Fairy tales -- Canada; Folklore -- Canada; Indians of North America -- Canada -- Folklore
It happened once in those old times that Wolf-Wind was in a great
rage, and he went forth to kill and devour all who dared to come in
his path. It chanced in that time that many Indian families were
living near the sea. The men and women were fishing far off the coast.
They were catching fish to make food for the winter. They went very
far away in small canoes, for the sea had long been still and they
thought there was no danger. The little children were alone on shore.
Suddenly as the sun went down, without a sign of his coming, out of
the north came Wolf-Wind in his great rage looking for prey, and
roaring loudly as he came. "I am Wolf-Wind, the giant," he howled,
"cross not my path, for I will kill all the people I meet, and eat
them all up." His anger only grew as he stalked along, and he splashed
and tossed the waters aside in his fury as he came down upon the
fishermen and fisher-women far out to sea. The fishers had no time to
get out of his reach or to paddle to the shore, so quick was
Wolf-Wind's coming, and the giant caught them in his path and broke up
their boats and killed them all. All night long he raged over the
ocean looking for more fishers.
In the morning Wolf-Wind's anger was not yet spent. Far away in front
of him he saw the little children of the fishers playing on the shore.
He knew they were alone, for he had killed their fathers and mothers.
He resolved to catch them and kill them too, and after them he went,
still in a great rage. He went quickly towards the land, roaring as he
went and dashing the waters against the rocks in his madness. As he
came near the beach he howled in his anger, "I will catch you and kill
you all and eat you and bleach your bones upon the sand." But the
children heard him and they ran away as fast as they could, and they
hid in a cave among the great rocks and placed a big stone at the
mouth of the cave and Wolf-Wind could not get in. He howled loudly at
the door all day and all night long, but the stone was strong and he
could not break it down. Then he went on his way still very angry and
still roaring, and he howled, "I will come back and catch you yet. You
cannot escape from me."
The children were very frightened and they stayed long in the cave
after Wolf-Wind had gone, for far away they could still hear him
howling and crashing in the forest. Then they came out. They knew that
Wolf-Wind had killed their fathers and mothers on the sea. They ran
away into the forest, for they thought that there they would be safe.
They went to the Willow-Willow Land where they found a pleasant place
with grass and flowers and streams. And between them and the north
country where Wolf-Wind lived were many great trees with thick leaves
which they knew would protect them from the giant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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