D4C1. A swimming elk is a distraction. .41.44.45.

Animal people are coming to steal summer from its owners. One of the moose or caribou who comes in the guise of an elk or caribou distracts the attention of the owners or lowers a log or stump on the water, which summer owners take for an elk and rush after him.

Slevi, Chipewayan, Ojibwa, Naskapi, Montagnier, Mikmaq.

Subarctic. Sleve [winter is not over; animals gather for advice; only the Bear is missing; Lynx, Fox, Wolf, Mouse, Pike, etc. go up to heaven; find two Cubs in the house; learn from them what they keep in their bags rain, wind, fog, heat; The mouse gnaws on the oars, the lynx turns into a caribou, the mother bear rushes after her in the boat, the paddle breaks; the animals steal heat; the snow melts, the flood begins; the huge creature drinks water]: Bell 1901, No. 1:26-27; Chipewayan: Birket-Smith 1930:83-86 [The squirrel wants the rocks to stay at the bottom and birch logs to swim; the bear wants the opposite; others support Squirrel; when angry, the Bear promises to make an eternal night; the Squirrel proves that the Bear will suffer himself; listeners admit that Squirrel is right, then the stones roll into the sea, sink to the bottom; The bear chases the Squirrel unsuccessfully, steals summer; the animals go to a warm country; decide to lure the Bear by sending a caribou herd across the pond, the Mouse must nibble on the paddle; but the paddle does not break, Bear rowing in the boat; because of fear, the Mouse's eyes are left bulging; finally, the paddle breaks; the animals learn from the cubs that the bag is warm, the bag is carried away; the Pike carries the last, its teeth are perforated by the bag; The bear screams that from now on, heat and cold will alternate; the snow melts, the water floods the world, but the 'tulkkuzji bird drinks all the water; the lynx first strokes, then tears its stomach, the water pours out] , 86-87 [The bear lives in the sky; keeps rain, snow, fog, cold in bags; the Lynx swims, the Bear chases it in the boat].

The Midwest. Ojibwa: Carson 1917 [People are starving in spring; the boy is going to kill a squirrel; she tells him to break his bow and arrow, cry hysterically, asking for summer; people first think he is crying because broke his bow; then the Otter Chief (fisher) leads the Little Turtle, the Big Turtle, the Otter, the Crow, the Beaver to where the summer's Eagle lives; Caribou, Elk, Owl, Muskrat, and Hawk join them along the way; Beaver, Muskrat, Mouse gnaw on oars, Eagle's men boats hole; Crow, then Owl do not reach Eagle's house; Hawk flies, peeks, his face scorches; Elk, Caribou, Deer swim; Otter offers The eagle chases them; the hunters drown in leaky boats; the Otter takes the summer; the crow chases the Eagle, the Turtle drowns it; at home, the chief asks how many months a year should be; Moose: How many hairs on my body; Link (fish), How many eggs do I have, how many guts; The frog puts out his fingers, How many fingers do I have; the elk hits it with a stick; the chief agrees with the Frog]: 492 -493; Jones 1916, No. 16 [spring does not come, someone is holding migratory birds; the Little Otter leads the animals to free them; the Great Otter is included in the squad against the wishes of others; because of him, he has to go to the old woman twice before he can get food; later the old man gives food; the muskrat holes the boats, the Beaver gnaws on the oars, the Caribou wades across the bottleneck on the lake to divert attention the owners of the birds, the Fox barks at him; while the pursuers rush for the Caribbean, the Little Otter frees the birds; fleeing from his pursuers, climbs a tree, and from there into the sky, becoming the Ursa Major; returning from hiking, Caribou suggests that the number of winter months be equal to the number of coats on his skin; The Chipmunk suggests six months in terms of the number of stripes on his back, so decided]: 371-372; 1919, No. 56 [=1916]: 469-687.

