The porcupine man
One morning, a long time ago, a young girl named Sapana was collecting firewood when she saw an injured eagle lying on the ground. A porcupine quill had pierced its wing, and it was squawking in great pain and distress. Sapana spoke softly to the eagle and, gently holding the bird with one hand, she pulled the quill from its injured wing.
Sapana knew how strong and sharp porcupine quills were because the village females used them as needles to sew thick blankets and leather moccasins. The bird flapped around for a few moments and then took off into the bright blue sky.
Suddenly, Sapana became aware of a pair of beady eyes watching her. A porcupine was staring at her from the low branch of a cottonwood tree.
In a flash, Sapana darted forward. She needed some new needles to use during the coming winter, and porcupines were difficult to catch. But where could this one go? It could only climb further up the tree. The girl had the animal trapped.
Or so she thought. Sapana was a fast climber, but the porcupine was even faster. Up and up they went. But the tree seemed to be getting taller as Sapana climbed. Just when she thought she could see the top of the tree, there was yet more trunk to climb. What was going on? Sapana climbed through the clouds and up towards the sky.
Finally, at the top of the tree, she reached out and touched a blue, shiny surface. She pushed it, and a door opened, so Sapana climbed through. There was nowhere else to go. Sapana found herself in a field that stretched as far as she could see.
'Oh, dear ancestors! Where am I?' she whispered to herself. She didn't have to wait long for the answer. A figure walked out of a nearby hut and came towards her. Sapana raised her hand to her mouth in horror. It was a large porcupine with the face of a man, and it was walking upright on two legs.
The human porcupine dragged Sapana into his hut. 'You are my prisoner now. You will make me new clothes from these skins, and you will tend my crop of turnips. Each day you will pull up a turnip from the field and make my favourite soup when I come home.'
Sapana had no choice but to obey the porcupine man. One day, she was pulling up a massive turnip from the ground when she noticed a small patch of light. It was a hole into the world below.
Sapana dug more earth away to make the hole bigger. She made a long rope from strips of animal skin, tied one end to a tree and lowered the rope through the hole.
Grasping the rope, she began to climb down through the sky to freedom.
But the porcupine man saw what Sapana was doing, and began to cut through the rope with his dagger. With a sudden jolt, Sapana felt the rope snap, and she began to plummet down towards the ground.
Out of nowhere, an eagle suddenly swooped across the sky, catching Sapana with its talons. The bird lifted her onto its back, and gliding through the clouds, it carried its passenger safely to Earth.
Sapana climbed down from the bird's back, and the eagle flew off. As she walked home slowly, she didn't notice the narrow eyes of a porcupine watching her from behind a pile of tanglewood.
Comprehension
1 In the beginning of the story, why was the eagle unable to fly?
2 How did the Arapaho natives use porcupine quills?
3 Why did Sapana want to catch the porcupine?
4 What happened when she got to the very top of the tree?
5 What had happened to the porcupine when she saw it again?
6 How did Sapana get back down to Earth?
Answers:
1 A porcupine quill had pierced its wing.
2 They used quills as needles for sewing.
3 She wanted to get some new needles.
4 She went through a hole in the sky to the other side.
5 It had turned into a half-man, half-animal.
6 She climbed through a hole in the sky and an eagle carried her back to Earth.
