Crane and His Brothers
original retelling by Richard Dieterle

This was the version originally found under the title, "Crane and His Brothers." It is not a translation, but a retelling of the story based on Radin's translation.

One day Crane encountered his younger brother, who suggested to him that they live together. Crane thought it would be a good idea, most especially because his brother was such a good hunter. One day some visitors showed up at their new dwelling and said, "Crane, I see that you are now living here and living pretty well at that." "Yes," replied Crane, "my brother kills much game and we eat very well." The visitors asked where they could build lodges nearby, to which Crane replied, "Anywhere at all, there is plenty of space around here." They asked, "What does your brother hunt mostly?" Crane told them, "Raccoons." This appealed to them greatly, so they slipped in and robbed Crane of all his meat. Soon after, Crane's brother came back with a fresh kill, so Crane went out to fetch water. On the way the visitors met him and asked him what he was fetching water for. He replied that his brother had been successful in the hunt. Upon hearing that, they went back and stole even that meat. So Crane and his younger brother spent a hungry night without their accustomed evening meal. The next morning the younger brother went out hunting and was again successful, but later the same thing happened once again, and they were beginning to feel weak from hunger. After they were robbed a third time, they resolved to find another place to live.

On his hunting expedition, the brother had seen a good place to move, so they decided to leave the next day. His younger brother went ahead, while Crane kept walking up and down the hill, making so many tracks it would be impossible to follow him. Yet when the visitors asked, Crane told them everything. When Crane arrived at their new homestead, his younger brother already had the meal prepared. Soon the visitors showed up again, and asked where they could build their lodges. Everything happened as before, only this time when they stole the meat, the visitors beat the younger brother almost to death. Crane declared, "This time they have gone too far. I had not punished them because I had taken pity on them." He marched right over to the visitors' lodge, and clubbed the first one he found sitting there, then he did the same to the next two, but the fourth one escaped through the smoke hole in the lodge roof. This last one escaped to a tree branch where he gave a hoot. Crane told him, "I have not killed you, for what would the world call a 'hoot owl' if I had? You shall be condemned always to flee from people, and the only time that you will eat is when you have killed a mouse." Crane returned home and told his younger brother, "I have done wrong. The Creator did not create me for this purpose. I have killed my younger brothers. It is not good that we should live together after this." The younger brother was a screech owl. The two of them parted company and have never lived together since.