Long ago a dreadful plague ravaged a tiny village. Neither the old nor the young were safe from the plague and the weakest fell first.
The people of the village tried everything to get rid of the plague but they were unsuccessful.
They prayed to the good spirits to come and help them, but no help came to them.
In that village was a young warrior who had lost all his relatives because of the dreaded disease. His young wife was also sick.
The young warrior was very sad because he was sure that his wife would also follow his parents into the Land of the Shadows.
That day he met an old woman in the forest.
“Why are you so sad?” The old woman asked the young warrior.
The young man told the old woman everything.
The old woman nodded at the young man. “There is a bird of sweet song which lives very close to the healing waters. If you go and find the birds, they will point you to the healing waters. This water can heal everything that it touches.”
The young man thanked the old woman profusely and then told his other village people and set off on his journey for the waters.
He traveled for days together listening to the bird of the sweet song but he found nothing.
He asked the animals that he had passed about the healing waters but the rabbit or the bear or the other animals that he met on the way scurried away without answering his questions.
The snow in this part of the forest was very deep and he could barely move, but still the man did not give up. He kept plodding through this place.
Finally, he came out of the snow country and here he found that the air was warmer and there were little streams of water here.
He found the body of a dead man lying on his path. He buried the body because he felt that it was not right to leave the body just like that.
That night, as the young warrior continued on his journey, he met a fox in his path.
The fox nodded to him. “Why are you here so late in this forest?”
The young Warrior shrugged. “I am looking for the bird of the sweet song which will point me to the healing waters.”
The fox smiled. “I am the spirit of the man whom you buried yesterday. For the kindness that you have shown me I will do a kindness for you. You have been good to animals and birds, and you have never killed them uselessly. You were always careful with the flowers and trees and you have protected them from harm. So now they want to be good to you. So on behalf of all of them and me I will guide you. But first you must be tired from your long journey and you must rest. I will guard you while you sleep.”
Adapted from Native Canadian Folk Tales
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