Return of Ice Man

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Return of Ice Man

Once during the autumn in the Great Smoky Mountains
some dry leaves in the woods caught fire,
and before the people could beat out the flames the fire
spread to a big poplar tree. The tree blazed fiercely until
it turned to ashes, and then the fire went down into the
roots and burned a great hole in the ground. It burned
and burned, and the hole grew constantly larger,
until the people became frightened and were afraid it
would burn the whole world. Time after time they tried to
extinguish the fire, but it had gone too deep, and they did
not know what to do.

At last a chief said that Ice Man was the only one who
could put out the fire, and he lived in a house of ice far
away to the north. The chief called the people together
for a council to choose two messengers to journey
northward in search of Ice Man.

After traveling a long distance the messengers found Ice Man.
He was a very old person with long hair hanging down
to the ground in two plaits. The messengers told him
why they had come to ask his help.

"Oh, yes," replied Ice Man, "I can help you put out that fire."
He began to unplait his long hair. When it was all unbraided,
he took a thatch of it in one hand and struck it across his
other hand, and the messengers felt a chill wind blow
against their faces. A second time he struck his hair
across his hand, and a light rain began to fall.
The third time he struck his hair across his open hand,
sleet rattled upon the ground, and when he struck the
fourth time a heavy snow began to fall, as if it had come
from the ends of his hair.

"Go back to your village," Ice Man said, "and I shall be
there in a few days." The messengers speedily returned
to their people, who were still gathered helplessly around
the great burning pit.

A few days later, while they were all fearfully watching
the fire, a strong wind blew from the north, and they knew
it came from Ice Man. But the wind only made the fire
blaze brighter. Then a light rain began to fall, but the
drops seemed only to make the fire hotter with
scalding steam. Then the shower turned into a heavy
sleet storm that smothered the blaze but made clouds
of smoke rise from the red coals.

While the people fled to their houses for shelter,
the storm rose to a whirlwind that drove countless flakes
of snow into every burning crevice and covered the
embers with a white blanket until the fire was dead.
Not even a wisp of smoke could be seen in the deep hole.

When at last the storm ended, the people returned
and found a lake where the pit had been. Today some
people in the Great Smokies say that below the waters
of that lake they can hear the sound of coals still crackling.

Cherokee---Native American Lore