Accordingly, they began to wrestle, and the youth felt strengthened more
than usual and prevailed against his adversary. As soon as he
found he had slain the stranger, he selected a beautiful spot to bury
him. It was a shallow vale where the sun shone daily and the dew
descended nightly.
He
observed everything that he had been directed to do about the body, for
the stranger had told him not to fear killing him, as he would come to
life again, and that it was only through his death, for a little while,
that any good would come.
The youth
did all that was directed him by his friend and felt deeply anxious
about the result of his obedience, but determined to watch carefully
when his friend would come to life again as he had predicted. He
then went home and took sparingly of his father's kind meal, and
finished his fast.
All spring
he attended the grave of his friend and carefully weeded the spot he was
buried in. The lad never told what had occurred until one day the
father followed him to the place he so often went to. This was
after a long absence. To their mutual surprise, they beheld a
strange plant, several feet high with light hair as if it were floating
in the air at the tops, and large oval clusters on the sides of the
stalks. The lad shouted, "It is my friend and the friend of
all mankind. None need ever depend alone upon hunting and fishing
as long as there is Mondaumin* to live and grow from the ground."
He pulled
an ear of corn and gave it to his father. "See Father, this is
what I fasted for and the Great Spirit of all flesh has listened to my
wish. Henceforth men need not depend along upon the chase and the
produce of the waters, for by careful attention to this plant, they will
have plenty to eat whilst the world lasts."
He then
told his father what the beautiful stranger had told him before in their
conversation, that his blankets must be taken off and his feathers
pulled away before he could be of any use to man, and when both were
done, they returned home, roasted the ear of corn and felt thankful to
the Master of Life who so mercifully provides for his creatures.
So corn
came into the world for the good of mankind and since that time, through
the instruction of the little boy, all the Indians have endeavored to
get corn for their families.
