One day, late in the fall, Napi was out walking, when he came upon a
number of gophers playing near the remains of a camp-fire. It was a raw,
cold day, and the gophers were taking turns warming themselves in the
ashes of the fire. One gopher would lie down on the ground and the
Others would cover him with the warm ashes. When he was thoroughly warmed,
he would squeak loudly, and another would take his place.

The game gave Napi an idea. So, losing no time in carrying out his
scheme, he sat down on the ground and began to cry. The gophers came
running to see what was the matter. "Oh, you are having so much fun, getting
so nice and warm!" yelled Napi. "Iam so cold, and there is nobody to
play games with me! I wish I could play with you!

The gophers said, "Well, Old Man, it's not difficult. We do it this
way. . . " and the sympathetic gophers invited him into the game. "I will
go first," said Napi, taking over. "You cover me with the ashes, then,
since I am bigger than you I can cover up all of you at once; and we
will all be warm at the same time. Then we can do something else."

So Napi lay down, and the gophers covered him with ashes, but he had
stayed there only a minute when he said he was warm enough, and wished to
be let out. Then it was the turn of the gophers. They all lay down in a
neat row, and Napi began covering them with ashes. But instead of the
just-warm ashes they had been using, Napi packed the misguided little
animals in hot embers! The poor gophers squeaked and squealed, but Napi,
the wicked, just kept piling on hot coals till they were all roasted!

"This will be a very good meal," said Napi, going off to the bush for
some willow sticks to use in picking up the hot meat. But while he was
gone, along came Nata'Yowa, the Lynx. Nata'Yowa could smell the gophers
cooking, and he was hungry. So, losing no time about it, he dug the
gophers out of the embers and ate every one of them.

When Napi came back, all that was left of his meal was a little pile of
tails. Napi was in a fine rage! He danced around furiously. Then,
observing a trail which Nata'Yowa had been too full of food and too sleepy
to bother hiding, he set off in pursuit of the culprit who had stolen
his meat. Following the trail, he came to where the Lynx was sleeping in
the shadow of a large rock. Creeping up, he seized Nata'Yowa by the
back of his neck, and began to pound his nose against the rock. When he
had pounded the Lynx's nose till it was very short and stubby Napi rubbed
his face in the long grass. The grass stuck to Nata'Yowa's face and
turned into whiskers. Some of it made little tufts on his ears.

The Old Man picked Nata'Yowa up by his tail, but the tail broke off
short. So he took him by the hind legs instead, and twirled Nata'Yowa
round his head very rapidly. As he was whirled round, Nata'Yowa's hind legs
stretched, till they were longer than they should have been. Then, Napi
let the Lynx go, and threw him a long way away, "It serves you right
for stealing my food!" said Old Man.

And that is why Nata'Yowa has a short stubby nose, a bobbed-off tail,
whiskers, tufty little ears, and long hind legs.