But when a woman gets proud
and conceited and carries on like this one did she is hard to cure. The
fact was, her husband was too kind to her. He did not give her plenty of
work to keep her busy and out of mischief. Instead of making her chop the
wood and carry the water, and do other hard things, he did it for her, for
he was very proud of her and she was indeed a beautiful woman. He did,
however, make her stay in their wigwam instead of allowing her to go about
wherever she liked.
"She spent most of her time in fixing herself up in her beautiful clothes
and thinking what a lovely creature she was. But she soon missed the
flattery of her admirers and resolved that, in spite of her husband, she
would try to hear it again. So vigilant, however, were her husband and his
friends that they were too clever for her.
"One day her husband returned from hunting and visiting his traps and
snares. Among other animals that he had trapped was a beautiful marten. He
had caught it in what is called a dead-fall; that is, where a log is so
arranged that when the animal reaches the bait he is directly under the
log, which falls upon him the instant he pulls the bait.
"When the woman took up the marten which her husband had thrown at her feet
she noticed that it was still quite warm, but she said nothing about it to
her husband, who, picking up an ax and blanket, said that he was going off
to visit his more distant traps and would not be back for some days.
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