Atondido Stories
"Oh, this is fine!" he said. "It is glorious to fly through the air,
and go up almost to the sky where I can look down on all the
world. I'm glad that I was not content to stay always down in the
dirt."
With slow, noiseless wing flaps the owl set off toward the
north, pausing every now and then to catch and eat a mouse. Af-
ter a long flight Sledge Island came in view and the owl thought
it would go there. When far out at sea its untried wings became
so tired that only with the greatest difficulty did it manage to
reach the shore, where it perched upon a piece of driftwood that
stood up in the sand.
In a short time it saw two fine-looking men pass along the
shore, and the old feeling of discontent arose again. "Those men
were talking in a better-sounding language than mine. They
seemed to understand each other, and they laughed and were
having a good time. I will be a man."
With a single flap of wing it stood upon the ground, where it
changed immediately into a fine young man. But, of course, the
feathers were gone and the Man had no clothing. Night came
down upon the earth soon after, and the Man sat down with his
back against the stick of wood on which, as an owl, he had
perched, and slept till morning. He was awakened by the sun
shining in his eyes, and upon arising, felt stiff and lame from the
cold night air.
He found some of the same grass which he had once been,
and braided it into a kind of mantle which kept out a little of the
cold. Seeing a reindeer grazing, he felt a sudden desire to kill it
and eat its flesh. He crept close on his hands and knees, and,
springing forward, seized it by the horns and broke its neck with
a single effort.
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