owl.

"Oh, this is fine!" he said. "It is glorious to fly through the air,
and go up almost to the sky where I can look down on all the world.
I'm glad that I was not content to stay always down in the dirt."

With slow, noiseless wing flaps the owl set off toward the north,
pausing every now and then to catch and eat a mouse. After a long
flight Sledge Island came in view and the owl thought it would go
there. When far out at sea its untried wings became so tired that only
with the greatest difficulty did it manage to reach the shore, where
it perched upon a piece of driftwood that stood up in the sand.

In a short time it saw two fine-looking men pass along the shore, and
the old feeling of discontent arose again. "Those men were talking in
a better-sounding language than mine. They seemed to understand each
other, and they laughed and were having a good time. I will be a man."

With a single flap of wing it stood upon the ground, where it changed
immediately into a fine young man. But, of course, the feathers were
gone and the Man had no clothing. Night came down upon the earth soon
after, and the Man sat down with his back against the stick of wood on
which, as an owl, he had perched, and slept till morning. He was
awakened by the sun shining in his eyes, and upon arising, felt stiff
and lame from the cold night air.

He found some of the same grass which he had once been, and braided it
into a kind of mantle which kept out a little of the cold. Seeing a
reindeer grazing, he felt a sudden desire to kill it and eat its
flesh. He crept close on his hands and knees, and, springing forward,
seized it by the horns and broke its neck with a single effort.

He felt all over its body and found that its skin formed a covering
through which he could not push his fingers. For a long time he tried
to think how to remove the skin, and finally noticed a stone with a
sharp edge with which he managed to cut through the hide. Then he
quickly stripped the animal with his hands, and tore out a piece of
flesh which he tried to swallow as he had swallowed mice when he was
an owl. He found that he could not do this easily, so he tore off
small bits and ground them with his teeth.

He had already discovered that by striking two stones together they
grew warm and felt good to his cold hands. So now he struck them
together until sparks came with which he lighted some dry weeds and
brush and had a fire to cook his meat and to warm hi