9. Thunder

9. THUNDER (45)

A certain woman had four sons and one daughter. One rainy day the daughter went after wood and came upon a track made by lightning. Presently she met a man who seized her and carried her home to his house. Her mother and her brothers began hunting for her but they did not know where she had gone. One day her oldest brother started out after her and reached the house where she lived, but he did not come back. The same thing happened to the second and the third. Then the youngest started, and while he was going along a big star came out of the water which he put inside of his clothes. By and by he reached the house where his sister lived and remained for four days. When they invited him to sit down he saw that the chair on which they wished to place him was an alligator. They asked him to sit down on another chair, but he saw that this was a turtle. Next Thunder, who had carried off his sister, sent him after water. As he approached the spring, however, he saw that there were two snakes by it, one on each side. He took his bow and arrows and shot both of them. Then he got some water and came back. Next morning Thunder went out early to hunt, and when he was gone the youth took his sister and carried her off, though she did not want to go. As he approached a small creek he heard Thunder coming after him and when he reached the bank Thunder overtook him and was going to kill him. The youth, however, took the star out from under his clothes and dropped it upon the ground, when it ran at Thunder and after a struggle beat him and drove him back. The youth then took his sister back to their mother, who was very glad to see her.