sometimes he was enforced to pass the night in the clefts of old trees or caverns , and to break his fast with the refuse meals of the savage wolves . these at last became his only resource , and he grew to be so little fearful of these animals that he would sit by them while they devoured their meat , and patiently await his share . after a while , the wolves took to little sheem very kindly , and seeming to understand his outcast condition , they would always leave something for him to eat . by and by they began to talk with him , and to inquire into his history . when he told them that he had been forsaken by his brother and his sister , the wolves turned about to each other , lifted up their eyes to heaven , and wondered among themselves , with raised paws , that such a thing should have been . in this way , sheem lived on till the spring , and as soon as the lake was free from ice , he followed his new friends to the shore . it happened on the same day , that his elder brother , owasso , was fishing in his magic canoe , a considerable distance out upon the lake . he thought he heard the cries of a child upon the shore . he wondered how any human creature could exist on so bleak and barren a coast . he listened again with all attention , and he heard the cry distinctly repeated . this time it was the well - known cry of his younger brother that reached his ear . he knew too well the secret of his song , as he heard him chaunting mournfully : " my brother ! my brother ! since you left me going in the canoe , a - hee - ee , i am half changed into a wolf , e - wee . i am half changed into a wolf , e - wee . " owasso made for the shore , and as he approached the lament was repeated . the sounds were very distinct , and the voice of wailing was very sorrowful for owasso to listen to . it touched him the more that it died away at the close , into a long - drawn howl , like that of the wolf . in the sand , as he drew closer to the land , he saw the tracks as of that animal fleeing away ; and besides these the prints of human hands . but what were the pity and astonishment that smote owasso to the heart when he espied his poor little brother -- poor little forsaken sheem -- half boy and half wolf , flying along the shore . owasso immediately leaped upon the ground and strove to catch him in his arms , saying soothingly , " my brother ! my brother ! come to me . " but the poor wolf - boy avoided his grasp , crying , as he fled , " neesia , neesia . since you left me going in the canoe , a - he - ee , i am half changed into a wolf , e - wee . i am half changed into a wolf , e - wee ! " and howling between these words of lament . the elder brother , sore at heart , and feeling all of his brotherly affection strongly returning , with renewed anguish , cried out , " my brother ! my brother ! my brother ! " but the nearer he approached to poor sheem , the faster he fled , and the more rapidly the change went on . the boy - wolf by turns singing and howling , and calling out the name , first of his brother and then of his sister , till the change was complete . he leaped upon a bank , and looking back , and casting upon owasso a glance of deep reproach and grief , he exclaimed , " i am a wolf ! " and disappeared in the woods . 
lived with wolves .
why was sheem half-boy and half-wolf ?
why was sheem half-boy and half-wolf ?