{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35909/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35909","id":"gutenberg_35909","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35909","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Indians of North America -- Folklore"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by K Nordquist, Sam W. and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                    INDIAN\n                LEGENDS RETOLD\n\n                      BY\n            ELAINE GOODALE EASTMAN\n\n             WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY\n                 GEORGE VARIAN\n\n\n                 [Decoration]\n\n\n                    BOSTON\n          LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY\n                     1919\n\n\n\n              _Copyright, 1919_,\n        By Little, Brown, and Company.\n\n             _All rights reserved_\n\n          Published, September, 1919\n\n\n                 Norwood Press\n          Set up and electrotyped by\n   J. S. Cushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.\n                 Presswork by\n  S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, Mass., U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n                   BOOKS BY\n            ELAINE GOODALE EASTMAN\n\n                  Yellow Star\n             Indian Legends Retold\n\n\n            _In Collaboration with_\n              CHARLES A. EASTMAN\n\n                Wigwam Evenings\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: THE CAPTIVE\n    The murdered dove instantly became a whole flock of hawks.\n    _Frontispiece. See page 18._]\n\n\n\n\nACKNOWLEDGMENT\n\n\nThe author wishes to thank the Bureau of American Ethnology,\nWashington, D.C., for kind permission to make use of certain of the\nstories contained in their collections.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nTHE SIGNIFICANCE OF INDIAN LEGENDS\n\n\nThe first Indian legends, repeated by the fireside to children, deal\nwith the animals humanized, their gifts and their weaknesses, in such\na way as to be a lesson to the young. Our view of the creation allows\na soul to all living creatures, and rocks and trees are reverenced as\nsharers in the divine. Beyond their simplicity and realism there is\nalways the unexplained, the background of mystery and spirituality.\n\nThese animal fables serve as an introduction to more complicated\nstories with human actors, which almost always have their hidden moral\nand are accepted by our people as guides to life. They are full of\nhumor and poetry, of pride, tenderness, boastfulness, and real\nheroism. Human lives are mingled with the supernatural, with elements\nand mysterious powers, bringing swift punishment for wrong-doing. This\nis the basis of our Indian philosophy, the groundwork early laid in\nthe mind of the child, for him to develop later in life by his own\nobservation.\n\nOne who reads these stories carefully and thoughtfully will understand\nsomething of Indian psychology. Mystery to the Indian is not mystery\nafter all, but a reflection of the Great Mystery which opens out as\nsimply as a flower. To us nothing is strange or impossible. It seems\nnatural that an animal or even a rock should speak; God is in it and\nspeaks through it.\n\nIt must be remembered that these are only fragments of what were once\nconsecutive and continued stories, too long and involved to be set\ndown here in full. With just such stories the foundation of my early\neducation was laid in the cold winter evenings, and the impression\nmade was permanent. The characters were real people to me, and the\ntales of the old men and old women fostered a love of nature,\nreverence, a kindly spirit, and finally patriotism and the inspiration\nto heroic effort. Like the other boys, I was expected to learn them by\nheart and rehearse them in the family circle. It is gratifying to have\nthese old stories saved for the children of another race and\ngeneration.\n\n                                   Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa).\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n\n    Introduction                                             vii\n\n    A Little Talk about Indians                                1\n\n    Pima Tales                                                11\n\n    Cherokee Tales                                            23\n\n    Choctaw Stories                                           51\n\n    Iroquois Tales                                            65\n\n    Tsimshian Tales                                           77\n\n    Alaskan Stories                                          137\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n    The murdered dove instantly became a whole\n      flock of hawks                              _Frontispiece_\n\n    One contrived to pull her son down but the\n      other six went up into the sky                     PAGE 44\n\n    He makes it choose one of three gifts                 \"   55\n\n    He rudely pushed her backward until she\n      fell down                                           \"   83\n\n    He discovered the woman in a small pool               \"  111\n\n    He took him to a tall stump in the very\n      middle of the lake and there he left him            \"  144\n\n\n\n\nINDIAN LEGENDS RETOLD\n\n\n\n\nA LITTLE TALK ABOUT INDIANS\n\n\nMany of us think of the American Indians as all one people. We talk of\n\"the Indian language.\" There are more than fifty distinct Indian\nlanguages.\n\nThere are many other important differences between the various tribes.\nThe nature of the country, the kinds of game and other foods, the\nclimate, winds, trees, all have their effect in molding the daily\nlives of the people. Their habits and customs are reflected in their\nlegends and popular tales as in a looking-glass.\n\nThe mountains, plains, and seashore are the great natural features of\nour country, and corresponding to these we have coast tribes, prairie\ntribes, and forest-dwellers or mountaineers among the natives. If you\ntry, you will soon be able to tell from reading a story what part of\nthe country it came from. It is an interesting study to read and\ncompare the legends of different tribes.\n\nThe Cherokees lived originally in the South Atlantic States and some\nfew still have their homes in the mountains of North Carolina, but the\ngreater part of the tribe was forcibly removed many years ago to the\nold Indian Territory. There they developed a civilized government,\nestablished schools and colleges, and are now well educated and\nintermixed with white people. The stories repeated here were gathered\nfrom the eastern or parent branch. Their shrewdness and quick wit is\nvery noticeable. Sequoyah, whose impressive statue stands in bronze\nin the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington, was the famous Cherokee\nwho invented an alphabet.\n\nThe Choctaws formerly lived in Mississippi and Louisiana but are now\none of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma (once Indian Territory).\n\nThe Tsimshians are Indians of the North Pacific coast and in the old\ndays lived mainly by fishing. They also hunted deer, bears, and other\nanimals. Their houses and boats were made chiefly of cedar wood, and\nthey also wove the bark of the cedar into baskets, ropes, mats, and\neven clothing. The salmon and the cedar were to them what the buffalo\nwas to the Indians of the Great Plains, so you will not be surprised\nby the many references to them both in these stories. There is a\nstrong likeness between their customs and those of the Alaskan tribes.\n\nThe home of the brave and manly Iroquois was in the valley of the St.\nLawrence, the basins of Lakes Erie and Ontario, and most of what is\nnow the State of New York. They were an exceptionally gifted people,\nwise in state-craft and active in warfare. They believed in the\nmanlike form and magic power of the creatures and elements.\n\nThe Pimas are a gentle, peaceable, brown-skinned people, living in\nArizona, making fine pottery, weaving beautiful mats and baskets, and\nraising corn. Like the other desert tribes, their songs and stories\nhave much to do with the rain clouds, upon which their crops depend.\nThey formerly stood in great fear of the warlike Apaches, who often\nattacked them and carried off women and children captive.\n\nI suppose you all know that these legends were not written down at all\nuntil white people or educated Indians put them into books. They were\nmade up by unknown story-tellers, far back in the past, and repeated\nby old men and women for the amusement and instruction of the young\nfolks. Thus they were handed down, with some changes or additions,\nfrom one generation to another.\n\nIndians had good memories. There were no libraries or museums or\nuniversities. All their wisdom and their traditions were stored up in\nthe heads of the people, and a thing once forgotten was lost forever.\nThey had not even a notebook or memorandum to help out a poor memory.\n\nIt is not so simple to invent a short tale that is witty and\ningenious, with as much point and meaning as have most of these we are\ngiving you, as you will soon find out if you try to make up some\nfables or fairy tales of your own. To remember and tell over such a\nstory in a clear and effective way, without missing any of its\nlogical or dramatic quality--even this is no very easy matter. The\nhearing and repeating of the legends took in large part the place of\nboth school and story-books to the Indian boy or girl, and it is good\npractice for any of us.\n\nIt seems likely that every tribe has in its folklore a mischievous\ncharacter with supernatural powers, who is at the same time a butt for\njokes and a successful wonder-worker. He is boastful and resourceful,\nalways trying to outwit other people, and in his turn is often\noutwitted. Among the Sioux this character is known as Unktomee, the\nSpider; the Tsimshians call him the Raven; the Cherokees the Rabbit.\n\nBesides this clown, as it were, whose tricks and troubles are endless,\nevery animal has its personal or human side, sometimes one that is\nobvious, and again it may be decidedly puzzling. The Turtle, for\ninstance, is depicted as a famous warrior (we hardly see why) and the\nPorcupine as a wise man, which we should scarcely have expected. On\nthe other hand, it seems quite natural to find the Grizzly Bear the\nchief among animals, and the Eagle the leader among birds.\n\nIndian legends are broadly classed as \"myths\" and \"folk tales.\" The\nfirst tell in a fanciful way how the world was made, how winter,\nsummer, fire, tides, and many other familiar things or conditions came\ninto being. They go back to a time which all Indians believed in, when\nthe animals were real people and could talk as we do. They could do\nmany wonderful things besides that we cannot do. The Winds, Cold, the\nStars, and so on are personified; that is, they are described and act\nas persons, and there are also giants, witches, water sprites and\nfairy people who change their nature at will.\n\nIn many of the folk tales, which come nearer being a record of actual\nor possible happenings, the lovable and domestic qualities of Indians\nare brought out very clearly. Notice the loving brothers and the\naffectionate husband in \"The Woman Who Became a Beaver\" and \"The\nWooden Wife.\" The duty of hospitality is taught in the story of\n\"Grizzly Bear and the Four Chiefs\", kindness to animals in \"The Feast\nof the Mountain Goats\", patience with children in \"The Naughty\nGrandchildren\" and \"The Stars and the Pine.\" In every instance the\nright-doer is rewarded, the selfish man and the trickster are\npunished. I hope that you will enjoy these stories as much as I have\ndone, and that they may help you to know and like better the first\nAmericans.\n\n\n\n\nPIMA TALES\n\n\nCHILDREN OF THE CLOUD\n\nThere was sorrow on the Casa Grande (the Great Pueblo), for the\nprettiest woman in the village would accept no man for her husband.\nHer suitors were many and impatient, but her black glossy locks were\nstill wound above her ears in the manner of virgins, and she steadily\nrefused to allow them to hang down in the matron's coils.\n\nOne day a great Cloud came out of the east, looked down upon the\nmaiden and wished to marry her, for she was very beautiful. A second\ntime and a third he floated silently overhead, and at last he found\nher tired out with work and lying asleep at her mat-weaving. He let\nfall a single drop of rain upon her, and by and by twin boys were\nborn.\n\nNow when the boys were about ten years old, they began to notice that\nother boys had fathers whom they welcomed home from war and the chase.\n\"Mother,\" said they, \"who shall we call our father?\"\n\n\"In the morning look to the east,\" their mother answered, \"and you\nwill see a stately white cloud towering heavenward. That cloud is your\nfather.\"\n\nThen they begged to go visit their father, and she refused, for she\nwas afraid; but when the boys grew large and strong she could no\nlonger keep them, since they were determined to go. She told them to\njourney four full days to the eastward and not to stop once on the\nway.\n\nHer sons followed her instructions, and in four days they came to the\nhouse of the Wind. \"Are you our father?\" asked they.\n\n\"No,\" replied Wind, \"I am your uncle. Your father lives in the next\nhouse; go and find him.\"\n\nThey did so, but Cloud sent them back to Wind, telling them that he\nwas really the one whom they sought. Again Wind sent them to Cloud.\nFour times they went back and forth, and the fourth time Cloud saw\nthat they were persistent and he said to them: \"You say that you are\nmy sons. Prove it!\"\n\nInstantly the younger son sent forked lightning leaping across the\nheavens, while the elder caused the heat lightning to flash in the\ndistance. The skies opened and rain came down in torrents, enough to\ndrown a mere mortal, but the boys only laughed at the roar and rush of\nthe tempest. Then Cloud saw that they were in truth his children, and\nhe took them to his house.\n\nAfter they had been there a long time, they began to miss their mother\nsorely, and finally they wished to return to earth. Their father gave\neach a magic bow and arrows, strictly charging them to avoid any whom\nthey might meet on the homeward path.\n\nFirst the Eagle on mighty wing swooped toward them, and they turned\naside. Then came the Hawk, and afterward the Raven, but the boys\nmanaged to elude all of these. Last the Coyote sought to intercept\nthem, and whichever way they turned, he was always before them. So\nthey stepped out of the road and stood one on either side to allow him\nto pass. But when Coyote came opposite to them, each was changed into\na plant of the mescal, the sacred agave, which is both food and drink\nto the Indian.