The Sign of the Beaver Chapter 9 Summary

  • Matt asks Attean how he kills rabbits without bullets, and Attean decides to show him his skills, which pretty much floors Matt. Is this a gesture of friendship?
  • Attean gives Matt a lesson on making a snare out of a root.
  • Matt practices making his own snares, but it's not as easy as Attean makes it look, and when Attean sees Matt's snares the next day, all he gives is a grunt. Hmph. But later in the week, Matt's snare actually catches something, which Attean acknowledges with a happy grunt.
  • Matt figures he's now a snare-making wiz, so he tells Attean not to bring any more food—but Attean does anyway, thanks to his grandfather.
  • Attean learns fast, and despite Matt's pretty lame teaching skills, Attean learns the letters and then starts spelling words.
  • But Matt's still peeved because Attean still seems annoyed when he comes around, and Matt figures Attean's only reason for coming is Robinson Crusoe.
  • Matt reads to Attean about Robinson Crusoe finding Friday (the man, not the day): Friday is an island native, about to be roasted alive by some oh-so-friendly cannibals, but he manages to run away, and Crusoe comes alone and takes out the cannibals. Then Crusoe befriends Friday, who ends up kneeling at his feet and vowing to be his slave forever.
  • Attean is really upset by this. A native kneeling to a white man? Attean tells Matt that any self-respecting Indian would rather die than become a slave.
  • And… he's gone. He has a way of doing that.
  • Matt puts on his thinking cap (which he'd never done with this part of Robinson Crusoe before), and realizes that maybe Attean's right—maybe Friday shouldn't have become Crusoe's slave. The thought freaks him out a little.