The story is told, with
little variation, in Hindustan, Germany, and Scandinavia.
[63] In Polynesia, "the great deity Maui adds a new
complication to his enigmatic solar-celestial character by
appearing as a wind-god."--Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 242.
The North Wind, representing the mischievous Hermes, once blew
away a poor woman's meal. So her boy went to the North Wind
and demanded his rights for the meal his mother had lost. "I
have n't got your meal," said the Wind, "but here's a
tablecloth which will cover itself with an excellent dinner
whenever you tell it to." So the lad took the cloth and
started for home. At nightfall he stopped at an inn, spread
his cloth on the table, and ordered it to cover itself with
good things, and so it did. But the landlord, who thought it
would be money in his pocket to have such a cloth, stole it
after the boy had gone to bed, and substituted another just
like it in appearance. Next day the boy went home in great
glee to show off for his mother's astonishment what the North
Wind had given him, but all the dinner he got that day was
what the old woman cooked for him. In his despair he went back
to the North Wind and called him a liar, and again demanded
his rights for the meal he had lost. "I have n't got your
meal," said the Wind, "but here's a ram which will drop money
out of its fleece whenever you tell it to.
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