jealousy was all
to no purpose. She married the turtle. The young men would make sport of
the chief's son-in-law. They would say to him: "How did you come to have
so flat a stomach?" The turtle answered them, saying:

"My friends, had you been in my place, you too would have flat stomachs.
I came by my flat stomach in this way: The Chippewas and Sioux had
a great battle, and the Sioux, too numerous for the Chippewas, were
killing them off so fast that they had to run for their lives. I was on
the Chippewa side and some of the Sioux were pressing five of us, and
were gaining on us very fast. Coming to some high grass, I threw myself
down flat on my face, and pressed my stomach close to the ground, so
the pursuers could not see me. They passed me and killed the four I was
with. After they had gone back, I arose and lo! my stomach was as you
see it now. So hard had I pressed to the ground that it would not assume
its original shape again."

After he had explained the cause of his deformity to them, they said:
"The Turtle is brave. We will bother him no more." Shortly after this
the Sioux made an attack upon the Chippewas, and every one deserted the
village. The Turtle could not travel as fast as the rest and was left
behind. It being an unusually hot day in the fall, the Turtle grew very
thirsty and sleepy. Finally scenting water, he crawled towards the point
from whence the scent came, and coming to a large lake jumped in and
had a bath, after which he swam towards the center and dived down, and
finding some fine large rocks at the bottom, he crawled in among them
and fell asleep. He had his sleep out and arose to the top.

Swimming to shore he found it was summer. He had slept all winter. The
birds were singing, and the green grass and leaves gave forth a sweet
odor.

He crawled out and started out looking for the Chippewa camp. He came
upon the camp several days after he had left his winter quarters, and
going around in search of his wife, found her at the extreme edge of the
village. She was nursing her baby, and as he asked to see it, she showed
it to him. When he saw that it was a lovely baby and did not resemble
him in any respect, he got angry and went off to a large lake, where he
contented himself with catching flies and insects and living on seaweed
the remainder of his life.

THE MAN AND THE OAK

There once lived a Sioux couple who had two children, a boy and a girl.
Every fall this family would