That baby had a lot of little toys, carved out of walrus ivory. There were tiny dogs and foxes, and little walrus heads, and kayaks (Eskimo canoes). He kept putting the toys into an ivory box with a cover, then spilling them out again.
The chief was watching the baby very proudly, but the little one did not seem satisfied with his toys.
When the chief’s daughter came in she stooped to pick the baby from the floor, and a little speck of dust drifted from her dress to the baby’s ear. The dust was the crow, of course.
The baby began to cry and fuss, and the chief said, “What you want?” and the crow whispered into his ear, “Ask for the daylight to play with.”
The baby asked for the daylight, and the chief told his daughter to give the baby a small, round daylight to play with.
The woman unwound the rawhide string from his hunting bag and took out a small wooden chest covered with pictures, which told the story of the brave things the chief had done. From the chest she took a shining ball, and gave it to the child.
The baby liked the shining ball, and played with it a long time; but the crow wanted to get that daylight, so he whispered in the little one’s ear to ask for a string to tie to his ball. They gave him a string, and tied the daylight to it for him; then the chief and his daughter went out, leaving the door open behind them, much to the delight of Crow, who was waiting for just that chance.
When the little boy got near to the door in his play, the crow whispered again in his ear, and told him to creep out into the entrance with his daylight.
The baby did as the crow told him, and as he passed the spot where the crow’s skin was hidden, the speck of dust slipped out of the child’s ear, back into the crow’s skin and the crow was himself again. Seizing the end of the string in his beak, away flew Mr. Crow, leaving the howling baby on the ground.
The child’s cries brought the chief and his daughter and all the people of the village rushing to the spot; and they saw the crow flying away with their precious daylight.