{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_73418/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_73418","id":"gutenberg_73418","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73418","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Indians of North America -- Folklore","Modoc Indians -- Folklore","Modoc Indians -- Religion","Modoc mythology"],"text":"MYTHS OF THE MODOCS\n\n\n                                   BY\n                            JEREMIAH CURTIN\n\n      Author of \u201cThe Mongols, A History,\u201d \u201cThe Mongols in Russia,\u201d\n              \u201cMyths and Folk-Lore of Ireland,\u201d \u201cCreation\n                   Myths of Primitive America,\u201d etc.\n\n              TRANSLATOR OF THE WORKS OF HENRY SIENKIEWICZ\n\n\n                                 London\n                SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, Limited\n                Overy House, 100 Southwark Street, S. E.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe majority of Americans know who the Modocs are and where they live,\nfor on a time their bravery and so-called treachery gave them\nwidespread notoriety; but for those who do not know, the following\nsketch may be helpful.\n\nThe Old Modoc Country was the valley of Lost River in Oregon, and the\ncountry adjacent to the shores of Little Klamath Lake, and Tula Lake\nwhich in main lies within the boundary of California.\n\nThe country around Tula Lake is of volcanic formation and at the\nsouthern end of the lake are the lava beds about which so much was\nwritten during the Modoc War of 1872\u20131873. Along the rivers and lakes\nthe scenery is pleasing and in places, grand. Lake Klamath, nearly\nsurrounded by mountains, is as beautiful as are the famed lakes of\nItaly and Switzerland. Mount Pitt, which, from a distance, seems to\nrise from the very shore of the lake, is snow-crowned except for a few\nweeks in midsummer. Mount Shasta is seen from its summit to the snow\nline.\n\nThe Modoc people believe that Kumush created the world\u2014the world in\nModoc myth means the country inhabited by the Modocs and the tribes\nthey come in contact with.\u2014He made the mountains, lakes and rivers and\ngave them names. We are not told about the creation of the \u201cfirst\npeople,\u201d those wonderful beings who inhabited the world before man was\ncreated and were \u201cso numerous that if a count could be made of all the\nstars in the sky, all the feathers on birds, all the hairs and fur on\nanimals, and all the hairs on our heads, they would not be as\nnumerous.\u201d No man knows how long those \u201cfirst people\u201d lived, but after\ncountless ages a time came when they were transformed into beasts,\nreptiles, birds, fishes, insects, plants, stones, snow, earthquake,\nsun, moon and stars, in fact into every living thing, object,\nphenomenon and power outside of man. This transformation took place\nabout the time that Kumush created the Modoc and other Indian tribes\nand gave them names, told them where their homes would be\u2014designated\nthe Klamath country for the Modocs\u2014and established the present order of\nthings.\n\nFor the Modocs the valley of Lost River and the lands around Klamath\nand Tula Lake are sacred. We, who endeavor to trace our origin back to\na monkey or, still farther, to a bit of protoplasm, or who believe in\nand search far and wide for the Garden of Eden, cannot revere a country\nwhich is ours simply by chance of birth as the Indian reveres the\ncountry where his tribe originated. We cannot estimate the love an\nIndian has for his country. His holy places are not in far-off\nPalestine; they are before his eyes in his own birthplace, where every\nriver, hill and mountain has a story connected with it, an account of\nits origin. No people could be more religious than were the Indians\nbefore the advent of the white man; they had no observance, rite, or\ncustom which they did not believe to be God-given.\n\nInto this country that Kumush gave to the Modocs came white settlers.\nTo protect the lives and property of the intruders it was necessary for\nthe United States government to establish a fort and garrison it.\nThenceforth the Indians could not subsist by fishing and hunting. At\nlast, to obtain food, supplies and annuity, they were forced to sign\nthe Treaty of 1864. That treaty outlines the limits of a reservation\nwhere the Modocs can live, take fish and gather edible seeds, roots and\nberries. As a payment for lands they gave up they received eight\nthousand dollars per annum, for a period of five years, five thousand\nper annum for the next five years, and three thousand per annum for the\nfive years next succeeding. The treaty provided thirty-five hundred\ndollars for removing the Indians to the reservation, giving them\nrations for the first year, and furnishing them with clothing, tools\nand teams. It reserved the right to the government to provide each\nIndian family with land in severalty to the extent of from forty to a\nhundred and twenty acres.\n\nThe Modocs pledged themselves to commit no depredation upon the persons\nor property of the settlers.\n\nThe amounts stipulated were insignificant for a body of Indians\nconsidered as numbering two thousand, and they were to be paid only\nafter the Senate and the President had ratified the treaty, which did\nnot take place till five years after the Indians signed it. The Modocs\nwere not forced to leave their land, now ceded to the United States,\ntill 1869. At the end of that year, two hundred and fifty-eight\ndissatisfied and unhappy Indians were on the reservation. In April,\n1870, rations gave out, and a considerable number of the reservation\nIndians went back to Lost River Valley; others went to Yaneks on\nSprague River. They were permitted to stay in their old homes till the\nautumn of 1872, then steps were taken to drive them to the reservation.\nThey resisted, and the President ordered the commander at Fort Klamath\nto have them removed from Lost River Valley: \u201cpeaceably if you can,\nforcibly if you must.\u201d\n\nNovember 29, 1872, troops surrounded the Modoc camp on Lost River. When\nthe men escaped to the hills, soldiers and settlers fired upon the\nunprotected women and children of a camp farther north. The Indians\nretaliated by killing fourteen settlers, then they retreated to the\nlava beds south of Tula Lake and selected as headquarters a cave called\nBen Wright. There they remained undisturbed till January 17. Then, in\nspite of a fog so dense that the lake and lava beds were shrouded as\nwith a pall, Colonel Wheaton ordered an attack. Four hundred men moved\nagainst seventy, but fog forced them to withdraw.\n\nAfter this defeat, General Gillen was placed in command, and his troops\nwere reenforced by four companies from San Francisco. The new commander\ndecided to negotiate for peace. A few of the Indians were willing to\nlisten to overtures; others, having no confidence in the promises of\nthe United States government, were opposed to wasting time in parley,\nbut at last April 11, 1873, was appointed for a peace meeting. But\nbefore the day came, Kintpuash\u2019s ponies were captured by the troops, in\nspite of General Canby\u2019s promise of a total suspension of hostilities.\n\nThat act so roused and enraged the chief that he determined to kill the\npeace commissioners, whom he now thought to be planning treachery in\nplace of peace. General Canby and Doctor Thomas were murdered; the\nothers fled. Wright\u2019s Cave was bombarded on April 16, 17 and 18. On\nApril 19 the Modocs left the cave. At Sand Hill, April 26, an encounter\ntook place which was more disastrous for the troops than for the\nIndians, but at a battle fought May 10 the Indians were forced to\nretreat.\n\nMay 25 a number of the warriors, dissatisfied with their leader and\nconsidering their cause hopeless, surrendered to General Davis, who was\nthen in command of the government troops. June 1 Kintpuash, and the men\nwho had remained faithful to him, betrayed by an Indian, gave\nthemselves up to a scouting party of cavalry.\n\nThe men who killed General Canby were condemned and hung; those\naccessory to the deed were incarcerated at Fort Alcatraz; the other\nwarriors, with their wives and children, numbering about one hundred\nand forty-five, were removed to the Quapaw Agency in the Indian\nTerritory (now Oklahoma) and are still there.\n\nExile for the Modocs was a crushing sorrow. When I saw them, in 1884,\nthey were still mourning over their changed condition, and for the\nKlamath country,\u2014the country Kumush created and gave to them.\n\nA large number of the myths in this volume were related to Mr. Curtin,\nin 1884, by one of the exiles, Ko-a-lak\u2032-ak-a, a woman who was then old\nand feeble, but who as late as Aug. 1, 1912, was still living, the\noldest woman of the Klamath-Modoc tribe of Indians. At the time she\ntold the myths she was remarkable for her intelligence and her\nwonderful memory. In childhood her grandfather had instructed her in\nthe religion of her people, in other words, taught her all the myths of\nthe Modocs, and to old age her tenacious memory retained many of them.\nFor years Ko-a-lak\u2032-ak-a was the most unhappy of all the exiles.\n\nLater in 1884, Mr. Curtin visited the Modocs who were left in the\nKlamath country. There is much that could be written regarding the\ntreatment those poor, unhappy creatures were receiving from the\nprofessedly Christian men and women who were in power on the\nreservation. Such abuses existed, that Mr. Curtin mentioned them to the\nproper officials in Washington, and changes were made.\n\nSconchen, the oldest Indian there, related to Mr. Curtin a number of\nthe myths which are in this volume, and also told him a good deal about\nthe customs of the Modocs. Though old and infirm, his mind was still\nclear and active. For years, in the prime of his life, he was chief of\nhis people, and in his old age they revered him.\n\n\nM. A. Curtin.\n\n                                     Pasadena, California, March, 1912.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                    PAGE\n\n    Introduction                                       v\n\n    L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was                                         1\n    The Five Brothers of L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was                   17\n    Isis and Yaulilik\u2019s Daughters                     27\n    Kumush and His Daughter                           39\n    Wanaga Becomes Wus-Kumush                         46\n    Stealing Fire                                     51\n    How Sickness Came into the World                  60\n    How Old Age Came into the World                   68\n    Lem\u00e9is and Nul-we                                 73\n    Wind and Thunder                                  76\n    G\u00e1ukos and K\u00fblta                                  81\n    Tcoitcak and His Pack                             83\n    Witsduk                                           85\n    Dj\u00e1kalips                                         88\n    Moas\u00e4m Beps, the Daughter of South Wind           91\n    West Wind\u2019s Wives                                 93\n    The Star Brothers                                 95\n    The Rainmaker                                    118\n    Old Man Lulus-Dewieas or Earthquake Old Man      122\n    M\u00e1idikdak\u2019s Daughters                            125\n    Wus Kumush and Tsmuk                             129\n    Frost and Thunder                                145\n    Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s                                        148\n    Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s                                        153\n    Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s and the K\u00faja Sisters                   159\n    Tsmuk and G\u00f3shgoise                              169\n    Kaiutois Fools Wus                               183\n    Blaiwas and the Head                             186\n    Wus and His Troubles                             191\n    Cedar Bird\u2019s Daughters Marry Bull Snake          194\n    Lok and Her Children                             203\n    G\u00e4k and the Kaiutois Brothers                    207\n    War between Beasts and Birds                     213\n    Wus Wants to Marry a Butterfly                   214\n    Lok Snew\u00e9djas                                    219\n    Snake Tries to Marry Squirrel\u2019s Daughters        228\n    W\u014fn and D\u00fbnwa                                    240\n    Wus and Tsmuk\u2019s Daughter                         243\n    Frog Steals Deer\u2019s Baby                          249\n    How Kalasl\u00e1kkas Won His Wife                     254\n    The Slo\u00e4 Brothers                                