But while the boys were talking, the hoop began to roll to the north by itself. They walked after it and tried to stop it, but it just kept going in that direction.
It went right to the owl’s home. It rolled directly into his home and lay in the corner. Owl was there.
He looked around and saw them and said to his wife, “Two handsome boys have come to see us. Let’s boil them and make a soup of them.”
The mothers of the boys had a fire drill which told them whether their sons were in danger. When they were in danger the wood flared up by itself and began to burn, and when they were safe again it would become restored. This time the fire drill burst into flame and the two women were very much frightened.
When the owl spoke like that Killer-of-Enemies was afraid, for the owl had his cooking kettles right there.
But Child-of-the-Water said, “It’s all right. Let him try to make soup of us.”
Owl put the boys in the kettle and tried to boil them. The boys were playing at the bottom of the water. Child-of-the-Water made it so they couldn’t be hurt. They were splashing the water at each other and having a good time. Above them the water boiled, but it didn’t hurt them.
The owls waited for a while. Then they said, “They must be cooked by this time.” They had a big forked stick. They thought they would take the boys out with this. But instead, when they opened the kettle, the boys jumped out unharmed. They jumped out, one after the other. The owls looked at each other in surprise.
They said, “Well, we’ll put them in the fire place then.” So they pushed away enough ashes to make a place large enough for them.
This time Child-of-the-Water was afraid. “I guess we’re going to die,” he said.
“No,” replied Killer-of-Enemies. “I can stop that.”
Owl threw the boys into that hole and covered them with ashes. But the boys played and had a good time under there. They were not scorched at all.
The owls said again, “They must be done.” They started to uncover them and the boys leaped out. They were not hurt at all.
Then the owls said, “Let’s cut them up. Let’s chop them in pieces.”
They carried the boys to the place where they were going to do this. Killer-of-Enemies was not afraid, but Child-of-the-Water was much frightened now.
They put the boys on a block. They were ready to chop. But just as Owl raised the ax, it shattered in his hand.
Then Owl was frightened. “I think these are the children of the sun,” he said. “We had better untie them, give them back their hoop and pole, and let them go before we get into trouble.” [Only three attempts to kill the boys are mentioned in this version. Four may be the correct number, since this is the sacred figure and such events usually transpire in fours. Sometimes an informant will omit a detail which he does not consider important, to spare himself censure or supernatural punishment.]
So they loosened the bonds and let the boys go. The boys had learned their lesson and knew what disobedience meant.
Now, back home, the fire drill went out again and the women knew their children were safe.
Whenever you play the hoop and pole game, or a group of people gets together for playing games, or there are horse races going on, there are some sorcerers present who try to harm you. They try to injure you in every way. But Killer-of-Enemies protects you from them. For when he was given the hoop and pole game and was told by his father to roll the hoop towards all directions except the north, he allowed it to roll to the north and went to the home of the owl to regain it. After he escaped from Owl without being harmed, he determined to help all those who, when they try to play games, are menaced by sorcerers or evil ones.
When you are rich, when you have many sheep and horses, the sorcerers are jealous and try to kill you. But if you use Killer-of-Enemies he can protect you and the sorcerers can’t do anything to you.