When Tul and Ni-Va came to the edge of the forest, they saw a great wide space which had been burned by the fire before the rain had put it out. So, being curious, they forgot all about the roots and eggs they had been sent after, and went poking about among the ashes and charred trunks of trees, to see what they could find.
They had been doing this for quite a while, when Ni-Va heard Tul call to him, and ran up to see what his companion had found.
There among some burnt bushes lay the body of a great bird, as large as a turkey. It had been sitting on its nest on the ground, and in trying to escape it had become entangled among some thick vines. The fire had burnt away the feathers of the bird, and left it scorched and black, and still a little warm from the bed of ashes in which it lay.
THE FIRST COOK
Ai-Ab took a large piece of the deer meat, and putting it on the end of a stick, held it over the flames of the fire.
Tul tried to lift the bird by one of its legs, but to his surprise, the leg came right off in his hand, for the body of the bird had been cooked by the fierce heat.