Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales, Part A
Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind
Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).
Plot:
There was a tribe of fishermen in the north.
The best fish found in the north where it's frozen in the winter. this land was ruled by North Wind.
If he had his way the world would be one big ball of ice.
He was no match for the south wind though. This wind of course made summer and life.
the south wind will periodically sit and smoke making the summer great. During this time the fisherman work fast. After some time the North wind would awake, driving the fisherman back south.
However, when the fisherman ran Shin-ge-bis, the diver, laughed. He was always in a good mood.
He suggested carving a hole in the ice to keep fishing when the surface was frozen over.
He had the power to turn into a duck and (dive).
He ended up staying and the other fisherman left.
He was very successful for a time until the north wind found him.
The north wind declared that he would kill his fire by the end of the night.
as Shin-ge-bis was chilling by the fire, a great snowstorm began, the snow ended up just trapping the heat inside the wigwam. That is to say that Shin-ge-bis was just fine.
Shin-ge-bis began to tease and mock the north wind. So much so that the north wing personally came into his wigwam. After a moment the north wind began to melt. As a result, he fled.
Once outside the north wind was revived and challenged Shin-ge-bis to come out and fight in the cold.
Shin-ge-bis figured the north wind was weakened, so he went to fight and he won.
"cheerfulness and courage can overcome even the north wind"
Thoughts:
I love the moral of this story. I had no idea where it was going until the last line. I didn't think there was much of a moral but I can totally see after finishing. I love the personification of the north wind. I also thought it was cool how Shin-ge-bis was powered by his own movement. It supports a favorite saying of mine that "idle hands are the devil's playthings".
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