216 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [ETH.jum.14 



heavy to carry about, so the Indians asked that they be given small 

 ones — cups as large as a clinched list, for they believed they would 

 grow to be large ones by and by. 



The Indians received some small cups, as they desired, when the 

 strangers took their departure. But the cups never grew to be kettles. 



HOW THE HUNTER DESTROYED THE SNOW 



There was a family of four persons — a hunter, his wife, and two 

 children — who dwelt in one wigwam. The hunter each day went out 

 for game, and he usually returned with all that he could carry. He con- 

 tinued these successful hunting excursions throughout the autumn aud 

 until the middle of winter; but one day, while in the woods, far from his 

 wigwam, Kon (the snow) froze the. hunter's feet so badly that he could 

 scarcely get along. He felt very sad that he was so injured by the Cold, 

 and to punish him he made a large wooden bowl, which he filled with 

 Snow, and buried it in a deep hole where the midday sun could shine 

 down on it and where the Snow could not run away. He then covered 

 the hole with sticks and leaves to hold the Snow a prisoner until summer. 



When midsummer came, the hunter went out to the place where he 

 had buried the Snow, and, removing the covering, permitted the sun to 

 shine down on it and cause it to melt. Thus he punished the Snow; 

 but when autumn came again and he was one day in the forest, he 

 heard someone say to him, " You punished me last summer, but when 

 winter comes I will show you how strong I am." 



The hunter well knew that it was Kon who had thus addressed him, 

 and, taking care to provide himself against cold weather, he at once built 

 another wigwam, near to the one he occupied, and filled it with fire- 

 wood. The season changed and the winter came again. One day when 

 the hunter was out in the woods, he heard some one speaking, and, lis- 

 tening, heard the words, "Now I am coming to visit you, as I told you 

 I should do; I shall be at your wigwam in four days." 



When the hunter returned to his wigwam, he got more wood ready, 

 and built a fire at each end of his wigwam. After four days had passed 

 by, it began to get very cold, and everything became frozen. The hunter 

 replenished the fires with the wood he had gathered, and got out more 

 robes to cover his wife and children. On the morning of the fifth day 

 the cold became more and more intense, in consequence of which the 

 hunter and his family could scarcely keep from perishing. Toward 

 night the hunter, on looking out the door of the wigwam, saw approach- 

 ing a stranger who seemed to look like any ordinary being, save that he 

 had a very large head and an immense beard. When he came to the 

 wigwam, the hunter asked him to enter, which he did, but strangely 

 enough he would not go near either of the fires. This puzzled the hunter, 

 and he began to watch the stranger. As the cold became even greater 

 after the stranger entered the wigwam, the hunter went to his fires and 

 added more wood until they roared. As the hunter was thus engaged, 



