Help me, Wolf! Help me! The people
here asked me to eat up a nice little lamb, and when I refused to do
it, they tied me up to this tree, and they have gone to bring the lamb
to me."
Wolf was too hungry to be cautious, and he forgot all about Rabbit's
tricks, for spring lamb was his favourite food. And he said, "I will
eat up the little lamb," and he smacked his lips as he spoke, and
thought of the nice tender meal he would have. Then Rabbit said,
"Untie me and take my place, for the people will soon be here with
the lamb." So Wolf untied him, and Rabbit in turn bound Wolf fast to
the tree, and laughing to himself because he had again outwitted
stupid Wolf, he ran rapidly away. Far off he hid behind the trees to
see what would happen. Soon the people came back, carrying the pots of
scalding water. Wolf saw them coming, and he was in high spirits, for
he thought the lamb he was to eat was in one of the pots. It was
moonlight, and in the shadow of the great tree the people could not
see very clearly, and they thought Wolf was Rabbit, still bound fast
where they had left him. So they poured the scalding water on his back
and kicked him and knocked him on the head with a big stick, and they
said, "Now, thief, we have taught you how dangerous it is to rob
gardens in the spring moonlight." Wolf howled with pain, for his back
was blistered and his head was sore, and Rabbit heard him, and he sat
on a log and shook with laughter because of the success of his prank.
Then the people untied Wolf and let him go. He went away wearily among
the trees. And he again swore vengeance on Rabbit, and he resolved to
kill him as soon as he set eyes upon him, for he knew he had been
tricked a second time. For several days he searched for his enemy. At
last, one night of bright moonlight, he came upon Rabbit sitting in a
patch of Indian tobacco plants, eating his fill and contentedly
chewing the tobacco leaves. Rabbit's mouth was full of tobacco, but
he laughed loudly when he saw Wolf's back bound in bandages because of
the blisters, and his sore head tied up in a cloth. But when he saw
Wolf's angry eyes he was frightened, and he ran away into the woods.
The moon was shining in the forest, and Wolf could catch a glimpse now
and then of his brown coat among the trees, and he chased him for a
long time. Rabbit tried all his tricks to shake him from his tracks,
but without avail. At last, when Rabbit was almost worn out, he took
refuge in a hollow tree, into which he slipped through a small hole,
where Wolf could not follow him. And Wolf said, "Now I have him in my
power. I will kill him; but first I must go home to get my axe to cut
down the tree and to chop off his head." Then he looked around for
some one to keep watch over the tree while he was gone, so that Rabbit
could not escape. At last he saw Owl sitting quietly on a branch near.
He called to him and said, "Watch by this hole until I get back, and
do not let Rabbit get away." So Owl came down and sat by the hole and
promised to keep guard over the prisoner, and Wolf went away to look
for his axe.
But Rabbit was not caught yet; he had another trick left. After Wolf
had gone away, he called to Owl sitting by the hole, and said, "Owl,
come and see what a nice little room I have here in the tree." But Owl
replied, "It is too dark, I cannot see." Then Rabbit said, "Open your
eyes wide and put your face close to the hole, for I have a light here
and you can see easily." Owl did as he was told, for he was a curious
fellow. Rabbit had a great mouthful of tobacco juice from the Indian
tobacco leaves he had been chewing, and when Owl put his face close to
the hole he squirted the juice into Owl's eyes. Owl screamed loudly,
for his eyes were smarting and he was blinded by the juice; he ran
around the tree and stamped and shrieked and rubbed his eyes, trying
to relieve them of their pain. And while he was about it, Rabbit
slipped out of the hole and ran away, and Owl did not know he was
gone.
Soon Wolf came back, carrying his big sharp axe. And he said, "Now I
shall kill him at last." And Owl was afraid to tell him about his sore
eyes; they were still open wide, and he could not close them. At once
Wolf chopped down the hollow tree. Then he split it open from end to
end. But there was no sign of Rabbit. Wolf then thought Owl had
tricked him, and that he had helped Rabbit to escape. But Owl said he
had not. He sat with his eyes wide open, staring stupidly and moaning
and making strange noises because of his pain. Wolf thought he was
laughing at him and taunting him, for he did not know the meaning of
Owl's strange cries, and in his rage he fell to beating him over the
head with his axe-handle until poor Owl's head was swollen to a great
size. And Owl cried, "Hoot, Hoot, Hoot," and his eyes stared from his
swollen head even larger than before. Then Wolf went on his way,
resolved to keep away from Rabbit. And since that time Owl has cried
"Hoot, Hoot, Hoot" at night, for he still remembers his pain; and his
head is still swollen and bigger than that of other birds because of
the beating Wolf gave him with his axe-handle; and his eyes are still
large and they stare stupidly, and he cannot look at light, and he is
blind in the daylight because of the tobacco juice Rabbit squirted
into his eyes. And since that night Rabbit and Wolf have avoided each
other, and they have not lived in the same place, and they have never
since been friends.