\n\n\nTHE CAPTIVE\n\nThere was once a little boy who was brought up by his grandmother.\nWhile he was yet very young, his mother had been taken captive by the\nwarlike Apaches. He thought about her a great deal, for he had heard\nthat they treat their prisoners cruelly.\n\nOne day he made up his mind to run away and find her. The way was long\nand hard, but at last he descried the enemy's camp upon the plain, and\nwhen he came nearer, he could see a woman standing, looking toward the\nmesa and her old home. He knew her at once by the white scars which\ncovered her arms, showing where she had been tortured with fire. The\nchild turned himself into a dove and flew straight to his mother, who\ntook him in her hands, and recognized him as her son.\n\nShe caressed and fondled him, but told him that he must fly home\nagain before the Apache chief returned, as it would not be safe for\nhim to stay. While they were talking together, the chief entered\nsuddenly.\n\n\"What do you mean by whispering to that dove?\" he demanded fiercely.\n\"There is sorcery here.\" And he took the bird in his powerful hands\nand squeezed it so that the delicate flesh and bones oozed out between\nhis fingers.\n\nThe woman screamed, and the murdered dove instantly became a whole\nflock of hawks, which beat the chief down with their wings and pecked\nout his eyes. While they attacked him, the captive escaped, and\nreturned to her own people.\n\n\nTHE NAUGHTY GRANDCHILDREN\n\nAn old woman had set her pot on the fire with the soup for dinner, and\nas her two grandchildren were playing near, she cautioned them not to\nupset the pot. The boy and girl were in a frolicsome mood, chasing one\nanother with shouts of laughter; and as they ran they heedlessly\nstruck against the pot, which rolled over and broke in pieces,\nspilling the rich broth into the ashes.\n\nNow when their grandmother saw the mischief they had done in spite of\nher warning, she caught and whipped them both. Thereupon the children\ndetermined to run away.\n\nAs soon as she missed them, the old woman followed the runaways out\ninto the desert, calling loudly upon them to come back, for she had\nonly punished them for their own good and loved them both dearly.\nHowever, run as fast as she might, she could never come up with them.\nThe two children were never seen again; but it is said that they were\nturned into two giant cacti and still stand side by side upon the\nplain.\n\n\nBLUEBIRD AND COYOTE\n\nIn the old days the animals wore no such fine clothing as now, and the\nbluebird was of an ugly dun color, which made him very unhappy. One\nfine morning he came to a lake shining like turquoise, and something\ntold him to bathe in the water.\n\nLightly he skimmed above the waves and dipped his wings four times,\nsinging as he did so:\n\n    \"Here is blue water--\n    I go in--\n    I am all blue!\"\n\nThe fourth time that he sang the verse and shook the water from his\nfeathers, they really became bright blue!\n\nJust then Coyote appeared, in time to see the transformation. \"If you\ncan make yourself beautiful by bathing in the lake, I can do as\nmuch,\" said he, and accordingly he took the plunge. Coyote could not\nswim, and he choked and strangled and was almost drowned. When at last\nhe contrived to get upon dry land, he was shivering with cold. He\nrolled and rolled in the warm sand, which stuck to his fur, and he\nbecame dirt color, just as you see him now.\n\n\n\n\nCHEROKEE TALES\n\n\nTHE FIRST FIRE\n\nIn the old days there was no fire on earth, and the world was a cold\nand a dreary place, especially at night and in the winter. Think what\nit would be if we had no hearth at which to warm ourselves, no coals\nto broil our venison!\n\nOne night, in the midst of a thunderstorm, the lightning struck a\ngreat hollow sycamore, and it began to burn. When the people saw it,\nthey all wanted to get some fire, but the tree stood in a swamp where\nthere was no firm ground for them to walk on. Many tried and were\nstuck fast in the bog.\n\nThe Raven easily flew across and got so close to the blaze that his\nfeathers were burnt black, and black they have been to this day, but\nhe brought back no fire. Then the Screech Owl tried, and he flew to\nthe top of the burning tree from which he looked down on the hot\ncoals, and got the red eyes that he has had ever since. The large\nHooting Owl followed his brother, and the smoke gave him those white\nrings around his eyes that you have all noticed. The Black Snake said\nhe would try, and he wriggled into a small hole at the foot of the\ntree, but he was immediately burnt black, and was scorched so badly\ninto the bargain that he has done nothing but twist and squirm to this\nday. Not one of them brought back any fire.\n\nAt last the little Water Spider wove a silken basket which he placed\non his back, and then he spun a fine silken thread for a bridge and\nran across on it. He reached the tree safely, put a tiny live coal in\nthe basket, and brought it back to the waiting tribes of earth.\n\n\nICE MAN PUTS OUT THE FIRE\n\nOnce upon a time there was a forest fire, and the fire went deep down\nto the roots of a poplar tree, and there it smoldered for a long time.\nThe people tried to put it out, but they could do nothing. By and by\nthey grew frightened, fearing lest it might burn down to the middle of\nthe earth, or spread over all the world. So they sent a messenger to\nthe far north, to beg the Ice Man to help them.\n\nNow the Ice Man is a little fellow, with two heavy braids of black\nhair hanging over his shoulders. After he had heard all about the\nfire, he nodded, and loosening one braid he breathed upon the strands.\nInstantly the wind began to blow. He shook out the hair again, and it\nbegan to rain. When he undid the other braid, it hailed violently,\nand the fourth time he blew upon his hair, the storm became so\nterrific that the messenger hastened homeward.\n\nWhen he got home, he saw the fire at the roots of the poplar was still\nburning, and the pit looked deeper and wider than ever. Many people\nwere standing sadly about it, and as they stood there the wind began\nto blow. Soon a cold rain fell hissing on the hot coals. Then large\nhailstones were mixed with the rain, and before long the tempest grew\nso fierce that they were forced to run for shelter. When it stopped at\nlast, they came out again to look, and the pit of fire was nothing but\nblack coals covered with lumps of ice.\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF SICKNESS AND MEDICINE\n\nThere was a time when man and the animal people were friends, and\ntalked the same language, and even intermarried with one another.\nLater on, the human race declared war upon the animals and began to\nkill them in great numbers, using their flesh for food and their skins\nfor clothing, so that there was great fear and anger among them. At\nlast the old White Bear chief called all the Bears in council to\ndecide what should be done.\n\nAfter much talk, it was agreed to make bows and arrows of their own\nwith which to defend themselves, and one of the Bears sacrificed his\nlife to furnish sinew for the bowstring. When all was ready, and the\nBear chief undertook to try the new weapon, his long claws caught on\nthe string so that he could not handle it. Some one then proposed that\nthey all cut their claws, and they were on the point of doing this\nwhen the thought occurred to another that they would be unable to\nclimb trees or seize their prey if they had no claws, and would be in\ndanger of starving to death. In the end, the meeting broke up without\ncoming to any decision, and Bears were hunted just the same as ever.\n\nThe White Deer next called all the Deer together, and they decided to\npunish with rheumatic pains every hunter who should kill one of their\nnumber without asking pardon for the offense. Ever since that time,\nthe hunters have been very careful to beg the Deer's pardon whenever\nit becomes necessary to shoot one, although now and then some one\ntries to avoid the penalty by building fires on his trail.\n\nThe other animals followed the Deer's example, and each made haste to\ninvent a disease with which to torment the human race. The Fish and\nthe Snakes threatened him with bad dreams, and the little Grub, who\nwas tired of being trodden upon, heard them with such joy that he fell\nover backward and has never stood on his feet since. Only the Ground\nSquirrel said modestly that as man had never done him any harm he had\nno wish for revenge, whereupon the others were so angry that they\nscratched him severely, and he bears the marks on his back to this\nday.\n\nHowever, they reckoned without the plants, which were friendly to man,\nand promptly devised a remedy for each disease. We should be grateful\nto them whenever we are made to suffer by the revengeful spirit of the\nanimals, for in the kindly vegetable world we can find a cure for\nevery ill.\n\n\nTHE FIRST STRAWBERRY\n\nIt is told that the first man and woman quarreled, and the woman left\nher husband. He followed her sorrowfully, but she never once looked\nback. At last the Sun took pity on the man.\n\n\"Do you still love her?\" asked the Sun, and the man said he did, and\nprayed to the Sun to help him win her back again.\n\nThen the Sun caused all manner of delicious fruits to spring up in her\npath. The woman saw luscious purple huckleberries, but she went right\non over them. A service tree laden with sweet red fruit stood in front\nof her, and she passed it by. Finally she came upon a patch of scarlet\nstrawberries, the first that ever grew, and these she could not\nresist.\n\nShe stooped to taste one, and at once the thought of her husband came\ninto her mind. All the sweetness of their love enfolded her, and she\nstood quite still in the strawberry patch until he came up with her,\nand embraced her, and they went back together.\n\n\nHOW THE TERRAPIN BEAT THE RABBIT\n\nThe Terrapin once challenged the Rabbit to a race, which the latter\nregarded as a joke.\n\n\"The Terrapin is doubtless a wit,\" said he, \"and a great warrior as\nwell, but every one knows that he cannot run. I shall give him a big\nhandicap, and even then I cannot help beating him.\"\n\nThe course lay over four ridges, and the Rabbit told the Terrapin to\ngo ahead to the top of the first ridge, so that when the signal to\nstart was given he was already out of sight.\n\nWhen the Rabbit reached the top of the first ridge, he was surprised\nto catch a glimpse of the Terrapin almost at the top of the second. He\nran faster, and as his rival was soon hidden in the long grass, he saw\nnothing more of him till he was mounting the second ridge, and there\nwas the Terrapin already passing the third. When the Rabbit with great\nleaps ascended the third ridge, behold! the Terrapin was about to\ncross the fourth, and the next minute he had won the race.\n\nThis is the way it was done. The Terrapin had several friends who\nlooked exactly like himself, so he stationed one of them at the top of\neach of the first three ridges, with orders to hide in the long grass\nas soon as the Rabbit came near. He himself stayed at the fourth rise\nuntil his competitor came in sight, when he crept over it and so came\nout ahead.\n\n\nHOW THE TURKEY GOT HIS BEARD\n\nNow the animals all suspected some trick in this case, and the Turkey\nin particular was heard to say that he would contrive to get even.\n\nSoon afterward he saw the Terrapin coming back from war, creeping\nalong with a fresh scalp hung about his short neck and trailing on the\nground.\n\n\"How, my friend!\" he exclaimed, \"you do not wear your scalp right;\nonly let me show you.\"\n\nThe Terrapin let the Turkey take the scalp and hang it about his own\nneck, while he strutted proudly to and fro.\n\n\"Does it not look well?\" the Turkey asked.\n\n\"Well enough,\" the other admitted, \"but you may give it back to me\nnow.\"\n\n\"First let me show you another way to wear it,\" cried the Turkey, and\nhe adjusted the scalp and flew with it into a tree where the other\ncould not follow. Thus he boasts the stolen ornament to this day.\n\n\nHOW THE DEER GOT HIS HORNS\n\nPerhaps you never heard that there was once a time when the Deer's\nhead was as smooth as that of the doe, and as he and the Rabbit were\nboth great jumpers and proud of their ability, a match was arranged,\nthe winner to receive a fine pair of antlers as a prize. They were to\nstart at one side of a dense thicket, and the first one to make his\nway through to the further side and back again would be judged the\nwinner.\n\nNow the Rabbit said that he had never before been in that part of the\ncountry, and he asked permission to look about a little, which was\nagreed to. However, he was gone so long that they suspected he might\nbe up to one of his tricks, so one of the judges followed him quietly.\nThere he was, busily gnawing off branches and making a road through\nthe underbrush!\n\nWhen he finally came out, he was told that on account of his\ndishonesty the horns would be given to the Deer, and furthermore,\nsince he was so fond of gnawing at bushes, he might continue to do so\nfor the rest of his life.\n\n\nWHY THE DEER'S TEETH ARE BLUNT\n\nAlthough it was not the Deer's fault that the Rabbit lost the prize,\nthe Rabbit was greatly provoked and laid his plans to get even.\nCutting a stout grapevine almost in two with his teeth, he laid it\nacross the Deer's path and began leaping back and forth, snapping at\nthe vine.\n\n\"What are you doing that for?\" asked the Deer, when he caught him at\nthis game.\n\n\"Only look! I can bite this tough vine in two with one snap of my\nsharp teeth,\" replied the Rabbit.\n\n\"Let me see you do it,\" the Deer suggested.\n\nSo the Rabbit sprang at the vine and bit it in two, where it was\nalready almost cut through. \"You cannot do anything like that,\" he\ndeclared proudly.\n\n\"If you can do it, I am sure I can,\" the Deer insisted, and the Rabbit\nmade haste to drag forward a heavy vine. The Deer leaped at it and\ntried to bite it as the other had done, but caught his heels and fell\nheadlong. Again and again he tried without success.\n\n\"My friend,\" put in the Rabbit, who had been looking on and pretending\nto sympathize, \"how can you expect to bite anything in two with such\nblunt teeth as you have? Just let me file them for you a bit, and they\nwill soon be as sharp as mine.\"\n\nThe Deer was hot and embarrassed and very foolishly gave his consent.\nThereupon the sly Rabbit got a rough stone and filed off the Deer's\nteeth almost down to the gums, so that he could not bite off anything\nat all.