THE LITTLE PEOPLE

Once there was a very happy Indian family. The Father was a good hunter and the mother worked very hard making clothes and blankets from animal skins, and using the meat for cooking and nourishing meals.

There were four children in this family. They had one daughter whose name was Gathering Flowers. She had an adventurous nature. She used to love to sit by the river bank and daydream of pleasant things for her and her family.

One day she fell fast asleep on the river bank. She awoke to strange voices. Sitting up she saw a family of little people: a little man, his tiny wife and three children; the baby was on a wee papoose board.

Gathering Flowers Mother had often told the children stories about the little people and said, "If you ever see them, don't be frightened. Talk to them, be nice to them, and they will bring you good luck." She remembered this when she saw the little people, so she was not alarmed.

She spoke to them, asking them to sit down and rest for awhile. She had a piece of corn bread and apples which she offered to her new friends. She also gave them some cook water to drink.

Gathering Flowers asked the little family where they lived, and they told her they lived yonder on a hill. They invited her to visit their home. She accepted their invitation and went along with them.

They came to a small rock. The little man spit on his hands and rubbed the rock with them. Suddenly it split open and his family went through into their home. "I can't get through the tiny opening," said Gathering Flowers. "Oh yes," said the little man, "I forgot about you being bigger than we are." He went over to her, spit on his hands, and rubbed her head. Suddenly she could feel herself getting smaller and smaller until she was the same size as the little people, and was able to get to get through the tiny opening in the rock.

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Inside the home was a tiny table and chairs, beds and a stove with a pot of soup on it. Gathering Flowers was invited to sit down and have soup with them. The little Mother kept taking soup out if the pot, but no matter how much she took from the pot, it remained full as if it were a magic pot, which it truly was.

When it came time for Gathering Flowers to go home, she went through the narrow opening in the rock, and the little man followed her. He spit on his hands and touched her head, and suddenly she grew back to her proper size. The little man made her promise not to tell a soul that she had seen or visited them. She afterward came to visit them everyday.

Autumn came, and it was time for Gathering Flowers and her family to move on to a new hunting area. She went to visit her friends for one last time to say good-bye.

The little man saw that she was a good person and said, "Because you have been so nice to us and kept our secret, I will give you three wishes."

Her first wish was to have a magic soup pot so she and her family would never go hungry and that she might share the soup with any strangers who might come their way. Her second wish was to have the wisdom not to hurt anyone with words that came out of her mouth. Her third wish was to be able to see something good in everyone she met and not be critical.

The little man said, "You have made very wise choices. You shall be happy for the rest of your life."