Native American Legends
How Rabbit brought fire to the People
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
In the beginning there was no fire and the Earth was cold. Then
the Thunderbirds sent their lightning to a sycamore tree on an island
where the Weasels lived. The Weasels were the only ones who had
fire and they would not give any of it away.
The people knew that there was fire on the island because they
could see smoke coming from the sycamore, but the water was too
deep for anyone to cross. When winter came the people suffered so
much from the cold that they called a council to find some way of
obtaining fire from the Weasels. They invited all the animals who
could swim.
"How shall we obtain fire?" the people asked.
Most of the animals were afraid of the Weasels because they were
bloodthirsty and ate mice and moles and fish and birds. Rabbit was
the only one who was brave enough to try to steal fire from them.
"I can run and swim faster than the Weasels," he said.
"I am also a good dancer. Every night the Weasels build a big
fire and dance around it. Tonight I will swim across and join in
the dancing. I will run away with some fire."
He considered the matter for a while and then decided how he would
do it. Before the sun set he rubbed his head with pine tar so as
to make his hair stand up. Then, as darkness was falling, he swam
across to the island.
The Weasels received Rabbit gladly because they had heard of his
fame as a dancer. Soon they had a big fire blazing and all began
dancing around it. As the Weasels danced, they approached nearer
and nearer the fire in the center of the circle. They would bow
to the fire and then dance backwards away from it.
When Rabbit entered the dancing circle, the Weasels shouted to
him: "Lead us, Rabbit!" He danced ahead of them, coming
closer and closer to the fire. He bowed to the fire, bringing his
head lower and lower as if he were going to take hold of it. While
the Weasels were dancing faster and faster, trying to keep up with
him, Rabbit suddenly bowed very low so that the pine tar in his
hair caught fire in a flash of flame.
He ran off with his head ablaze, and the angry Weasels pursued
him, crying, "Catch him! Catch him! He has stolen our sacred
fire! Catch him, and throw him down!"
But Rabbit outran them and plunged into the water, leaving the
Weasels on the shore. He swam across the water with the flames still
blazing from his hair.
The Weasels now called on the Thunderbirds to make it rain so as
to extinguish the fire stolen by Rabbit. For three days rain poured
down upon the Earth, and the Weasels were sure that no fire was
left burning except in their sycamore tree.
Rabbit, however, had built a fire in a hollow tree, and when the
rain stopped and the sun shone, he came out and gave fire to all
the people. After that whenever it rained, they kept fires in their
shelters, and that is how Rabbit brought fire to the people.
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