On a cold and snowy winter day, a raccoon came to the frozen pond hoping to wash the food he had collected for his breakfast. He quickly found however, that the ice was too thick for him to break through on his own.

While he sat to consider his problem, the raccoon spotted a moose nearby, stripping the bark from the trees surrounding the frozen pond. The raccoon, seeing that the moose was much bigger and heavier than himself, grinned as an idea formed in his mind.

He hid his food under several snowy bushes, then made a show of running out to the middle of the pond to spin in a circle and jump up and down three times.

The moose was puzzled at this and walked over to ask what he was doing.

The raccoon told the moose that he knew a rare form of magic. That if you spin in a circle and jump three times in the middle of the frozen pond, the snow around the pond will sprout food.

The moose didn’t believe him, but the raccoon said that he could prove it. He spun in a circle and jumped three times. Then slid over to a snow-covered bush and pulled out the food he had hid there.

The moose wanted easy food too, but was hesitant to walk out on the ice. The raccoon assured him it was plenty thick and safe to walk on.

So the moose walked out onto the frozen pond, spun in a circle and jumped on the ice three times. But the ice wasn’t as solid the raccoon had said. On the third jump it cracked and shattered and the moose fell through into the freezing water below.

The raccoon ran to the edge of the hole and washed his breakfast while the moose kicked and thrashed in the freezing water, unable to escape.

Then he ate his food and ran off, leaving the moose trapped in the icy water alone.