Fairy tales -- Canada; Folklore -- Canada; Indians of North America -- Canada -- Folklore
Soon he heard some one coming, sneaking stealthily through the trees.
Then he saw a white light which dazzled his eyes. The light went
towards the snares, until it stopped just at the trap Rabbit had set.
Then Rabbit pulled the bow-string, closed the trap as he had hoped,
and tied the string fast to a tree. He heard sounds of a struggle, and
he saw the white light move from side to side, but he knew that he had
his prisoner fast and that the man of the long foot was caught at
last. He was much afraid of the white light, and he ran home as fast
as he could and told his old grandmother that he had caught the
game-robber in the trap, and that he did not know who he was, for he
was too frightened to look. And his grandmother said, "You must go
back and see who it is, and tell him he must stop robbing your
snares." But Rabbit said, "I do not want to go until daylight, for the
Moon has gone down and the forest is very dark." But his grandmother
said, "You must go." So poor Rabbit, although he was very frightened
by what he had seen, set out again for his traps.
[Illustration: HE SAT VERY QUIET, WAITING FOR THE MAN OF THE LONG FOOT
TO APPEAR]
When he drew near to his snares he saw that the white light was still
shining. It was so bright that his eyes were dazzled and he had to
stop far from it. Then he approached nearer, but his eyes soon became
very sore. There was a stream flowing beside him, and he bathed his
eyes in the cold water, but it brought him no relief, and his eyes
felt hot and red, and tears fell from them because of the dazzling
light. Then he took great handfuls of snow and threw snowballs at the
light, hoping thereby to put it out. But when the snowballs came near
to the light they melted and fell down like rain. Then, with his eyes
still smarting, Rabbit in his rage scooped up great handfuls of soft
black mud from the bottom of the stream, and forming it into balls, he
threw them with all his force at the white light. He heard them strike
something with a dull thud, and he heard loud yells from the
prisoner--the man of the long foot--behind the shining light. Then a
voice came from the light, saying, "Why did you snare me? Come and
untie me at once. I am the Man in the Moon. It is near to the morning,
and before dawn I must be on my way home. You have already spotted my
face with mud, and if you do not loose me at once I shall kill all
your tribe."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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