Long ago there was an Eskimo family living in a place quite by themselves, and far away from any village.

The father had been killed by a caribou some years before, so the widowed mother was alone with her two sons. They had been little boys when the father died, but now they were young men and fine hunters.

Every day they used to go hunting. Always they brought back game of some kind, so the family lived on the fat of the land.

At that time there were many caribou, which in those days had long sharp teeth and could bite and kill people. Men used to hunt them with bows and arrows and spears.

One day the two young men went out to hunt as usual, but this time they did not return.

Days passed and they did not come. Their poor mother was sad and anxious, waiting for them. Every day she looked about and watched and waited, but still they did not come home. She did not dare to go far from the house to search for them, for she was afraid of the fierce caribou with their sharp teeth.

One day as she was watching, always hoping to see her sons coming back, a big crow came flying by. She called out, Crow, Crow, can you tell me where are my two boys?

And the crow said, Yes, I know where your two boys are. Then he flew up still higher and circled about saying, Caw, caw! and the poor mother was nearly frantic for fear that he would fly away without telling her.

O please come back! she cried; but he flew a little higher, teasingly saying, Caw, caw! Wouldn’t you like to know?

The woman went into her house and brought a piece of seal blubber and held it up.

I will give you this, Crow, if you tell me where to find them.

Lazily the crow floated down and perched on the ground nearby.

Give it to me, said he.

Tell me first, said she.

So cocking his head on one side he said, All right, I will tell you, but your sons are both dead. The caribou killed them with their long teeth.

The poor mother was in despair, but she remembered to give the crow his meat, and as he was about to fly away, she said, Crow, if you will show me the way to my sons, I will feed you whenever you come.

So the crow told her where to go, but he said, You will never feed me again if you go there, because the caribou will tear you with their teeth.

Then he flapped his big black wings and said, Caw, caw! And the woman thought he was laughing at her.

Going into the house, she covered herself all over with the red juice of cranberries. It is very sour and tastes very bad. Her whole parka was stained bright red with it; even her mukluks and mittens. Then, without taking a weapon of any kind, she started off for the place where the crow had told her she would find her boys.

It was a long way, and many caribou came after her and caught her parka in their teeth and tried to bite her, but as soon as they tasted the cranberry juice it was so terribly sour all their teeth fell out, leaving them unable to bite any more.

When the mother came to where her two sons were lying, they seemed to be asleep and covered with wounds from the bites of the caribou.

Crying, Wake up, wake up! in a loud voice, she kicked the soles of their feet, first one then the other. As she did this, each one in turn sat up and opened his eyes. They were very happy to see their mother, and she rejoiced to find them alive. Then she helped them to their feet and took them home and nursed them back to health.

As soon as their wounds healed, the boys went hunting as before, but without fear, for from that time on, the caribou have never had any long teeth.