VIII.
WHY DO THE EYES OF THE WOLF GLOW AND HIS HAIR BRISTLE?
The Story of the Wolf, God and the Devil.
When God had finished the creation of the world, and had made all the good animals and beasts, the devil thought he would also make some creatures. He took some of the clay and made the wolf. When he had finished God came to see what he had done. When he saw the brute he asked the devil what it was.
“Ho, thou wilt soon see what it is. Up, wolf, and go for him.” But the wolf did not stir. There he lay where the devil had fashioned him. When the devil saw that the wolf did not move, that there was no life in him, he turned to God and said:
“Just make him go.”
And God said, “Very well.”
But before he made him go, he chipped the wolf about, and moulded him and fashioned him a bit better than the devil had done. Out of these chippings came the snakes and the toads. When he had finished shaping him, God cried:
“Up, wolf, and go for him.”
Up jumped the wolf and went for the devil, who got so frightened that he ran away as fast as his feet would carry him.