THE BOY WHO BEFRIENDED THE THUNDERBIRDS. 73 
21. THE BOY WHO BEFRIENDED THE THUNDERBIRDS, AND 
THE SERPENT.* 
Among the Arikara lived a young man who was gifted with 
powers from the gods in the Heavens—the four-world-quarter gods 
who give all power. The boy’s parents were very poor, so that he 
would go about and kill so many antelope that people called him “An- 
telope-Carrier.””’ When he went hunting he killed many deer. It made 
no difference how far away the animal was, he killed whatever animal 
he shot at. People wondered where the boy got his power. The boy 
got his power from the timber. The Wood-Rats had taken the boy 
and had given him bow and arrows. The arrows were made of dog- 
wood. The feathered parts were wood-rat hide. The boy had for his 
bow, thick hickory wood. One of the arrows was black, another red, 
another yellow, and another white. ‘The yellow and the white arrows 
had flint points, and the boy used them for killing game. 
Antelope-Carrier wandered from home and was lost to the people. 
His friends mourned for him as lost. The boy wandered west, until 
he came to a lake,—a very large lake. Now the boy thought to himself 
that he would stay at this place for several days. He killed game, 
made a big fire, ate meat and slept by the lake, where there were many 
brushes and reeds. One day Antelope-Carrier killed some birds and 
roasted them. After eating the birds he lay down and slept. While 
he slept, two Thunderbirds came and carried him high up and placed 
him upon a high mountain. When the boy woke up he found him- 
self in a strange place. The mound was high and had steep sides, 
so that he could not get down. When he found that there was no 
place to get down he cried. He walked around and found a nest. It 
contained four young Thunderbirds. The nest was built of sticks 
and covered with soft, downy feathers. He walked to another place 
and he found a hollow in the stone and this was full of clear water. He 
did not drink, but went on crying. After a while he became tired and 
sat down. He heard above him a noise which sounded like strong 
wind. He looked up and saw the mother Thunderbird. She lighted 
close to the boy and the bird spoke and said: ‘My son, do not cry. 
I brought you to this place. I watch over you as you go hunting. 
I see you kill game. You are wonderful. I brought you up here. I 
want you to help me save your young brothers over there’ (pointing 
to the nest). “Nesaru placed me and my mate upon this high place. 
*Told by Antelope. 
