The Magic Springs

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Last Updated: 9 years

An old man was living with his son, his daughter and her husband, who was a great hunter. The two brothers-in-law hunted every day one winter, but could not find any tracks.

There was a great deal of snow, and the young husband made himself snowshoes. He passed through an unfrozen spring. When he came home, his wife saw blood on his snowshoes.

 

She said, “I am glad you have killed a moose.” “‘I have not killed anything, I have merely stepped into a spring.” The girl paid no attention to him, but told her father, “My husband has killed some game.”

The young man was ashamed. His father-in-law said, “Bring me the snowshoes, I want to look at them.” When he saw them, he was glad and said, “We’ll eat plenty of meat now.”

He smelt the snowshoes. The young man sat with bowed head, afraid to look up. Finally, he said, “All day I could not find any track or other sign of any game.”

The girl’s relatives said, “You have killed something, for there is blood on your snowshoes.” He protested that he had merely passed through a red spring. At last, the old man proposed to go to the spring with him.

The next day the father-in-law stripped two trees of their bark and pushed one strip into either end of the spring. Then he told the people to get ready to shoot. He pushed in a stick and called on a moose to come out.

A doe appeared and after running a short distance was* shot. Then he cried, “Young moose, come out.” A young moose came out, and they shot it. Next he cried, “Big buck, come out.” A buck appeared, and was shot.

“I have seen many springs like this,” said the young man.

His brother-in-law said, “Let us look for such springs every day.” They skinned the moose, roasted it and ate it.

Then they went to a bear spring. The old man looked at it and said, “There is a bear within.”

He put in bark, and poked the ground. A big black bear appeared, and the young man killed it. They had plenty of fat.

The old man said, “Every spring has some kind of game in it in the winter.” Now the young man went hunting for a spring every day, and they were no longer in want.