| Lok | Bear |
| Kékina | Lizard |
| Wus | Fox |
Five Lok brothers and their sister lived in a house on a mountain near Klamath Lake; not far away lived old woman Wus with her two nephews, the Kékina brothers. They were orphans; the Lok brothers had killed their father and their mother. In summer Wus had had the children gather roots and store them in a tree for winter. When winter came the younger boy went three times each day to the top of the tree to eat a few of the roots. As he went, he called out: “Spring is coming! Spring is coming!”
Lok’s sister had a big pile of roots hidden under the ground. She never gave any to Wus; she was always watching around to see what Wus taught the boys. Wus didn’t teach them anything. She didn’t dare to; but the elder boy knew how to make poison arrows.
One morning when little Kékina ran out to the tree, he cried: “Spring is coming! Spring is coming!” and brought down a few roots for his brother.
The Lok woman heard him, and asked: “Why do you tell such a lie? Spring isn’t coming. It is winter. When you see smoke on the mountains, then spring will come.” To the elder brother Lok said: “You are good for nothing; you sit all day making arrows, but you can’t kill anything.”
Old woman Wus cried, but the boy told her and his little brother not to answer Lok; if they did, Lok would tell her brothers, and they might come and kill them.
Once when the little boy was outside, Lok said to him: [[351]]“Little boy, I feel mean toward you; you tell lies about spring coming.” That evening Lok watched him and was mad when he called out: “Spring is coming! Spring is coming!” for every time he called, it hurried spring along, and she liked winter. She went to the tree where the roots were hidden, spat on her hands, took hold of the top of the tree, pulled it down, rolled the roots in a ball, and swallowed them.
The next morning, when little Kékina called: “Spring is coming! Spring is coming!” and ran to the tree, he found that all his roots were gone. He saw Lok’s tracks and knew that she had stolen them. He rolled around on the ground and cried, he felt so badly. Then he went in and lay down by his brother, who was making poison arrows. The brother said: “Keep still, I am going to talk to my arrows and tell them what to do.” He held the arrows over the fire, and said: “Arrows, you must go right through the bodies of the big-handed people; the people that never get enough to eat.”
Old woman Lok was listening around; she said: “You are talking about the people who killed your father and mother, and will kill you.”
When her brothers came home, she said: “I hate to hear that Kékina boy talk about killing you.”