They asked him what his name was, and he replied that he had no name, but that anything that they asked of him would be granted. They decided to call him Little Hairy Man. As they went along together, they came upon two deserted houses, which they occupied for a time. Little Man and Breaking Mountain went off to hunt and cut wood, while Breaking Sticks stayed at home to attend to the cooking. When the hunters returned they found no dinner cooked, but Breaking Sticks was lying in his blanket groaning. The following day Little Man and Breaking Sticks went out, leaving Breaking Mountain to take care of the camp, but as he repeated his brother’s experience Little Man said, “You two go and cut wood and I will stay at home and get the dinner.” As soon as they were gone a strange pigmy entered the house and said, “What are you doing here? Who gave you permission to stop here?” The stranger tried to whip Little Hairy Man, but the latter was too quick for him, snatched the whip away and drove the fellow out and into a hole under the other house. When the two brothers returned a dinner was awaiting them, and the Little Man said, “So that is what troubled you two. The pigmy gave you a whipping. “You must have caught it yourself today,” they replied. “No, I whipped him and chased him into his burrow under the other building.” After they had dined they went to examine the retreat of the mysterious stranger. By means of a strong cord and an old kettle, Breaking Mountain was lowered into the hole. He came back saying that he had seen a door at the bottom of the pit. Breaking Sticks next went down and reported the finding of the corpse of the pigmy. Little Hairy Man then went down, taking his big knife with him. He knocked on the door which he found and a voice answered, “Come in!” On entering he was met by a two-headed individual, who asked, “Are you the person who killed my son?” “Yes,” replied the Little Hairy Man. At this the monster rushed upon him, and tried to kill him. Little Man succeeded in cutting off both the heads with his big knife. He then noticed another door to the apartment, on which he knocked, and received the invitation to enter as before. This time he was met by a creature with three heads, who asked the same question, and upon receiving an affirmative reply tried to kill him. Little Man overcame his opponent and chopped off his three heads. To this apartment there was a door, at which he knocked and entered to find a four-headed being, whom he killed after a severe struggle. Before him stood yet another door, through which he passed to find three pretty women. He was much pleased with the appearance of the prettiest one, who gave him a ring. He took them to the entrance, and sent them up one by one in the kettle. When it came the turn of the Little Man to be hauled out, Breaking Sticks, who thought Little Man would want all the women for his own wives, said, “Let us cut the line.” “No,” said Breaking Mountain, “he helps us very much, and does things which we cannot do.” But before he had finished speaking his brother had cut the line, allowing the kettle to fall with the Little Hairy Man to the bottom of the shaft. A small dog that had belonged to the pigmy came and licked the wounds of Little Man, brought him bread, and finally showed him the way to escape. Little Man found that the brothers and the women whom he had rescued were gone, so he took his big knife and set off after them. As he was passing through some thick woods, he heard the sounds of a struggle, and soon came upon the dead body of a moose, ting-ik, over which a woodpecker, a wasp, and a little wood-worm were fighting. Little Man wished to settle their differences for them, so he divided the carcass, giving the meat to the wasp, the fat to the woodpecker, and the bones to the woodworm. Then he started off, but the woodpecker flew after him, and called him back. They all thanked him, and told him if he ever got in trouble he might turn into a woodpecker, a wasp, or a little worm. He thanked them and went on his way. Little Man came to a big lake; to avoid the long journey around, he wished himself a woodpecker, and in that form flew out over the lake. When he was half way across he became very tired, and, seeing a stick of driftwood, wished to be a worm. He crawled into the stick, where he remained until he felt it strike against the shore. Then he came out and found a large quantity of fresh chips around him. He soon caught sight of a small house and wished to be transformed into a wasp. In this guise he entered the house and found the brothers and the three women inside. The girl whom he had chosen was cooking food. Little Man went back into the forest and resumed his natural shape, then he returned with his big knife to the house. He asked the girl what she was doing, and she said she was cooking. “May I help you?” “Yes,” said she, after consulting her master. Little Hairy Man helped her place the food, and he arranged it in six portions. “Why do you set six places?” said she; “the cooks do not eat with their masters.” But he replied, “We will eat with them this once to talk about old times.” Her master said, “Very well.” When they sat down to eat, he placed the ring she had given him beside the plate of his sweetheart, who recognized it at once, and turned pale as she concealed it. Breaking Mountain began to tell the story of their desertion of Little Man, and said he was sorry, because Little Man was so useful. Breaking Sticks laughed and said, “Well, I laughed when I heard the kettle rattling down, and the Little Man squealing.” At this the Little Man jumped up and killed them all. Little Man left the house and went on his way again.

He found a small house in the forest, and on entering discovered a pretty woman in it. He asked her to marry him, but she said that she was married and her husband was away. She was afraid of her husband, and dared not run away with Little Man. He said, “I will kill him,” but she declared that no one could do that. When the husband returned she asked him how any one could kill him, and he answered: “First, there is a mountain-lion; if you kill it, a bear will come from the carcass, then a wolf will come from the bear, a wolverine from the wolf, a rabbit from the wolverine, a partridge from the rabbit, an egg from the partridge: only by striking me on the forehead with that egg can you kill me.” The next day, when the man was away, the woman told Little Hairy Man how he could kill her husband. He killed the mountain-lion and all the other animals, and obtained the egg, which he took to the woman. When her husband came home she wanted to hunt lice in his head; while his head was in her lap she struck him with the egg and killed him. She and Little Hairy Man were married and lived [happily] together.

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