268\n    Coltz and Wus                                    272\n    The Bad Brother                                  276\n    K\u00f3wam and G\u00e1hga                                  284\n    Mink and Weasel                                  288\n    G\u00e4k Kills Pakol                                  310\n    The Stone People                                 314\n    Pito\u00edois                                         318\n    Ily\u00fayu and K\u00fblta\u2019s Sisters                       333\n    N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s                                         339\n    The Bringing to Life of the Wus Brothers         343\n    Lok and K\u00e9kina                                   350\n    Grasshopper in Love with Deer                    355\n    Kai and His Father-in-law, Natanatas             359\n    The Spirit of the Tula Grass                     366\n    A Medicine Story. Number I                       370\n    A Medicine Story. Number II                      374\n    A Skoks Story                                    376\n    A Doctor Story                                   379\n    \n    Notes                                            381\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS OF THE MODOCS\n\n\nL\u00c1TKAK\u00c1WAS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts      California lion\n    Djakkonus    A duck\n    Dohos        A duck\n    D\u00fat\u00fbte       A duck\n    Isis\n    Kai          Jack rabbit\n    Kl\u00e1do        Duck\n    Kols         Badger\n    Kumush\n    L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\n    Lok          Bear\n    M\u00f3watwas     South wind place people\n    Mukus        Owl\n    Nada         A bird\n    Skakas       Free toad\n    Tc\u00edkas       Wren\n    T\u00f3kwa        Mole\n    W\u00e1lwilegas   Butterfly\n\n\n\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was and her five brothers lived on the south side of Klamath\nLake. The brothers went every day to fish from an island in the middle\nof the lake. L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was stayed at home; she gathered wiwhi seeds and\nburned the down from them to prepare them as food for her brothers and\nfor herself.\n\nWhen L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was was at work, she looked like a common old woman, but\nwhen she shook herself and went out of the house, she was young, blue\nand beautiful.\n\nThe \u201cOld Man\u201d (Kumush) lived on the eastern side of Klamath Lake. On\nthe western side of the lake lived many people. Those people often saw\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was standing on the top of her house, looking blue and nice, but\nas soon as they went toward her she changed to an old hunchback woman.\n\nThe young men of the western village counseled together; then each day\nthey sent one of their number to try to steal up to L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was and\ncatch her before she could make herself old and ugly. They wanted to\ntalk to her; they wanted to ask her to take one of them for a\nhusband.\u2014Every young man in the western village tried, but L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\nwas never young when they came toward her.\n\nOne man started before daybreak; he wanted to get near the house and\nhide till L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was came out. That day she stayed inside, an old\nhunchback woman stringing beads. She knew when people were looking at\nher or thinking of her; she even knew where they were.\n\nEach morning L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\u2019 brothers went to the island to catch salmon,\nand dry them, but as soon as it was dark they came home. One night\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was said to her eldest brother: \u201cMen come here to watch me, and\ntry to catch me; when they find me hunchback and ugly to look at, they\nmake fun of me. I don\u2019t like that. It makes me feel badly.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow soon will you have seeds enough gathered?\u201d asked her brother.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow,\u201d said L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was.\n\n\u201cWhen the seeds are ready, you will go with us to the island where\nnobody can bother you,\u201d said her brother.\n\nOn the west side of the lake there was a young man as blue and\nbeautiful as L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was herself. His father kept him in an underground\nplace; no one ever saw him except when he went out to bathe or swim.\nWhen all the other young men had tried to get near L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was, and had\nfailed, the people said to this young man\u2019s father: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you send\nyour son? Maybe he could catch that beautiful blue woman.\u201d\n\nWhen the old man told his son about L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was, the young man said:\n\u201cThere is no use of my going there. If all the others have failed I\nshould fail, too.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are as blue and nice to look at as L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was is,\u201d said his\nfather; \u201cmaybe she will like you and take you for a husband.\u201d\n\nThe old man took his son out of the underground place, washed him and\ngot him ready, made him clothes from a wonderful cap, a cap that could\nnever be destroyed. When the young man put on those clothes, he was\nbeautiful beyond anything in the world; he was blue and gold and green,\nlike the clouds in the sky. He could run in the air and under the\nground. He had great power.\n\nWhen he was ready to start, his father said to him: \u201cWhen the sun comes\nto the edge of the sky, L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was shakes herself and goes to the top\nof the house to watch it. If you travel under the ground you will get\nnear her before she sees you.\u201d\n\nWhen L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was shook herself and stood on top of the house to watch\nthe sun, the young man was near by, under the ground, with one eye\nlooking out. She knew that he was there, but she didn\u2019t change to an\nold woman. She said to herself: \u201cThis man pleases me; he is not like\nthe others. He is the first man who hasn\u2019t laughed and made fun of me.\u201d\n\nThe young man watched L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was for a time and then went home.\n\nWhen L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\u2019 brothers came, she said: \u201cA young man, all blue and\ngold and green, nice to look at, has been here to watch me, but he\ndidn\u2019t make fun of me as the others did.\u201d\n\nThe eldest brother said: \u201cWe will move to the island to-morrow. Just at\nsundown we caught two big salmon; we will go early and dress them, then\nwe\u2019ll come for you. While we are gone, you must pack up the beads and\nskins.\u201d\n\nIn the morning, before it was light, the brothers started for the\nisland. Just as the sun looked up over the edge of the sky, the young\nman from the west came again. As L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was shook herself and came out\nat the smoke hole on top of the house, a light shone in her face. It\nwas so strong that it dazzled her and she turned back. The young man\nwas brighter than before, for he was out of the ground.\n\nWhen L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was went into the house, he peeped through a crack and\nwatched her. She knew he was there, but she didn\u2019t turn old; she sat\ndown and assorted her beads according to color. Then she picked up her\nmats and got ready to go to the island.\n\nEarly in the forenoon the five brothers came and began to pull down the\nhouse.\n\nThe people on the west side of the lake saw them at work and asked one\nanother: \u201cWhere are those brothers going? Why are they pulling down\ntheir house?\u201d\n\nAt midday, when the brothers were ready to start, they spread mats from\nthe house to the canoe, for L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was to walk on. When she got into\nthe canoe at the edge of the lake, she forgot all about the young man,\nforgot that she had fallen in love with him that morning.\n\nThe brothers pushed the canoe to get it into the water, but they\ncouldn\u2019t move it; the young man was holding it. He was right there by\nthem, but they didn\u2019t see him. They worked for a long time. Finally he\nlet go of the canoe, and it started, but he pulled it back. He let them\npush it out a second time, and a second time he pulled it back. They\nstarted many times but each time, before they could get out into the\nlake, they were back at the shore. They strove in that way till the\nmiddle of the afternoon, then the young man freed the canoe and the\nbrothers rowed toward the island.\n\nAs the canoe went on, the young man swam behind it in the form of a\nsalmon. He was in love with L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was, and he wanted to look at her.\nShe sat in the middle of the canoe with one of her brothers; two\nbrothers sat at the end of the canoe and two in front.\n\nAs they rowed along, one of the brothers saw a beautiful salmon, all\nblue and gold and green. He speared it and pulled it into the canoe,\nand that moment the salmon turned to a young man; but right away he\ndied.\n\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was cried and blamed her brothers. She knew the young man, and\nshe felt badly. The brothers felt badly, too. They went back to the\nshore and the next day they put their beads and mats in one big pile\nand burned them, together with the young man\u2019s body. When the pile was\nburned, there was a bright disk in the ashes. The disk was as bright as\nthe sun in the heavens. This was the crown of the young man\u2019s head.\n\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was saw it, and said: \u201cLook, what is that bright thing in the\nashes?\u201d\n\nThe brother who had speared the salmon took up the disk, gave it to\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was, and said: \u201cTake it to Kumush. He is in his sweat-house at\nNihlaksi. Kumush can bring a man to life if he has only one hair from\nhis head.\u201d\n\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was put the disk in her bosom, then she gave each of her\nbrothers a bundle of bone head-scratchers, and said: \u201cIf Kumush doesn\u2019t\nbring my husband to life, you will never see me again.\u201d\n\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was traveled all day; when night came she camped at Ko\u00e1skise,\nnot far from Kumush\u2019s sweat-house.\n\nThe next morning, just as the sun came up, L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was gave birth to a\nchild, a wonderfully beautiful boy. She strapped the baby on a board,\nput the board on her back and went to Kumush\u2019s sweat-house.\n\nWhen Kumush asked why she came, she took the disk out of her bosom, and\nsaid: \u201cI want you to bring this to life.\u201d\n\nWhen Kumush saw the disk, he thought he had never seen anything that\nwas half as bright and beautiful. L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was wanted to gather wood to\nbuild a fire in the sweat-house, but Kumush said: \u201cYou stay here; I\nwill get the wood.\u201d\n\nRight away he had a big fire; then he heated stones, and when they were\nready to put in the basket of water, he said to L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was: \u201cTake your\nbaby and lie down in the corner; wrap yourself up and keep still.\u201d\n\nWhen she was wrapped up tight, Kumush put the hot stones into the\nbasket, and when the water boiled, he put in the disk. After a little\nwhile the disk came to life, and became the young man again.\n\nWhen Kumush saw how beautiful the man was, he wanted him to die, and\nnever come to life again. He thought he would get the disk and the\nyoung man\u2019s beauty. As Kumush wanted, so it was. The young man died.\n\nWhen L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was unwrapped herself and saw that her husband was dead,\nshe cried, she felt so lonesome. She cried all the time Kumush was\ngathering wood to burn the body.\n\nWhen the body was half consumed, L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was asked Kumush to put more\nwood on the fire. While he was picking up the wood, she strapped the\nbaby on to the board, put the board on her back and sprang into the\nfire. Kumush saw her just in time to snatch the baby from her back.\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was and the young man\u2019s body were burned to ashes.