Manabozho made the land.
PAUPPUKKEEWIS
A man of large stature and great activity of mind and body found himself standing alone on a prairie. He thought to himself—
“How came I here? Are there no beings on this earth but myself? I must travel and see. I must walk till I find the abodes of men.”
So as soon as his mind was made up he set out, he knew not whither, in search of habitations. No obstacles diverted him from his purpose. Prairies, rivers, woods, and storms did not daunt his courage or turn him back. After travelling a long time he came to a wood in which he saw decayed stumps of trees, as if they had been cut in ancient times, but he found no other traces of men. Pursuing his journey he found more recent marks of the same kind, and later on he came to fresh traces of human beings, first their footsteps, and then the wood they had cut lying in heaps.
Continuing on he emerged towards dusk from the forest, and beheld at a distance a large village of high lodges, standing on rising ground. He said to himself—
“I will arrive there at a run.”
Off he started with all his speed, and on coming to the first lodge he jumped over it. Those within saw something pass over the top, and then they heard a thump on the ground.
“What is that?” they all said.
One came out to see, and, finding a stranger, invited him in. He found himself in the presence of an old chief and several men who were seated in the lodge. Meat was set before him, after which the chief asked him where he was going and what his name was. He answered he was in search of adventures, and that his name was Pauppukkeewis (grasshopper). The eyes of all were fixed upon him.
“Pauppukkeewis!” said one to another, and the laugh went round.
Pauppukkeewis made but a short stay in the village. He was not easy there. The place gave him no opportunity to display his powers.
“I will be off,” he said, and taking with him a young man who had formed a strong attachment for him and who might serve him as a mesh-in-au-wa (official who bears the pipe), he set out once more on his travels. The two travelled together, and when the young man was fatigued with walking Pauppukkeewis would show him a few tricks, such as leaping over trees, and turning round on one leg till he made the dust fly in a cloud around him. In this manner he very much amused his companion, though at times his performance somewhat alarmed him.
One day they came to a large village, where they were well received. The people told them that there were a number of manitoes who lived some distance away and who killed all who came to their lodge.
The people had made many attempts to extirpate these manitoes, but the war parties that went out for this purpose were always unsuccessful.
“I will go and see them,” said Pauppukkeewis.
The chief of the village warned him of the danger he would run, but finding him resolved, said—
“Well, if you will go, since you are my guest, I will send twenty warriors with you.”
Pauppukkeewis thanked him for this. Twenty young men offered themselves for the expedition. They went forward, and in a short time descried the lodge of the manitoes. Pauppukkeewis placed his friend and the warriors near him so that they might see all that passed, and then he went alone into the lodge. When he entered he found five horrible-looking manitoes eating. These were the father and four sons. Their appearance was hideous. Their eyes were set low in their heads as if the manitoes were half starved. They offered Pauppukkeewis part of their meat, but he refused it.
“What have you come for?” asked the old one.
“Nothing,” answered Pauppukkeewis.
At this they all stared at him.
“Do you not wish to wrestle?” they all asked.
“Yes,” replied he.
A hideous smile passed over their faces.
“You go,” said the others to their eldest brother.
Pauppukkeewis and his antagonist were soon clinched in each other’s arms. He knew the manitoes’ object,—they wanted his flesh,—but he was prepared for them.
“Haw, haw!” they cried, and the dust and dry leaves flew about the wrestlers as if driven by a strong wind.
The manito was strong, but Pauppukkeewis soon found he could master him. He tripped him up, and threw him with a giant’s force head foremost on a stone, and he fell insensible.
The brothers stepped up in quick succession, but Pauppukkeewis put his tricks in full play, and soon all the four lay bleeding on the ground. The old manito got frightened, and ran for his life. Pauppukkeewis pursued him for sport. Sometimes he was before him, sometimes over his head. Now he would give him a kick, now a push, now a trip, till the manito was quite exhausted. Meanwhile Pauppukkeewis’s friend and the warriors came up, crying—
“Ha, ha, a! Ha, ha, a! Pauppukkeewis is driving him before him.”
At length Pauppukkeewis threw the manito to the ground with such force that he lay senseless, and the warriors, carrying him off, laid him with the bodies of his sons, and set fire to the whole, consuming them to ashes.
Around the lodge Pauppukkeewis and his friends saw a large number of bones, the remains of the warriors whom the manitoes had slain. Taking three arrows, Pauppukkeewis called upon the Great Spirit, and then, shooting an arrow in the air, he cried—
“You, who are lying down, rise up, or you will be hit.”
The bones at these words all collected in one place. Again Pauppukkeewis shot another arrow into the air, crying—
“You, who are lying down, rise up, or you will be hit,” and each bone drew towards its fellow.
Then he shot a third arrow, crying—
“You, who are lying down, rise up, or you will be hit,” and the bones immediately came together, flesh came over them, and the warriors, whose remains they were, stood before Pauppukkeewis alive and well.
He led them to the chief of the village, who had been his friend, and gave them up to him. Soon after, the chief with his counsellors came to him, saying—
“Who is more worthy to rule than you? You alone can defend us.”
Pauppukkeewis thanked the chief, but told him he must set out again in search of further adventures. The chief and the counsellors pressed him to remain, but he was resolved to leave them, and so he told the chief to make his friend ruler while he himself went on his travels.
“I will come again,” said he, “sometime and see you.”
“Ho, ho, ho!” they all cried, “come back again and see us.”
He promised that he would, and set out alone.
After travelling for some time, he came to a large lake, and on looking about he saw an enormous otter on an island. He thought to himself—
“His skin will make me a fine pouch,” and, drawing near, he drove an arrow into the otter’s side. He waded into the lake, and with some difficulty dragged the carcass ashore. He took out the entrails, but even then the carcass was so heavy that it was as much as he could do to drag it up a hill overlooking the lake. As soon as he got it into the sunshine, where it was warm, he skinned the otter, and threw the carcass away, for he said to himself—
“The war-eagle will come, and then I shall have a chance to get his skin and his feathers to put on my head.”
Very soon he heard a noise in the air, but he could see nothing. At length a large eagle dropped, as if from the sky, on to the otter’s carcass. Pauppukkeewis drew his bow and sent an arrow through the bird’s body. The eagle made a dying effort and lifted the carcass up several feet, but it could not disengage its claws, and the weight soon brought the bird down again.
Then Pauppukkeewis skinned the bird, crowned his head with its feathers, and set out again on his journey.
After walking