Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/543

 Rh ran between them into his burrow. The Owl called to him to come out again, saying that the dog-teams had both passed by and were gone. But the Lemming's wife told her husband not to go out but to throw dirt in the Owl's face. And that was what he did.

(Eskimo Fable. From The Eskimo in Baffin Land, by Franz Boas.)

THE OWL AND THE TWO RABBITS

N Owl saw two Rabbits playing close together and seized them both, one with each foot. But the Rabbits were too strong for him, and ran away, dragging the Owl with them. The Owl's wife shouted to him: "Let one of the Rabbits go and kill the other!" But the Owl replied, "The moon is waning and will soon disappear, and then we shall be hungry; we shall need both of them." The Rabbits ran on; and when they came to a bowlder, one of the Rabbits ran to the right side, while the other ran to the left side of it. The Owl was not able to let go quickly enough and so was torn in two.

(From The Eskimo in Baffin Land, by Franz Boas.)

WHY THE BEARS HAVE SHORT TAILS

T first all the Bears had long tails. One winter day the Bear met the Fox, who had a fine lot of Crawfish. Being hungry the Bear wanted some too: so he asked the Fox where and how he got his Crawfish. The Fox replied:

"Go and stick your tail down in the water and let it stay there until it pinches you. The more it hurts, the more fish you will have."

This was what the Bear had in mind to do: so he proceeded down to the lake and made a hole through the ice. Sitting over it, he let