\n\n\nWHY THE POSSUM'S TAIL IS BARE\n\nA long time ago, the Possum had a fine bushy tail of which he was very\nproud, so much so that he would even sing of it at the dance. As the\nRabbit's tail is short and stubby, he had no patience with such absurd\nvanity, and at last he thought of a way to put a stop to it.\n\nThere was to be a large council and dance to which all the animals\nwere invited, and Rabbit stopped in on his way home to inquire whether\nPossum was going.\n\n\"I shall not attend unless I can be assured of a good seat,\" declared\nPossum with much dignity, \"for I think my tail entitles me to so much,\nat least.\"\n\n\"Certainly, I will arrange that,\" replied Rabbit, with a great show of\ndeference, \"and I shall be glad if you will allow me to send a barber\nto comb and dress your beautiful tail so that it may appear to the\nbest advantage.\"\n\nOn these conditions Possum agreed to attend the dance, and the\nCricket, who was an expert barber, was sent to him with private\ninstructions. As fast as he combed and brushed the tail, he wrapped it\naround with red string to keep it smooth, and no sooner had he\nfinished his work than Possum hurried away in good spirits.\n\nHe found the council house crowded, but all made room for him at once,\nand when his turn came he quickly unwrapped his long tail and took the\ncenter of the floor, waving it proudly as he danced. He was greatly\nsurprised to be greeted with loud peals of laughter. He ventured to\nspeak of his tail in the accompanying song, and the people laughed\nlouder than ever. At last, looking down, he discovered that the\nCricket, according to the secret orders he had received, had shaved\nthat splendid tail to the very roots, and it has remained entirely\nbare ever since.\n\nIn his great mortification, Possum rolled over on his back helpless,\nand this he still does whenever he is taken by surprise.\n\n\nTHE OWL GETS MARRIED\n\nThere was once a woman who had a marriageable daughter. Many men came\nwooing, but the mother told the girl never to accept any but a skilled\nhunter, who would keep the lodge well supplied with meat.\n\nOne evening the Owl called, in the shape of a handsome young man, and\nasked the girl to be his wife.\n\n\"Are you a good hunter?\" she asked.\n\nHe said that he was, and upon this she agreed to marry him.\n\nOn the day after the wedding, the bridegroom went forth to hunt, and\nat night he returned with nothing but some scraps that the hunters had\nthrown away. He excused himself by saying that he had had bad luck,\nand the next morning he declared that he would try fishing instead.\n\nWhen at evening he brought home only a worthless minnow or two, the\nold lady advised her daughter to follow him quietly the next time and\nsee what he did. She did so and was horrified to see her husband turn\ninto a great Owl and fly to the top of a dead tree, where he sat\nwatching for some small fish that might be dropped by a Hawk or an\nEagle.\n\nShe went home in disgust, and presently he returned with a story of an\nOwl which had driven away his game.\n\n\"I think you are the Owl,\" declared the young woman, and she turned\nhim out of doors.\n\nThe poor Owl went off by himself and pined away till he lost all his\nflesh, and is now nothing more than a big head and a bundle of\nfeathers.\n\n\nTHE STARS AND THE PINE\n\nOnce there were seven little boys who spent most of their time down at\nthe town house, playing a game with wheel-shaped stones and a curved\nstick like a hockey-stick. Their mothers thought they played too much,\nand one day, when they were boiling the corn for dinner, they put some\nround stones in the pot and served these to the little boys instead of\ncorn.\n\nThis made the boys angry, and instead of staying at home they went\nright back to the town house and began to dance. Round and round they\nwent, faster and faster, until their feet came quite off the ground,\nand they were dancing on air. When their mothers came to look for\nthem, they were already out of reach.\n\nThe mothers screamed, and one caught up a game stick and contrived to\npull her son down, but the other six went straight up into the sky;\nand there they are now, as the six bright stars named Pleiades, which\nthe Cherokees call \"The Boys.\"\n\nAs for the seventh little boy, he struck the ground with such force\nthat he sank in and was seen no more. His wretched mother watered the\nspot every day with her tears, and after a long time there sprang up a\nslender shoot of green which grew into a pine tree. This was the very\nfirst pine. Perhaps you did not know that the Pine has a heart of\nflame and is a brother to the Stars.\n\n  [Illustration: THE STARS AND THE PINE\n    One contrived to pull her son down, but the other six went up\n      into the sky.\n    _Page 44._]\n\n\nTHE MAN WHO MARRIED THE THUNDER'S SISTER\n\nA certain young man went to a dance one evening and met there two\nstrange young women, both of whom had the longest and handsomest hair\nhe had ever seen. He looked at them a great deal from a distance and\nfinally spoke to them, and before the dance broke up he had asked the\nyounger and prettier of the two sisters to be his wife.\n\nIn reply she told him to fast for seven days and she would meet him\nagain at the same place.\n\nThe young man was so deeply in love that he gladly accepted the hard\ncondition, and after going without any food for the prescribed time,\nhe went to another dance. There he met again the two sisters with the\nbeautiful long hair. When it was time to leave, the younger one said\nthat he might follow her, but she warned him that if he ever told\nwhere he went or what he saw, he would surely die.\n\nThey all went along a footpath until they came to a small brook, when\nthe two girls stepped quietly into the water and continued on their\nway. The young man hesitated at first, but when his sweetheart turned\nher head and beckoned he stepped boldly in, and it was as if he were\nwalking in deep, soft grass.\n\nPresently the brook ran into a wide and deep river, and now he stopped\nshort, for he was afraid of being drowned.\n\n\"Oh,\" said the girl, \"that is only the road to our home!\" So in he\nplunged, and he did not seem to be in the water at all but in the long\nmeadow grass.\n\nThe girls led him to a cave under a great rock and offered him a seat,\nbut when he looked at the seat he saw that it was an immense live\nturtle. He said then that he would rather stand. But what surprised\nhim most was to see both young women take off their lovely hair and\nhang it up beside the doorway, leaving their heads quite bare.\n\nSoon there came a loud clap of thunder, and directly after a flash of\nlightning that disclosed a tall man entering the cave. This was the\nbrother of the girls, and his name was Thunder. He invited the youth\nto ride with him and offered him a horse which turned out to be a\nlarge water snake. The young man refused the invitation, for he had\nbecome a good deal frightened and decided that he would rather go\nhome.\n\nThere came another frightful peal and a dazzling flash, and the next\nthing he knew he was lying on the river bank with his feet in the\nwater. He reached his home safely, but he could not resist telling his\nfriends about his wonderful experience; therefore within three days\nhe died, for no one may tell of a visit to the underworld and live.\n\n\nTHE ENCHANTED LAKE\n\nIn the depths of the Great Smoky Mountains there lies a hidden lake\nwhich no human eye has ever seen. The hunters know where it must be,\nfor sometimes one has come near enough to scent its freshness, and to\nhear the rustle of thousands of wings as the ducks rise in great\nclouds from its cool, green depths. Yet when he approaches, he\nperceives only a dry hollow in the heart of the woods.\n\nAll the creatures know this lake; it is their City of Refuge; mortal\neye cannot find them there, and when one of them is wounded, he has\nonly to plunge into its mysterious waters, and he comes out whole.\n\n\nTHE BEAR MAN\n\nA hunter once trailed a bear and shot many arrows into its body, but\nto his surprise they seemed to make no impression. Finally the bear\nstopped, pulled out the arrows, and turning to the man, he handed them\nback to him, saying pleasantly:\n\n\"You see it is no use--you can't kill me. Better give it up and come\nhome with me instead!\"\n\nThe hunter was curious and followed the bear to his den, where he\nslept all winter, gradually growing thick black hair over his whole\nbody. When spring came, he was wakened by the shouts of his friends as\nthey surrounded the den.\n\nNot knowing what else to do, he went forth to meet them, looking like\na bear, but walking upright like a man. He spoke to them, and they\nknew his voice and spared his life.\n\n\"You have done wrong,\" said they, \"and we cannot allow you to remain\nhere. Come back with us--your poor wife mourns for you as for one\ndead!\"\n\n\"I wish for nothing but to come back,\" the Bear Man declared. \"Tell\nher, however, that for seven days I must neither eat nor speak. That\nwill break the charm, and I shall be once more a man! Otherwise I must\ndie.\"\n\nAccordingly he betook himself to a solitary teepee on the outskirts of\nthe village, and there continued his fast. His wife was told that he\nstill lived, and was overcome with joy. Five days she waited for him\nto come to her, and at the end of the fifth day she could wait no\nlonger. She went to him, threw herself into his arms, and compelled\nhim to answer her questions, thus causing his death.\n\n\n\n\nCHOCTAW STORIES\n\n\nWHY POSSUM HAS A LARGE MOUTH\n\nThere had been a long dry season, and the Deer had grown very thin.\nMeeting Possum one day, he could not help noticing how well-fed and\ncontented the other appeared.\n\n\"How is it that you are so fat in a time of drouth and famine?\"\ninquired the Deer, whose skin hung loosely upon a rack of bones.\n\n\"It is simple enough,\" replied the Possum. \"I live upon persimmons.\"\n\n\"But how do you reach them?\" persisted the Deer. \"It seems to me they\nhang very high.\"\n\n\"Oh, that is easy,\" declared Possum, who is fond of a joke. \"I go to\nthe top of yonder hill, run down very fast and hit the tree with my\nhead just as hard as I can. That shakes off the fruit. Then I have\nonly to sit on the ground and eat and eat till I can eat no more.\"\n\n\"It sounds easy, to be sure,\" agreed the Deer, who was hungry enough\nto try anything. He went to the very top of the hill, rushed down\nviolently, and struck the tree with such force that he was killed\ninstantly. At this the wicked Possum laughed so hard that it stretched\nhis mouth, which has remained wide to this day.\n\n\nTHE GOOD LITTLE SPIRIT\n\nPerhaps you have wondered why some men are wise and do good, while\nothers in their ignorance do nothing but harm. If so, I will tell you\na secret.\n\nIn a cave not far from the homes of men there dwells a good little\nspirit. He is very old, his hair is long and white, and he is about\nas tall as a child three years old.\n\nNow every child, when it reaches the age of three or four, sometimes\nwanders away out of sight of home, and the spirit is constantly on the\nwatch for this to happen. He comes out of hiding, takes the little one\nby the hand and leads it away to his cave. There he makes it choose\none of three gifts: a knife, a bunch of poisonous flowers, and a\nhandful of healing herbs.\n\nIf the child takes the knife, he will do only harm all his days. If he\nis misled by the beauty of the poisonous blossoms, he will never be\nwise; but if he takes the good medicine, he will be a wise man and a\nhealer, who will bless and help his people.\n\n  [Illustration: THE GOOD LITTLE SPIRIT\n    He makes it choose one of three gifts.\n    _Page 55._]\n\n\nFOLLOWERS OF THE SUN\n\nThere were once four brothers, who as soon as they noticed that the\nsun rose in one quarter and set in another, made up their minds to\nfollow on to the place of his setting. They were very young when they\nset out toward the west, and as the years passed they grew to be tall\nyouths, then strong men in their prime, yet they could never overtake\nthe Sun.\n\nOld age had begun to creep upon the travelers when at last they\nreached the shores of the Everywhere Salt Water (the ocean). Behind\nits shining rim the golden ball descended, and they were given power\nto follow, and where sky and water met to reach their journey's end.\n\n\"Why are you here who have not yet died?\" asked the Sun.\n\n\"We have done nothing but follow you all our lives,\" replied the\nbrothers.\n\n\"Only the dead come here,\" the Sun insisted. \"You will have to go\nback.\"\n\nHe sent them each home on the wings of a buzzard, and thus returned\nto their amazed people four feeble old men, who had been where no\nmortal ever went before. When they had told all their strange story,\nthey lay down and died, and so returned to the glories of heaven,\nwhich they alone of all men had seen before their time.\n\n\nTHE HUNTER WHO BECAME A DEER\n\nA hunter who had traveled all day without finding any game shot a doe\nnear sunset, and as he was very tired, he lay down near the body and\nwent to sleep.\n\nIn the morning, when he awoke, he perceived the doe looking at him\nlovingly out of large, soft eyes. As he returned her gaze, she\nastonished him yet more by speaking.\n\n\"Will you come home with me?\" she pleaded.\n\nThe young man hesitated, but there was something strangely appealing\nabout this beautiful woman, as she now seemed to him to become. Almost\nwithout knowing what he did, he arose and followed her.\n\nBy and by, they came to a great cave under the mountain, where it\nseemed that all the Deer lived with their chief, an immense buck with\npowerful antlers. The hunter was hospitably received; but all along\nthe sides of the cave he noticed piles of deer hides, with hoofs and\nhorns. This puzzled him not a little; nevertheless he ate with them,\nlay down among them, and presently slept.\n\nNow while the young man slept, the Deer tried skin after skin till\nthey found one which fitted him, and they also fitted a pair of\nantlers to his head and hoofs to his hands and feet. In the morning,\nhe opened his eyes and perceived that he also was a Deer, and he\nremained with the herd.\n\nIn the meantime, his mother and his relatives continued to search for\nhim throughout the forest. After some weeks, they discovered the lost\none's bow and arrows, hanging on the branch of the tree under which he\nhad slept after shooting the doe. They all gathered on the spot and\nbegan to sing songs of magic.\n\nSoon a herd of deer appeared in the distance, coming nearer and nearer\nas they were drawn by the singing. At last one spoke, and immediately\nthey knew his voice for that of the missing hunter. His mother cried\nbitterly, and insisted that they should take off the deer's hide from\nher son and restore him to his own shape again.