THE TOBACCO FAIRY FROM THE BLUE HILLS
A man and his wife and two little children were living long ago on the
shores of a lake surrounded by large trees, deep in the Canadian
forest. They lived very happily together, and as game was plentiful,
they wanted for nothing. As the children grew up they became each day
more beautiful and gentle, until the old women of the tribe said,
"They are too good and lovely for this world; their home is surely
elsewhere in the West." Before they grew to maturity a cruel plague
spread over the land and carried them off with its ravages. Their
mother was the next to go, slowly growing weaker, and wasting away
before the eyes of her husband, who was powerless to save her.
The man was now left all alone upon the earth. The joy of his life had
gone with his wife and children, and he went about in great loneliness
and sorrow. Life was long to him and dreary, and often he wished that
he too was dead. But at last he roused himself and said, "I will go
about doing good. I will spend my life helping others, and perhaps in
that way I can find peace." So he worked hard and did all the good he
could for the weaker and the poorer people of his tribe. He was held
in high esteem by all the people of the village, and in their
affection for him they all called him "Grandfather." He grew to be
very old, and because of his good deeds he found great happiness. But
he was still very solitary, and the days and evenings were long and
lonely, and as he grew older and his work grew less, he found it hard
to pass away the time, for he could only sit alone and dream of his
vanished youth and of his absent friends.
One day he sat thinking by the lake. Many people of the village were
around him, but as usual he sat alone. Suddenly a large flock of
birds, looking like great black clouds, came flying from the blue
hills in the distance toward the shore of the lake. They wheeled and
circled about, and hovered long over the trees, uttering strange
cries. The people had never before seen such large birds, and they
were much afraid and said, "They are not ordinary creatures. They
foreshadow some strange happening." Suddenly one of the birds
fluttered for an instant and fell slowly to the earth with an arrow in
its breast. No one in the village had shot at the flock, and where the
arrow had come from no man knew. The mystery frightened the people
still more, and they looked to the old man for counsel, for they knew
that he was very wise.
The fallen bird lay fluttering on the ground, seemingly in pain. The
other birds circled about it for a short time, uttering loud cries.
Then they screamed and called to each other and flew back to the
distant blue hills, leaving the fallen bird behind them with the arrow
sticking in its breast. The old man was not frightened by the sight.
He said, "I will go to the stricken bird; perhaps I can heal its
wound." But the people, in great fear, said, "Do not go, Grandfather,
the bird will do you harm." But the old man answered, "It can do no
harm to me. My work is ended and my life is almost done. My sky is
dark, for I am full of sorrow, and with me it is already the twilight
of time. I am alone in the world, for my kindred have gone. I am not
afraid of death, for to me it would be very welcome. What matters it
if I should die?" And he went to the stricken bird to see if he could
help it.
As he went along, his path suddenly grew dark, but as he drew nearer,
a bright flame suddenly swept down from the sky to the place where the
bird was lying. There was a flash of fire, and when the old man looked
he saw that the bird had been completely burned up. When he came to
where it had lain, nothing but black ashes remained. He stirred up the
ashes with his stick, and lying in the centre he found a large living
coal of fire. As he looked at it, in a twinkling it disappeared, and
in its place was a strange little figure like a little man, no bigger
than his thumb. "Hello, Grandfather," it called, "do not strike me,
for I have been sent to help you."
[Illustration: SUDDENLY A LARGE FLOCK OF BIRDS, LOOKING LIKE GREAT
BLACK CLOUDS, CAME FLYING FROM THE BLUE HILLS]
"Who are you?" asked the old man.
"I am one of the Little People from the distant blue hills," said the
tiny boy. Then the old man knew that the little fellow was one of the
strange fairy people of the mountains, of whom he had often heard.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"I have been sent to you with a precious gift," answered the little
man. The old man wondered greatly, but he said nothing.