The chief of the Dakota Indians had a son named Nip-Nizaza. But they addressed him this way only on days of major celebrations, and usually they simply called him Nip.
Since ancient times, the Dakotas have hunted bison, because in those days whole herds of bison roamed the prairies, and the Indians thought that it would always be this way.
But then the day came when the hunters climbed a high hill and did not see a single buffalo. No one knew where they had gone.
The hunters were sad. No bison - no life. After all, clothes were made from their skins, arrowheads were cut from bones, and juicy bison meat served as food at all times of the year.
The hunters went to look for bison, but all in vain. No matter how much we walked and wandered around, we didn’t even find any traces. Then Nip approached the leader and said:
- Father, let me go look for buffaloes,
“But even the old hunters didn’t find them,” answered the father.
“I might be luckier,” Nip objected.
The leader was proud that courage awoke in his son so early, and agreed. The mother gave Nip an ancient amulet, the boy threw a bow and quiver full of arrows over his shoulder, and attached a hunting knife to his belt.
“Be careful, son,” the mother whispered goodbye and hid in the wigwam so that no one would see her tears.
So Nip left the camp.
Many times the sun rose and looked down on the little hunter, and Nip walked and walked, not knowing fear, across the vast plain. At night he slept right on the ground, and the stars marveled at his courage.
The plain ended, and Nip entered a dense forest. Here in the clearing he saw a lonely hut. An old Indian sat next to her and looked intently into a bowl of water.
When Nip approached, the Indian, without looking at him, said:
- Hello, Nip-Nizaza.
- How did you recognize me? - Nip was surprised.
“I saw it in the water, but your name is written on your forehead!”
Nip was even more surprised. He understood; that he got to the wizard.
“You’re right, I’m a wizard,” said the old man; he knew how to guess people’s thoughts. “My name is Napi.” Are you looking for bison?
- Please tell me where they are.
“Don’t rush,” Napi answered. - The time will come and I will help you. Go to the wigwam, eat, rest, and then I’ll tell you something.
The wizard treated the boy to amazing dishes - the likes of which Nip had never tasted. He politely tasted a little of everything, as his mother had taught him, and thanked the old man.
“Now listen,” Napi finally said. — Not far from here lives a mighty giant. It was he who drove all the bison from the prairies. It is difficult to defeat him, nothing can take him - not an arrow, not a spear, not a knife. But he is stupid, like all evil giants, and we will defeat him!
“I will do everything you order,” said Nip. - After all, my tribe is starving.
“You are a brave boy,” the wizard responded. “Now get up and don’t move.”
Nip straightened up. The sorcerer sprinkled him with magic water, and the boy immediately felt that his legs were growing together, his arms were growing to his sides and becoming stiff, and his body was becoming thin and hard.
So Napi turned Nip into a stick. However, Nip could still see, hear and even... speak!
Napi himself turned into a puppy, grabbed a stick in his teeth and ran into the forest.
The path became wider and wider and soon led to a bright clearing. Here, near the tallest spruce tree, stood a huge wigwam.
Just at that moment a giant, a giantess and their son emerged from it.
- Look, doggy! - the boy exclaimed. -Let's take her!
“Okay,” answered the mother. “The dog has good hair, I’ll make myself a warm hat out of it.” Here's a good stick! — The giantess poked Nip with her foot. - It will be something to dig up roots from the ground.
- What is this? - the giant got angry. — I don’t like this dog. He will bring us grief! Throw him out of here!
- I need him! - said the giantess.
The giant grumbled something dissatisfied and turned away, without contradicting his wife.
After dinner, the giantess laid out huge blankets on the ground, and the whole family went to bed. The walls shook from the giant's snoring.
Then the puppy turned into Napi, returned the shape of Nipa to the stick, and both sat down by the cauldron and began to feast on buffalo meat.
And the next morning the puppy was wagging its tail as if nothing had happened, and the stick was lying at the entrance to the wigwam.
At dawn, the giant woke up, gnawed a buffalo leg and went about his giant business, and his wife grabbed a stick and went into the forest to dig up roots. The giant's son whistled for the puppy and tagged along after his mother.
In the forest they began to pick blueberries. Then the puppy grabbed a stick and crept into the thicket of the forest. Here he turned into an old wizard, and the stick into Nip.
“Let’s run, I know where the bison graze,” Napi whispered and headed towards the red rocks that rose nearby.
There, in the cave, Nip saw bison: there were more of them than stars in the sky.
- Wow! - Napi shouted and drove the bison deeper into the cave.
They ran for a long time. It seemed like there would be no end to the cave. But then a light appeared in the distance, they climbed up and drove the herd across the plain.
“What a pity that the magic cup is not with me,” the sorcerer mourned. “I would like to see what the giant is doing.”
And in the evening the giant went to the cave to, as always, choose a bison for dinner. But only buffalo tracks remained in the cave.
- Where is the puppy?! - the giant roared as he burst into the wigwam.
The puppy was nowhere to be found, and the stick had also disappeared.
The giant rushed in pursuit. He steps from one hill to another, jumps over lakes, rushes faster than the wind, And soon he noticed a herd of buffalo in the distance,
But Napi looked back every now and then to see the giant in time, and when a huge head suddenly emerged from behind the forest, he ordered Nip to hide under the belly of the largest bison, and he dived under the belly of the old leader and grabbed onto the long wool.
The giant ran up to the herd, and Nip and Napi started stabbing the bison in the sides with sharp sticks. The animals became enraged, rushed at the giant and knocked him down.
So Nip and Napi reached the camp.
A great celebration was held by the Dakota tribe in honor of their return, and when the fun died down, Napi said:
- The giant will come again. You need to be on your guard.
The giant recovered from his wounds and a few days later, when the Indians drove the bison into a corral, he landed like a huge gray bird on a tree that stood nearby. This bird was scary to look at: it rolled its red eyes and clicked its hooked beak. The bison got scared and rushed out of the enclosure - almost trampling all the hunters.
Arrows shot at the bird broke on its gray feathers. The spears didn't do her any harm either.
Then Napi went down to the river, turned into an otter and lay down on the bank. The bird saw the animal, just aimed at the otter, and suddenly grabbed it by the wing.
- Let me go! - the bird screamed in a terrible voice.
Napi dragged the prey to the leader's wigwam, tied its paws with a thick belt and hung it over the fire. Suddenly the bird said quietly:
- What will happen to my wife and son?
And then Napi said:
“I will let you go if you swear an oath not to drive away the bison, not to take food from people, and so that your word is firm, give me your son.” The boy will live with Nip among the Dakotas.
A gray bird flew out of the wigwam - its wings no longer made noise: they were charred and shriveled from the fire.
Napi immediately turned into an eagle and disappeared in the direction where the giant’s wigwam stood. He did not return alone - he brought with him a boy, a giant son.
Then Napi said goodbye to everyone and went to his hut. There he again placed the magic bowl of water on his knees so that he could see everything that was happening in the world.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru