Raccoon And The Blind Men
A Menominee Nation Folk Tale

There was a large settlement on the shores of a lake and among it's people were two very old blind men.  It was decided to move these men to the opposite side of the lake where they might live in safety as their settlement was exposed to attacks of enemies and they could easily be captured and killed.  So the relatives of the old men got a canoe, some food, a kettle, and a bowl and started across the lake where they built for them a wigwam in a grove some distance from the water.  A line was stretched from the door of the wigwam to a post in the water so that the old men would have no difficulty in helping themselves. The food and vessels were put into the wigwam and after the relatives of the old men promised them that they would come back often and keep them provided with everything they needed, the relatives returned to their settlement. The two old blind men began taking care of themselves.  On one day, one of them would do the cooking while the other went for water and on the next day, they would change about in their work so their labor was evenly divided.  As they knew just how much food they required for each meal, the quantity prepared was equally divided but was eaten out of the one bowl which they had. Here they lived in contentment for several years but one day Raccoon, who had been following the water’s edge looking for crawfish, came to the line which had been stretched from the lake to the wigwam.  Raccoon thought it rather curious to find a cord where he had before observed none and wondered to himself, "What is this?  I think I shall follow this cord to see where it leads".  So Raccoon followed the path along which the cord was stretched until he came to the wigwam.  Approaching very cautiously, Raccoon went up to the entrance where he saw the two old men asleep on the ground, their heads at the door and their feet directed towards a heap of hot coals within. Raccoon sniffed about and soon found there was something good to be eaten within the wigwam but decided not to enter for fear of waking the old men so he retired a short distance to hide himself to see what they would do.  Soon the old men awoke and one said to the other,  "My friend,  I am getting hungry, let us prepare some food".  "Very well", replied his companion, "you go down to the lake and fetch some water while I get the fire started".  Raccoon heard this conversation and wishing to deceive the old man, immediately ran to the water and untied the cord from the post and carried it to a clump of bushes and tied it there.  When the old blind man came along with his kettle to get water, he stumbled around in the brush until he found the end of the cord and began to dip his kettle upon the ground for water.  Not finding any, he slowly returned to the wigwam and said to his companion, "we shall surely die because the lake has dried up and the brush has grown where we used to get water. What shall we do"?  "That can not be",  responded his companion, "for we have not been asleep long enough for the brush to grow upon the lake bed.  Let me go and see if I can get some water".  Taking the kettle from his friend he started off.  Now as soon as the first old man had returned to the wigwam, Raccoon took the cord and tied it back where he had found it to wait to see the results.  The second old man came along, entered the lake and getting his kettle full of water, returned to the wigwam saying as he entered,  "My friend, you told me what was not true.  There is water enough, for here you see, I have our kettle full".  The other could not understand this at all and wondered what had caused this deception. Raccoon approached the wigwam to await the cooking of the food and when it was ready, the pieces of meat, for there were eight of them, were put into the bowl and the old men sat down on the ground facing each other with the bowl between them.  Each took a piece of the meat and they began to talk of various things and enjoy themselves.  Raccoon quietly removed four pieces of the meat from the bowl and began to eat them enjoying the feast even more than the old blind men.  Soon one of old men reached into the bowl to get another piece of meat and finding that only two pieces remained said,  "My friend, you must be very hungry to eat so quickly, I have had only one piece and there are but two pieces left".  The other replied, "I have not taken them but suspect you have eaten them yourself".  The other replied more angrily than before and thus they argued and Raccoon, desiring to have even more fun, tapped each of them on the face.  The old men, each believing the other had struck him, began to fight.  Rolling over the floor of the wigwam, upsetting the bowl and the kettle and causing the fire to be scattered.  Raccoon then took the two remaining pieces of meat and made his exit from the wigwam laughing  "Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha".  The old men instantly ceased their arguing for they now knew they had been deceived.  Raccoon then remarked to them, "I have played a nice trick on you. You should not find fault with each other so easily".  Raccoon then went on to continue crawfish hunting along the lake shore.

Music by Elan Michaels
clipart by http://www.firstpeople.us