Once
Tcikabis decided to visit the sky. His sister tried to talk him
out of it but his mind was made up. He climbed to the top of the
highest tree, but when he got there and looked around, the sky was
still above his head. So Tcikabis used his medicine and blew on
the tree until it was twice as tall as it was before. He climbed
to the top, but the sky was still overhead. So Tcikabis used his
medicine again and blew on the tree until it was even taller. But
when he climbed to the top, the sky was still overhead. Tcikabis
used his medicine again and the tree grew even taller. But when
he climbed to the top, the sky was still overhead. Finally he used
his medicine a fourth time and this time the tree grew so tall that
when he climbed to the top, he could step off onto a road leading
across the sky.
Now Tcikabis was tired from all that effort, so he lay down
on the road to sleep. But he didn't sleep long before a loud noise
woke him up. It sounded like something big was coming. He looked,
but all he could see was a light getting brighter and brighter.
It was the sun!
"Get
out of my way," said the sun.
"No," said Tcikabis, who never did what anyone told
him. "I don't want to move. You go around me."
"I can't go around you, I'll set the treetops on fire if
I leave my path. This is my road, now get out of my way!"
Tcikabis just laughed at the sun. "If you don't want to
go around me, jump over me then," he said. "I don't intend
to get up."
"Fine!"
The sun stepped over Tcikabis. He was so hot that Tcikabis' clothes
caught on fire as the sun passed over him, and if it wasn't for
his powerful medicine he would have been burned to death from the
heat. Now Tcikabis was naked and burned and his hair was singed
off and he was angry. "I'm going to get revenge."
When he went home his sister asked him what happened. "The
sun burned me. I was just sitting there minding my own business
and he burned me." Tcikapis forgot all about being such a troublemaker
and ignoring the sun's warnings. "I'm going to get revenge
on him."
"No,
don't do that. You'll just cause more trouble for all of us."
But Tcikabis didn't listen to her. He got to work making a magic
net, big enough to catch the sun in. He went back up the tree and
set a trap on the sun's path. When the sun came that way, he was
caught in the net, and darkness covered the whole world.
Tcikabis was happy, but his sister said "Nothing good will
come of this."
The darkness lasted and lasted. The people were starting to
starve. No plants would grow, and there was no light to hunt by.
Everyone was angry and they told Tcikabis "Let the sun go!
We need him!" But Tcikabis said "I can't let him go. If
I get close enough to cut the net, I'll be burned to death this
time."
But
everyone bothered him so much that Tcikabis finally agreed to carry
some little animals up the tall tree. Maybe one of them could hide
in the shadow of a rope and gnaw through it. The turtle tried, but
he was too big. He got burned and had to turn back. The rabbit tried,
but he was too big too. He got burned and had to turn back. Even
the squirrel was too big. He got burned and had to turn back too.
Finally the mouse tried it. He was so little that he could hide
his whole body behind the rope. He gnawed through it and the sun
escaped.
And then life went on as usual.
Tshakapesh is a folk hero of Cree and Innu folklore. He is often
referred to as the Man in the Moon in English, since the myth cycle
about Tshakapesh usually ends with the hero travelling to the moon
and living there. Tshakapesh is usually depicted as a dwarf or a
young boy who never reaches full size, yet he has immense strength
and can shoot his bow farther than the largest of men. Tshakapesh
also has magical powers which allow him to face and defeat many
fearsome monsters. In some stories Tshakapesh acts in a rash or
foolish way, often ignoring the advice of his wise and cautious
older sister and ending up in a jam because of it. But Tshakapesh
is always brave and good-hearted and never stays in trouble for
long.
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