Atondido Stories
said, "You have a small mind like the others," and in disgust she
withdrew from his presence.
Then Fox came in an effort to win the maiden as his wife.
And for a whole day he cut capers, and chased his tail round
and round in a circle, trying to amuse the serious girl. But he did
not succeed very well, and like Loon he departed in despair.
And many others came, but they met the same fate, and at last
the girl decided to see no more of them, but to live alone with
her father. The young men of the village were all very angry be-
cause the girl had spoken of them all so scornfully, and often
they talked among themselves of her proud and haughty air.
"She calls us Scattered-Brains," said one. "She says we have small
minds," said another. "She must pay for these insults," said a
third. So they vowed that they would somehow break her proud
spirit and bring her sorrow because of her ideas and her decision
to stay single all her life. One of the great men of the village was
Whirlwind. He could make himself invisible, and he was often
guilty of many wicked pranks. So the young men went to him
and asked his aid in humbling the pride of the haughty maiden.
As they were talking to him, they saw the girl approaching not
far off. And quite unawares, Whirlwind rushed towards her and
knocked her down in the mud and tore her hat from her head
and swept it into the sea. The young men looked on at her plight
and they all laughed loudly, and the girl was very much
ashamed. She went back home and told her father what had
happened, and showed him her soiled clothes and her blown
hair falling about her face. Her father was very angry, and he
said, "Whirlwind must pay for this. He shall be banished at
once."
Then her father went to the Chief and made complaint
against Whirlwind, and the Chief decreed that Whirlwind must
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