When he made winter, Tobats, the elder god, was angry. He sent it down upon tu-weap, the earth, because the grumblings and complainings of the living things greatly annoyed him. He thought he would give them something to complain about.
Before that time there had been only summer. The living things knew nothing but summer and when Tobats poured snow down upon them, they set up a great cry of fear and distress.
Now they had both winter and summer, but no time limit had been set on either. Sometimes when winter came it remained with them for a long time. Then when summer's turn came, the weather was hot for a long time. When either of them came they never seemed to know when to go away. Sometimes it was hot for just a little while and then the cold would come for a long time. Sometimes the cold weather was short and then it was hot for a long time. Winter and summer seemed to be fighting each other all the time. It was not good that way.
The Indians and the animals talked about this condition in so-pa-ro-ie-van, the council meeting. They wondered what could be done about it. They wondered how it could be changed. They wondered why Weather Man acted that way.
Mo-se-va-cut, the owl, said, "I can see in the night and I can see in the daytime, too. My eyes are always open."
"What have you seen?" asked kumo, the jack rabbit. "I have seen many things," answered the owl. "I have seen that fellow that makes the weather goes backward and forward on a long straight trail. His home is at the middle of it."
"How can that make tu-weap go cold and hot?" asked cho-ink, the talkative blue jay. "I don't believe it does," said quampie, the spider.
"Well," said mo-se-va-cut, "when
Weather Man goes north it is always
cold. Tom, the winter, travels with him. If Weather Man goes only
a little way and then turns back, it is a short cold. When he
goes to the end of the trail, that makes a full winter. But tom,
the winter, stays with Weather Man until he gets back home. That
makes the cold very long, like two winters coming together."
"That is too much winter," said skoots, the squirrel,
"my nuts do not last that long."
"When Weather Man goes south," the owl explained, "it is the same way, only tats, the summer, travels with him instead of tom, the winter."
"What can we do about this? There is too much winter and there is too much summer," asked many of the living things in chorus. One said, "Let us go and shorten that trail. Send gopher and prairie dog to build piles of earth up on each end. That will make Weather Man stumble and turn back." Medicine Man said, "We better talk with Shinob about this. Maybe he made it like it is."
Now
pan-ah-wich, the night bird, sat on the ground and listened to
all this talk. He thought much but said little. He had an idea.
He wanted to be sure about Weather Man's going back and forth
over that long straight trail. He, too, could see in the night,
so he decided to sit in the same tree with mo-se-va-cut and see
what he could see. He went home with the owl and there he sat
and he saw that mo-se-va-cut was right. Together they watched
Weather Man make his uncertain trips.
The living things called loudly for Shinob to come to so-pa-ro-ie-van, the council meeting. When he came they told him of the trouble Weather Man was making for them.
"What do you want?" asked Shinob. "You are never satisfied. You grumble about everything. First tats, the summer, had all the time and you cried it was too hot. Now you have half tats and half tom and it is too much of both. What do you want?"
Mo-se-va-cut said, "We wish you would cut a piece off each end of the weather trail." "No," said Shinob, "that would never do. That would make the year too short. Tats has six moons for his time and tom has six moons for his time. That keeps time all straight on tu-weap."
The council still said it was not good, it was too much hot and it was too much cold. Shinob lost his patience and said, "Well, that is the way it is, and if anybody can think of a better way he can try it if all the living things are willing and will not trouble me any more."
Promptly pan-ah-wich, the night bird, hopped down from his perch in the tree and said, "I have a better way."
"What is your way?" asked Shinob.
"Make two more seasons, so there will be one for each corner of tu-weap," answered pan-ah-wich. "Then," he continued, "make the weather trail round instead of straight."
"What good will that do?" asked Shinob with some irritation for he thought it was impudence for the night bird to tell him how things should be.
"Let the weather trail go around by each corner of the earth," repeated pan-ah-wich. "Put one of the new seasons between winter and summer on one side, and put the other new season between winter and summer on the other side. Call the four seasons taman (spring), tats (summer), u-wan (fall) and tom (winter). Weather Man can go around that circle always in the same direction. He will not have to go back and forth as he does now. Always the seasons will be the same length and they will follow each other always in the same order."
Tobats,
the elder god, laughed out loud and said, "Pan-ah-wich's
plan is better then Shinob's." The living things agreed also.
They said, "We like four seasons and a round trail best."
This concurring sentiment made Shinob a little jealous and he tried to think of some way to upset the plan. He said, "Yes, this is a good way. We will give each season twelve moons."
"Oh, no, not that much," cried all the living things. "That would be worse than the straight trail. That would spoil everything. We would die before Weather Man could get all the way around. We must have shorter seasons than that."
While Shinob insisted on twelve moons for each season and the council was pleading for less, old Tobats, who was enjoying Shinob's discomfort, spoke up. He said to Shinob, "You promised that anyone who had a better way could try it out if the living things were willing. This is pan-ah-wich's plan. Let him say how many moons for each season."
The night bird called out quickly, "Three moons for taman, three moons for tats, three moons for u-wan, three moons for tom." He flew hastily away for Shinob was hunting a rock to throw at him.
Old Tobats and the council accepted the night bird's plan. They broke up Weather Man's straight trail and made him a good smooth new one that went around by all the four corners of tu-weap. From that day to this he has traveled around and around that circle trail. He never turns back as he did on the straight path and each three moons brings him to another corner of tu-weap and to the beginning of another season. The living things have never complained since about the weather, and the seasons follow each other in regular order: spring, summer, fall, winter.
The jealous younger god wanted to kill pan-ah-wich and followed him out of the council meeting for that purpose. The wise bird, knowing his intentions, led him off into bushes that were loaded with luscious ripe berries. Shinob tasted and, forgetting his anger, remained to eat. The night bird's plan for the seasons has worked so well that no one wants to change it any more. Pan-ah-wich is honored and respected by all the living things on tu-weap, the earth, but he still is nervous and fearful and does most of his flying about at night. He is not sure that Shinob's anger is entirely dead and he would not like to meet the god in the daylight when he could see to throw straight.
