“Now,” my father says, “I can take the last of those syllables”—he writes it on the paper—“and place this other one in front of it, then this one behind it.”

“,” my little sister reads, smiling up at our village chief and grasping him by his hand. Agili.

The sunshine of a true smile, as bright as the dawning of a new day, has come now to Agili’s face.

CHAPTER 23

Good or Bad

Although most of our people have been quick to adopt the useful things brought to us by the Aniyonega, there have always been those who worry that new things may prove to be harmful. Something that seems to be good may turn out in the end to be bad.

Some of our oldest stories warn about such things. One such tale is the one about the two boys and the Ukten.

Long ago, it is said, two boys were out hunting in a valley when they found a little snake. Its pale, shiny skin was beautiful, but it was thin and weak. That snake spoke to them.

“Help me or I will die,” it said. “Feed me.”

It was so beautiful and so helpless that the boys took pity on it. They brought it birds and mice. The snake ate those birds and mice.

“Thank you,” it hissed. “I will always be your friend. Now go get me more food.”

Those boys did as the snake said. Every day they returned to the valley and brought it more and more food. That snake got larger and larger. The mice and little birds were no longer enough. Now they brought it squirrels and rabbits. Soon that big snake began to grow horns on its head. It was turning into an Ukten. But the boys did not notice the hungry way the snake looked at them.

“I am your friend,” it would hiss to them each day. “Now go get me more food.”

Those boys did not know the huge snake that was now an Ukten was planning to eat them and all the people of their village when it had grown large enough. They kept feeding it. Now they were bringing it deer. They were spending all their time hunting just to feed it.

One day, though, they heard a strange rumbling sound coming from the valley where the great snake lived. When they got to that valley they saw that great snake was engaged in a fight. It was fighting with Thunder, that strong old man who lives in the sky and hurls down arrows of lightning.

The Ukten was coiled all around Thunder, but Thunder had grasped its head and so it could not defeat him.

“Help me,” the Ukten hissed to the boys. “Shoot him or he will hurl down his arrows and kill you and all your people.”