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THERE never was anyone so wise and knowing
as old Iagoo. There never was an Indian who
saw and heard so much. He knew the secrets
of the woods and fields, and understood the
language of birds and beasts. All his life long he had lived
out of doors, wandering far in the forest where the wild deer
hide, or skimming the waters of the lake in his birch-bark
canoe.
Besides the things he had learned for himself, Iagoo knew
much more. He knew the fairy tales and the wonder stories
told him by his grandfather, who had heard them from his
grandfather, and so on, away back to the time when the
world was young and strange, and there was magic in almost
everything.
Iagoo was a great favorite with the children. No one
knew better where to find the beautiful, colored shells which
he strung into necklaces for the little girls. No one could
teach them so well just where to look for the grasses which
their nimble fingers wove into baskets. For the boys he
made bows and arrows - bows from the ash-tree, that would
bend far back without breaking, and arrows, strong and
straight, from the sturdy oak.
But most of all, Iagoo won the children's hearts with his
stories. Where did the robin get his red breast? How did
fire find its way into the wood, so that an Indian can get it
out again by rubbing two sticks together? Why was Coyote,
the prairie wolf, so much cleverer than the other animals
and why was he always looking behind him when he ran?
It was old Iagoo who could tell you where and why.
Now, winter was the time for story-telling. When the
snow lay deep on the ground, the North Wind came howling
from his home in the Land of Ice, and the cold moon shone
from the frosty sky, it was then that the Indians gathered
in the wigwam. It was then that Iagoo sat by the fire of
blazing logs, and the little boys and girls gathered around
him.
"Whoo, whoo!" wailed the North Wind. The sparks
leapt up, and Iagoo laid another log on the fire. "Whoo,
whoo!" What a mischievous old fellow was this North Wind!
One could almost see him - his flowing hair all hung with
icicles. If the wigwam were not so strong he would blow it
down, and if the fire were not so bright he would put it out.
But the wigwam was made on purpose, for just such a time
as this; and the forest nearby had logs to last forever. So
the North Wind could only gnash his teeth, and say, "Whoo,
whoo!"
One little girl, more timid than the rest, would draw
nearer and put her hand on the old man's arm. "O, Iagoo,"
she said, "Just listen! Do you think he can hurt us?"
"Have no fear," answered Iagoo. "The North Wind can
do no harm to anyone who is brave and cheerful. He blusters,
and makes a lot of noise; but at heart he is really a big coward,
and the fire will soon frighten him away. Suppose I tell you
a story about it."
And the story Iagoo told we shall now tell to you, the story
of how Shin-ge-bis fooled the North Wind.