"The reason why fire had not been from the first given to men was because
when the race was created the fire was not much needed. The earth was then
much warmer than it is now. There was no snow or ice ever seen except on
the tops of the very highest mountains. Great animals now all dead, and
others that could only live in the hottest countries, lived all over these
great lands. Then there was abundance of fruit and nuts and roots that were
all very good for food. Then some great disaster happened to the world and
soon it began to grow colder and many animals, and even families, perished.
Snow and ice appeared where they were never seen before. There was great
suffering from the cold. The hunters began to kill the animals for food.
They were now not satisfied with the fruit and roots, they wanted something
better.
"So the fire was much needed. But where it was, or how to get it, was the
question. Fortunately an old dreamer dreamed a dream about it. As the
council assembled to hear his dream he told them that the fire was
preserved in the heart of the earth by a magician called Sistinakoo, and
that it was kept very carefully surrounded by four walls, one within the
other, in each of which was a single door. At the first door a great snake
kept guard. At the second door a mountain lion or panther was the guardian.
A grizzly bear guarded the third door, and at the fourth and last door
Sistinakoo himself kept watchful care over the precious fire that smoldered
on a stone altar just inside this last wall.
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