Prevod
Okrožje Kern v Kaliforniji leži večinoma v krožni dolini in dolgo, dolgo preden je hudobec ustvaril bledoličnika, je bilo dom ljudstva, veščega raznih umetnosti, ki je častilo Velikega duha v stavbi z visoko kupolo. Toda pogum in modrost enega izmed njih sta jih pripravila do tega, da so pozabili na Manituja in začeli po božje častiti moža, ki mu je bil po njihovem najbolj podoben. Privedli so ga v tempelj, molili k njemu in mu peli ter tam prirejali svoje svete plese. S tem so Boga tako razjezili, da je razprl zemljo in jih pogoltnil. Še leta zatem ni bilo o tem ljudstvu ne duha ne sluha, le njegovo kamnito orodje je ostalo po pobočjih sosednjih gričev. Manitu je dolino celo zalil z vodo in v notranjem morju so se razigrano podile velikanske živali.
Toda kmalu se je pokesal svoje jeze in v navalu nestrpnosti nad tem, kar je storil, izvrgel tolikšne količine zemlje, ki se je kadila od vročine, da je tako ustvaril Sierro Nevado, obenem pa je prebil griče ob spodnjem koncu jezera in voda je skozi Golden Gate odtekla v morje. Tako je dolina spet postala kopno in Manitu je znova odprl zemljo ter izpustil ujeto pleme. Zaprti ljudje niso pozabili ne svojih umetnosti ne svoje srčnosti; poskrbeli so, da je kraj spet zacvetel, si podredili druga plemena, Manitu pa jih je razglasil za svoje izvoljence, od katerih bo edinih sprejemal žrtve. Toda njihov poglavar je postal tako častihlepen, da je hotel v čaščenju ljudstva izpodriniti Manituja, nazadnje pa je v blaznosti domišljavosti boga izzval na dvoboj.
Veliki duh se je pretvarjal, da sprejema izziv, in grešnike poslal blodit po puščavi, dokler niso dosegli doline v Sierri nasproti Tehachapiju, kjer jih je dal iztrebiti hordi divjakov iz puščave Mojave. Nato je v navalu gnusa nad neposlušnim človeštvom priklical vihar in iz dežele teh divjakov pometel vse, kar je bilo živo, ter razglasil, da odtlej v njej ne bo več nobenega človeka. In tako je bilo.
Izvirnik
The county called Kern, in California, lies mostly in a circular valley, and long, long before the evil one had created the pale face it was the home of a nation advanced in arts, who worshipped the Great Spirit in a building with a lofty dome. But the bravery and wisdom of one of their own people made them forget the Manitou and idolize the man who seemed the most like him. They brought him to the temple and prayed and sang to him, and held their sacred dances there, so angering God that he rent the earth and swallowed them. Nothing was seen of this people for years after, but their stone tools were left on neighboring hill-sides. Manitou even poured water into the valley, and great creatures sported in the inland sea.
But, ere long, he repented his anger, and, in a fit of impatience at what he had done, he threw up quantities of earth that smoked with heat, and thus created the Sierra Nevada, while he broke away the hills at the foot of the lake, and the waters drained into the sea at the Golden Gate. This again made dry land of the valley, and, opening the earth once more, he released the captive tribe. The imprisoned people had not forgotten their arts nor their boldness; they made the place blossom again; they conquered other tribes, and Manitou declared them his chosen ones, from whom alone he would accept sacrifice. But their chief became so ambitious that he wanted to supplant the Manitou in the worship of the people, and finally, in a lunacy of self-conceit, he challenged the god to single combat.
Under pretence of accepting the challenge, the Great Spirit set the offenders to wander through the desert until they reached a valley in the Sierras, opposite Tehachapi, where he caused them to be exterminated by a horde of savages from the Mojave desert. Then, in a fit of disgust at refractory humanity, he evoked a whirlwind and stripped away every living thing from the country of the savages, declaring that it should be empty of human beings from that time forward. And it was so.
