A long time ago in the land of the Pueblo Indians, a girl and her brother lived with their father and stepmother in a village by a river. The brother and father were often away taking care of their sheep and cattle, so the girl, Poh-ve, was left alone with her stepmother, who wasn't very kind to her. She was only happy when her brother, Pah-day, was home. The two were very close, but since Pah-day was rarely home, Poh-ve was often sad.

One afternoon, Poh-ve’s stepmother sent her to the river with a pretty jar to get water. “Get out of my sight,” she said, “and bring me some water when you come back!” Poh-ve found other girls at the river, so she set the jar down and played with them all afternoon. Late that day, when she picked up the jar to go home, it fell on a stone and broke. Her stepmother was very angry when Poh-ve returned late and without the jar, so she punished her harshly.

“I didn’t mean to break the jar,” thought Poh-ve, “and I’ll run away from my unkind stepmother tomorrow.”

Early the next morning, Poh-ve went to the river. She walked along the river’s edge until she found a place to wade across. Then she crossed the river for the first time. She looked around the unfamiliar land until she found a path and followed it. The path led her to a lake. She didn’t know how to cross it, but she was determined not to return to her mean stepmother. Just then, a fox came along with a bow and arrow. “Hello, little Miss, where are you going?” asked Mr. Fox.