\n\nThe baby cried and cried. Kumush called it by every name he could think\nof. He called it Wanaga, L\u00e1kana, Gailalam-tcaknoles. When he called it\nIsil\u00e1ml\u0115s, it didn\u2019t cry quite as hard; when he said Isis Ukn\u00f3les, it\ncried only a little; when he said Isis, the child stopped crying. The\nname pleased it.\n\nKumush put the child on the ground and looked in the ashes for the\ndisk. He found it and was glad, but he didn\u2019t know where to put it. He\nput it on his knee, under his arm, on his breast, on his forehead, and\non his shoulders, but it wouldn\u2019t stay anywhere. At last he put it on\nthe small of his back. The minute he put it there it grew to his body,\nand right away he was beautiful and young and bright, the brightest\nperson in the world. The disk had become a part of him, and he was the\nfather of Isis, for the disk was the father of Isis.\n\nThen Kumush left Nihlaksi and traveled toward the north. On the road he\nkept thinking where he was to hide the baby. At last he hid it in his\nknee, where it appeared as a boil. That night he stayed with two old\nwomen who lived in a house at the edge of a village. All night he\ngroaned and complained of the boil on his knee. In the morning he asked\none of the old women to press the boil.\n\nAs soon as she began to press it, she saw bright hair. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d\nasked she.\n\n\u201cI told you that wasn\u2019t a boil,\u201d said the other old woman.\n\nThey both pressed, and soon the baby came out. The women washed the\nchild, wrapped it up in a skin blanket and fed it.\n\nRight away people found out that old man Kumush had a baby and\neverybody wanted to know where he got it.\n\nKumush said: \u201cThe earth is kind to me. The earth gave this baby to me.\u201d\n\nKumush took Isis and went to live on the southeast side of Tula Lake,\n[1] and there he fished and worked and reared Isis.\n\nWhen Isis was old enough to marry, the M\u00f3watwas, a people from the\nsouth, brought him a woman named T\u00f3kwa (mole). A great many people came\nwith her, for she was a powerful woman, the best worker in the world.\n\nWhen the M\u00f3watwas came, Kumush and Isis were at home. Isis was asleep;\nhe had been fishing, and children were carrying fish from the canoe to\nthe house. As the M\u00f3watwas came in sight, G\u00e4k saw them and said to the\nchildren: \u201cI wonder where all those people came from? They will never\ncome here again!\u201d\n\nThat minute the M\u00f3watwas and T\u00f3kwa turned to stone. Kumush and Isis\nturned to stone, too, but their spirits came out and were men again.\nTheir bodies and the body of T\u00f3kwa are at Tula Lake now, near the\nbodies of the M\u00f3watwas people, who came with T\u00f3kwa.\n\nKumush took Isis to L\u0115klis, [2] where he had a house. Then he said to\nhim:\n\n\u201cYou must be wise, you must be great and powerful and strong. You must\ngo to the top of L\u00e2niswi and swim in the pond of blue water that is\nthere. When you get to the pond, you must pile up stones and then stand\nand talk to the mountain. Tell it what you think. The mountain will\nhear you. Everything in the world will hear you and understand you.\nAfter you have talked to the mountain, you must dive in the pond. Dive\nfive times to the bottom, and each time drink of the lowest water. When\nyou come out of the pond, build a fire, warm yourself and then sleep.\nIf you dream, don\u2019t tell the dream to any one. When you wake up, start\nfor home. On the road don\u2019t talk to any one, or drink any water. If you\ndo as I tell you, you will be as great as I am and do the things that I\ndo. You will live always. You will be the brightest object in the\nworld. If you endure these things, you will be able to bear every\nsuffering.\u201d\n\nIsis put on a dress made of the red bark of the teskot tree, and went\nto the swimming place on the mountain. At night he piled up stones till\nhe was sleepy; then he stood by the pond and talked to the mountain.\nAfter that he dived five times in the swimming pond. The fourth time he\nfelt something big and heavy, but he thought: \u201cMy father does not want\nme to have riches in this world; he wants me to have mind.\u201d The fifth\ntime he felt five kinds of gambling sticks and a large white feather.\n\nHe came out of the pond, built a fire and warmed himself; then he lay\ndown and went to sleep. He dreamed that he saw the gambling sticks and\nthe feather that he had felt in the water. When he woke up, he started\ndown the mountain. As soon as he got home, he began to tell his dream,\nbut Kumush said: \u201cDon\u2019t tell your dream now. If you were to gamble with\nsome one, then you might tell it.\u201d\n\nAfter this Kumush sent Isis to Sl\u00e1kkosi, a swimming place in a deep\nbasin on the top of a mountain. Kumush said: \u201cWhen you get there, make\na rope of willow bark, tie one end around a tree and the other around\nyour body, and let yourself down into the whirlpool.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis got to the top of the mountain, he went five times around the\nbasin, then he made the rope and let himself down into the water. He\nwent five times around inside the basin. Five times he saw a bright\nhouse that was nice to look at, and he saw lights burning in the water.\nAfter swimming, he drew himself up and started down the mountain.\n\nWhen Isis got home, Kumush sent him to Gew\u00e1sni, a pond deep down among\nthe rocks on the summit of Giw\u00e1syaina. [3]\n\nKumush said: \u201cLok and D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts used to swim in Gew\u00e1sni. When you get to\nthe top of the mountain, you must hold your right hand up and talk to\nthe mountain; ask it for mind and power. The mountain will hear you and\ngreat thoughts will go in through the top of your head. When you have\ntalked to Giw\u00e1syaina, you can talk all day to other mountains and not\nget tired or hoarse.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis got to the swimming place, he let himself down with a bark\nrope, sat on a rock at the edge of the water and washed himself. Then\nhe drew himself up to the top and lay down. He couldn\u2019t go to sleep. He\nwent to the place where he stood when he talked to the mountain, lay\ndown there and tried to sleep, but couldn\u2019t; so he started for home.\n\nWhen Kumush saw Isis coming, he washed himself, and used nice smelling\nroots; then he took food and went to meet him and fix a resting place\nfor him.\n\nAfter Isis had eaten and rested, Kumush said: \u201cI want you to go to\nAd\u00e1wa. You must go to all the gauwams (swimming places); you will find\nsomething in each one. Ad\u00e1wa is Lok\u2019s pond. He stays in the water\nthere. You must swim on the western side.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis got to the pond, he thought there was a great rock out in the\nwater. He swam out and stood on it. It was Lok and right away he began\nto shake and move. Isis jumped into the water; into the middle of a\nterrible whirlpool; the whirlpool was Lok\u2019s medicine. It made Isis\u2019\nhead feel queer and dizzy. He swam to the western side of the pond,\ndived five times, got out of the water and went home.\n\nKumush said: \u201cNow you must go to old man Mukus. Before G\u00e4k turned him\ninto a rock Mukus was the greatest gambler in the world. Around him are\nmany rocks, the men he was gambling with when G\u00e4k\u2019s word was spoken.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis started, Kumush put the back of his hand across his forehead,\nlooked toward the place and talked to Mukus, asking him to be good to\nIsis and give him whatever he had to give.\n\nWhen Isis got to the rock, he stood and waited. After a while old Mukus\nasked: \u201cWhat did you come for?\u201d\n\nIsis made no answer.\n\nThen the old man moved a little, and said: \u201cI heard Kumush talking. I\nhave nothing but gambling to give,\u2014my work. I will give you that.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis got home, he lay down. Kumush washed himself, then gave his\nson food and drink. The next morning he sent him to get Tcok, the great\ngambling medicine.\n\nKumush said: \u201cTcok is round and bright, like the sun. If a lazy man\ntries to catch it, it will show itself in two or three places at the\nsame time, and he can\u2019t overtake it; but if a strong man, who has been\nto the swimming ponds, follows it, it will let itself be caught.\u201d\n\nIsis went for Tcok, caught it and brought it home. He held it so\ntightly in his hand that it burned him, and blistered his hand.\n\nKumush said: \u201cYou must kill Tcok; if you don\u2019t it will get away from\nyou. You want it, for if a man has it when he is gambling, it gives him\nstrength.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis had killed Tcok, Kumush said: \u201cNow you must go to K\u00e1impeos.\nOn the way you will come to a small pond. Don\u2019t stop there, for it is a\nbad place. In K\u00e1impeos there are five Kais; they belong to the pond.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis got to K\u00e1impeos, he saw the sun, the moon, the stars and big\nfires down under the water. He dived five times; each time he felt a\nKai right near him. Under the arm of the fifth Kai there were gambling\nsticks. When Isis came out of the water, he lay down on a rock and\ntried to go to sleep, but he couldn\u2019t, so he got up and went home.\n\nWhile Isis was gone, Kumush made a sweat-house, and when Isis returned,\nhe said: \u201cTake off your bark clothes and sweat, then paint your face\nand body red and put on buckskin clothes and nice beads. You have been\nto all the swimming places, and you might be a big chief, but I don\u2019t\nwant that. Other people will come and it will be bad here. We will go\naway where you can keep all the strength the mountains and swimming\nplaces have given you, where you won\u2019t get bad and dirty from the earth\nand people.\u201d\n\nThey went to the top of a high mountain and built a house among the\nrocks. The house was red and nice to look at. Kumush thought that\npeople around Tula Lake would see his house, but couldn\u2019t climb up to\nit. Kumush had the north side, Isis the south side of the house; the\ndoor opened toward the east.\n\nKumush didn\u2019t know that Skakas and Nada lived on that mountain, but\nthey did, and both of them fell in love with Isis. They came to the\nhouse and neither one of them would go away.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d asked Kumush.\n\n\u201cI want Isis for a husband,\u201d said Skakas. Nada gave the same answer.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Kumush, \u201cI will find out what you can do. Which of you can\nbring water first from that lake down there?\u201d\n\nBoth started. Skakas found water on the way, turned around and was back\nfirst. When Nada came, she said to Skakas: \u201cI didn\u2019t see you at the\nlake.\u201d\n\n\u201cI got there first; I took some water and came back. We were not there\nat the same time.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am a fast traveler,\u201d said Nada. \u201cIt is strange that you got back\nfirst.\u201d\n\nIsis drank the water Nada brought, but wouldn\u2019t touch the water Skakas\ngave him.\n\nNada said: \u201cWe will go again. This time we will take hold of hands.\u201d\nThey started in the morning, got the water and Nada flew back. Skakas\ndidn\u2019t get back till midday.\n\nIsis drank the water Nada brought, and said it was good, but he\nwouldn\u2019t drink the water Skakas brought. Kumush tore Skakas in pieces\nand threw the pieces over the cliff into the lake. The pieces are in\nthe lake now; they became rocks.\n\nIsis and Kumush didn\u2019t want to live where people could come, so they\nleft their home and traveled toward the northeast. Not far from the\nhouse they put down their baskets, fish-spears, canoes and everything\nthey had used in fishing. Those things turned to stone and are there on\nthe cliff to-day. Kumush and Isis traveled for a long time before they\ncame to the river that is now called Lost River. Kumush made a basket\nand caught a salmon in it. Then he said: \u201cI want salmon always to be in\nthis river, and many of them, so people will have plenty to eat.\u201d At\nNus\u00e2ltg\u0103ga he made a basket and caught small fish, and said the same\nthing, so that there should always be plenty of small fish in the\nriver. He multiplied the histis, a kind of fish which Klamath Indians\nlike.\n\nWhen Isis and Kumush got to the third camping place, Kumush called it\nBl\u00e1ielka and the mountain he called Kt\u00e1ila\u00adwet\u0115s. He said to Isis: \u201cYou\nmust swim in the swimming pond on this mountain, and pile up stones,\nand talk to the mountain.