We had arrived at our campsite and proceeded to set up our tent. It took longer then normal to setup as we were a little rust at this skill but we eventually got it ready for occupancy. Our next task was to gather our firewood to keep warm and to cook with that evening. We scouted the immediate area grabbing as much of the fallen wood as we could and brought it back to our camp.

We finally felt we were about ready to retire for the evening. We had a big day planned for tomorrow which included fishing and possibly wandering around in the woods to explore the old cities we were told existed there.

We made our camp fire and were gathering around it to roast a few wieners when an old man appeared out of the wooded thicket. We all watched in amazement as the elderly man approached our camp fire.

“Hello”, he said in a quivering voice as he approached us. “It is a cool evening, is it not?” he questioned.

We finally composed our senses and invited the stranger to sit among us at the campfire.

He was at least in his late seventies and was dressed in frontier style leather clothing. His facial appearance resembled that of perhaps a Native American. He moved rather slowly when he moved and carried a long wooden staff to support his weight while walking.

He sat down and explained to us that his name was Weatherfield and his tribe had lived and hunted in the area for hundreds of years. Through his talks we discovered that he was a member of the Cherokee tribe. He obviously enjoyed talking for he related many tales of his youthful exploits the entire evening. The one tale he told us was particularly impressive to me and that is the one I would like to relate to you now. He called it the tale of the two wolves.

Weatherfield told us that “A great battle is continually taking place within each of us. This raging battle is between two wolves that live inside our bodies and souls.”

The old Cherokee man continued, “One of these wolves is Evil. It spills over with anger, jealousy, envy, sorrow, greed, regret, arrogance, guilt, self pity, resentment, lies, inferiority, false pride, eco and superiority over his fellow braves.”

We all sat in amazement as weatherfield continued to relate his tale. It was silent all within the woods except for his voice. He then continued his account.

“The other wolf is good. It is embodied with joy, love, peace, hope, humility, serenity, kindness, empathy, benevolence, forgiveness, truth, generosity , faith and compassion.’

We sat silently for a few moments and then I posed a question to the old wise man and asked, “Which wolf wins?”

As the old Cherokee man rose up to leave our camp for the evening he looked me straight in the eyes and replied, “The one you feed.”