Raven saw just in front of him the hole of Marmot. Then Raven stood by the door watching, until Marmot came home, bringing food. But Marmot could not enter his hole because Raven stood in the way. Marmot asked Raven to stand to one side. Raven said, "No. They called me 'carrion-eater.' Now I will show them I am not. I will eat you."
Marmot said, "All right; but I have heard that you are a very fine dancer. Now, if you will dance, I will sing. Then you can eat me, but let me see you dance before you eat me."
"Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, how well you dance! Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, how well you dance!"
Marmot said, "I like your dancing. Now I will sing again, so shut your eyes and dance your best."
So Raven shut his eyes and danced clumsily around. Marmot sang,
"Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, what a graceful dancer! Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, what a fool you are!"
Because Marmot, with a quick run, had darted between Raven's legs and was safe in his hole.
When Marmot was safe in his hole, he put out the tip of his nose and mocked Raven. He said, "_Chi-kik-kik, chi-kik-kik, chi-kik-kik!_ You are the greatest fool I ever saw. What a comical figure you cut when dancing! I could hardly keep from laughing. Just look at me--see how fat I am. Don't you wish you could eat me?"
In the first days, the sun and moon were in the sky. Then the sun and moon were taken away and people had only the light of the stars. Even the magic of the shamans failed to bring back the light.
Now there was an orphan boy in the village who sat with the humble people over the entrance way of the kashim. He was despised by every one. When the magic of the shamans failed to bring back the sun and moon into the sky the boy mocked them. He said, "What fine shamans you must be. You cannot bring back the light, but I can." Then the shamans were angry and beat that boy and drove him out of the kashim. Now this boy was like any other boy until he put on a raven coat he had. Then he became Raven.
Now the boy went to his aunt's house. He told her the shamans had failed to bring back the light, and they had beaten him when he mocked them. The boy said, "Where are the sun and moon?"
The boy said, "I am sure you know. Look what a finely sewed coat you wear. You could not sew it that way if you did not know where the light is."