\u201d\n\nIsis went to the pond and while he was in the water he saw nice\ngambling sticks and felt them touch his body. When he was through\nswimming and was coming out, G\u00e4k flew by. He saw Isis standing in the\nwater, and he thought: \u201cI wonder where that bright thing in the water\ncame from. It won\u2019t come here again!\u201d That minute Isis was turned to\nstone, but his spirit escaped, and went to his father\u2019s camping place.\n\nIsis and Kumush stayed a long time at Bl\u00e1ielka, then Kumush said: \u201cI\nmust travel around and work; you can stay here.\u201d Kumush left Isis on\nD\u00failast, a mountain on the eastern side of Tula Lake and he started off\nfor the west.\n\nWhile Kumush was gone, many women came to live with Isis. Among his\nwives were T\u00f3kwa, W\u00e9ak\u00fbs, Djakkonus, Tc\u00edktcik\u00fbs, Kl\u00e1do, Tseks, Dohos,\nD\u00fad\u00fbte, Tc\u00edkas, Kols, Nada and W\u00e1lwilegas. The first wife to have a\nchild was Tc\u00edkas, who had a little boy. Tc\u00edkas was uneasy about Kumush;\nshe was afraid something had happened to him.\n\nIsis said: \u201cNothing can hurt Kumush. He will be here soon. He can go\naround the world in two days.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Kumush came, bringing in his hands little bundles of\nseeds of every kind. He threw those seeds in different directions, and\ntalked to the mountains, the hills, the rivers and springs, to all\nplaces, telling them to take the seeds, to care for them and keep them\nforever. And he told them not to harm his grandson.\n\nIsis\u2019 wives were so nice to look at that Kumush fell in love with them\nand began to think how to get rid of Isis.\n\nOne day when he was hunting, Isis used his last arrow. Kumush said: \u201cI\nwill make some arrows, but you must get eagle feathers to put on them.\nWhen I was coming home I saw an eagle\u2019s nest on the top of a tree.\nThere were eggs in it; the eggs are hatched by this time. You can get\nsome of the young eagles.\u201d And he told him where the tree was.\n\nWhen Isis came to the tree, he took off his buckskin clothes and\nclimbed up to the nest. He found the eagles and threw them to the\nground. As he threw the last one, he looked down, and he nearly lost\nhis mind, for at Kumush\u2019s word the tree had grown so tall that it\nalmost touched the sky. Isis\u2019 clothes were under the tree. He saw\nKumush come and put them on, then pick up the eagles, and start for\nhome.\n\nBefore leaving the house, Kumush had said to Isis\u2019 wives: \u201cI am going\nfor wood.\u201d When he came back, the women thought he was Isis. When he\nasked: \u201cWhere is Kumush?\u201d they said: \u201cHe went for wood and hasn\u2019t come\nback.\u201d\n\nKumush hurried the sun down and right away it was dark. All the women\nexcept W\u00e1lwilegas, Kols, Tc\u00edkas and T\u00f3kwa thought he was Isis.\n\nThe next morning Tc\u00edkas asked W\u00e1lwilegas what she thought.\n\n\u201cHe isn\u2019t Isis,\u201d said W\u00e1lwilegas.\n\n\u201cThat is what I think,\u201d said Tc\u00edkas.\n\nKols cried and tears ran down her cheeks. \u201cTears,\u201d said she, \u201care a\nsign that Isis is in trouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d asked Kumush. \u201cHurry up and get me\nsomething to eat. I don\u2019t want people to come here to gamble; we will\ngo where they are.\u201d\n\nAfter Kumush had eaten enough, he and all the women, except W\u00e1lwilegas,\nKols and Tc\u00edkas, started for Pitcowa, the place where Isis always went\nto gamble. (A broad flat northeast of Tula Lake.)\n\nAs Kumush traveled, he set fire to the grass; the smoke went crooked.\nPeople saw it, and said: \u201cThat is not Isis. Isis\u2019 smoke always goes\nstraight up to the sky.\u201d\n\nKumush knew their thoughts. He tried to make the smoke go straight;\npart went straight and part went crooked.\n\nThen they said: \u201cMaybe that is Isis.\u201d\n\nWhen he got near, the people asked: \u201cWhere is Kumush?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe stayed at home; he didn\u2019t want to come.\u201d\n\nSome thought: \u201cThis man doesn\u2019t look just like Isis,\u201d but they began to\ngamble with him.\n\nWhen all the women had gone except W\u00e1lwilegas and Tc\u00edkas and Kols, Kols\nbegan to track her husband. W\u00e1lwilegas followed her. Tc\u00edkas put her\nbaby on her back and started for Pitcowa. She felt lonesome. She\ntraveled slowly, digging roots as she went along.\n\nKols tracked Isis to the tree. Then she said: \u201cHe is up in this tree,\nbut he must be dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is alive,\u201d said W\u00e1lwilegas. \u201cI hear him breathe. He loved his other\nwives and didn\u2019t care for us. They have gone off with another man; now\nhe will find out who loves him.\u201d\n\nKols tried to dig the tree up, but couldn\u2019t; then W\u00e1lwilegas began to\nmake a basket. When the basket was ready, Kols strapped it on her back\nand flew up part way to try it. She came back, got something for Isis\nto eat and bear\u2019s fat to rub him with, then she started again. She flew\nin circles around the tree, camped one night and reached Isis the next\nnight. He was almost dead. She gave him seeds and rubbed him with\nbear\u2019s fat. The next morning she put him in the basket and started\ndown; she got home at midday.\n\nKols and W\u00e1lwilegas fed Isis well. Every night they rubbed him with\nbear\u2019s fat and soon he was well again. Then they fixed a sweat-house\nand he sweated till his skin was nice and soft. It became rough while\nhe was on the tree. After he had sweated, they put nice clothes on him.\n\nIsis asked: \u201cHow did T\u00f3kwa and Nada and the others act while I was\nlost?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey didn\u2019t care much,\u201d said Kols; \u201cthey were not sorry.\u201d\n\nWhen the people at Pitcowa had gambled long enough, they began to play\nball. Some thought that the man they were playing with was Isis; others\nthought he was Kumush.\n\nKumush had the disk on his back. It looked like a great scar. One day,\nwhile the people were disputing, some saying that he was Isis, others\nthat he was Kumush, a man hired a doctor to make the south wind blow.\nWhen Kumush ran north after the ball and stooped down to pick it up,\nthe wind raised his blanket and everybody saw the scar. Then they knew\nKumush. They shouted, whooped and laughed. They stopped the game and\ngathered around him.\n\nAfter Isis had sweated, he said: \u201cWe will go and see what Kumush is\ndoing.\u201d He went ahead of Kols and W\u00e1lwilegas, and as he traveled he set\nfire to the grass. The smoke went straight up to the sky. People saw\nthe smoke, and said: \u201cThat is Isis! Isis is coming now!\u201d Kumush saw the\nsmoke and was scared; he trembled and almost lost his mind.\n\nTc\u00edkas had been camping and digging roots. She was mourning for Isis.\nThe child saw Isis coming and called out \u201cTsutowas\u201d (father).\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t call your father,\u201d said Tc\u00edkas, \u201cyour father is dead.\u201d\n\nThe boy called again, and again. Tc\u00edkas shook him and scolded him.\n\n\u201cWhy do you do that?\u201d asked Isis.\n\nTc\u00edkas turned and saw Isis. She was glad, for she thought he was lost\nor dead. \u201cWhere were you?\u201d asked she. \u201cHow did you get back?\u201d\n\n\u201cW\u00e1lwilegas and Kols, the wives I didn\u2019t care for, saved me.\u201d Then he\ntold her how W\u00e1lwilegas found him in the eagle\u2019s nest, and how she and\nKols carried him home and cured him.\n\nWhen Isis got to the gambling place, Kumush wanted to talk to him,\nwanted to be friendly. But Isis was angry; he wouldn\u2019t let Kumush come\nnear him. He had Kols and W\u00e1lwilegas gather wood and build a big fire;\nthen he called to his wives who were with Kumush and told them to come\nto him. They wouldn\u2019t come, for they were afraid. Then he willed that\nthey should come, and they had to; his word drew them, and they\ncouldn\u2019t help going.\n\nHe burned their feet and made them red; then he said: \u201cYou will no\nlonger be people; you will be birds and will scatter over the world.\nPeople will kill you, for you will be good to eat.\u201d They turned into\nducks and water birds and flew away. Then Isis threw Kumush into the\nfire and covered him with burning wood. He burned him to ashes, but in\nthe ashes was the disk.\n\nThe next morning the morning star, Kumush\u2019s medicine, called out to the\ndisk: \u201cWhy do you sleep so long? Get up, old man!\u201d That minute Kumush\nwas alive\u2014he will last as long as the disk and the morning star.\n\nIsis knew now that Kumush would never die, that nothing could kill him.\nIsis wandered off among the mountains, and as he traveled he sang a\nbeautiful song, that no one else could sing. People could imitate it,\nbut they couldn\u2019t repeat it or understand it.\n\nKumush followed Isis everywhere for years. At last he overtook him. He\nwanted to be kind, and live as before, but Isis said: \u201cAfter what you\ndid to me you may go wherever you want to in the world, and I will go\nwhere I want to. You are not my father. I feel that. I hope that of the\npeople, who are to come into the world hereafter, no father will ever\ntreat his son as you have treated me.\u201d\n\nKumush went to Tula Lake to live. Then Isis turned one of his three\nfaithful wives to a butterfly, another to a badger and the third to a\nwren, and then he went to live alone on Tcutg\u00f3si, a high mountain.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIVE BROTHERS OF L\u00c1TKAK\u00c1WAS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas     Eagle\n    D\u00fbnwa       Stone Mortar\n    G\u00e4k         Crow\n    G\u00e1ukos      Moon\n    Kaiutois    Wolf\n    L\u012dsgaga\n    L\u00f3luk       Fire\n    Naulintc\n    Wekwek      Magpie\n    W\u00fblk\u00fbtska   Marten\n\n\n\nWhen L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was went to Kumush\u2019s sweat-house with the disk, her five\nbrothers started for the east, traveling a little toward the north.\nAfter a long time they came to a village where there were many people.\nAll those people had their heads shaven and covered with cedar pitch,\nfor they were mourning.\n\nIn the house at the edge of the village lived three orphans, the\nNaulintc children, two girls and a boy. They were so poor that they had\nnothing to eat.\n\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\u2019 brothers went in and sat down by the fire. They put their\nelbows on their knees and their heads on their hands. They felt\nlonesome, for they were mourning for their brother-in-law.\n\nThe little boy, G\u00e1ukos, began to cry, for he was scared. His elder\nsister scolded him, and said: \u201cBe quiet; these men didn\u2019t come here to\nhurt you. If you don\u2019t stop crying, I will throw you out!\u201d\n\nG\u00e1ukos kept on crying, and at sunset his sister threw him out. She\nthrew him his blanket and laughed at him, and said: \u201cYou can go to the\ngauwams [4] on the mountains, talk to the earth, and swim. Maybe you\nwill be a great doctor, and know how to do things.\u201d\n\nL\u012dsgaga, the younger sister, went to G\u00e1ukos. She was crying, also. \u201cLet\nus go to the village and stay with our friends,\u201d said the little girl.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to go there,\u201d said G\u00e1ukos. \u201cYou must get a string and\nhelp me tie my blanket around my waist. I am going to the gauwams on\nthe mountains, but I will come back.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are a little fellow,\u201d said his sister; \u201cyou are not old enough to\ngo so far alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can take care of myself,\u201d said G\u00e1ukos. \u201cI will make myself strong. I\nwill talk to the earth and mountains and get them to give me power.\u201d\n\nL\u012dsgaga tied his blanket together and G\u00e1ukos walked off quickly. With\nevery step he took, he grew. He had a song that he sang as he traveled;\nthe song said: \u201cI\u2019ve been thrown out, I\u2019ve been given to the earth!\u201d\n\nThe trail G\u00e1ukos followed went into a ravine; when he came up on the\nother side of the ravine he was as large as a full-grown man.\n\nL\u012dsgaga was watching, and when she saw that her brother had grown large\nand strong, she went back to the house. The elder sister laughed, and\nsaid: \u201cOur little brother has gone to get wise and great, but the crows\nwill eat him.\u201d L\u012dsgaga didn\u2019t say a word.\n\nAfter a while L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\u2019 five brothers went to Blaiwas\u2019 house. The\neldest brother married Blaiwas\u2019 daughter; the second brother married\nKaiutois\u2019 daughter; the third W\u00fblk\u00fbtska\u2019s daughter; the fourth\nWekwek\u2019s; the fifth married the daughter of Kutyelolinas.