while standing thus , with a heart beating more and more eagerly every moment for the possession of this fair swan , maidwa remembered the saying of his elder brother , that in their deceased father 's medicine - sack were three magic arrows . his brother had not told maidwa that their father , on his death - bed , which he alone had attended , had especially bequeathed the arrows to his youngest son , maidwa , from whom they had been wrongfully kept . the thought of the magic arrows put heart in maidwa , and he hastened with all speed to secure them . at any other time he would have shrunk from opening his father 's medicine - sack , but something prompted him to believe that there was no wrong now . snatching them forth he ran back , not staying to restore the other contents to the sack , but leaving them scattered , here and there , about the lodge . he feared , as he returned , that the swan must by this time have taken wing . but , as he emerged from the wood , to his great delight the air was as rosy as ever , and there , in her own serene and beautiful way , still sat the glorious red swan . with trembling hand he shot the first of his magic shafts : it grazed a wing . the second came closer , and cut away a few of the bright red feathers , which fluttered and fell like flakes of fire in the water . the third , which he carefully aimed and drew home upon the string with all his force , made the lucky hit , and passed through the neck of the bird a little above the breast . " the bird is mine , " said maidwa , to himself . but to his great surprise , instead of seeing it droop its neck and drift to the shore , the red swan flapped its wings , rose slowly , and flew off with a majestic motion toward the falling sun . maidwa , that he might meet his brothers , rescued two of the magic arrows from the water ; and although the third was borne off , he had a hope yet to recover that too , and to be master of the swan . he was noted for his speed ; for he would shoot an arrow and then run so fast that the arrow always fell behind him ; and he now set off at his best speed of foot . " i can run fast , " he thought , " and i can get up with the swan some time or other . " he sped on , over hills and prairies , toward the west , and was only going to take one more run , and then seek a place to sleep for the night , when , suddenly , he heard noises at a distance , like the murmur of waters against the shore . as he went on , he heard voices , and presently he saw people , some of whom were busy felling trees , and the strokes of their labor echoed through the woods . he passed on , and when he emerged from the forest , the sun was just falling below the edge of the sky . 
he had magic arrows .
why did maidwa believe he could hunt the red swan ?
why did maidwa believe he could hunt the red swan ?