Indian Myths

There was once a monster which had a body like a buffalo, horns like a deer, and a head like a snake. This monster was a wicked hookie with magic power. One day as he walked through the woods he found a lodge. Men di’ yos lived there with her grandmother. This young Indian girl was very beautiful. She was very lonely, for no lodges were near. But the beasts and birds visited her and her grandmother.

Men di’ yos was a lovely girl, so the wicked hookie, said he would visit her, too. But he knew she would be afraid if he came in his own ugly form. So he changed himself into a fine young man.

Men di’ yos was glad to see him, for he was very kind and agreeable. But the grandmother had little to say and she kept on the farther side, of the fire.

When the visitor had gone, she said, “Men di’ yos, he is no Indian. He is a wicked hookie.”

“O Grandmother!” the girl cried. “He was so very kind. He wished me to marry him.”

“Do not trust him,” answered the grandmother. “I knew him to be a hookie. In the end he would kill us both.”

So when the young man came back the next day, Men di’ yos would have nothing to do with him. He begged her to listen to him. When she would not, he was angry. He went into the woods.

That night by his magic, he moved the lodge into a strange forest. When Men di’ yos went out in the morn­ing she could not tell where she was. The hookie came out of the woods to speak to her, for he had been lying in wait for her. He was not the fine young Indian he was before, but had taken again his ugly form.

“Now you must be my wife,” he said. “For you cannot escape. You can never find your way back to your own land.”

Men di’ yos turned about. She ran toward the lodge. But she could not go in, for she saw snakes crawling about the door. The hookie laughed in mockery when she did not enter.

The girl ran the woods. She called to her grand­mother. But there was no answer. Men di’ yos found that the hookie had earned her away. Then she ran as fast as she could. She was afraid the monster was close behind her.

But Men di’ yos came to the lake. A canoe was there, and in it sat a man, He seemed to be expecting her. He was a brave warrior who had fought and killed great monsters in the lake. He, too, had magic power. When the girl came running from the woods, he knew at once all that had taken place. He told her to get into the canoe. When she was seated there, he started swiftly across the lake.

And now they heard the angry monster coming toward the lake. His crashing through the forest made mighty noise. His voice was an angry roar more terrible than the storm of many winds. He did not halt at the lake, but swam rapidly after the warrior and the maiden. He came up with them. He reached up his hand to drag Men di’ yos down.

Then the angry cloud came over the sky. It was black as midnight. Heno was in it. He saw that Men di’ yos was in danger from the monster. He sent a bolt of lightning. The monster saw it coming and went under the waters to escape it.

The monster did not come up at once. He waited. He feared Heno. When he thought Heno had gone, he rose from the water and tried to seize Men di’ yos. But Heno was still in the black cloud. When he saw the monster again at the canoe, he sent down a mighty flame of his lightning. It struck the monster. He sank beneath the waves and was never seen again.

The warrior brought Men di’ yos to the village. The people were happy to see her. They found her grand­mother and brought her to the village also.

Men di’ yos and the brave warrior were married. And their children became a clan among their people.

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