\n\nFor five days L\u012dsgaga sat on the top of the house, making a tula grass\nmat, and waiting for her brother. Often her sister threatened to push\nher off, made fun of her, and asked: \u201cWho are you looking for? Your\nbrother,\u201d said she, \u201chas gone for wisdom and power, but some wild beast\nwill eat him; you will never see him again.\u201d\n\nThe sixth morning, when L\u012dsgaga went to the top of the house, she heard\nher brother\u2019s song. It sounded far away, near the mountains.\n\nAs G\u00e1ukos came along the trail, he saw nice things,\u2014blankets worked\nwith porcupine quills, buckskin dresses, beads, and bows and arrows. He\ntook a wonderful buckskin dress, for his little sister. There were no\nseams in the dress and it was covered with beads; there was not another\nsuch a dress in the world. G\u00e1ukos thought he would be kind to his elder\nsister, so he took a buckskin dress for her, but it wasn\u2019t as nice as\nL\u012dsgaga\u2019s.\n\nWhen his little sister saw him coming, she went down the ladder into\nthe house. Everybody in the village saw G\u00e1ukos coming and wondered who\nthe stranger was. He was like the moon; his body was changed and he was\nbright and beautiful. When the elder sister saw him, she laughed and\nsaid to L\u012dsgaga: \u201cMaybe that young man is your brother. Maybe G\u00e1ukos\nlooks like that now.\u201d\n\nL\u012dsgaga didn\u2019t say a word. She spread down the tula grass mat she had\nmade and it became bright and beautiful. The elder sister took it up,\nand spread it on her own place for the stranger to sit on; she thought\nhe might be coming to marry her.\n\nL\u012dsgaga said: \u201cI made that mat for my brother to sit on. You have\nalways said that he soiled your mats.\u201d She took the mat and put it down\non her own side of the house.\n\nThe elder sister brought water from the spring, and then began to pound\nseeds to give to the stranger. L\u012dsgaga took seeds from her own basket\nand put them in a basket for her brother.\n\nWhen G\u00e1ukos got home, he left his presents on the top of the house and\nwent in and sat down by L\u012dsgaga. She was still small, but G\u00e1ukos was a\nfull-grown man. She gave him the tula grass mat to sit on, and gave him\nseeds to eat.\n\nThe elder sister knew him now and was ashamed. After G\u00e1ukos had eaten\nthe seeds, he asked L\u012dsgaga to comb his hair.\n\nWhen night came and G\u00e1ukos was going to lie down near L\u012dsgaga, the\nelder sister said: \u201cWhy do you lie near that child? She will give you\nlice. I am glad to see you; I will lie on your mat,\u201d and she went to\nhis side of the house.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t come so near,\u201d said G\u00e1ukos. \u201cIt is too hot,\u201d and he pushed her\naway. She came again, and again he pushed her away. In the night when\nhe woke up, she was lying by his side; and he rolled over toward his\nlittle sister. The next morning he said to L\u012dsgaga: \u201cWash your face and\ncomb your hair. I have brought you a new dress.\u201d\n\nHe went to the creek and bathed, then he gave L\u012dsgaga both dresses, and\nsaid: \u201cGive this one to our sister.\u201d He gave L\u012dsgaga a belt to wear\nwhen she danced her maturity dance, and porcupine quills for her hair.\n\nWhen the little girl put on her new dress, she looked very nice. She\ngave the other dress to her sister, and said: \u201cThis is how our brother\npays you for throwing him out.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy did you bring such a nice dress to this dirty child?\u201d asked the\nsister. G\u00e1ukos didn\u2019t answer.\n\nWhile L\u012dsgaga was gone for wood, the elder sister put pounded ges [5]\nin a basket and placed the basket in front of G\u00e1ukos. He asked: \u201cWhy do\nyou do this? I heard, when I was a child, that young women, when in\ntheir father\u2019s house, gave ges to their husbands. It should not be\ngiven to a brother.\u201d He pushed the basket away. His sister didn\u2019t say\nanything, but she was angry. When G\u00e1ukos went out, she said to L\u012dsgaga:\n\u201cHe likes you, but he doesn\u2019t care for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou threw him out,\u201d said L\u012dsgaga. \u201cI have always been kind to him; but\nhe likes you, for he brought you a nice dress.\u201d\n\nThat night when G\u00e1ukos lay down on his mat, he told L\u012dsgaga to lie near\nhim, then he whispered to her, and told her his elder sister\u2019s\nthoughts; he knew them all. L\u012dsgaga listened, but she didn\u2019t say\nanything.\n\nIn the night the elder sister tied three strands of her hair to G\u00e1ukos\u2019\nhair. When he woke up and wanted to turn over he couldn\u2019t, for his hair\nwas tied. In the morning he said to L\u012dsgaga: \u201cTo-night I am going away;\nI can\u2019t stay here.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you go toward the east,\u201d said L\u012dsgaga, \u201cyou will be safe, and will\nfind people to help you.\u201d\n\nWhen the elder sister came with water, and saw G\u00e1ukos talking to the\nlittle girl, she asked: \u201cWhat are you saying to that child?\u201d He did not\nreply. That night she again tied three strands of her hair to her\nbrother\u2019s hair.\n\nWhen he woke up he said to himself: \u201cLet her sleep till I reach the\nfirst house.\u201d To L\u012dsgaga he said: \u201cI am going east and I must travel\nfast, for our sister will turn to a man-eater and follow me.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1ukos crossed a wide flat at a step, sprang from one mountain to\nanother, and early in the morning came to the first house. There were\nmany mountains between it and his sisters\u2019 house. In that house lived\ntwo sisters, old women who were wise and had power; they could even\nmake themselves young if they wanted to.\n\nG\u00e1ukos said to the old women: \u201cI am in trouble; you must save me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know how to save you,\u201d said the sisters. He begged hard, and\nat last they turned him into a baby, put him on a board and swaddled\nhim.\n\nWhen the girl woke up and found her brother gone, she turned to a\nman-eater and followed him. She tracked him across flats and over\nmountains. In the evening she came to the house where the old women\nlived, and asked: \u201cWhere is the young man who came here?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe haven\u2019t seen a young man,\u201d said the sisters. \u201cNobody comes here.\u201d\n\n\u201cHis tracks stop at your house,\u201d said the sister. She looked in, saw\nthe baby, and said: \u201cOh, you have a baby!\u201d She went in, picked up the\nchild, and said: \u201cHe looks like the man I am following.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat baby was born this morning,\u201d said one of the sisters.\n\nThe woman put the baby back where it had been, then she lay down and\nwent to sleep. She couldn\u2019t help it, for the sisters made her sleep.\nOne of them covered her, and said: \u201cLet her sleep till her brother is\nnear the place where he wants to go.\u201d\n\nAs soon as the woman was asleep, the sisters unswaddled the baby. That\nminute he was a man and started off, saying: \u201cIf I live, I will not\nforget you.\u201d\n\nAbout daylight the sister woke up, and asked: \u201cWhere is your baby?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe has gone.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought so. I should have eaten him last night. When I come back I\nwill pay you for this!\u201d She started off quickly; she could step and\njump as far as G\u00e1ukos could.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said the sisters, laughing, \u201cyou will not come back if you go\nwhere your brother is,\u201d and they threw ashes after her, that fire might\nburn her up.\n\nWhen G\u00e1ukos came to the house where old L\u00f3luk and his wife, D\u00fbnwa,\nlived, he asked D\u00fbnwa to save him. D\u00fbnwa didn\u2019t speak. When L\u00f3luk said\n\u201cUm, um!\u201d (he wanted his wife to save the young man) D\u00fbnwa stood up and\ntold G\u00e1ukos to go down in the hole where she had been sitting.\n\nG\u00e1ukos thought: \u201cMaybe she will sit on me and kill me.\u201d\n\nD\u00fbnwa said: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t think that; I won\u2019t hurt you.\u201d\n\nHe went into the hole, and D\u00fbnwa sat down again.\n\nOld L\u00f3luk\u2019s daughters were out hunting. When they went off to track\ndeer they left their clothes at home and wore only a breech-clout. The\nminute G\u00e1ukos hid in the hole, each sister\u2019s bowstring broke. The girls\nwere frightened, for they knew that something had happened, and right\naway they started for the house. When they were putting on their\nclothes, the elder sister said: \u201cI feel as if somebody were looking at\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel so, too,\u201d said the younger sister.\n\nThey went into the house. Just then G\u00e1ukos\u2019 sister came in like a\nwhirlwind.\n\n\u201cTell me where my brother is!\u201d screamed she.\n\nNobody answered. The sisters didn\u2019t know what she meant.\n\n\u201cWhere is he?\u201d cried she. \u201cI have tracked him to your house. Tell me\nwhere he is!\u201d\n\nThe elder sister put back her hair, and said: \u201cWe have been hunting; we\ndon\u2019t know anything about your brother. Ask our father or our mother.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1ukos\u2019 sister didn\u2019t ask but she began to poke the fire around. That\nmade the girls angry, for she was scratching their father\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cWhy do you scratch my father?\u201d screamed the elder sister.\n\n\u201cThis is not a living person; it is nothing but fire. I want to warm\nmyself.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat isn\u2019t a common fire,\u201d said the girl. \u201cThat\u2019s our father! Let him\nalone!\u201d She pushed her away.\n\nG\u00e1ukos\u2019 sister jumped on the girl, opened her mouth and was going to\nchew her up and swallow her but the younger sister pulled her back by\nthe hair. Old L\u00f3luk said \u201cUm! um!\u201d D\u00fbnwa raised herself up, rolled over\non the girl and broke her legs. The old man opened his mouth wide, like\ntwo walls, the sisters caught hold of the girl and threw her into his\nmouth. L\u00f3luk swallowed her.\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cYou will not do such things again. You will no\nlonger be a person; you will be a bird, and lay eggs in the holes of\ncedar trees. People will kill you, for you will be good to eat.\u201d\n\nOld L\u00f3luk called G\u00e1ukos out of his hiding-place and fixed him a place\nbetween his two daughters. D\u00fbnwa brought him seeds to eat; he was her\nson-in-law now.\n\nThe next morning G\u00e1ukos asked for a bow and arrows. The elder sister\nbrought him hers.\n\nHe tried the string of the bow, and said: \u201cThis is not strong enough.\u201d\n\nThe younger sister brought her bow; he tried the string and said: \u201cThis\nwill do.\u201d Then he started.\n\nD\u00fbnwa said to her elder daughter: \u201cYou must go, too. This place is new\nfor him; he may have bad luck.\u201d\n\nThe young woman took her bow and arrows and followed G\u00e1ukos. When he\nlooked back and saw her coming, he stopped and asked: \u201cWhy have you\ncome?\u201d\n\n\u201cI came to show you where the deer are.\u201d\n\nRight away they saw under a tree two deer hiding from flies. G\u00e1ukos\ncrept up and shot both of them with one arrow. Then he told the woman\nto stay by the two while he looked for others. Soon he shot two more,\nand again two, and farther on he killed five; he put the nine deer in\nhis belt and went back to his wife.\n\n\u201cPut the deer down,\u201d said she, \u201cI want to tell you about my father and\nmother. My sister and I kill ten deer each day. Each night our mother\neats all the bones of those ten deer and in the morning not a bone is\nleft; our father eats the meat and the livers. As soon as we get home,\nwe cut the deer open, take out the livers and put five of them in our\nfather\u2019s mouth. We give him meat three times each day. You mustn\u2019t\nthink about my father or my mother, for they know your thoughts.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1ukos said: \u201cI will kill the deer for you; I am a good hunter.\u201d He put\nthe eleven deer in his belt, and they went home.\n\nD\u00fbnwa asked: \u201cHow many deer did my son-in-law kill?\u201d\n\n\u201cEleven,\u201d said her daughter. The old woman was glad.\n\nG\u00e1ukos cut open the deer and gave five of the livers to L\u00f3luk; then he\ngave the back and leg bones and all the other bones to his\nmother-in-law; she pounded them fine and ate them.