\n\n\"We dare not,\" protested his brothers and his cousins. \"It might\nendanger his life!\"\n\n\"Even so,\" she replied, weeping, \"I had rather see my son dead than\nwearing the form of a beast!\"\n\nWhen they began to tear off the deer's hide, behold! it had grown fast\nto his own skin, and he began to bleed.\n\n\"Go on! go on!\" exclaimed the mother in agony, and they persisted\nuntil the man died. Then at last they carried home his body and gave\nit honorable burial.\n\n\nPRETTY WOMAN\n\nOnce in time of famine there were two children deserted by their\nparents, because they could not find food enough for all. The boy and\ngirl were perishing of hunger when they were discovered wandering in\nthe wood by Old Crow Woman. The kind old body took them to her poor\nteepee and went out to search for something to eat.\n\nWhile she was gone, the girl, who was very clever, picked four grains\nof corn out of the dust and tossed them into the air. In this way each\ngrain became a fine full ear, which they roasted and ate. She then\nthrew up the small skin tent, and it came down large and beautiful.\nShe took her little brother in her arms and threw him up, and he was a\ntall youth. Finally she said to him: \"Brother, throw me up, too!\" and\nhe did as she asked.\n\nThe half-starved little girl came down again a remarkably pretty\nwoman, and when Old Crow returned with a few grains of corn in her\nbeak, she was astonished to find so beautiful a girl sitting and\nmaking moccasins before the largest and handsomest lodge she had ever\nseen.\n\nWhen the Mole poked his long nose through the earth to look at Pretty\nWoman, she ordered him back, saying, \"I am not the light.\"\n\nThree times the Hummingbird circled round her head with buzzing wings,\nbut she drove him away. \"I am not a flower,\" said she. He went home\nand told all the people that he had seen the most beautiful woman in\nthe world, and the woods were soon full of suitors.\n\nSince Old Crow Woman was the girl's chaperon, they all appealed to\nher. One said: \"I will lay down the richest of bear skins for her to\nwalk on, all the way to my village.\"\n\n\"That will never do,\" replied the old woman. \"She might slip on the\nskins and hurt herself.\"\n\nThe second lover offered to lay down a line of mortars all the way.\n\"You must not do that,\" said Old Crow. \"The mortars might roll and\ntrip her up.\"\n\nThe third man declared: \"My people shall lie down on the ground, and\nshe may tread upon them as she comes to me a bride!\"\n\nTo this the old woman made no objection, and Pretty Woman walked all\nthe way to her future home upon the bodies of the people.\n\n\nTHE CRANE AND THE HUMMINGBIRD\n\nOnce there was a beautiful girl who had many suitors, and among the\nmost persistent were the Crane and the Hummingbird. She rather fancied\nthe latter, since the Crane was a long-legged, awkward fellow, not at\nall to her taste. In order to rid herself of his pretensions once and\nfor all, she told them that they might fly round the world, and the\nfirst one to return should be her husband. As the Hummingbird is very\nswift, she had no doubt of the result.\n\nAt the end of the first day, he had indeed a long start. Well\npleased, he tucked his head under his wing and went to sleep. About\nmidnight, the Crane overtook him and flew on. The Hummingbird passed\nhim at breakfast time and again secured a long lead. But in the night\ntime, while he slept, the unwearied Crane flew on, each night\novertaking him earlier, till he had gained a whole day and won the\nrace.\n\nAfter all, he did not win a wife, for the maiden was so much chagrined\nby the failure of her plan that she has stayed single to this day.\n\n\n\n\nIROQUOIS TALES\n\n\nTHE THUNDERERS\n\nThere were once three comrades who went upon the warpath, and when\nthey were a long way from home, one had the misfortune to fall and\nbreak his leg. The other two made a litter in which they undertook to\ncarry him, but there was a ridge of high mountains to cross, and the\nway grew very painful and difficult. At last they became discouraged,\nset the litter down, went a little aside and consulted together in\nwhispers.\n\nBy and by they took up their burden again, and coming to a deep\ncrevasse they let it fall as if by accident, so that the injured man\nrolled into the abyss. They went home and reported that they had met\nthe enemy and that their comrade had died of his wounds. To console\nhis weeping wife, they assured her that he had fought bravely; also\nthat they had tended and cared for him until he died and had then\ngiven him suitable burial.\n\nIn the meantime, the abandoned one fell to the bottom of the pit,\nwhere to his surprise he beheld a very old man sitting with his hands\nclasped about his withered knees.\n\n\"What is this?\" inquired the old sage. \"Is it possible that your\ncomrades have deserted you and left you to perish miserably?\"\n\n\"It seems that they have done so,\" calmly replied the youth.\n\n\"You may live, nevertheless,\" the other promised, \"if you will agree\nto my conditions. I am now too old to hunt. Stay here and keep me\nsupplied with game as long as I live, and I will cure your leg.\"\n\nAs the young man had no choice, he agreed without hesitation, and the\nancient bound up his limb with healing herbs, fed and tended him until\nhe was able to hunt.\n\nThere was game in abundance in that part of the country, and the old\nman told him that if ever he shot more than he could carry, he should\ncall out and he would come to his assistance. One day the hunter\nsucceeded in killing an immense bear, and while he was skinning it,\nbehold! three very tall strangers clad in garments of cloud appeared\nclose by.\n\n\"We are the Thunderers,\" said they. \"We should be glad to help you,\nfor you have not deserved your misfortunes. That old man for whom you\nhunt is not what he seems to be. Call him, and you shall see!\"\n\nSince the youth saw no harm in calling his benefactor to help him with\nthe game, he did as they advised, and the aged man climbed out of the\npit very cautiously, first calling aloud to inquire if there were any\ncloud in the sky.\n\n\"There is none,\" replied the hunter, and the other hobbled forward,\ncontinually peering into the heavens as if in fear of some enemy.\nSuddenly a rumble of thunder was heard, and immediately he turned and\nfled in the form of a Porcupine, throwing back sharp quills like\narrows as he ran. Louder and louder pealed the thunder, and just as he\nreached the edge of the pit a bolt of lightning struck the Porcupine,\nand he fell dead into his den.\n\nAfter this the young man returned to his own people.\n\n\nTHE WINGED HUNTER\n\nA lone hunter had spent all of his arrows, and was at a loss. He was a\nlong way from home. Upon the lake were many wild geese, but how was he\nto kill them? Finally he swam underneath the flock, caught several by\nthe feet, and tied them to his belt with withes of basswood bark. When\nthe geese flew up into the air, they carried the hunter with them.\n\nNow he planned to loosen one or two of the birds so that he might sink\ngradually to the ground, but the rest broke loose suddenly, and he\nfell into a tall, hollow stump where he remained a prisoner. To be\nsure, it was only a day or two before some women came near after wood,\nbut his cries frightened them, so that they retreated. Later they\nreturned with their men and released him.\n\nImmediately the hunter made new arrows with which he killed both deer\nand bears, extracting oil from the latter which he kept in leathern\nbottles. He now wished to return home; but since he had tried flying,\nwalking seemed to him too laborious. After much thought, he made\nhimself a pair of wings out of a thin piece of tanned deerskin, and\nflew homeward, carrying the bottles for ballast, and letting fall one\nor two into the wigwams of the women who had set him free.\n\n\nGREAT HEAD\n\nHigh up on an inaccessible cliff, there dwells an immense Head, very\nfierce, with long, bushy hair and huge staring eyes. The people call\nit the Great Head, and fear it very much.\n\nThere was once a family of ten boys who lost their parents at about\nthe same time of a mysterious disease. As they knew no near\nrelatives, the brothers continued to live alone in the forest.\nHowever, one day the eldest failed to return from the hunt, and in the\nmorning the second brother went to look for him. That night he, too,\nwas missing. On the next day, the third brother set out to search for\nthe others, and so on until only one of the ten was left.\n\nNow the youngest brother had scarcely started on their trail when he\nstumbled over a queer little old man, half buried in the ground, and\nentirely covered with green mold.\n\nWhen he had dug him out and revived him by rubbing him with oil, the\nboy told the stranger his story.\n\n\"I can tell you what has become of your brothers,\" exclaimed the\nlittle old man. \"Without doubt, it is my brother, Great Head, who has\nenticed them away.\"\n\n\"What! the Great Head is your brother?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"Yes, he is,\" replied the little old man.\n\n\"Then you must know his ways and can help me to outwit him.\"\n\n\"I can tell you what he eats. Huge billets of maple wood--only\nmaple--are his favorite tid-bit.\"\n\n\"And is there anything he is afraid of?\" the boy inquired.\n\n\"He fears my arrows, which grow ever larger as they fly!\"\n\nFirst the boy worked very hard chopping a great maple tree into\nblocks; then he invited Great Head to a feast. But Great Head would\nnot come.\n\nThen the little man, his brother, crept slyly to the foot of the cliff\nthrough the long grass, and sent forth a magic arrow, which grew\nlarger and larger as it sped toward the mark. A great noise arose,\nlike that of a hurricane rushing through a forest. Down tumbled Great\nHead to the foot of the precipice, and the nine youths whom he had\nheld captive were freed from the spell, and came joyfully home\nagain.\n\n\n\n\nTSIMSHIAN TALES\n\n\nHOW THE DAYLIGHT CAME\n\nA long, long time ago the son of the first chief of the animal people\nset out upon a journey. Dressed in the skin of a raven, and carrying\nin his beak a magic bag which his father had given him, he flew\neastward over a dark and watery waste. When he had flown far and was\ntired, he dropped a stone in the sea, and it became an island, upon\nwhich he rested.\n\nAgain he rose up and flew onward upon slow black wings, no blacker\nthan the gloom that covered the face of the world. As he skimmed the\nsurface of the waves, he scattered from his enchanted bag the spawn\nof every kind of fish, so that the sea was filled with finny life.\nThen he turned toward shore, and over the dry land he cast berries and\nseeds of all plants that are good for food, so that the earth too was\nready to burst with fruitfulness, only there was no sun to warm it\ninto life.\n\nRaven became very tired of the eternal darkness, and at last he flew\nstraight upward until he found the hole in the sky, and went right\nthrough the hole. There he left the raven's skin lying and flew on\ntill he came to a spring of clear water, bubbling up with a sound like\nmaidens' laughter near the wigwam of the Chief of Heaven. He turned\nhimself into a leaf and floated in the pool, waiting for the chief's\ndaughter. When she came, she was indeed very beautiful. Stooping, she\ndipped up the leaf in her bucket and drank it with the water.\n\nNow the maiden returned to her home, and not long after a child was\nborn to her. The baby grew very fast. He was stronger than any child\never seen, yet he cried continually. Soon he was creeping about the\nfloor and crying all the time in a loud voice. The wise old men were\ncalled in to explain these cries, and the wisest one of all told the\nprincess that her son was crying for a large box that hung under the\nroof. This was the box that held the daylight.\n\nSince nothing else would do, they took down the box and gave it to the\nchild to play with. For four days he rolled it about the floor; then\none day, when no one was looking, he lifted it to his shoulders, got\nto his feet, and ran out of the door with it. He sped as fast as he\ncould to the hole in the sky, put on the raven's skin that he found\nlying there, and flew down to earth with the precious box.\n\nNow the Frog people were fishing down there, and they made a great\nnoise and confusion in the darkness. Raven called upon them to be\nsilent, but they paid no attention to him. The big frogs were\nbellowing very loud, and the little frogs were piping high and shrill,\nand there was no peace or quiet anywhere. Raven told them twice to be\nless noisy, and when they would not, he said, \"Then I shall open the\nbox.\"\n\nSo he opened it, and daylight overspread the earth.\n\n\nTHE OLD WOMAN AND THE TIDES\n\nAgain Raven flew over the waters till he reached the mainland and the\nwigwam of the old, old woman who holds the tide lines in her hand. At\nthat time the tide would remain high for many days at a time, so that\nthe people could get no clams or other sea food. It happened that\nRaven was very hungry for clams, but he entered the hut and sat down,\nsaying pleasantly:\n\n\"Good day, grandmother: there is fine digging to-day. I have just had\nall the clams I could eat.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" exclaimed the old woman. \"What are you talking about,\nRaven? You know very well that the clams are all covered.\"\n\n\"Yes, but I've had all the clams I want,\" he insisted.\n\n\"That isn't so,\" she declared.\n\n  [Illustration: THE OLD WOMAN AND THE TIDES\n    He rudely pushed her backward until she fell down.\n    _Page 83._]\n\nUpon this he rudely pushed her backward until she fell down, and her\nmouth and eyes were filled with dust. Of course she was forced to let\ngo the tide lines, so that the tide ran quickly out, and the beach was\ncovered with fine fat clams and other shellfish. Raven did not come\nback to the hut until he had eaten as many as he possibly could.\n\n\"My eyes are blinded with dust,\" mourned the old woman. \"Will you not\ngive me back my sight?\"\n\n\"I will, if you will promise to slacken the tide lines twice a day,\"\nhe replied.\n\nSo she said that she would, and from that time to this the tides have\nrun in and out twice each day.\n\n\nHOW THE FIRE WAS BROUGHT\n\nAfter a time, Raven saw that the people were discontented without\nfire, for they could neither cook their food nor warm themselves when\nit was cold. He remembered that they had fire at home in his father's\nvillage, so he flew westward once more until he came to the wigwams of\nthe animal people. But however hard he begged, they would not give\nhim what he had come for.