North American (Caddo)
The next day Noah awoke and set upon his work for the day. There was still much to be done and the ark still needed to be waterproofed. Noah walked outside into the day and found the sky dark and ominous. The north wind howled something fierce and leaves and dust blew everywhere the eyes could see. Noah sent his sons back to the fields to do their last day's work before the rains set in. Noah knew that it would be any day now that the Lord would call on him to enter his ark and shut the great door behind him. Noah was anxious at the thought of these actions and continued to stay busy throughout the morning time.
Around noon time there came a knock on the wall of the ark. Noah looked and a man stood in the doorway beckoning Noah with his brown hand. Noah, knowing what was to come, reluctantly went with the man outside to face the massed people that had continued to gather ever since Noah had started his ark. The man shook Noah's hand and kissed the back side of the hand and bid farewell. Noah went inside to get his rocking chair for he knew that he had a long day ahead with the telling of his stories:
There was once a woman. This woman gave birth to four monsters. She was advised against keeping them and she should have killed them. She loved her children and she gave her love and nourishment to them. They grew quickly and before too long they were large and powerful, too large and powerful for the woman to kill even if she had wanted to. One night the four monsters who slept together in the same place grew together. They grew back to back and soon morphed into one gigantic creature. This gigantic creature was so tall that its head poked through the clouds and into the heavens. Most people were afraid of this giant. The people took cover below at the creature's feet because that way they were safe for the four headed monster could not bend over that far and reach the scared people. The people that did not, who were within reach of the monster's long arms, were quickly and swiftly gobbled up and eaten. One man who hid at the base along with the other survivors could foretell the future. He told of a voice that told him to plant a hollow reed into the earth. The fortune-teller did as he was told and he went and found a hollow reed and planted it in the earth. The hollow reed he had planted started to grow and it too grew very quickly. The seer again heard the voice telling him to take his wife and family and take no clothes, gathering pairs of good animals. The man and his wife were to do this whenever the birds flew south in the winter time. When the birds flew south and the man knew that the sign had come, he and his wife took off their clothes, gathered pairs of the good animals that they had rounded up during the summer time and entered the gigantic reed that had grown out of the man's hollow reed. At this time the rain started something fierce. For many days it rained. The rain covered the entire earth except for the top of the reed where the heads of the animals and the man and his family were holed up. The earth was now covered with the oceans and sea creatures swam everywhere. The giant sea turtle dove to the bottom of the seas and began digging under the roots of the creature that was once four monsters. After much digging the turtle uprooted the giant creature and it broke apart in four pieces: one north, one south, one east, and one west. After the turtle's feat the waters then began to subside. Then the wind started to blow and once the waters had receded totally, the winds began to dry the earth. The man and his family and the beasts that had survived in the reed wandered about the now barren earth. They wondered how they would survive without food. They wondered how they would live period. The man, being able to see the future, after all, told the unfaithful group to go to sleep, everything would work out. For four consecutive nights he told this to his people and animals and after each night when they awoke there was more and more growth surrounding them. After the fourth night when the group awoke they awoke in a grass hut and outside they found a stalk of corn which had grown in the once barren soil. There was then a voice that shattered the thin still air. It said that corn was to be their holy food. It also said that if they planted corn and something else came up that then it was the end of the world. The voice then said no more (Erdoes & Ortiz).
After Noah had told his story, he was exhausted yet again. Noah called for his family to enter the ark. Noah was almost finished building his ark. Noah put his faith in his god and believed that he and his family would be spared if he just completed his instructions that were given. Noah was a patient man and he continued to wait for the heavens to open up. Maybe tomorrow. With this thought Noah retired to his bed and since the sun had long set Noah slept.
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