 Sa-kis,
long ago, in a Micmac village on the Atlantic coast, there
lived three sisters. The youngest was gentle and patient of
heart; her older sisters were jealous of her charms and treated
her cruelly. They made her wear rags; they cut off her long,
black hair; and they burned her face with coals from the fire.
Also dwelling in the village was a mighty warrior known as
Strong Wind, the Invisible Hunter. Only Strong Wind's sister
could see him, for he had the strange and wonderful power
to make himself invisible to all others.
Many maidens sought to win Strong Wind, and it was known that
he would marry the first young woman who could see him. Each
evening his sister and those who wished to make the quest
to see him would await his return from the hunt. Strong Wind
would use a clever trick to test each maiden's truthfulness.
The two elder sisters attempted the trial to see Strong Wind.
They walked along the shore with Strong Wind's sister, waiting
for his return. When the warrior came home, pulling his sled,
his sister asked both girls, "Do you see him?" Each
one falsely answered, "Yes." Then she inquired,
"With what does he draw his sled?" Their answers
were only guesses; and Strong Wind kept himself from their
sight, for he would not marry anyone who was untruthful.
The youngest sister then resolved to go forth and try to see
the Invisible One. At twilight, Strong Wind's sister took
the young maiden to the ocean shore. As Strong Wind approached,
his sister asked, "Do you see him?" The girl sadly
answered, "No." Strong Wind's sister was astonished
but pleased that this maiden had spoken honestly. Again she
asked, "Do you see him now?" The girl gasped, "I
do . . . and he is wonderful." And Strong Wind's sister
asked, "With what does he draw his sled?" And the
girl cried, "With the Rainbow!" Then, "But
what is his bowstring?" "His bowstring is the Milky
Way!"
Strong Wind's sister knew that her brother had made himself
visible to this maiden because she had spoken the truth. She
took the girl to Strong Wind's wigwam and dressed her in fine
clothes and rich ornaments. As she combed the maiden's hair,
it grew long again and was as black as the raven's wing. Strong
Wind appeared and called the girl his bride.
Strong Wind knew of the cruelty of his wife's older sisters.
To punish them, he used his great power to change them into
aspen trees and root them in the earth. Since that day the
leaves of the aspen have always trembled, shivering in fear
of Strong Wind.
And so, kespiahdduksitkih, the story ends.
More than 1,000 variants of the Cinderella story appear
in the folk literature of the world.
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