“Alas! My grandson has been severely burned,” said grandmother.
WHEN THE ORPHAN TRAPPED THE SUN
Ojibwa
ANIMALS and men lived on the earth in the beginning. The animals killed all the people except a girl and her tiny brother, who hid from them. The brother did not grow at all. Therefore when the sister collected firewood, she took him with her. She made him a bow and arrow.
One day she said, “Now I must leave you for a while. Soon the snowbirds will come and pick worms out of the wood I have cut. Shoot one of them and bring it to me.”
The boy waited. The birds came and he shot at them with his arrows. He could not kill one. The next day he shot at them again. Then he killed one. He came back to the wigwam with a bird.
He said, “My sister, skin it. I will wear the skins of the snowbirds.”
“What shall we do with the body?” she asked.
“Cut it in two. We will put it in our broth.” Now at that time, the animals were very large. People did not eat them.