Northeast. Four-legged birds steal summer birds; the snow melts, the happy boy stops crying while hunting birds. Naskapi: Millman 1993 [a little boy cries, demands summer songbirds; father promises Wolf, Wolverine, Otter and Muskrat that he will not hunt them if they get summer; they have come to Beaver , he cooked three of his beavers, cut off pieces of his own fat for the guests; they came to the old man, asked for summer, he refused to give it back; his wife was a sucker fish; the otter lowered the log, everyone mistook him for an elk, rushed in pursuit; at this time, the guests carried away the bird baskets; the old man chased them, but Muskrat could not be drowned, and the paddle was stuck in Porcupine's needles; the arrow pierced Fisher's ass, which became a star into the sky Fisher; sent brought birds; boy killed one, put on skin, became a bird, flew away with birds; told his father he would see him next year]: 110-103; Speck 1925 (mistasini) [boy cries, demands summer birds to shoot at them; people go to get Summer; do not want to take the Otter, who is funny; Muskrat gnaws on the oars of the owners of Summer; launches a tree on the water that resembles an elk with with horns; the owners of Summer rush to catch it; only Sucker and Sturgeon remain to guard Summer; their mouths are covered, Summer is carried away; the owners start chasing, but their oars break; they catch up with the Otter; he says that enemies themselves will die if they try to burn or beat him; pretends to be afraid of water; he is thrown into the river; his pursuers shoot Marten; he runs from a tree to heaven, turns into a Big Dipper (the second star of the bucket handle is the place where the arrow hit)]: 28-31; 1935a [=1925]: 66-69; Montagnier: Desbarats 1969:35-41 [in winter, the mother leaves her lousy son; the forest spirit saves him, takes him to mother, calls her a monster; the boy cries as the spirit goes away; then like a naskapi; Muskrat gnaws through the bottoms of boats; summer birds hang in bags on the walls of the fish dwelling; Porcupine, Otter, they catch turn into a porcupine, an otter; Woodchuck jumps into the sky, becomes the North Star]; Savard 1979, No. 9 [parents migrate after leaving their young son; Mistapeo saves him, leads him to parents; those they are afraid that Atshen brought him in (they look like hairy giants), but M. tells the child's mother that she is the real A.; M. eats only caribou lungs; if he ate meat, it would lose its taste for people ; cous boy for humans; y; if he ate meat, it would cry, wants to shoot summer birds; Otter laughs all the time, they shut her mouth, she laughs quieter; Big Beaver carries fat, a bag of fat they quietly cut off, give fat to the Otter as well; some creature lies in the way like a rock; moves away; followed by the country of summer; Muskrat is a watchman, she is given fat, she agrees to launch a log with branches and make holes in the boats; in the evening, the fire owners dance; the owl flies on reconnaissance, looks into the hole in the house, its beak is burned (now white), she puts a knot in the hole; in the morning two old women guard; seeing a log, they say that something is swimming; white and black fish remain at home; their mouths are taped, summer is carried away; fish make a hole in their glue with a branch, raise the alarm; the chase is unsuccessful; the pursuers scream that let summer and winter alternate; the kidnappers agree, open the bag with summer; Caribou wants as many winter months as there are fur between his fingers; Beaver: how many scales he has on his tail; Jay: how many fluffs she has; everyone is told that he will not survive such a long winter; Woodpecker: it's six months in winter, how many toes I have on two legs; the birds told the boy that he will stop killing them gave him fluff and feathers, he became a Chaffinch], 10 [as in Desbarat; pursuers place a huge bone in front of those who flee, but they break it; suggest that summer birds alternately have them and then have them kidnappers; without turning into a star]: 38-43, 44-48; Speck 1925 (escumen) [parents leave a little boy in winter; cannibal giant Atsen puts him in his mitten, brings him to his parents; the boy answers his father that it will stop crying if he can shoot summer birds; animals go looking for them; the muskrat gnaws through the boats of summer owners, gnaws at their oars, pushes a stump into the river; the owners think it elk, follow, their boats sink; Sturgeon and Sucker guard birds, animals cover their mouths with resin, carry birds away; Wolverine detains pursuers; birds are released, the snow melts, the boy shoots birds, stops crying]: 6-8; mikmaq [Kitpusiagana wants summer; he is guarded by an old man and an old woman on the other side of the lake; an old woman goes there; throws pieces of fat to Muskrat, luring her ashore, promises give more; the muskrat agrees to gnaw holes in the summer owners' boats, gnaw on their oars; the woman rejects Blue Jay (flies too noisily), chooses the Owl, sends her for the summer, with her Woodchuck, he is told to laugh in advance, because he is funny; Owl, the owner of the summer, burns her nose (it was big); everyone rushes after the moose, at which time the Owl takes away summer; the pursuers' boats are full of holes, oars break; K. glad, stops crying]: Wallis, Wallis 1955, No. 19:341-342.