As the world was being created the great god Ekim could not decide what sort of creatures to put on the earth. In his mighty workshop in the firmament he had many different materials: clay, iron, and wood. He was not sure what material to use. With the clay he could do details, and he came up with a creature that stood upright on two legs and had two arms and a head. This creation he called man. With the iron he had a more difficult time. It was very hard to mold. After working with it for a while he came up with a creature that stood on four legs. He called this creation the bear. With the wood he had few problems. He wanted to make a creature different from any other; he wanted this creature to flow through the air like his knife flowed through the grain of the wood. This creation he called the hawk.

When he was done with his creations, he did not know which one to give life to. He decided to set up a competition. He would put one hundred of each on earth, and whichever survived would live on his earth as the ruler and the others would be his subordinates. The hawks had razor-sharp talons and a rock-hard beak. What they lacked in strength they made up with unmatched speed. The bears' main attribute was their strength, which went hand in hand with their needle-sharp claws. Man, on the other hand, was armed with knowledge. It was very intelligent but it lacked strength, speed, and any sort of protection.

Ekim created a small island and placed fifty males and fifty females of each creature on it. The island became a battleground. Each creature wanted the other for food. After a few months the human population had dwindled to five, while the bear and the hawk population remained high. Man fought hard but was unable to defeat the strong bear and the elusive hawk. Soon all that was left of man was one male and one female. The male, enraged from the destruction of his kind, did not think, and he ran fearlessly into a pack of bears hoping to avenge his brothers and sisters. Last of man, the female knew she had to use her head to win. She knew she could never defeat bear or hawk with the weapons they had made. They needed a new weapon. With the last of her hopes she raised her head to the sky and asked, "I have tried to use knowledge to help me defeat the hawk and the bear, but all things I have knowledge of cannot harm them. I have tried and tried again and have failed you. Do as you must."

"Ahh, you learned," the articulate voice of Ekim boomed. "You are a very judicious person. I have given you the knowledge of communication. This is your advantage. Man was made with nothing and everything. Man can study and learn vast amounts and will gradually progress. Hawk and bear on the other hand will stay simple creatures. I have waited a long time for your call. Although man is destined to be superior, they have many faults. Clay, from which I made you, is easily shaped. Greed, malevolence and many other faults which you don't even want to know about, can be shaped into man. You will learn many things from your surroundings, but I warn you, for every good man there is a bad man. Your actions will make you what you are. As a farewell gift I will give you the building block to be ruler of the earth. Learn this and learn it well, for it will affect your whole future. I now leave you forever with the knowledge of FIRE."

Perplexed by what had just happened she looked down at her hands. In them was a small branch and on it was fire.