Wus made the boy a bow and arrows out of big blades of dried grass. The mother said: “That is not right; there are bad thoughts in those things.”
The next day the woman had two more children, and not long after two more. She had children every few days, and always two at a time. Soon the house was full of children. They played together and were happy, but the mother was sorry that their father had made them arrows for playthings. She knew that trouble would come from them; that the children would get to quarreling and fighting.
The house was crowded. Wus had to hunt all the time to get meat enough. He scolded, but his wife said: “I told you that we would have many children. If there are too many, you must build another house.”
The mother took no care of the children; they grew up by themselves, and grew very fast. Soon they began to quarrel and fight with one another. Wus was unhappy; he wanted to go away from a house where there was nothing but fighting.
The woman knew his thoughts; she said: “Why don’t you try to find other people?”
Wus was glad to go. When he started, he said: “Hereafter one half of the people in this world will fight with the other half. There will be no peace.”
After traveling a long time, Wus came to a village. A fool lived in that village; as soon as he saw Wus, he called out: “There is the father of many children! Look at him!” He followed Wus, and wouldn’t leave him; he kept calling out: “Look at him! Look at him!” At last Wus got mad and slashed him with his knife. The fool screamed and ran around. Every man kept his house closed, no one would let him in. At last he died.
Wus said: “I didn’t want to hurt you, but you made me mad.” He was sorry and he sent for Gäk to come and step over the body.
Gäk came, stepped five times over the body, and the man stood up. He had a good mind now, and was thankful for what Wus had done. [[143]]
When Wus went home, he found his children quarreling. He lay down without eating. His wife said: “We won’t have any more children; they are bad.”