06 MANITOU AND THE SQUIRRELS

“ Please tell me one more story about the great Manitou, Grandmother, ” begged the little Indian boy.

The grandmother liked to tell stories to the boy. She sat down facing him and told him the story of the great Manitou and the squirrels.

This was the story she told:

Once upon a time, there was scarcely any food to be found. The great Manitou and his wife had fasted for many days, and they were very hungry.

“ We must have meat, ” said Manitou.

Then he thought of a plan.

He lifted his bow and aimed a magic arrow through the door of the wigwam.

The arrow sped onward in the forest, until it passed through the body of a bear. It held the bear fast to a tree.

Manitou and his wife went into the forest together. There they found the bear.

Then Manitou said, “ We will have a feast and invite our friends. ”

The birds and beasts were glad to accept the invitation. A large company arrived.

The woodpecker was the first to taste the food. He began to eat greedily, for he was very hungry.

When he put the meat into his mouth, it turned to ashes.

The woodpecker began to cough. “ This is very impolite; I must not let Manitou hear me cough, ” thought he.

The fox was the next to taste the meat. It turned to ashes, and he began to cough.

All the other guests began to cough as soon as they had tasted the meat. They tried very hard not to let Manitou hear them.

They kept on tasting, but the more they tasted the harder they coughed.

At last Manitou became very angry.

“ I will make you remember this, ” said he.

In an instant, the woodpecker, the fox, and all the other guests had disappeared. In their place were many squirrels, running up and down the trees and coughing as squirrels always do when taken by surprise.

To this day, squirrels do not eat meat, but instead they nibble acorns and nuts.

“ If you have sharp eyes, ” added the grandmother, “ you will find hollow places in the trees, where the squirrels hide their acorns and nuts. ”