\n\nRaven made a new plan. He went a little way off and sent the Sea Gull\nto the camp with this message:\n\n\"A handsome young chief will come to feast and dance in the dwelling\nof your chief. See that all is ready.\"\n\nHe knew that the people would prepare for their guest, so he caught a\nDeer and tied a bundle of pitch-pine to its tail, for at that time the\ndeer had a long tail like that of the fox. He borrowed the canoe of\nthe Great Shark, and with the Deer came in it to the village.\n\nAs he expected, the house of his father the chief was full of people,\nand there was a big fire made and much feasting and merriment. All the\ncreatures were dancing and singing, and the very birds clapped their\nwings for joy.\n\nThe Deer entered, leaping and dancing, and his grace was much\nadmired, but as he danced around the fire he swung his long tail over\nit, and the pitch blazed up. He ran out, sprang into the sea and swam\noff, with his lighted tail flaring above the waves like a torch. Many\nsprang into their canoes and tried to follow him, but he escaped and\nreached our shores in safety. There he struck a dead fir tree with his\nblazing tail and said to it:\n\n\"You shall burn as long as the years last!\"\n\nWe should remember that it is to him we owe the gift of fire, for his\ntail was burned off, and since that day all Deer have had a short\nblack tail.\n\n\nRAVEN AND THE CRAB\n\nRaven had been flying all night over the ocean, and he had grown very\nhungry indeed, but what was there to eat? At sunrise he reached a\nsand spit, and there sat a large Crab. Raven thought he might be good\nto eat, but he was a little timid about attacking him, so he merely\ntouched him on the back, saying, \"Let us have a game, grandfather!\"\n\n\"Certainly not,\" replied the Crab gruffly.\n\nBut Raven grew bolder and touched him again and again, crying out\nteasingly, \"Come on, let us have a game, grandfather!\"\n\nPresently the tide turned, and about that time the Crab grew angry. He\nseized Raven by the leg and walked very slowly into the water with\nhim.\n\n\"Dear grandfather, only let me go!\" begged Raven, for he was terribly\nfrightened.\n\nCrab paid no attention to his prayers and cries, but walked on the\nbottom of the sea until he felt sure that his enemy was dead, when he\nlet go of him, and Raven came up and floated lifeless on the top of\nthe waves.\n\nA light wind wafted him ashore, and he lay for a long time motionless\non the warm sand. At last the sun revived him, and he awoke. He looked\nat his raven skin and saw that it was sadly draggled and some of the\nfeathers had come off, but he was so thankful to be alive that he only\nsaid to himself, \"After all, I have not done so badly!\"\n\n\nTHE BEAUTIFUL BLANKET\n\nNot long after this, Raven grew tired of the jet-black robe that his\nfather had given him, and one day he exchanged it for a beautiful\nblanket of many colors, such as is worn to dances. He had not gone\nvery far when the gay blanket fell to pieces, and he was cold and\nsorrowful.\n\nHe did not know what else to do, so he went back to look for his\nraven skin and found it lying by the roadside. He put it on again, but\nsoon came upon another dance blanket even handsomer than the first.\nForgetting the lesson he had just had, he tore his old robe in half\nand threw it away with contempt, and dressed himself in the other.\nThen he walked on, thinking how well he must look in the eyes of any\nwhom he might chance to meet.\n\nThis fine dandy was greatly pleased when he saw a strange village near\nat hand, until, glancing downward, he found to his dismay that he was\ncovered with nothing but moss and lichens. Crying bitterly, he was\nonce more forced to go back in search of his raven skin; after hunting\na long time he found it, but it was torn in two. Sadly he pinned it\nabout his body as well as he could and again turned his steps toward\nthe village.\n\nWhile he was still a little way off, Raven plucked up spirit and\ngathered a piece of rotten spruce wood, which by his magic art he\nturned into a slave. Lacking a fine blanket, he made for himself some\nlarge ear ornaments out of common clam shells which he found on the\nbeach. Then he ordered his slave to walk before him, crying in a loud\nvoice:\n\n\"People of the village, here comes my master, who is a great chief!\nYou will know him by the costly ornaments of abalone shell in his\nears!\"\n\nIt is said that the strangers were deceived by this fine talk and\ninvited the pretender to their chief's wigwam, where a feast was given\nin his honor.\n\n\nRAVEN AND THE HUNTERS\n\nOne day Raven happened to see a boat load of hunters coming home with\nplenty of game. As usual, he was hungry, and it occurred to him to\ntake the shape of a woman in the hope of obtaining some food.\n\nSure enough, when the hunters noticed a good-looking young woman on\nthe shore, they beached their canoe and took her on board. She had a\nchild in her arms, and the child cried incessantly.\n\n\"It is hungry,\" the woman explained; so they made much broth of wild\nducks and fed the child and its mother. They feasted most of that\nnight, and the head man was so well pleased with the supposed woman\nthat he offered to marry her. All went well till they awoke in the\nmorning, when, to his surprise and disgust, the new wife looked like a\nman.\n\n\"So it is you, up to your tricks again, you good-for-nothing Raven! Be\noff with you!\" exclaimed the angry hunter, and he cast him overboard.\n\nRaven put on his feathered robe and flew off without any trouble, and\nat the same moment the baby turned to a crow and flew away also.\n\n\nRAVEN AND THE CHILDREN\n\nRaven was out for a walk and came upon a crowd of children playing\nwith whale's blubber. Huge piles of it lay at their feet, and they\nwere throwing lumps at one another in great glee. He stopped and spoke\nto them.\n\n\"Where did you get all that blubber?\" he asked.\n\n\"Oh,\" answered the oldest boy, \"we climb up that tall tree you see\nover yonder and jump down from the topmost limb. As we land, we cry\nout, 'Be piled up, all my blubber!' and it is so.\"\n\nRaven immediately climbed the tree and jumped off the highest branch,\nshouting, \"Be piled up, all my blubber!\"\n\nNothing happened except that he struck the ground so hard that he was\nlame for several days. Meanwhile the children picked up the blubber\nand ran off, laughing heartily.\n\n\nRAVEN AND HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW\n\nOnce upon a time Raven came to a small house away from everybody,\nwhere lived two women, a widow and her young daughter. The elder woman\nasked him in and gave him a good supper, and as the house appeared to\nbe well stocked with dried fish and other necessaries, he proposed\nthat evening to marry the daughter and was accepted.\n\nThe next day, after a hearty breakfast, he borrowed the old woman's\nstone ax and went out. He told the two women that he was going to cut\ndown a cedar tree and make a boat for the fishing, and he charged his\nwife to see that her mother had a good meal ready for him on his\nreturn. Before night he came back very hungry, saying that he had\nfelled the tree and would begin next day to hollow out the canoe.\n\nThis went on for some time, Raven going forth every morning with the\nax and returning in the afternoon, apparently tired out, and with so\ngreat an appetite that the widow's stores of food were getting low.\nThey could hear the blows of the ax from time to time in the depths of\nthe forest, but somehow the boat was never quite finished.\n\nAt last one morning the old woman said to her daughter, \"Go quietly,\nmy child; follow your husband without letting him know it, and see for\nyourself what progress he is making.\"\n\nThe young wife did as she was told, and there was the trickster\npounding a rotten stump with the stone ax so as to make the sounds\nthey had heard. When she told her mother what she had seen, the two\nwomen packed up all the goods they had left and went away.\n\nWhen Raven went home that night, he found only the empty hut, which\nwas as much as he deserved.\n\n\nRAVEN AND THE SALMON WOMAN\n\nNow Raven had been unfortunate for a long time and was poorer than\never, but he had at last contrived to build a small hut and make a\nboat and a spear. Just as he was ready to go fishing, a heavy fog came\ndown and covered the face of the water, hiding his boat entirely. When\nthe fog lifted, there sat a beautiful woman in the bow of the canoe.\n\n\"You have come to my boat; will you be my wife?\" asked Raven.\n\nAnd the woman consented, saying, \"Yes, if you will be always kind to\nme, my husband. Remember, I am the Salmon Woman.\"\n\n\"Then we shall have plenty of fish in our lodge,\" exclaimed the\npleased bridegroom.\n\nAnd he was right, for next morning his new wife rose early and stepped\nbarefoot into the little brook that ran close by their hut. Instantly\nsalmon by hundreds came leaping up the stream, and she called to him,\nsaying:\n\n\"Husband, come! the creek is full of silver salmon!\"\n\nAfter he had speared many, he went after wood with which to smoke\ntheir abundant catch, and as he feared the birds might come down and\nsteal some of his fish while he was gathering the wood, he left one of\nhis eyes to watch the boat, telling it to be sure and call him in case\nthe birds came near the salmon.\n\nSoon the eye cried out, \"Master, come quickly! the birds are here.\"\nBut as he was very busy he merely replied, \"Hide the fish under the\nseat until I come,\" and went on with his work.\n\nWhen he came back to the boat with a load of wood, he found to his\nsorrow that the greedy creatures had not only eaten up all the fish\nbut his eye also.\n\nCrying bitterly, Raven went back to his wife, who asked him what the\nmatter was. When he told her, she had only to touch the empty socket,\nand immediately he had a new eye quite as good as the other. As for\nthe stolen fish, he did not miss them at all, for the tiny stream was\nnow so full of salmon that there was scarcely any water to be seen.\n\nAlthough their poor hut was well supplied with food, and his meals\nwell cooked, and his wife was as loving and kind as she was\nbeautiful, nevertheless Raven would leave her in the morning and be\ngone all day without saying where he went. By and by he began to come\nhome in a bad temper and to speak to her harshly. One evening he\nexclaimed:\n\n\"Well, who has been to see you to-day?\"\n\n\"No one has been to see me, my husband,\" she replied. \"No one ever\ncomes to this lonely place.\"\n\n\"Don't try to deceive me,\" said he roughly. \"A man has been here in my\nabsence. I know it, because I have been gambling this long time, and\nat first I had good luck, but to-day my luck was bad; therefore I know\nyou have had a man here.\"\n\nThen the Salmon Woman felt insulted, and without speaking to him she\nturned to the dried fish that hung from the ceiling.\n\n\"Come, O my tribe!\" she cried, and all the fish came to life and\nfollowed her. She sprang into the water and swam away, and they all\nswam after her, leaving the unkind husband alone and hungry once more.\n\n\nTHE ANIMALS IN COUNCIL\n\nIt is now many years since the ancient friendship between man and the\nanimal tribes was broken, and since that time the animals have been\nhunted continually and go about in fear of their lives. One day\nGrizzly Bear invited all the larger beasts to meet at his wigwam and\ndiscuss the matter. Deer, Elk, Wolf, and many others were present when\nGrizzly Bear made his great speech in which he spoke of the constant\ndanger they were in and the need of finding a remedy, and finally\nproposed that they petition He-Who-Made-Us to lengthen the winter and\ncause very deep snows with extreme cold, so that the hunters could not\nget about.\n\nAll agreed to this plan, but Wolf got up and proposed that before\nacting upon it they should consult the smaller animals and even the\nInsect tribes. \"For,\" said he, \"if we ignore them now they may make\ntrouble for us later on.\"\n\nThe others had no objection, and next day Beaver, Squirrel, Mink,\nMuskrat, all four-footed creatures down to the little Mouse, and all\nof the Insect tribes as well, were invited to join in the council.\n\nIt was a great gathering. The larger animals sat on one side of a wide\nsemicircle, and the smaller on the other side. Again Grizzly Bear made\nthe first speech, telling of the meeting of the day before and of his\nsuggestion, and asking all present for their opinion on the matter.\n\nAfter a silence, Porcupine arose and remarked that the idea might do\nwell enough for those who had warm fur coats, but that many of the\nlittle people were not so well protected against severe weather, and\nas for the feeble Insects, if the winters should become any longer or\ncolder than they were already, they would all perish, therefore they\ncould not agree to the proposal.\n\n\"I don't care whether you agree or not,\" growled the Bear. \"We larger\nanimals have decided that this is the best thing to do, and we are\ngoing to do it anyhow.\"\n\n\"I fear you are short-sighted,\" replied Porcupine, who found that he\nhad used the wrong argument. \"You large animals are always roaming the\nwoods in search of something to eat, and if the winters grow any\ncolder there will be no food for you, that is certain. All life will\nperish, even the roots of the grass on which the Deer lives, and the\nberry bushes of which the Bear is so fond will be frozen. You will all\nstarve, but we shall live, for we Porcupines can live on the bark of\ntrees; and as for the smallest Insects, they can burrow into the earth\nand survive.\"\n\nThe other animals were impressed by this speech and began to say among\nthemselves, \"How wise he is!\" \"Now who would have thought of that?\"\nand \"I think we should reconsider the matter.\"\n\n\"Ah, ha, ha!\" laughed Porcupine, and he was so pleased with himself\nthat he stuck his thumb into his mouth and then bit it off, which is\nthe reason that he has only four fingers and no thumb.\n\nNow the animals called him the wisest of their number and accepted his\ndecision, and as for those who would not agree, Porcupine filled them\nfull of sharp quills, on which account they all stand in awe of him to\nthis very day.\n\n\nTHE FOUR WINDS\n\nOnce there were four great chiefs who lived in the four corners of the\nearth, and their names were North Wind, South Wind, East Wind, and\nWest Wind. The other three all hated North Wind, for he was very rude\nand boisterous, and insisted upon blowing his bitter blast into their\nfaces at all times of the year, so that the tender fruit buds and\nfragile blossoms were never safe from his withering breath.