When the old man ceased speaking Aleko waited a moment and then said slowly:
"That is not true—but I like it."
AMERICAN INDIAN LEGENDS
THE FIRST CORN
THE FIRST CORN[17]
A LONG time ago there lived in a Pawnee village a young man who was a great gambler. Every day he played at sticks, and he was almost always unlucky. Sometimes he would lose everything that he had, and would even lose things belonging to his father. His father had often scolded him about gambling, and had told him that he ought to stop it. There were two things that he never staked; these two things were his shield and his lance.