\n\nThe sisters cooked meat, for themselves and G\u00e1ukos, on their father\u2019s\nface, without scratching or hurting him.\n\nWhen they were through eating, the elder sister asked: \u201cWhere shall we\nhang meat to dry?\u201d\n\nG\u00e1ukos went off a little way, pulled up a big tree, brought it to the\nhouse and stuck it down in the ground. On the branches of the tree they\nhung the meat of the eleventh deer.\n\nThat night G\u00e1ukos said: \u201cI will stay ten days and hunt, then I must go\nand see my little sister.\u201d\n\nHe killed eleven deer each day for ten days. As soon as they had ten\nbig trees full of meat, he started for home. He spent the first night\nwith the two old women. When they asked about his sister, he said:\n\u201cL\u00f3luk ate her up.\u201d That night he heard singing and the rattle of a\nbelt; L\u012dsgaga was dancing her maturity dance. It was the fifth night.\nWhen young men came to ask the old women where the singing was, G\u00e1ukos\ntold them.\n\nEarly the next morning G\u00e1ukos got home. L\u012dsgaga was glad to see him;\nshe had on her buckskin dress and her face was painted red. He said: \u201cI\nhave two wives now. I am going to make this house big enough for us\nall. I am afraid to live in the house with old L\u00f3luk and my\nmother-in-law, for they know my thoughts. If I should think something\nbad about them, they might kill me.\u201d He thought hard, and right away\nthe house was big and full of nice things.\n\nThe next morning he started back. He spent the first night with the two\nold women and was at L\u00f3luk\u2019s house in the evening. That night he told\nD\u00fbnwa\u2019s daughters that he wanted to live in his old home. When he\ntalked, neither L\u00f3luk nor his wife knew what he said, they knew only\nwhen he thought. The elder sister told her mother in thought what\nG\u00e1ukos said.\n\n\u201cIs he going to leave you here?\u201d asked D\u00fbnwa.\n\n\u201cNo, he wants us to go with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur married daughters don\u2019t belong to us,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cWe\nkeep them while they are single, but married they belong to another\nhouse.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the young man killed ten deer. For ten days he killed\nten deer each day, and on the eleventh day he killed many more.\n\nOld L\u00f3luk and his wife never went out; they stayed always in one place.\nThe girls went every day to dig roots. They put them in baskets of\ndifferent sizes and arranged the baskets in a row, a large basket at\none end, and a small one at the other end. The old woman put a cap on\nthe head of the largest basket.\n\nWhen G\u00e1ukos and the two sisters were ready to start, D\u00fbnwa asked if\nthey would come back. When her son-in-law said that one of her\ndaughters would come and bring her deer meat, she was satisfied.\n\nThe three started and all the baskets followed; the basket with the cap\nwent ahead.\n\nG\u00e1ukos and the two sisters spent the first night with the old women.\nG\u00e1ukos gave the woman who had turned him into a baby and saved him from\nhis sister, the second basket. It was full of roots that were sweet and\ntasted good.\n\nThe next morning the three went on, and the baskets followed. When\nG\u00e1ukos got home, L\u012dsgaga stored away the roots and put up the baskets.\n\nG\u00e1ukos hunted deer for ten days and killed twenty each day. In the\nlargest basket, the one with the cap, he put all the bones; in the\nother baskets he put livers and meat. Then he said to the elder sister:\n\u201cYou must take these baskets to your father and mother.\u201d\n\nThe younger sister said: \u201cShe can stay here, I will go with the\nbaskets.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe had better do as we are told,\u201d said the elder.\n\n\u201cMake the journey in one day and don\u2019t camp anywhere,\u201d said G\u00e1ukos.\n\nThe elder sister started, and the baskets followed, walking one behind\nthe other. The younger sister cried, for she was lonesome.\n\nG\u00e1ukos said: \u201cWhen we left your father and mother, I promised that one\nof you should go back with meat; that is why I sent your sister. If you\nwant to go, get ready.\u201d\n\nShe started and overtook her sister. The elder sister went ahead of the\nbaskets, the younger walked behind them. When the sisters were near\nL\u00f3luk\u2019s house, old man G\u00e4k saw them and was scared. He said: \u201cBe-e-au!\nWhere did all those baskets come from? And why are they walking? They\nwill never do that again. Hereafter people will carry on their backs\nwhatever they put into baskets. Baskets will not walk like that.\u201d Right\naway the baskets turned to stone.\n\nThen G\u00e4k said to the sisters: \u201cYou will no longer be living women; you\nwill be rocks, and stay right here on the trail.\u201d When he came to\nL\u00f3luk\u2019s house, he said: \u201cOld woman D\u00fbnwa, you will no longer be great.\nIn later times people will pound roots on you.\u201d To old man L\u00f3luk he\nsaid: \u201cHereafter you will be kin to no man; you will burn all alike.\u201d\nAs G\u00e4k spoke, L\u00f3luk became common fire.\n\nWhen G\u00e1ukos\u2019 wives were turned to stone his bowstring broke, and right\naway he knew what had happened.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nISIS AND YAULILIK\u2019S DAUGHTERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Isis\n    Kumush\n    Yaulilik    Snowbird\n\n\n\nIsis built a house on Teutgosi and lived there many years. Each day\nthat he hunted for deer he killed three or four. He hung the deer on\nhis belt as though they were rabbits and carried them home; then he cut\nup the meat and dried it.\n\nIsis had so much deer meat that if all the people in the world had\neaten of it there would have been plenty left.\n\nWhile hunting Isis always sang, and his song was heard everywhere in\nthe world. It was so beautiful that any one listening to it might have\ndropped asleep.\n\nOn one side of Isis\u2019 mountain lived old Yaulilik with her two daughters\nand her son. Yaulilik was so poor that she had to beg meat for herself\nand children. One day she said to her daughters:\n\n\u201cYou ought to be sorry that your mother has to work so hard. For many\nyears I\u2019ve begged meat for you to eat. I am old now. You should find a\ngood hunter to kill deer for us. I can\u2019t work for you much longer. You\nare old enough to have a husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere can we find a good hunter?\u201d asked the elder sister.\n\n\u201cThere is one on this mountain; I often hear his song. If you didn\u2019t\nalways stay in the house, you would hear it. It is the song of a great\nhunter.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is his house?\u201d asked the elder sister.\n\n\u201cIn the north. You will camp one night before you get there.\u201d\n\nThe sisters didn\u2019t want to go, for they didn\u2019t know about Isis; they\nwere afraid and wanted to stay with their mother.\n\nOld Yaulilik said: \u201cIsis is the son of Kumush. He is the greatest\nhunter, the greatest ball player and the greatest runner in the world.\nHe can run down deer and catch them.\u201d When the sisters heard this they\nwere willing to go.\n\nYaulilik filled two baskets with roots and seeds, gave one to each of\nher daughters, and said: \u201cOld man Kumush lives with Isis, and sometimes\nhe pretends that he is Isis. He puts on Isis\u2019 clothes and tries to sing\nhis song. You mustn\u2019t let him fool you. When Isis is at home there is\nalways fresh deer meat hanging on the trees near the house.\u201d\n\nThe sisters traveled till the sun went down; then they camped. They\nstarted early the next morning and soon came to a large village.\nBlaiwas was chief of that village.\n\nAll the Blaiwas people came out of their houses to watch the sisters\nand see where they were going. When they got to Isis\u2019 house, they put\ntheir baskets down outside the door and listened; somebody inside was\nplaying on a flute.\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cIsis is at home.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not Isis,\u201d said the younger sister.\n\n\u201cHow do you know?\u201d\n\n\u201cMother said that if Isis was at home there would be fresh deer meat\nhanging on the trees near the house. All the meat on these trees is\ndry.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you hear the nice music?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, but mother said that Isis\u2019 song was so beautiful that one might\nfall asleep when they heard it.\u201d\n\nThe sisters disputed for a long time, then the elder one went in and\nsat down by the man who was playing on the flute; the younger followed\nher, but she was crying, for she knew that the man was not Isis.\n\nIsis was away hunting for deer and just at the moment the girls put\ndown their baskets outside his door his bowstring broke, then he knew\nthat young women had come to him. He started for home, singing as he\ntraveled. When he was on the top of a mountain where the sky came to\nthe ground, all the people in the world heard his song, and said: \u201cIsis\nis coming.\u201d\n\nThe old man kept playing on the flute. After a while he said to the\ngirls: \u201cI wonder why Kumush doesn\u2019t come?\u201d\n\nThe elder sister nudged the younger, and said: \u201cThis man is Isis;\nKumush has gone for wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the younger, \u201cIsis is coming. I hear his song.\u201d\n\nSoon Isis came in with his belt full of deer. He stood still and didn\u2019t\nknow where to go, for the younger sister sat in his place. At last he\nwent to the old man\u2019s side of the house, put down the deer, cut up one\nand cooked the ribs, then he asked Kumush if he had given the girls\nanything to eat.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Kumush. \u201cI was playing on the flute.\u201d\n\nIsis gave the girls meat. The elder ate, but the younger couldn\u2019t, for\nshe was crying.\n\nWhen it was growing dark, Isis said to Kumush: \u201cTake off my clothes;\nyou will break the beads if you sleep on them.\u201d\n\nThe girls went outside; then Isis gave Kumush a large mat and said: \u201cGo\noutside with your young women.\u201d\n\nThe old man took his blanket and the mat and went outside.\n\nThe elder sister was angry; she knew now that she had been fooled. When\nKumush lay down, she and her sister held him to the ground and began to\nscratch him with their bone head-scratchers. He screamed and called to\nIsis that the girls were killing him, but Isis didn\u2019t care. The girls\nscratched harder and harder; they wanted to scratch all the flesh off\nhis bones. At daybreak, when they started for home, there was nothing\nleft of old Kumush but bones and the disk.\n\nIsis stayed in the house all night. He heard Kumush scream and knew\nthat the girls were abusing him, but he was angry at the old man and\nwouldn\u2019t help him. In the morning when he went out to see what had\nhappened, he found only a pile of bones and a disk. The girls were\ngone.\n\nIsis felt badly; he was lonesome for his father. He strung his bow and\nshot an arrow through the air. The arrow struck the side of a mountain,\nsplit the mountain apart, and through the opening came a river so deep\nand wide that the girls couldn\u2019t cross it. They sat down on the bank,\nfor they didn\u2019t know what to do. Soon Isis came and sat down near them.\nHe called the elder sister to him, caught hold of her hair and cut her\nhead off. Then he killed the younger sister and threw both bodies into\nthe river.\n\nIsis felt badly. He went to Mlaiksi (Mt. Shasta), lay on the top of the\nmountain and cried. He didn\u2019t want to go home.\n\nOne day, when old Yaulilik was fishing in the river that Isis had made,\nthe head of one of her daughters floated into the net. When she sent\nCog\u00e1tkis, her little boy, to see if there were fish in the net he ran\nback crying: \u201cThere is something in the net that looks like my sister\u2019s\nhead.\u201d\n\nYaulilik ran to the river, took the head out of the net and saw that it\nwas the head of her elder daughter. She put the head in a basket and\ncarried it home, then she sent Cog\u00e1tkis to look for the body. Soon he\ncalled out: \u201cCome quick, my sister\u2019s body is in the net!\u201d\n\nThey carried the body to the house, then old Yaulilik sent the boy to\nwatch for the head of his younger sister, and after a time her head and\nbody floated into the net. Then the mother made a sweat-house, and\nbuilt a big fire in it. She put the two heads and two bodies into a\nbasket, and put the basket and Cog\u00e1tkis into the sweat-house. She\nwrapped up Cog\u00e1tkis, so that he couldn\u2019t move, and said: \u201cNo matter\nwhat your sisters say or do, you mustn\u2019t answer them or speak to them.