Prevod
Nekateri Indijanci verjamejo, da nevihte povzroča Gromovni ptič; da bliski njegovih oči zanetijo strele, zamahi njegovih kril, prostranih kakor oblaki, pa ustvarjajo grom. Passamaquoddiji pa ne verjamejo tako, saj menijo, da so Gromi duhovni otroci Katahdina. Neki Indijanec jih je našel takole: ob Penobscotu je iskal divjad in že tedne ni srečal žive duše. Nekega zimskega dne je naletel na odtise para krpelj; naslednje jutro so se sledi pojavile v drugem delu gozda in tako jih je odkrival še mnogo dni.
Čez čas mu je prišlo na misel, da bi pogledal, kam vodijo te sledi, in šel je za njimi, dokler se niso združile z drugimi na uhojeni poti, ki se je končala pri prepadni steni na pobočju Katahdina (Velike gore).
Ko je ves začuden premišljeval, kako lahko toliko sledi vodi nikamor, ga je zdramil zvok koraka in iz prepadne stene je na skalno polico ob njem stopilo dekle. Čeprav ni rekel ničesar, saj sta ga njena veličastna pojava in lepota navdajali s strahospoštovanjem, je s prijaznimi besedami odgovorila na vsako njegovo neizrečeno misel in ga povabila, naj gre z njo. S strahom se je približal skali, toda ob njenem dotiku je postala kakor megla in skupaj sta vstopila vanjo.
Kmalu sta se znašla v veliki votlini v osrčju Katahdina, kjer je sedel duh gore. Pozdravil ju je in dekle vprašal, ali sta njena brata že prišla. »Slišim ju prihajati,« je odgovorila. Sledila sta slepeč blisk in grmeč pok, nato pa sta v votlino stopila dva orjaška moža z resnima, lepima obrazoma, ki sta bila na licih in čelu otrdela v kamen. »To sta,« je dekle reklo lovcu, »moja brata, Grom in Strela. Oče ju pošilja na pot, kadar je treba popraviti krivico, da ne bi bili prizadeti tisti, ki nas ljubijo. Kadar slišiš grom, vedi, da streljata na naše sovražnike.«
Ob koncu tistega dne se je lovec vrnil domov in glej, odsoten je bil sedem let. Druga legenda pravi, da sta ga sinova gore s kamnitima obrazoma posvojila in da je sedem let taval naokrog kot Grom, ob koncu tega časa pa mu je bilo med divjanjem nevihte dovoljeno, da je nepoškodovan padel v svojo vas.
Izvirnik
Some Indians believe that the Thunder Bird is the agent of storm; that the flashes of his eyes cause lightning and the flapping of his cloud-vast wings make thunder. Not so the Passamaquoddies, for they hold that Katahdin's spirit children are Thunders, and in this way an Indian found them: He had been seeking game along the Penobscot and for weeks had not met one of his fellow creatures. On a winter day he came on the print of a pair of snow-shoes; next morning the tracks appeared in another part of the forest, and so for many days he found them.
After a time it occurred to him to see where these tracks went to, and he followed them until they merged with others in a travelled road, ending at a precipice on the side of Katahdin (Great Mountain).
While lost in wonder that so many tracks should lead nowhere, he was roused by a footfall, and a maiden stepped from the precipice to the ledge beside him. Though he said nothing, being in awe of her stateliness and beauty, she replied in kind words to every unspoken thought and bade him go with her. He approached the rock with fear, but at a touch from the woman it became as mist, and they entered it together.
Presently they were in a great cave in the heart of Katahdin, where sat the spirit of the mountain, who welcomed them and asked the girl if her brothers had come. “I hear them coming,” she replied. A blinding flash, a roar of thunder, and there stepped into the cave two men of giant size and gravely beautiful faces, hardened at the cheeks and brows to stone. “These,” said the girl to the hunter, “are my brothers, the Thunder and the Lightning. My father sends them forth whenever there is wrong to redress, that those who love us may not be smitten. When you hear Thunder, know that they are shooting at our enemies.”
At the end of that day the hunter returned to his home, and behold, he had been gone seven years. Another legend says that the stone-faced sons of the mountain adopted him, and that for seven years he was a roaming Thunder, but at the end of that time while a storm was raging he was allowed to fall, unharmed, into his own village.
