"Several attempts had been made to steal the fire ere Nanahboozhoo resolved
to see what he could do. All of these other efforts had failed, and the
parties who tried them were killed. Nokomis heard of these unsuccessful
attempts and tried to dissuade her grandson, Nanahboozhoo, from such a
dangerous enterprise.
"Nanahboozhoo, however, was a very skillful fellow, and although this was
one of his first great undertakings, for it was long ago, he was not to be
stopped by her fears, and so away he went. As the ice was not yet on the
waters he took his birch canoe and paddled eastward as far as he could.
Then he hid his canoe where he could easily find it on his return.
"The next thing he did was to transform himself into a rabbit, and in that
shape he hurried on until he saw in the distance the sacred wigwam where
dwelt the old guardian of the fire and his two daughters, who were famous
for their height and their strength. To excite the pity of these daughters
Nanahboozhoo jumped into some water, and then crawling out, wet and cold,
he slowly approached the wigwam. Here the two daughters found him, and he
looked so miserable that they took pity on him and at once carried him into
the wigwam and set him down near the sacred fire, that he might soon get
warm and dry."
[Illustration: "Where the fire was stolen out of the center of the earth."]
"How very kind that was of the old man's daughters," said Minnehaha.
"I don't know about that," said the more matter-of-fact Sagastao; "folks
sometimes get into trouble by taking up everything that comes along.
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