THE BOY AND THE TURTLES
A boy went on a turtle hunt, and after following the different
streams for hours, finally came to the conclusion that the only
place he would find any turtles would be at the little lake, where
the tribe always hunted them.
So, leaving the stream he had been following, he cut across country
to the lake. On drawing near the lake he crawled on his hands and
knees in order not to be seen by the turtles, who were very
watchful, as they had been hunted so much. Peeping over the rock
he saw a great many out on the shore sunning themselves, so he very
cautiously undressed, so he could leap into the water and catch
them before they secreted themselves. But on pulling off his
shirt one of his hands was held up so high that the turtles saw it
and jumped into the lake with a great splash.
The boy ran to the shore, but saw only bubbles coming up from the
bottom. Directly the boy saw something coming to the surface, and
soon it came up into sight. It was a little man, and soon others,
by the hundreds, came up and swam about, splashing the water up
into the air to a great height. So scared was the boy that he
never stopped to gather up his clothes but ran home naked and fell
into his grandmother's tent door.
"What is the trouble, grandchild," cried the old woman. But the
boy could not answer. "Did you see anything unnatural?" He shook
his head, "no." He made signs to the grandmother that his lungs
were pressing so hard against his sides that he could not
talk. He kept beating his side with his clenched hands. The
grandmother got out her medicine bag, made a prayer to the Great
Spirit to drive out the evil spirit that had entered her grandson's
body, and after she had applied the medicine, the prayer must have
been heard and answered, as the boy commenced telling her what he
had heard and seen.
The grandmother went to the chief's tent and told what her grandson
had seen. The chief sent two brave warriors to the lake to
ascertain whether it was true or not. The two warriors crept to
the little hill close to the lake, and there, sure enough, the lake
was swarming with little men swimming about, splashing the water
high up into the air. The warriors, too, were scared and hurried
home, and in the council called on their return told what they had
seen. The boy was brought to the council and given the seat of
honor (opposite the door), and was named "Wankan Wanyanka" (sees
holy).
The lake had formerly borne the name of Truth Lake, but from this
time on was called "Wicasa-bde"--Man Lake.