> was not afraid, for she had a stout spirit, but it was very dismal in

the evenings to look only at the grey leaden sky and to hear only the

sound of the surf as it beat upon the beach. So day after day she said

to herself, "I wish we had children. They would be good company for me

when I am alone and my husband is far away."



One evening at twilight when she was solitary because of her husband's

absence on the ocean catching the deep-sea fish, she sat on the sand

beach looking out across the water. The sky in the west was pale grey;

it was always dull and grey in that country, and when the sun had gone

down there was no soft light. In her loneliness the woman said to

herself, "I wish we had children to keep me company." A Kingfisher,

with his children, was diving for minnows not far away. And the woman

said, "Oh, sea bird with the white collar, I wish we had children like

you." And the Kingfisher said, "Look in the sea-shells; look in the

sea-shells," and flew away. The next evening the woman sat again upon

the beach looking westward at the dull grey sky. Not far away a white

Sea-gull was riding on the waves in the midst of her brood of little

ones. And the woman said, "Oh, white sea bird, I wish we had children

like you to keep us company." And the Sea-gull said, "Look in the

sea-shells; look in the sea-shells," and flew away.



The woman wondered greatly at the words of the Kingfisher and the

Sea-Gull. As she sat there in thought she heard a strange cry coming

from the sand dunes behind her. She went closer to the sound and found

that the cry came from a large sea-shell lying on the sand. She picked

up the shell, and inside of it was a tiny boy, crying as hard as he

could. She was well pleased with her discovery, and she carried the

baby to her home and cared for him. When her husband came home from

the sea, he, too, was very happy to find the baby there, for he knew

that they would be lonely no more.



The baby grew very rapidly, and soon he was able to walk and move

about where he pleased. One day the woman was wearing a copper

bracelet on her arm and the child said to her, "I must have a bow

made from the copper on your arm." So to please him she made him a

tiny bow from the bracelet, and two tiny arrows. At once he set out to

hunt game, and day after day he came home bearing the products of his

chase. He brought home geese and ducks and brant and small sea birds,

and gave them to his mother for food. As he grew older the man and his

wife noticed that his face took on a golden hue brighter than the

colour of his copper bow. Wherever he went there was a strange light.

When he sat on the beach looking to the west the weather was always

calm and there were strange bright gleams upon the water. And his

foster-parents wondered greatly at this unusual power. But the boy

would not talk about it; when they spoke of it he was always silent.



It happened once that the winds blew hard over the Great Water and the

man could not go out to catch fish because of the turbulent sea. For

many days he stayed on shore, for the ocean, which was usually at

peace, was lashed into a great fury and the waves were dashing high on

the beach. Soon the people were in need of fish for food. And the boy

said, "I will go out with you, for I can overcome the Storm Spirit."

The man did not want to go, but at last he listened to the boy's

entreaties and together they set out for the fishing grounds far

across the tossing sea. They had not gone far when they met the Spirit

of the Storm coming madly from the south-west where the great winds

dwelt. He tried hard to upset their boat, but over them he had no

power, for the boy guided the frail craft across the water and all

around them the sea was calm and still. Then the Storm Spirit called

his nephew Black Cloud to help him, and away in the south-east they

saw him hurrying to his uncle's aid. But the boy said to the man, "Be

not afraid, for I am more than a match for him." So the two met, but

when Black Cloud saw the boy he quickly disappeared. Then the Spirit

of the Storm called Mist of the Sea to come and cover the water, for

he thought the boat would be lost if he hid the land from the man and

the boy. When the man saw Mist of the Sea coming like a grey vapour

across the water he was very frightened, for of all his enemies on the

ocean he feared this one most. But the boy said, "He cannot harm you

when I am with you." And sure enough, when Mist of the Sea saw the boy

sitting smiling in the boat he disappeared as quickly as he had come.

And the Storm Spirit in great anger hurried away to other parts, and

that day there was no more danger on the sea near the fishing grounds.



The boy and the man soon reached the fishing grounds in safety. And

the boy taught his foster-father a magic song with which he was able

to lure fish to his nets. Before evening came the boat was filled with

good fat fish and they set out for their home. The man said, "Tell me

the secret of your power." But the boy said, "It is not yet time."


The next day the boy killed many birds. He skinned them all and dried

their skins. Then he dressed himself in the skin of a plover and rose

into the air and flew above the sea. And the sea under him was grey

like his wings. Then he came down and dressed himself in the skin of a

blue-jay and soared away again. And the sea over which he was flying

was at once changed to blue like the blue of his wings. When he came

back to the beach, he put on the skin of a robin with the breast of a

golden hue like his face. Then he flew high and at once the waves

under him reflected a colour as of fire and bright gleams of light

appeared upon the ocean, and the sky in the west was golden red. The

boy flew back to the beach and he said to his foster-parents, "Now it

is time for me to leave you. I am the offspring of the sun. Yesterday

my power was tested and it was not found wanting, so now I must go

away and I shall see you no more. But at evening I shall appear to you

often in the twilight sky in the west. And when the sky and the sea

look at evening like the colour of my face, you will know that there

will be no wind nor storm and that on the morrow the weather will be

fair. But although I go away, I shall leave you a strange power. And

always when you need me, let me know your desires by making white

offerings to me, so that I may see them from my home far in the west."



Then he gave to his foster-mother a wonderful robe. He bade his

parents good-bye, and soared away to the west, leaving them in

sadness. But the woman still keeps a part of the power he gave her,

and when she sits on the island in a crevice in the dunes and loosens

her wonderful robe, the wind hurries down from the land, and the sea

is ruffled with storm; and the more she loosens the garment the

greater is the tempest. But in the late autumn when the cold mists

come in from the sea, and the evenings are chill, and the sky is dull

and grey, she remembers the promise of the boy. And she makes to him

an offering of tiny white feathers plucked from the breasts of birds.

She throws them into the air, and they appear as flakes of snow and

rise thickly into the winds. And they hurry westward to tell the boy

that the world is grey and dreary as it yearns for the sight of his

golden face. Then he appears to the people of earth. He comes at

evening and lingers after the sun has gone, until the twilight sky is

red, and the ocean in the west has gleams of golden light. And the

people then know that there will be no wind and that on the morrow the

weather will be fair, as he promised them long ago.