All that night the young men sat up, listening, listening; but it was
only before daybreak that they heard the white bear's growl. At the
first sound they ran out, and the poor little boy ran out with them, and
he ran more swiftly than they and shot his arrow. And the arrow passed
right through the neck of the bear, so that when the poor little boy
pulled it out it was covered with blood.
By this time the young men had come up and found the bear dead, so they
dipped their arrows in the blood, and picking up the bear, carried it
into the house of the chief, the poor little boy coming behind them.
'It was I who shot the bear; we are bringing him to you,' shouted one
quicker to speak than the rest; but the chief was a wise man, and only
answered:
'Let every man give me his bow and arrows, that I may examine them, and
see who has killed the white bear.'
Now the young men did not like that saying, but they were forced to
obey.
'Give me your bow and arrows also,' he said to the poor little boy, and
the poor little boy handed them to him, and the chief knew by the marks
that it was he who shot the white bear. And the young men saw by his
eyes that he knew it, but they all kept silence: the chief because he
was ashamed that a boy had done these two things where grown men had
failed; the young men, because they were ashamed that they had lied and
had been found to be lying.
* * * * *
So ashamed was the chief that he did not wish his people to look upon
his face, therefore he bade his slave go down to the village and tell
them to depart to some other place before morning. The people heard what
the slave said and obeyed, and by sunrise they were all in their
canoes--all, that is, except the chief's daughter, and the poor little
boy and his grandmother. Now the grandmother had some pieces of dried
salmon which she ate; but the chief's daughter would not eat, and the
poor little boy would not eat either. The princess slept in a room at
the back of the house and the poor little boy lay in the front, near the
fire. All night long he lay there and thought of their poverty, and
wondered if he could do anything to help them to grow richer. 'At any
rate,' he said to himself, 'I shall never become a chief by lying in
bed,' and as soon as some streaks of light were to be seen under the
door, he dressed himself and left the house, running down to the bank of
the great river which flowed by the town. There was a trail by the side
of the river, and the poor little boy walked along the trail till he
came to the shore of a lake; then he stopped and shouted. And as he
shouted a wave seemed to rise on the top of the water, and out of it
came the great frog who had charge of the lake, and drew near to the
place where the poor little boy was standing. Terrible it was to look
upon, with its long copper claws which moved always, its copper mouth
and its shiny copper eyes. He was so frightened that his legs felt
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account