\n\nFinally they united to make war upon him, and after a long struggle\nthey succeeded in gaining his promise that he would only blow for half\nthe year, which helped matters a little.\n\nNow the South Wind had four sturdy sons and a beautiful daughter,\nwhile North Wind's family consisted of twin boys, one of whom was\ncalled Frosted, and the other Frozen. No sooner were the children\ngrown up than Frosted wished to marry the daughter of South Wind, who\nwas as fair and gentle as a summer's day, but she would have nothing\nto say to him.\n\nThe next year Frozen came courting. He was a handsome fellow, very\ndetermined, and proved more fortunate than his brother. The wedding\nfeast was the finest ever known in that part of the country. It lasted\nfor seven days, at the end of which Frozen carried home his bride in a\ntempest of wind and rain.\n\nWhen South Wind's daughter reached the land of perpetual snow and ice,\nshe very soon regretted her rash choice. There was not so much as a\nspark of fire in the house, which was built of ice blocks, and day\nand night she was chilled to the very marrow of her bones. Meanwhile\nthe rest of the family were saying, \"What a pleasant season we are\nhaving!\" and \"The weather seems unusually mild for this time of the\nyear!\"\n\nAt last she could bear it no longer, and one day as she sat sadly on\nthe beach she picked up a bit of yellow driftwood and carved it into\nthe shape of a duck. When she had finished, she tossed the duck into\nthe air, saying:\n\n\"Fly south, little duck, and tell my father that I am very unhappy\nhere in the cruel northland!\" And the duck flew away southward.\n\nFar in the southland the South Wind's wife stood in the door of their\nwigwam and called to her husband, \"Look, husband! Spring is coming,\nfor I see the ducks returning!\"\n\nThe little yellow duck came on, and as soon as he was near enough he\ngave the daughter's message:\n\n\"Your child is very unhappy there in the cruel northland!\"\n\nWhen South Wind understood it, he was angry and called his four strong\nsons to his side. \"Boys,\" said he, \"go at once to North Wind's house\nand bring home your sister!\"\n\nThe eldest son started first in the shape of a great gray cloud, and\nwhen the little bride saw the cloud in the distance she was glad, for\nshe felt sure that it was her brother. But immediately North Wind went\nout with his two sons to meet him and drove him back, so that she\nwrung her hands in sorrow.\n\nThe second brother went as a very black cloud, and he got a little\nfarther than the first when he too was fiercely attacked and beaten\nback. Then the bride of Frozen cried bitterly, for she began to be\nafraid she must stay there forever.\n\nThe third brother went as a great storm of rain, and he had nearly\nreached the spot where his sister was eagerly waiting, when the icy\nwind turned the rain to hail and drove it back, and the poor girl was\nin despair.\n\nHowever, there was still the youngest brother. He went as a\nsharp-edged and thin cloud which slipped right by North Wind and\nreached his palace, where he turned all the ice to water. The whole\ncountry was flooded, and North Wind and his family were helpless.\n\n\"Not only does your son lose his bride,\" cried the victorious son of\nSouth Wind, as he retreated with his sister, \"but I shall take away\nthree of your months also. From this time forth you are allowed to\nblow but three months in the year.\"\n\nThereupon the four Winds divided the year among them in this fashion:\nto North Wind the three winter months, to East Wind the spring, to\nWest Wind the summer, and the autumn to South Wind.\n\n\nTHE FEAST OF THE MOUNTAIN GOATS\n\nIn the old days the hunters were many and skillful. They killed\nhundreds of mountain goats for their flesh and skins and left their\nbones lying unburned on the rocks, which was a great dishonor.\nMoreover, their children were thoughtless.\n\nOne day, a young man whose name was Really Black Raven Feather was\nwalking along the beach, and he saw a group of boys making merry with\na kid. They would seize it and throw it into the water, watch its\nstruggles for a time, then drag it ashore half drowned, and as soon\nas the poor creature was able to walk, they would throw it in again.\nWhen they tired of this sport, they built a fire and put the kid in\nthe fire, to dry, as they said; but before it was more than scorched\nthis young man pulled it out and scolded the boys severely for their\ncruelty, so that they all ran away.\n\nNot long after this, a messenger came down from the hills inviting all\nthe villagers to a feast, and as was the custom they followed the\nmessenger. They came to a large wigwam on the mountain side which they\nhad never seen before, and all were seated within this immense tent.\nReally Black was given a seat immediately behind the tent pole, which\nwas unusually heavy.\n\nSoon a crowd of people wearing goats' headdresses came dancing and\nsinging over the rocks. They danced around and in front of the wigwam,\nand presently the chief dancer kicked so high that he touched the\ntent covering with his goat's hoof. Instantly it fell down on the\nheads of the guests and became a mountain which crushed them to death.\nOnly Really Black was saved. He clung to the tent pole, which became a\ngiant spruce growing out of the side of the mountain. Therefore he and\nhis descendants have always respected the goats, and taken care to\nburn their bones when it was necessary to hunt them for food or\nclothing.\n\n\nTHE WOMAN WHO BECAME A BEAVER\n\nThere was once a man who took his wife with him to hunt raccoons at a\ndistance from the village. They were very successful. Every night the\nman shot several of the animals, and in the daytime they were both\nbusy skinning them and trying out the fat. One day the young wife\nbecame tired of work and she approached her husband and tried to\nattract his attention, saying playfully:\n\n\"Look at me, my husband!\"\n\nIt is true that she was a pretty woman, but the man was bent on\nskinning his game just then and took no notice of her. Seeing that he\nmade no answer, she kept on teasing him to look at her. At last he\ngrew provoked.\n\n\"Go away,\" said he crossly; \"you are no better than these raccoons!\"\n\nAt this the young woman was much hurt and went away without speaking.\nHer husband finished his work and then came to his supper, but no meal\nhad been prepared for him, and no wife was to be seen. He called and\ncalled, but no one answered. After searching for her some time, he\ndiscovered the woman taking a bath in a small pool, which she had\nmade for herself by piling up sticks and pebbles to dam the stream.\n\n  [Illustration: THE WOMAN WHO BECAME A BEAVER\n    He discovered the woman in a small pool.\n    _Page 111._]\n\n\"Come, my wife, it is time to eat,\" begged the young husband.\n\n\"You have said that I am no better than the raccoons,\" she answered,\n\"and I am very much ashamed. I prefer to stay where I am.\"\n\nHe went back to their hut, but came again later in the evening and\ntried hard to persuade her.\n\n\"My wife, you know that I love you,\" he protested. \"I only spoke as I\ndid because I was thinking of my work and I wanted to get through with\nit. I am sorry for what I said, and I did not mean anything by it.\nCome, now, you should not stay in the water so long or you will be\nsick; and besides, it is time to go to bed.\"\n\nShe would not listen to him, however, and he noticed that the dam had\ngrown higher, and the pool was much bigger than before.\n\nThe woman did not come to bed at all that night, and the deserted\nhusband could not sleep for thinking of his wife swimming about in the\ncold water. He lay awake, listening to the lapping of the little waves\nand the slap of her leathern apron as it struck the water when she\ndived.\n\nNext morning the pool had become a pond, and out in the middle of it\nhe could still see her swimming about. For the third time he called to\nher and pleaded with her to come out, but she would not answer him at\nall, so he went home very sorrowful.\n\nNow the young woman had six brothers, and when they heard what had\nhappened, they all declared that they would go and bring home their\nsister. Their brother-in-law guided them to the spot where he had\nleft her and behold! a large lake filled the valley, and there was a\nbeaver house under the dam.\n\nThe young men saw several young beavers swimming about, and presently\nthey heard a great beaver tail spank the water. Looking closely, they\nrecognized the woman, but she was covered from head to foot with soft\nbrown fur, and her leathern apron had become the flat tail of a\nbeaver.\n\nAt this they wept much, and with one voice implored her to come home.\n\n\"No,\" said the beaver woman. \"My husband has said that I am no better\nthan the raccoons, and I am too much ashamed to live with mankind any\nlonger. Do not trouble about me further, for I shall never come back.\"\n\n\"Let us go away and leave her,\" said the eldest brother, for he did\nnot know what else to do.\n\n\"No,\" said the youngest. \"Let us break the dam; then all the water\nwill run out, and she will be compelled to come.\"\n\nThey broke the dam and destroyed the beaver house. The woman lay face\ndownward in the mud at what had been the bottom of the lake. She was\nquite dead. In all points she was like a beaver, but when they turned\nthe body over, grieving much, the face was the face of the offended\nwife.\n\n\nTHE TEN PRINCES\n\nThe ten sons of a chief went hunting, and all took their wives with\nthem except the youngest brother, who was unmarried. They all camped\ntogether at night, and in the morning the eldest prince went out in\nsearch of game.\n\nThe first thing he saw was a fat porcupine coming toward him, which he\neasily caught. He wrung its neck, and hung it on the branch of a\ntree, and went on.\n\nNear the top of a hill, he met a handsome white she-bear and shot her\ndead. He kept on to the very top, and looking down, perceived a\nstrange town at the foot, which made him very curious. He walked up\nboldly to the first hut, in which a pretty young woman sat alone. She\nbeckoned to him through the window, but he had scarcely entered when\nsome one called out from the next dwelling:\n\n\"You have a visitor. Send him here: the chief wishes to see him.\"\n\nAt the chief's door, several young men met the stranger with much\nkindness and greatly admired his weapons, which they begged to be\nallowed to examine. As soon as he went in, the chief greeted him with\nall hospitality. He ordered that the softest robes be brought for his\nseat and caused him to be served with the choicest food. While he ate,\nhis weapons were returned to him and laid at his side. When night\ncame, the chief said, \"Bring the best blanket for our guest; he will\nremain with us to-night\"; and it was done.\n\nIn the morning a cry arose, \"The bears are coming!\"\n\n\"Let my best hunters go out against them,\" ordered the chief. Now the\nyoung prince was an expert hunter and had a mind to display his skill,\nso he hastened to attack the foremost bear. He drew out his best\narrow, but to his astonishment the arrow broke. Hurriedly he seized\nhis spear, and the spear broke. In a moment the grizzly bear was upon\nhim and bore him to the ground.\n\nAs soon as he was dead, the young men dragged his body into the\nchief's hut, where the chief caused it to be cut in pieces and hung\nup to dry.\n\nNow when this young man did not come back to camp on that day or the\nnext, his wife grew anxious, and the next in age offered to go in\nsearch of him. He set out in the same direction, and half-way up the\nhill he met a fat porcupine, which he clubbed and hung in a tree as\nhis brother had done. A little further on, he saw a white she-bear and\nkilled her, after which he went toward the village which he observed\nin the distance.\n\nThe pretty young woman invited him to come in, and the young men\nwelcomed him cordially and took away his weapons, which they returned\nto him as he sat feasting in the house of the chief. In short,\neverything happened to him exactly as it had happened to his brother;\nand in the morning, when his arrows broke off short, he was at the\nmercy of the bear, and his body was cut up and hung beside that of the\nfirst.\n\nNext day, the third youth went to look for the other two, and so on,\nuntil all were gone except the youngest. The nine widows mourned\ncontinually, and they begged the last brother not to follow the\nothers, for if he should, they felt sure that he too would be lost and\nthey would all be left without a protector. However, he insisted upon\ngoing, assuring them that not only would he come back safe and sound,\nbut would bring back their husbands also.\n\nHe took the same path up the hill, and when he saw the fat porcupine\ncoming to meet him, it occurred to him that he had better let her pass\nunharmed, and he did so. A little later, he met the white she-bear and\nshot her; but when he came to her he could not help laying his hand\ngently on her side and exclaiming aloud, \"How beautiful she is!\"\n\nInstantly the bear became a handsome young woman, who smiled upon him,\nand warned him of the dangers that he would meet in the Bears' town at\nthe foot of the hill.\n\n\"These people are really Bears,\" said she, \"and I am one of them sent\nto deceive you. But you have no wife, and I like you very much. Do not\nlet the young men take your weapons even for a minute, or they will\nchange them to dry sticks as they did those of your nine brothers, who\nkilled me without remorse.\"\n\nFinally she gave him two small pups and told him to hide them in his\nrobe, and if ever he was in trouble to set them one by one on the\nground, saying, \"Red, grow up quick and help me!\" \"Spot, grow up quick\nand help me!\" and it should be so. Then she kissed and embraced him,\nand he went on down the hill to the village.\n\nIn the first hut he came to he found his sweetheart again, and she\ngreeted him lovingly. When the chief sent for him, she delayed parting\nwith him as long as she could, but was at last forced to let him go,\nwith many charges as to the best way to outwit her kinsmen.\nAccordingly he kept fast hold of his weapons, when the young men\ncrowded admiringly about him, and even lay awake all night lest they\nshould take them from him while he slept.\n\nIn the morning, when the Bears came on as before, and the chief called\nfor men to go out and meet them, the young prince drew his bow and\nshot the foremost through the heart. More followed, and he killed them\none after another until his arrows were all gone. Then he fought with\nhis spear until he was tired out, and still the Bears came on.