MO-O-O-O-RE, mo-o-o-o-re!” croaked a big frog in the marshes. “’Tis enough, ’tis enough, ’tis enough!” answered a smaller frog.
But the big frog called again, “Mo-o-o-o-re, mo-o-o-o-re!” And again the smaller frog answered, “’Tis enough! ’Tis enough!”
“What is it the frogs are quarreling about, grandmother?” asked a little Indian girl, and the grandmother replied, “About the water, I suppose.”
“Why do they quarrel about the water? Is it a story, grandmother?”
“Yes,” said the grandmother, “it is a story. Listen and I will tell it to you!
“In the long-time-ago all the waters of the land were tied up. The Indian people grew thirsty, and more thirsty. Their fields were drying up. The flowers withered. The people said, ‘We shall die!’
“Then there came to one of the villages the giant, Rabbit, and he said, ‘What is this I hear about the waters being tied up?’
“The Chief answered, ‘For many days there has been no water. The streams are empty. No little rivers come down the mountain side. Our corn is drying up. Our people’s throats are parched.’
“The giant, Rabbit, said, ‘I will go into the mountains and see who has tied up the water.’ Then he strode away, taking such great steps that he was out of sight in a moment.
“Up the mountain went the giant, and when he came to the top he found a tribe of men there, and they had tied up the water so that it stood in great pools which had grown green and slimy, because it was no longer fresh.
“‘What are you doing with the water?’ asked the Rabbit, and his voice rolled down the mountain like thunder. ‘Do you not know that the tribes below you are dying for want of it?’
“The Chief of the strange tribe came out to answer the Rabbit. He was fat and ugly, and his back was covered with green slime from the pool.
“‘We need the water for ourselves. It was running away down the mountain, so we stopped it,’ said the Chief.
“Rabbit reached out and caught the Chief by the back of his neck and shook him. The giant’s grasp was strong, and the Chief’s eyes bulged from his head, and he swelled up till he was puffed out all over, from trying to get his breath.
“‘So shall you look, you and all your tribe, hereafter,’ said Rabbit, holding him off and looking at him. Then he threw him into the green pool, and all his tribe with him.
“After that Rabbit untied the water, and all the little streams began to flow down the mountain. Our people, at the foot of the mountain, saw them coming, and they gave thanks to the Great Spirit, because he had helped the giant, Rabbit, to give them water again, that they might live.
“The tribe at the top of the mountain became frogs, as you see them now, and they have traveled to many parts of the land; but wherever they go they keep on quarreling about the water, as you have heard them this day.”