"Don't you know how the bat came to be blind? No? Well, sit down, and I will rest while we have that story."
Once there was no fire in this land, but the animals knew there was plenty far off in the west. One day, as they were shivering together, Bat said to Lizard, "Why don't you scurry off to the west and get a coal for us?"
Lizard said, "I believe I will." He wriggled off for many suns, until he reached the fiery west. There he took a coal in his mouth and started home.
It had not been much trouble for him to whisk unseen into the west and to take a coal, but it was not easy to get the coal safe to his home. He had to carry the brand up high, so that it would not set the grass afire; and then, too, all the animals were eager to steal fire. He had to travel at night for fear of thieves.
When he was only one sun from home, he suddenly came across a party of cranes sitting up late, gambling by the light of the moon. He crept into the shadow of a log and stole quietly on, but he could not escape their sharp eyes.
"Why, there 's Lizard with a coal," screamed one crane.