\n\nFinally he remembered the pups that his sweetheart had given him, and\nhe placed the first one on the ground, saying, \"Grow up quick, Red,\nand help me!\"\n\nInstantly the pup became an immense dog which rushed at the Bears and\ndrove them back.\n\nThen he put down the second pup, saying, \"Grow up quick, Spot, and\nhelp me!\" and another savage dog attacked and put to rout the last of\nhis enemies.\n\nThen the young man returned to the Bear chief's wigwam for his nine\nbrothers. He took down the pieces of their bodies and laid them side\nby side, and they all came to life and followed the hero and his Bear\nwife back to their own camp, where they were welcomed with great\nrejoicings.\n\n\nTHE GIRL WHO REJECTED HER COUSIN\n\nIn the old days, a chief's daughter was expected to marry the son of\nher uncle, and so keep the chieftainship in the family. But there was\nonce a proud princess who behaved very badly to her cousin when he\ncame wooing, according to the custom.\n\n\"I must be sure that you love me,\" she said.\n\n\"I do love you,\" he declared.\n\nUpon which she answered, \"Then prove your love by making a cut down\nyour right cheek.\"\n\nThe young man immediately took out his knife and slashed his right\ncheek so that the blood streamed over his face.\n\nWhen the cut had healed, he went again to his cousin and asked for her\nhand with some confidence, but she said:\n\n\"First you must cut your left cheek also, and then I shall know that\nyou really love me.\"\n\nThe young man did not like to do it, but he would not give up, and he\nslashed his left cheek also.\n\nHe waited for the second cut to heal and then went to her with his\nscarred face and begged her to marry him at once.\n\n\"Yes,\" said she, \"I will marry you, for you have done well,\" and she\nkissed him, so that he became more in love than ever. Finally she told\nhim sweetly that she was not yet entirely satisfied, and that before\nthe wedding he must cut off all his hair.\n\nNow short hair is considered a disgrace to a man, and the prince was\nmost unwilling to cut his off, but at last he yielded and went to her\nto ask that the wedding day might be set. But she refused to see him,\nmerely sending a servant with the message that he must be quite mad\nto suppose that she would marry such a hideous object as he had made\nof himself.\n\nThe poor young man was very unhappy, and he left his home and wandered\naway until he came to a small hut that stood all by itself under a\nhill.\n\nAn old woman opened the door and kindly asked him to come in--\"that\nis,\" said she, \"if you are the chief's son who was rejected by his\ncousin.\"\n\n\"I am he,\" declared the youth.\n\n\"What can I do for you?\" asked the old woman.\n\nHe answered that he wanted nothing more than to be as he had been,\nbefore he disfigured himself at the bidding of the cruel young woman.\n\nAccordingly the crone prepared a bath for him, and when he came out\nhis skin was smooth and fine, without any mark upon it. She combed\nhis hair with a comb of ivory, and it became long and splendid and\nfell over his shoulders like a mantle, so that he was far handsomer\nthan before.\n\nWhen he went back to the village, all the people admired him as a\nbeing from another world, and his cousin put on her best robes and\nwalked to and fro, trying to attract his attention, but he did not\neven glance at her. Finally she sent her servant with a message,\nasking him to come and see her.\n\nWhen he did not appear, she sent a second time, and inquired very\nhumbly what she could do to please him. He told the messenger to say\nthat if she would slash her right cheek with a knife, he would come.\n\nSo the princess cut open her right cheek, and when the cut had healed\nshe sent to her cousin again. This time he made answer that she must\nfirst cut her left cheek also, and she did as he ordered.\n\nWhen her messenger came to the prince a fourth time, he directed that\nher mistress cut off all her beautiful hair, declaring that he would\nthen be entirely satisfied. Crying bitterly, the poor girl cut it off\nand sent it to her lover, but he threw it on the ground with contempt,\nsaying that nothing would induce him to look upon the face of a woman\nwho had so disfigured herself.\n\nThe wise men say that since this happened, women have not been allowed\nto choose their husbands, or to refuse the men who have been selected\nfor them to marry.\n\n\nGRIZZLY BEAR AND THE FOUR CHIEFS\n\nThere were once four chiefs who were brothers and lived in one\nvillage. In the dead of winter, when food was scarce, a lean stranger\ncame among them and stopped at the hut of the eldest brother.\n\nHe was courteously received and seated by the fire, as is the custom,\nand the chief asked him where he came from.\n\n\"I have come a long way,\" replied the stranger.\n\n\"And what have you eaten on the way?\"\n\n\"I have eaten nothing but snow,\" he said.\n\nThen the chief ordered a dish of snow and a spoon to be placed before\nhis guest, but he got up without touching it and went on to the house\nof the second brother.\n\nHere he was again asked where he came from and what he had eaten on\nthe road, and when he answered that he had eaten only snow, he was\ngiven a large dish of it with a spoon. The same thing happened at the\nthird house.\n\nWhen the traveler came to the dwelling of the youngest brother, and\nthe host heard that he had eaten nothing but snow and was starving, he\nsaid to his wife, \"Wife, see if there is still a dried salmon left.\"\n\nShe looked, and found a single one, half of which she broiled and gave\nit on a dish to the stranger.\n\nAfter he had eaten, he made ready to go on, but his host said, \"Wife,\ngive our guest the other half of the salmon to eat on the journey,\"\nand she did so.\n\nThen the stranger said to him, \"All the others ridiculed a starving\nman, but you were a true host. Your kindness shall be rewarded. Meet\nme to-morrow at the mouth of the river.\"\n\nThe young chief did as he was told, and behold! a great grizzly Bear,\nwho presented him with leggings, a grizzly-bear headdress, and a\nmagic bow which killed all manner of game. From that day he never went\nhungry, but became the envy of his elder brothers and the richest man\nin the village.\n\n\nTHE WOODEN WIFE\n\nOnce there was a young man newly married who was very fond of his\nwife. She was not only a pretty woman, but she wove the most beautiful\ndancing-blankets of any one in the tribe.\n\nOne day this young man went into the mountains to hunt wild goats,\nfrom whose hair his wife might weave more of her much-prized blankets,\nand she went with him to keep his hut and to cook for him. While they\nwere yet far from the village, the girl fell sick, and although he did\nall that he could for her, the young husband soon saw that she was\ndying.\n\n\"Tell me, my dear, what can I do for you?\" he begged, as he hung over\nher.\n\n\"Only do not leave me soon, my husband! Do not soon forget our love,\"\nsighed the wife, and she died.\n\nThe goat-hunter mourned her truly, and he did as she had asked him to\ndo. He remained on the spot where he had lost her and seemed to have\nno thought of going back to the village. He kept her body with him in\nthe hut as long as he could, and when at last he was forced to lay it\naway, he carved an image out of cedar wood and set it up in front of\nher loom, so that as one entered the hut it seemed that a woman sat\nthere, weaving a dancing-blanket. Every morning he went out hunting\ngoats, and when he returned in the evening he would call out as he\ncame near the hut, saying:\n\n\"Come out, my wife, and see what I have brought you!\"\n\nThen he would answer himself in a woman's voice, \"I cannot come just\nnow, my husband. I am weaving, and the wool may become snarled if I\nleave my loom.\"\n\nPresently he would enter the wigwam, come up behind his wooden wife,\nand kiss her lovingly.\n\nAfter a time, the story of these strange doings spread to the village,\nand two young girls, sisters, being filled with curiosity, decided to\ncome and find out for themselves what truth there might be in the\nrumors that were about. When they reached his lonely hut, the hunter\nwas away as usual, so they raised the door-flap and peeped in. There\nsat the wooden wife in front of the loom, with her back to them,\nexactly like a woman weaving.\n\n\"Elder sister,\" said they, \"we are hungry.\" But when she did not move\nnor speak, they knew that she was not a real woman, and they hid in a\ncorner behind some blankets until the husband should return.\n\nBy and by they heard his voice outside the hut, telling his wife to\ncome out and see the game he had brought, and then her usual answer\nthat she was busy weaving and could not come just then. Next he came\nin, put his arms about the wooden wife, and kissed her fondly.\n\nUpon this the elder girl could not help laughing so that he heard it\nand discovered them both. But the young man was a courteous host. He\nbegged them to be seated and offered them food, and the elder sister\nate heartily; she even over-ate, while the younger was very quiet and\ntook but a taste of each dish. The hunter took note of their conduct,\nand when supper was over, he asked the younger girl to be his wife.\n\n\"I will marry you,\" said she, \"if you will put away your wooden\nwife.\" Accordingly he destroyed the image that he had made, and\nmarried the girl, and they lived happily together for many years.\n\n\nILDINI\n\nIldini lived at End-of-trail, with his wife and two boys. One day he\nwent fishing when the wind blew strong from the shore. It blew his\nboat so far out that he could not get back. All day and all night he\nwas blown about the cold gray waters. He became very hungry and\nchilled to the bone.\n\nIldini prayed and sang for a fair wind. This was his song:\n\n    \"Ocean Spirit, calm the waves for me!\n    Come closer to me, my Power!\n    Calm the waves, so that I may go home!\"\n\nAfter many days the wind went down and the canoe floated near a strange\nshore, but by now the man was so weak that he could not land. On the\nshore he saw no one but a little child, scarcely big enough to talk. He\ntold the child his name, \"Ildini\", and the little fellow repeated it\nover and over as if it were a game--\"Ildini--Ildini--Ildini!\" He ran\nhome still saying over the new name, and exclaimed to his grandfather:\n\"Grandfather, come--Ildini!\" He kept saying this until the old man\nfollowed and discovered the canoe and the fisherman, who was by this\ntime unable to stand.\n\nHe called his wife to help him and together they carried Ildini to their\nhouse, where they rubbed his limbs, warmed him and gave him broth, a\nlittle at a time. When he had recovered, he became the chief of that\ntribe, and learned their ways and their language. He never ceased to\nmourn for the two sons whom he had left behind at End-of-trail, but he\ndid not weep for his wife, for he believed her faithless and thought\nthat she had been the cause of his misfortune. In truth she supposed him\ndead and had long since married another.\n\n\n\n\nALASKAN STORIES\n\n\nTHE MAN WHO ENTERTAINED BEARS\n\nThere was once a man who had lost all of his family in a terrible\nsickness that came upon the people of his village. He was all alone in\nthe world and very sorrowful. He did not know what to do. First he\nthought he would get into his canoe and paddle away till he came to\nanother village. Then it occurred to him that they might think he had\nrun away from home because he had been accused of witchcraft or of\nsome other shameful thing.\n\nHe considered taking his own life, but did not like to do it. Finally\nhe concluded to go among the bears and let them kill him. He found a\nbear trail, and lay down in it till he heard the bushes breaking and\nsaw several grizzly bears coming along the trail. An unusually large\nbear was at their head.\n\nSuddenly the man became frightened and felt that he had chosen a hard\ndeath. He arose and spoke to the leading bear.\n\n\"Brother,\" said he, \"I am come to invite you to a feast in honor of my\ndead. I have lost my children and my wife and there is none left of my\nblood and of my house. Will you help me to do honor to their spirits?\"\n\nThe largest bear turned toward the others and whined, as if he were\ntelling them of the invitation. Then they all went back, and the man\nhurried home to prepare his feast. He took away all the old sand from\nhis fireplace and replaced it with clean sand. He brought a load of\nwood and picked many berries, both cranberries and huckleberries. He\nalso told his neighbors what guests he expected, and they all supposed\nhim crazed by sorrow.\n\nNext morning he arose early and painted himself with unusual care.\nWhen all was ready, he stood in the doorway of his house awaiting his\nguests. Presently he saw the bears entering the mouth of the creek in\nsingle file, the great bear in the lead, just as on the day before.\nThe other villagers saw them too and ran and hid themselves in their\nhouses, terrified out of their wits; but their host stood still to\nreceive them and give them the seats of honor, the chief in the middle\nseat, as is the custom.\n\nFirst he served them with large trays of cranberries covered with\ngrease, and as soon as the bear chief began to eat of the food the\nothers followed his example. The other courses were served and eaten\nin the same way. When all had finished eating and were about to\nretire, each in turn licked some of the paint from his breast and arms\nin sign of their sympathy.\n\nOn the next day, the smallest bear came back alone in human form, and\nspoke to his host in his own tongue, telling him that he was a man who\nhad long since been captured and adopted into the Bear tribe. \"The\nBear Chief,\" said this person, \"is very sorry for you, because he too\nhas lost all of his friends. He understood your sorrow and for that\nreason refrained from killing you. I was not permitted to speak to you\nin his presence, but he wishes you to remember him when you mourn for\nyour dead.\"\n\nEver since this time, the old men, when they kill a grizzly bear,\npaint a cross on its skin. It is also commanded that when you give a\nfeast you should invite every one, even your enemies, just as this\nman invited the Bears, who are the enemies of human kind.\n\n\nBEAVER AND PORCUPINE\n\nOnce in the old days Beaver and Porcupine were comrades and went\neverywhere together. Now Beavers are much afraid of Bears, who break\ndown the beaver dams so as to let off the water, catch them and eat\nthem. But the Bear fears the sharp quills of the Porcupine, therefore\nthe little fellow acted as guard to his friend. Porcupine often\nvisited Beaver in his house, which is dry and comfortable, and\nunfortunately annoyed his host by leaving some of his quills there.