6. Wolves and Men

6. (WOLVES AND MEN.)

There lived some people who had no dogs at all, so they caught the small puppies of a gray fox, and brought them up. These gray foxes brought forth black and spotted dogs. Another man caught a wolfling and fed it. That wolf brought forth another kind of dog. They were long-legged, and light in color. This wolf was so nimble of foot, that it could overtake and catch reindeer and elk and any other kind of game. So its master became the richest of all the people.

At last the man said, "I am quite rich. My assistants are too many." So he ceased to pay the, wolf in food and shelter. The wolf went off and called all his companions. Twenty wolves came with him, and attacked the reindeer herd. Many reindeer were killed. The man caught his bow, shot at the wolves, and killed four of them. From that time began the war between man and wolf. The end.

Told by Ulashkan, a Lamut man, on the Molonda River, in the Kolyma country, summer of 1895.