4.
After the incident with the cave lion, mother and son moved further away from the cliffs. They followed the stream for several moons and found a thicket of small plum trees near a pond of clear water. High grasses with golden tops grew at the edge of the water. Sweet Grass showed Snow Moon how to dislodge the heavy heads of seed from the tall grass.
“These are really good, Mama,” he said as he mowed down more stalks.
“They are my favorite food and what I was named for. These are sweet grass.”
Enjoying this time of fun talk, Snow Moon asked his mother what her first-name had been.
“At the Spring of my birth our herd was sharing a valley with the Little People …
“Little People?”
“That is what we call the herds goats for they are very like us though smaller and have two horns instead of the proper single horn.”
“Are they little like me, Mama?”
“Oh you are no longer as small as the Little People, Pink-nose. At birth you were nearly as large as most of them.” Continuing with her story she said, “As I was first trying to stand on my wobbly new-born legs, some of the Little People began a dance around me. They explained that it is part of their custom at birthing season. So when it was time for my naming ceremony, Father named me Little Dancer. Through that Spring and Summer I lived up to my name by playing many games with the children of the Little People. One old nanny who was the herds wise woman proclaimed that her family would be a shelter for my family.”
“What does that mean, mother?”
“My son, wise people always talk in riddles so that you are never sure what they mean. I think, however, that she meant that we would always be friends. But come you need to cover yourself in dust from the wallow for your white is beginning to show through.”
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