Native American Legends
Eskimo myth of the origin of Sun, Moon and Stars
An Eskimo Legend
At a time when darkness covered the Earth, a girl was nightly visited
by someone whose identity she could not discover. She was determined
to find out who it could be. She mixed some soot with oil and painted
her breast with it. The next time she discovered, to her horror,
that her brother had a black circle of soot around his mouth. She
upbraided him and he denied it. The father and mother were very
angry and scolded the pair so severely that the son fled from their
presence. The daughter seized a brand from the fire and pursued
him. He ran to the sky to avoid her, but she flew after him. The
man changed into the moon and the girl bore the torch and became
the sun. The sparks flew from the brand became the stars. The sun
is constantly pursuing the moon, which keeps in the darkness to
avoid being discovered.
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