\u201d\nShe shut the sweat-house up tight, and started for Blaiwas\u2019 village to\nask Blaiwas if he knew who had killed her daughters.\n\nAs Yaulilik traveled, she sang her snow song, and a great snow-storm\ncame. When she stopped singing the snow stopped falling. When she got\nto Blaiwas\u2019 village she went into the first house.\n\nThe people living there asked: \u201cWhy did you come here? What do you\nwant?\u201d\n\nYaulilik said: \u201cI came to find out who killed my daughters.\u201d\n\nThe people didn\u2019t know, but they gave her as much deer meat as they\ncould lift. Yaulilik made it small by her power, put it in her bosom\nand went on. She began to sing; snow fell again. She stopped at each\nhouse in the village, and asked: \u201cDo you know who killed my daughters?\u201d\n\nAt each house she got the same answer, and a gift of deer meat.\n\nAt the end of the village three houses stood near together. Blaiwas\nlived in the first house, G\u00e4k in the second, and Nd\u00fakis in the third.\nWhen Yaulilik asked Blaiwas who had killed her daughters, he said: \u201cI\ndon\u2019t know, you had better ask old man G\u00e4k; he lives in the next house;\nmaybe he will know.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k didn\u2019t know, but told her to ask the old man who lived in the next\nhouse.\n\nWhen Yaulilik went into the third house old Nd\u00fakis looked up, and\nasked: \u201cWhat have you come here for?\u201d When she told him he asked: \u201cWhat\nman did you send your daughters to?\u201d\n\nYaulilik didn\u2019t answer.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Nd\u00fakis, \u201cthe man you sent them to killed them. Just after\ndaylight I heard one woman scream and then another. The second screamed\nlouder and longer than the first. The sound came from the northwest.\u201d\n\nYaulilik said: \u201cI know now who killed my daughters.\u201d She thanked old\nNd\u00fakis and started for home. As soon as she started the snow\ndisappeared, the ground was dry and the air warm and pleasant.\n\nWhen half-way home Yaulilik took the deer meat out of her bosom, made\nit large and carried it on her back. When she was near the sweat-house\nshe heard talking and laughing.\n\nYaulilik hadn\u2019t been gone long when the girls began to be noisy and to\ntry to make their brother talk to them. The elder sister\u2019s voice called\nfrom the basket:\n\n\u201cLittle brother, don\u2019t you want to see me? I have come back.\u201d\n\nThe younger one said: \u201cGet up, little brother, and talk with us.\u201d\n\nCog\u00e1tkis didn\u2019t look toward the basket or speak.\n\nWhen Yaulilik was almost home, the girls got out of the basket and\nbegan to unwrap their brother, but he jumped up and ran away. He was\nafraid if he spoke his sisters would die again. When Yaulilik opened\nthe sweat-house door, the three ran out; they were glad to see her. The\ngirls were well, but their bodies were tender, and Yaulilik wouldn\u2019t\nlet them go far from the house. One day, when the younger sister was\ndigging roots, she looked toward Mlaiksi, and right away she wanted to\ngo there. When she carried her roots home, she said to her mother:\n\u201cTo-morrow I am going to Mlaiksi to gather seeds.\u201d\n\nYaulilik said: \u201cYou can\u2019t go there; you are not strong enough.\u201d\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cYour feet are too tender to climb that\nmountain.\u201d\n\nThe girl waited two days, then she said: \u201cTo-morrow I am going to\nMlaiksi to gather seeds.\u201d In the morning she asked her mother to feed\nher.\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cIf you go, I shall go.\u201d\n\nThen Cog\u00e1tkis began to cry; he wanted to go with his sisters. When his\nmother gave each of the girls water for the road he screamed.\n\nYaulilik said to her daughters: \u201cYour brother feels lonesome; let him\ngo with you.\u201d\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cIf the lolus seeds are not ripe, we shall come\nhome. He is little; he can\u2019t travel fast.\u201d\n\nThe younger sister was sorry for her brother, so she tied his hair in a\nknot on the top of his head and told her mother to take him to Duilas\n(Little Shasta). From Duilas, through the power of his hair, he could\nsee them when they were on the mountain.\n\nThe sisters started toward Mlaiksi, and Yaulilik took Cog\u00e1tkis to\nDuilas. Cog\u00e1tkis could watch his sisters, and he could talk with his\nmother, though the house was a long way off.\n\nThe sisters gathered seeds all day. When it was nearly dark, the elder\nsister asked: \u201cShall we stay here to-night?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have only a few seeds,\u201d said the younger sister. \u201cWe can stay all\nnight and fill our baskets in the morning.\u201d\n\nWhen Cog\u00e1tkis saw them picking up wood, he went home. Early the next\nmorning he went again to Duilas. The girls were busy gathering seeds,\nso Cog\u00e1tkis called to his mother: \u201cThey are at work again!\u201d\n\nAt midday the younger sister said: \u201cI want water; where can we get\nsome?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know. There is no water near here.\u201d\n\nThey were at the foot of Mlaiksi. The younger sister looked at the\nmountain, and said: \u201cHigh up there is a green place; maybe there is\nwater there. I will go and see.\u201d\n\nShe climbed the mountain till she came to soft ground, then went higher\nand came to a place where the ground was moist. She dug down and found\nmud, but no water; she went higher, and this time, when she came to\nmoist earth and dug down, she found a little water. She called her\nsister, and both drank of the water and then filled their water\nbaskets.\n\nThey gathered seeds a while. The younger sister kept going up the\nmountain. The elder sister said: \u201cDon\u2019t go so high; you won\u2019t find any\nseeds up there. It is getting late. Let us go back to where we camped\nlast night.\u201d\n\nThe younger sister heard a strange noise and wanted to find out what\nmade it. She thought: \u201cI will go back now, but to-morrow I will go to\nthat green place that I can see way up there. Maybe I will find out\nwhat that noise is.\u201d\n\nWhen they got to the foot of the mountain and began to pick up wood\nCog\u00e1tkis went home, and said to his mother: \u201cMy sisters have camped\nwhere they camped last night.\u201d\n\nThat night the younger sister couldn\u2019t sleep; she was thinking of the\nstrange noise she had heard: she felt drawn toward the sound. The next\nmorning they gathered seeds till their baskets were full, then the\nyounger sister said: \u201cI want water. I am going to the place where we\ngot some yesterday.\u201d\n\nThey left their baskets and climbed up to where they had dug the hole;\nthere was no water in it. They went higher, came to moist ground, dug\ndown and got a little water. The younger sister again heard the strange\nsound. She went higher and listened; then she heard, far away, a weak\nvoice saying: \u201cK\u0115lmas popanwe. K\u0115lmas popanwe!\u201d (You are drinking\nnothing but tears. You are drinking nothing but tears.)\n\nThe girl followed the sound, and saw a bright red hair on the ground.\nWhen she picked it up she knew it was a hair from the head of the man\nwho had killed her and her sister. The place where she found the hair\nwas level and smooth, without a blade of grass or a weed on it. In the\nmiddle of that space was a skeleton. All the bones were dead but the\neyes were living. It was Isis\u2019 skeleton. Thousands of deer had been\nthere and danced around the man who had killed so many of their people.\nWith their hoofs they had stamped down the grass and beaten the ground\nlevel.\n\nWhen the elder sister saw the skeleton she was frightened and wanted to\nrun away, but the younger sister spread out her wolf skin blanket and\nput the skeleton on it.\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to do with that?\u201d asked her sister. \u201cIt smells\nbadly. It makes me sick.\u201d She wanted to snatch the skeleton and break\nit up.\n\n\u201cGo away!\u201d said the younger girl. \u201cI will bring this to life.\u201d She\nwrapped the bones up carefully and started down the mountain, her\nsister following.\n\nWhen they got to their camp the elder said: \u201cLet me have those bones;\nthey are the bones of the man who killed us. I\u2019ll pound them up and\nburn them.\u201d\n\nThe younger sister didn\u2019t listen to what the elder said. She got deer\nfat, rubbed the skeleton with it, and pushed some of the fat between\nthe teeth. She worked over the skeleton all night. In the morning there\nwas a little flesh on the bones; at midday the skeleton was a man\nagain.\n\nThe younger sister fed him, and the elder gathered seeds for him, for\nshe liked him now.\n\nCog\u00e1tkis called to his mother: \u201cI see two persons sitting in the shade\nwhile my elder sister gathers seeds.\u201d The next morning he called to his\nmother: \u201cThe stranger is alone; both my sisters are gathering seeds.\u201d\n\nIsis drank water, then lay down and slept. While he was sleeping\nporcupines danced around him, and sang. The sisters came at midday, and\nwhen the porcupines saw them coming they ran away.\n\nThe next morning the younger sister said to Isis: \u201cThis is the last day\nwe can gather seeds near by. We must go farther up the mountain.\u201d\n\nWhen Isis was left alone, he fell asleep. The porcupines came and\ndanced around him and sang, and each one\u2019s song was: \u201cWho can cut off\nmy feet and hands and eat them?\u201d\n\nIsis woke up, struck the chief of the porcupines with his cane, killed\nhim, cut off his feet and hands, pulled the quills out of his back and\ntied them up in ten bunches. He wanted to give the quills to his wives\nand his mother-in-law. Isis was well now, and could hunt for deer.\n\nSoon the elder sister had a child. Isis stayed in the camp till the\nchild was five days old; then he went out to hunt. He killed a deer,\nbut he let it stay where it fell, for it wasn\u2019t right to bring it home\nor say anything about it. The next day he killed two deer at a shot,\nleft them and went home.\n\nWhen the first child was seven days old, the younger sister had a\nlittle boy. When the last child was eight days old, Isis said to his\nwives: \u201cYour mother and brother are lonesome, we must go and see them.\u201d\n\nThe next day they started. The sisters complained of the weight of the\nseeds, and Isis said: \u201cI will make them light.\u201d As soon as he said\nthat, their baskets were as light as feathers.\n\nWhen Cog\u00e1tkis saw his sisters and the stranger coming, he called to his\nmother: \u201cMy sisters are coming, and there is a beautiful blue man with\nthem!\u201d\n\nOld Yaulilik spread out nice mats and her daughters\u2019 bead dresses and\nornaments. When near the house, Isis stopped and the sisters went on.\nCog\u00e1tkis ran to meet them; he was glad, but he was afraid of Isis. The\nsisters said: \u201cGo and lead your brother-in-law into the house.\u201d\n\nWhen they were in the house, Cog\u00e1tkis told Isis how deer ran around him\nwhile he was out on the mountain watching his sisters.\n\nIsis said: \u201cI want to go and hunt for deer, but I haven\u2019t arrows\nenough.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give you all the arrows you want,\u201d said old Yaulilik, and she\ngave him a quiverful that had been her husband\u2019s. Isis killed two deer.\n\n\u201cHow can we carry them home?\u201d asked Cog\u00e1tkis.\n\nIsis picked up the deer and put them in his belt. On the way home he\nkilled a third deer, and he put that in his belt also. When Cog\u00e1tkis\ntold his younger sister how many deer Isis had killed, she said: \u201cMaybe\nhe will go away. Maybe he doesn\u2019t want to stay here.\u201d\n\nIsis pulled up six big trees, brought them to the house, and set them\nup to dry meat on. The next morning he killed a deer and said to\nCog\u00e1tkis: \u201cStay here and see that nobody steals the deer while I am\ngone.\u201d When he came back, he had ten deer in his belt. He put the first\ndeer with them and went home. Old Yaulilik cut up the meat and hung it\non the trees to dry, and Isis stretched the skins.\n\nThe next day when he was going home, with his belt full of deer, he\nwanted water and went to Tsiwisa to get it. After he had drunk, he\nremembered that the spring was near the place where Kumush had made the\ntree, with the eagle\u2019s nest on it, grow up to the sky. He didn\u2019t like\nthe place, for it made him feel lonesome. That night he said to the\nsisters: \u201cI am going away. You have plenty of meat; you can stay here\nwith your mother and brother.