Atondido Stories
snow and made no answer. Then he asked a bear, but he met
with the same rebuff. Thus for many days and nights he wan-
dered on, crossing rivers and climbing steep hills, but always
without success.
Then one day he emerged from the snow country and came
to a land where the airs were warmer and where little streams
were flowing. Suddenly he came upon the body of a dead man
lying across his path. He stopped and buried the body, for he
thought that it was not right to leave it lying bare upon the
ground for the birds to peck at. That night as he went along in
the moonlight he met a Fox in his path. "Hello," said the Fox.
"What are you looking for so late at night in the forest?" And he
answered, "I am looking for the bird of the sweet song, who will
show me the way to the Healing Waters." And the Fox said, "I
am the spirit of the man you buried yesterday by the forest path,
and in return for your kindness to me I shall do a kindness to
you. You have always been good to the animals and the birds,
and you have never killed them needlessly, nor when you did
not require them for clothing or for food. And you have always
been careful of the flowers and the trees, and you have often
protected them from harm. So now they want to be good to you,
and I am going to guide you. But first you must rest, for you are
tired from your long journey."
Then the young man lay down to sleep and the Fox stood
guard beside him. As he slept he dreamed. And in his dream he
saw his wife pale and thin and worn, and as he looked he heard
her singing a song of wonderful melody. Then he heard a water-
fall rippling near him and it said, "Seek me, O warrior, and when
you find me your wife shall live, for I am the Healing Waters." In
the morning the Fox led him but a short distance through the
forest and on the branch of a tree he heard a bird singing a song
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