\n\nOne day Porcupine proposed to call on his friend, and Beaver offered\nto carry him on his back, since the prickly one cannot swim. But\ninstead of taking him to his home under the dam, he took him to a\ntall stump in the very middle of the lake, and there he left him!\n\nThere Porcupine was compelled to stay until the lake froze over, and\nhe could walk home on the ice.\n\nBeaver contrived to explain the whole thing as a joke, and the pair\nappeared to be on as good terms as ever. One fine day the Bear\nappeared.\n\n\"What shall I do? Save me! save me!\" cried Beaver in terror.\n\n\"Certainly, friend; just get upon my back and I will carry you to\nsafety,\" replied Porcupine.\n\nBeaver did as he was told, and was taken to the top of a very tall\ntree and left to himself. He did not know how to climb and was afraid\nto try to get down alone.\n\n  [Illustration: BEAVER AND PORCUPINE\n    He took him to a tall stump in the very middle of the lake and\n      there he left him.\n    _Page 144._]\n\n\"Oh, do help me down!\" he cried; but it was of no use to beg. After\nstaying up there so long that he grew dizzy and almost starved to\ndeath, he finally contrived to scramble down the tree; and they say\nthat is why the bark of trees is rough and full of scratches to this\nday. We are also told that it is on account of this happening that\npeople who have loved each other very much sometimes quarrel, and are\nno longer friends.\n\n\nMOUNTAIN DWELLER\n\nTwo sisters belonging to a well-known family one day became very\nhungry and helped themselves to some of their mother's fat meat,\nnotwithstanding the girls were strictly forbidden to eat anything\nbetween meals.\n\nWhen the mother found it out she was angry, especially with her elder\ndaughter, for the younger was still a child. She not only scolded the\ngirl, but slapped her severely. At last she said: \"Since you are so\nfond of eating, you had better go and marry Mountain Dweller!\"\n\nNow Mountain Dweller is a being who lives alone upon the mountains and\nis supposed to be a great hunter. Up to this time, no mortal had ever\nseen him. The girls were more deeply offended by her words than by the\nblows she had given the elder, and that night when their mother slept\nthey ran off into the woods.\n\nThey had wandered a long way and were crying with fear and hunger when\nthey heard some one chopping wood in the distance. \"Perhaps it is\nreally he,\" said the elder sister, and they followed the sound.\n\nThere stood a man whose face was painted red. He was kind and asked\nthe girls what they were doing so far from home.\n\nAs soon as they had told him, he invited them into his house near by,\nand they found it large and well stored with abundance of meat. They\nremained there as he asked them, and the elder sister in time became\nhis wife.\n\nNow the mother had soon repented her hasty speech and both parents\nsearched everywhere for their daughters. When they could not find\nthem, they mourned them as dead. A year passed, and the mourners'\nfeast had been given, when one day Mountain Dweller said to his wife\nand his sister-in-law: \"Wouldn't you like to see your father and\nmother again?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, yes!\" exclaimed the little girl, but the other thought not,\nfor the insult was hard to forgive. At last she consented to go,\nwhereupon her husband hunted continually and prepared a large quantity\nof meat for a present to his father-in-law.\n\n\"Make a little basket, no larger than the end of your thumb,\" he told\nher; and when it was finished, he put into it all those canoe loads of\nmeat, hung it on his finger, and the three of them went down the\nmountain to the old home of the two girls.\n\nTheir little brother was playing outside the hut and saw them first.\nHe ran inside. \"Mother, mother!\" he cried, \"my two sisters are\ncoming!\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" scolded his mother. \"Your sisters have been dead a long\ntime, as you well know. Did we not give the mourners' feast for them\nthis last moon?\"\n\n\"Nevertheless I ought to know my own sisters, and I do know them,\" the\nboy persisted. \"They are coming--they are here!\"\n\nThe mother came to the door and saw them, and instantly she threw\nherself upon their necks, crying for joy.\n\nThe next morning, the elder daughter said to her: \"Mother, back there\nin the woods a little way there is a basket for you. Send my brother\nto bring it.\"\n\nThe boy went and soon came back saying that it was too heavy for him.\nThe whole village went, but all of them together could not carry the\nbasket. Finally the young wife went herself, and she brought it easily\nin one hand. But when she set it down in the house and began to unpack\nit, behold! the place was filled and running over with meat of all\nkinds. There was a great feast and every one was pleased, but\nunfortunately the girls' mother ate so much that in the night she\nbecame very ill, and by morning she was dead.\n\nThis is a story told to discourage greediness.\n\n\nTHE EAGLE CREST\n\nIt is well known that there is a certain clan which claims the Eagle\nfor its crest or totem, and this is how it happened.\n\nThere was once a very poor man, so poor that he could not even get\nenough to eat. He was always cruising around in a small canoe, trying\nto catch a few little fish with which to keep himself alive. One day\nhe caught nothing, and as he had brought no food with him in the boat\nhe became very hungry.\n\nEarly in the morning, as he lay on the shore, he heard a voice but\ncould not tell where it came from. The voice said: \"I have come after\nyou.\" The man looked all around him, but saw only a young Eagle\nperched upon the branch of a tree. Then the voice said quite plainly:\n\"My grandfather has sent me to get you.\" This time the Eagle looked\nto him like a real person, and he followed it into the woods.\n\nThe trail led to a fine large house high up on a cliff, and inside\nthere was plenty of good food. There were also mats to sit upon and\nall the comforts to be found in good houses. The Eagles treated the\npoor man well, and since he was wretched and despised among his own\npeople, he wanted to stay with them always. He married one of the\nEagle women and became one of them.\n\nNow the mother and brothers of this man were just as poor and\ncontemptible as he had been, and he pitied them, now that he himself\nwas well off. Whenever he saw his brother out fishing, he would leave\nsome fish where the other could find it. The brother was astonished at\nhis luck and could not account for it.\n\nOne night his mother had a dream. She dreamed that a large fish might\nbe found upon a certain point of land, and when they went there, the\nfish was where she had dreamed she saw it. Soon afterward she dreamed\nthat they must camp on a certain spot, where they would find much\nfood. While they camped there, they all saw an Eagle bring a fish\nashore, after which he sat upon a branch not far from them, and\nexclaimed: \"Do not be afraid; it is I!\"\n\nSuch is the origin of the Eagle clan, which is now a large one and\nrespected of all the people.\n\n\nTHE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE FIRE SPIRIT\n\nMany men wished to marry the chief's pretty daughter, but she laughed\nat them all. One day as she sat quite close to the fire, a spark\nsnapped upon her dress and burned a tiny hole in it. She pointed at\nthe fire and called it a bad name in her anger, for it must be\nadmitted that the girl had a quick temper.\n\nThat night the chief's daughter was missing. All the people sought for\nher. They searched every house in the village and in the other\nvillages, wherever men lived who had proposed for her hand. When she\ncould not be found anywhere, they employed the wisest medicine men. In\na far distant village there lived one whose power was much talked\nabout, and when he was consulted he said to the chief:\n\n\"Your daughter may have said something to displease the Fire Spirit.\nLet your fire go out, and have every one in your village do the same;\nthen you may hear something.\"\n\nThe chief came home and sent his crier through the village to ask\nthat every fire be allowed to go out. When this had been done, the\ngirl came up between the stones of the fireplace. The Fire Spirit had\ntaken her to be his wife!\n\nAfter this, she was permitted to spend a part of her time with her\nfamily, but whenever the burning wood whistled (as you have sometimes\nheard it do) she knew that her spirit husband wanted her, and she was\nobliged to go to him at once.\n\nOne day, as she was sitting in her father's house stirring a dish of\nboiling soap-berries, a young man who was in love with her, and who\nwas encouraged by her mother in the hope that he might be able to keep\nher always with them, took hold of the spoon. Instantly the fire\nwhistled loudly, and the young wife was terrified.\n\n\"He wants me,\" she murmured, as she disappeared. They never saw her\nagain.\n\n\nTHE SHADOW WIFE\n\nA certain young man lost his wife when they had been married only a\nfew days, and he was very sorrowful. All night he lay awake thinking\nabout her. The next night and the next it was the same. In the morning\nthey took away her body to bury it, and he put on his best clothes and\nstarted off.\n\nAll day he walked and all night; he could not stop; daylight found him\nstill walking. He heard voices a long way off, and he followed them.\nAt last he saw light through the thick trees and came out of the woods\nupon the shore of a quiet lake. All this time he had been walking upon\nthe death road, the road of spirits, but he did not know it.\n\nOn the other side of the lake he saw people and called to them, but to\nhis surprise no one seemed to hear him. After he had grown hoarse\nwith shouting, he whispered to himself: \"Why is it, I wonder, that no\none hears me? It is not so far over there!\"\n\nImmediately they heard him, and one said: \"It is a person come up from\nDreamland. Let us go and bring him across!\"\n\nThey came in a canoe and carried him across the lake, and when he\nreached the other side, the very first person he saw was his wife! Her\neyes were red, and he saw that she had been crying for him. What joy\nto see her again! He was so happy that he could hardly bear it. The\npeople offered him food, but his wife warned him not to eat, for if he\ndid so, she said, he could never return to earth.\n\nAs it was, they went back together in the canoe, which is called\n\"Ghost's Canoe\", and started hand-in-hand down the long trail that\nled to his father's house. They walked for a day and a night, and when\nthey arrived, he left her standing outside and went to speak to his\nfather.\n\n\"Father,\" said the young man, \"I have brought my wife home!\"\n\n\"Why don't you bring her in?\" asked his father.\n\nSo they arranged robes to make a soft seat, and he went out to fetch\nher and came in again, but the people saw him alone. There was\nsomething like a shadow that came after. Wherever the young man went,\nthis shadow could be seen to follow him. The shadow wife never spoke,\nat least not in the day time, but at night her voice could be heard\nplainly. The people in the house complained that it kept them awake.\nIt seemed as if the two were talking and playing together all the\nnight long.\n\nThere was a former lover of the girl who grew very jealous when her\nhusband by his love brought her back from Ghost Land, and one night he\nhid himself behind their bed and suddenly raised the curtain. As he\ndid so, there was heard a rattling of dry bones and then silence. In\nthe morning the young husband lay dead, and the spirits of both went\nback to Ghost Land.\n\n\nTHE SELF-BURNING FIRE\n\nOne winter there was a great famine on the Copper River. The people\nbegan to die of hunger, first the children, then the old people, and\nfinally the young and strong, until at last but eight men were left.\n\nThese eight men set out to walk to another village where food might be\nfound, but they had not gone far when one perished of cold and\nstarvation. They buried him and went on. Soon another froze to death,\nand a third lay down exhausted, and so on until only one was left.\n\nNow this man felt wonderfully strong and walked on rapidly,\nnotwithstanding he felt great sorrow at the loss of his comrades. Late\nthat evening, he heard a shout ahead of him on the trail. He followed\nthe sound and came to a great fire burning in the midst of snow and\nice. Then he knew that it was the fire he had heard calling to him.\n\nWhen he had warmed himself thoroughly and was about to start on again,\nhe heard a crackling of bushes behind him. He looked back, and one by\none his frozen comrades came up the trail and warmed themselves at the\nfire, followed by all the people who had starved to death in the\nvillage. This is the Self-Burning Fire which has mysterious power and\nis worshiped by the Indians.\n\n\nTHE LONG WINTER\n\nIt was almost summer time when some boys who were playing in a boat\npulled out of the water a long piece of drifting seaweed and put it in\nagain on the other side of the canoe. For this trifling, not only the\nmischievous boys were punished, but all the people in their village.\n\nFor winter at once came on again with fresh fury, and snow was piled\nso high in front of the houses that the people were soon in want of\nfood. Their winter stores were exhausted, and they would have starved\nto death, had it not been for a bluejay which one day perched on the\nedge of a smoke hole with a spray of fresh elderberries in its beak.\n\n\"Kilnaxe! Kilnaxe!\" screamed the jay. Now this was the name of a\nneighboring town. So all the people took the cedar bark they had\nprepared to make their summer houses of and went to Kilnaxe, where\nthey found it was full summer and the berries already ripe. Winter\nlingered only about their own village.\n\nFrom this story we learn that one must not insult anything--not even a\npiece of seaweed.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nArchaic spelling is preserved as printed.\n\nThe following typographic errors have been repaired:\n\n    Page 9--beside amended to besides--\"They could do many wonderful\n    things besides that we cannot do.\"\n\n    Page 42--has amended to had--\"... he returned with a story of an\n    Owl which had driven away his game.\"\n\nThe frontispiece illustration has been moved to follow the title page.\nOther illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are\nnot in the middle of a paragraph.\n\nThe list of other books by the author has been moved to follow the\ntitle page.\n\nRepeated half-titles have been deleted.","title":"Indian Legends Retold","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":21625}