The deer next held a council. They decided that any one who killed a deer without asking his pardon should be lame with many pains.
The reptiles and the fish talked the matter over. They agreed to punish man by making him dream of snakes and of eating raw fish.
In the last council the birds, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, and the smaller animals came together. All complained of stolen nests, stones, and arrows.
The ground squirrel alone said a good word for man. This made the others so angry that they fell upon the little animal and tore him with their claws. You can see the stripes on his back even to this day.
Then all the squirrels that had lost legs or tail by arrows, all rabbits running on three legs, all birds that had seen their little ones die, all wild ducks lamed, and all animals that had ever been wounded for sport rose up and called for revenge.
"Let the pains and the trouble that man has sent to us and our children be sent to him and his children," they demanded.
"But how can we do this?" asked the others. "We cannot turn man's weapons against him."
"Let us send new diseases," proposed a limping fox.
All rose up with pleasure at this proposal. And they commenced to invent diseases so fast that they had soon named every kind of sickness that you ever heard of. Had they thought of many more, no human beings would now be alive.
The grubworm, who had been stepped on by man, was so delighted that he fell over backwards and has had to wriggle on his back ever since.