[Notes by LKG]
This story is part of the Mississippi Valley / Great Lakes unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1914).
The Hare and the Lynx
Ojibwa
When Hare had gone a short way, Lynx came down the trail. Lynx sang:
Where, pretty white one,
Where, pretty white one,
Where do you go?
“Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee!” cried Hare, and ran back to Grandmother.
“See, Grandmother,” she said, “Lynx came down the trail and sang,
Where, pretty white one,
Where, pretty white one,
Where do you go?”
“Ho!” said Grandmother. “Have courage! Tell Lynx you are going to your native land.”
Hare went back up the trail. Lynx stood there, so Hare sang,
To the point of land I go,
There is the home of the little white one,
There I go.
Lynx looked at the trembling little hare, and began to sing again,
Little white one, tell me,
Little white one, tell me,
Why are your ears so thin and dry?
“Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee!” cried little Hare, and ran back to Grandmother.
“See, Grandmother,” said Hare, “Lynx came down the trail and sang,
Little white one, tell me,
Little white one, tell me,
Why are your ears so thin and dry?”
“Ho!” said Grandmother, “Go and tell him your uncles made them so when they came from the South.”
So Hare ran up the trail and sang,
My uncles came from the south;
They made my ears as they are.
They made them thin and dry.
And then Hare laid her little pink ears back upon her shoulders,and started to go to the point of land. But Lynx sang again,
Why do you go away, little white one?
Why do you go away, little white one?
Why are your feet so dry and swift?
“Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee!” cried Hare and again she ran back to Grandmother.
“Ho! do not mind him,” said Grandmother. “Do not listen to him. Do not answer him. Just run straight on.”
So the little white hare ran up the trail as fast as she could. When she came to the place where Lynx had stood, he was gone. So Hare ran on and had almost reached her native land when Lynx sprang out of the thicket and ate her up.
Next: The Tiny Frog
(400 words)