\u201d\n\nThe elder sister didn\u2019t want to stay, and Isis said: \u201cI am going a long\nway. The children are heavy; you couldn\u2019t carry them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can carry them easily,\u201d said the elder sister. \u201cI don\u2019t want to\nstay here.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you can go,\u201d said Isis, for he wasn\u2019t willing to show that he\nwanted them to stay.\n\nHer sister said: \u201cHe is going to a strange country; something may\nhappen to me. I don\u2019t want to go.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must go with us, so get ready,\u201d said the elder sister.\n\nThe younger sister said to her mother: \u201cI didn\u2019t ask to go with them;\nshe makes me go.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can stay with me,\u201d said her mother.\n\n\u201cNo, maybe they will be gone a long time. I will go with them, and it\nwon\u2019t be my fault if something happens.\u201d\n\nThe three traveled one day, then camped at Blaiaga, the mountain where\nIsis and Kumush had lived. Isis said to his wives: \u201cThe spring here is\nbad. When you go for water you must take the children with you.\u201d\n\nEach day for three days Isis killed deer. The fourth day, while he was\nhunting, the younger sister put her child on her back and went for\nwood. The elder sister wanted water and she ran to the spring to get\nit. She forgot that Isis had told her not to leave her child alone. The\nboy was beginning to walk. He tried to follow his mother, but he fell\nand hit his head on a stone. He gave one loud scream and died. The\nyounger sister heard the scream and ran to the child. The mother heard\nit, too, and came back quickly. Her sister said: \u201cI told you we had\nbetter stay with our mother; that we didn\u2019t know this country. See what\ntrouble has come to us.\u201d They set bushes on fire to let Isis know what\nhad happened.\n\nThe moment the child fell, Isis struck his foot against a stone and\nstumbled. Right away he knew that something had happened to one of his\nboys. When he saw the smoke, he left the deer he had killed and went\nhome.\n\nWhen the younger sister told him that his child was dead, he said: \u201cI\ndidn\u2019t think that my wives would cause me greater grief than my father\ndid, but you have. I thought my children would live, that they would go\nto the swimming places and talk to the earth and mountains, that they\nwould be wise and able to do things. If my first child is dead, I don\u2019t\nwant to live in this world. Bring me the other boy.\u201d\n\nWhen the younger wife brought her child, Isis took it in his arms, put\nthe top of its head to his mouth and drew a long breath. He took the\nbreath out of the child and it was dead. He put the second child by the\nfirst, and said:\n\n\u201cThese children are half mine, and half yours. The breath is mine, the\nbody is yours. I have taken the breath into myself. You can have the\nbodies. This is the last time I will have a wife. If I live forever I\nshall never have a woman again. This place where my children died will\nbe called Yaulilikumwas. People who come in after times will find you\nunder the bushes. They will make sport of you and call you\nYaulilikumwas. You will die from the cold and snow which you yourselves\nmake. Your brother will run around the world and be K\u0115ngkong\u2019kongis (a\nmedicine) and doctors will dream of him.\u201d\n\nRight away Isis\u2019 wives and their mother turned to snowbirds and\nCog\u00e1tkis became K\u0115ngkong\u2019kongis. Sometimes ordinary people see him in\ntheir dreams. Doctors always see him in the country where his mother\nand sisters lived. Isis went north, went far away.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKUMUSH AND HIS DAUGHTER\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Kumush   The Creator, according to Indian myths\n    Skoks    Spirit\n\n\n\nKumush (our Father) left Tula Lake and wandered over the earth. He went\nto the edge of the world and was gone a great many years; then he came\nback to Nihlaksi, where his sweat-house had been; where L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\nbrought the disk; where the body of the beautiful blue man was burned,\nand where Isis was saved.\n\nKumush brought his daughter with him from the edge of the world. Where\nhe got her, no one knows. When he came back, Isis and all the people he\nhad made were dead; he and his daughter were alone. The first thing he\ndid was to give the young girl ten dresses, which he made by his word.\nThe finest dress of all was the burial dress; it was made of buckskin,\nand so covered with bright shells that not a point of the buckskin\ncould be seen.\n\nThe first of the ten dresses was for a young girl; the second was the\nmaturity dress, to be worn while dancing the maturity dance; the third\nwas the dress to be put on after coming from the sweat-house, the day\nthe maturity dance ended; the fourth was to be worn on the fifth day\nafter the dance; the fifth dress was the common, everyday dress; the\nsixth was to wear when getting wood; the seventh when digging roots;\nthe eighth was to be used when on a journey; the ninth was to wear at a\nball game; the tenth was the burial dress.\n\nWhen they came to Nihlaksi Kumush\u2019s daughter was within a few days of\nmaturity. In the old time, when he was making rules for his people,\nKumush had said that at maturity a girl should dance five days and five\nnights, and while she was dancing an old woman, a good singer, should\nsing for her. When the five days and nights were over she should bathe\nin the sweat-house, and then carry wood for five days. If the girl grew\nsleepy while she was dancing, stopped for a moment, nodded and dreamed,\nor if she fell asleep while in the sweat-house and dreamed of some\none\u2019s death, she would die herself.\n\nKumush was the only one to help his daughter; he sang while she danced.\nWhen the dance was over and the girl was in the sweat-house, she fell\nasleep and dreamed of some one\u2019s death. She came out of the sweat-house\nwith her face and hands and body painted with w\u00e1ginte. [6] As she stood\nby the fire to dry the paint, she said to her father: \u201cWhile I was in\nthe sweat-house I fell asleep and I dreamed that as soon as I came out\nsome one would die.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat means your own death,\u201d said Kumush. \u201cYou dreamed of yourself.\u201d\n\nKumush was frightened; he felt lonesome. When his daughter asked for\nher burial dress he gave her the dress to be worn after coming from the\nsweat-house, but she wouldn\u2019t take it. Then he gave her the dress to be\nworn five days later, and she refused it. One after another he offered\nher eight dresses\u2014he could not give her the one she had worn when she\nwas a little girl, for it was too small. He held the tenth dress tight\nunder his arm; he did not want to give it to her, for as soon as she\nput it on the spirit would leave her body.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you give me my dress?\u201d asked she. \u201cYou made it before you\nmade the other dresses, and told me what it was for; why don\u2019t you give\nit to me now? You made everything in the world as you wanted it to be.\u201d\n\nHe gave her the dress, but he clung to it and cried. When she began to\nput it on he tried to pull it away. She said: \u201cFather, you must not\ncry. What has happened to me is your will; you made it to be this way.\nMy spirit will leave the body and go west.\u201d\n\nAt last Kumush let go of the dress, though he knew her spirit would\ndepart as soon as she had it on. He was crying as he said: \u201cI will go\nwith you; I will leave my body here, and go.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the daughter, \u201cmy spirit will go west without touching the\nground as it goes. How could you go with me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know what to do,\u201d said Kumush. \u201cI know all things above, below, and\nin the world of ghosts; whatever is, I know.\u201d\n\nShe put on the dress, Kumush took her hand, and they started, leaving\ntheir bodies behind. Kumush was not dead but his spirit left the body.\n\nAs soon as the daughter died, she knew all about the spirit world. When\nthey started she said to her father: \u201cKeep your eyes closed; if you\nopen them you will not be able to follow me, you will have to go back\nand leave me alone.\u201d\n\nThe road they were traveling led west to where the sun sets. Along that\nroad were three nice things to eat: goose eggs, wild cherries and\ncrawfish. If a spirit ate of the wild cherries it would be sent back to\nthis world, a spirit without a body, to wander about homeless, eating\nwild cherries and other kinds of wild fruit. If it ate of the goose\neggs, it would wander around the world, digging goose eggs out of the\nground, like roots. It would have to carry the eggs in a basket without\na bottom, and would always be trying to mend the basket with plaited\ngrass. If it ate of the crawfish it would have to dig crawfish in the\nsame way.\n\nA Skoks offered Kumush\u2019s daughter these three harmful things, but she\ndid not look at them; she went straight on toward the west, very fast.\n\nAfter a time Kumush asked: \u201cHow far have we gone now?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are almost there,\u201d said the girl. \u201cFar away I see beautiful roses.\nSpirits that have been good in life take one of those roses with the\nleaves, those that have been bad do not see the roses.\u201d\n\nAgain Kumush asked: \u201cHow far are we now?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are passing the place of roses.\u201d\n\nKumush thought: \u201cShe should take one of those roses.\u201d\n\nThe girl always knew her father\u2019s thoughts. As soon as that thought\ncame into his mind, she put back her hand and, without turning, pulled\na rose and two leaves. Kumush did not take one. He could not even see\nthem, for he was not dead.\n\nAfter a time they came to a road so steep that they could slide down\nit. At the beginning of the descent there was a willow rope. The girl\npulled the rope and that minute music and voices were heard. Kumush and\nhis daughter slipped down and came out on a beautiful plain with high\nwalls all around it. It was a great house, and the plain was its floor.\nThat house is the whole underground world, but only spirits know the\nway to it.\n\nKumush\u2019s daughter was greeted by spirits that were glad to see her, but\nto Kumush they said \u201cSonk!\u201d (raw, not ripe), and they felt sorry for\nhim that he was not dead.\n\nKumush and his daughter went around together, and Kumush asked: \u201cHow\nfar is it to any side?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is very far, twice as far as I can see. There is one road down,\u2014the\nroad we came,\u2014and another up. No one can come in by the way leading up,\nand no one can go up by the way leading down.\u201d\n\nThe place was beautiful and full of spirits; there were so many that if\nevery star of the sky, and all the hairs on the head of every man and\nall the hairs on all the animals were counted they would not equal in\nnumber the spirits in that great house.\n\nWhen Kumush and his daughter first got there they couldn\u2019t see the\nspirits though they could hear voices, but after sunset, when darkness\nwas in the world above, it was light in that house below.\n\n\u201cKeep your eyes closed,\u201d said Kumush\u2019s daughter. \u201cIf you open them, you\nwill have to leave me and go back.\u201d\n\nAt sunset Kumush made himself small, smaller than any thing living in\nthe world. His daughter put him in a crack, high up in a corner of the\nbroad house, and made a mist before his eyes.\n\nWhen it was dark, Wus-Kumush, the keeper of the house, said: \u201cI want a\nfire!\u201d Right away a big, round, bright fire sprang up in the center,\nand there was light everywhere in the house. Then spirits came from all\nsides, and there were so many that no one could have counted them. They\nmade a great circle around Kumush\u2019s daughter, who stood by the fire,\nand then they danced a dance not of this world, and sang a song not of\nthis world. Kumush watched them from the corner of the house. They\ndanced each night, for five nights. All the spirits sang, but only\nthose in the circle danced. As daylight came they disappeared. They\nwent away to their own places, lay down and became dry, disjointed\nbones.\n\nWus-Kumush gave Kumush\u2019s daughter goose eggs and crawfish. She ate them\nand became bones. All newcomers became bones, but those who had been\ntried for five years, and hadn\u2019t eaten anything the Skoks gave them,\nlived in shining settlements outside, in circles around the big house.\nKumush\u2019s daughter became bones, but her spirit went to her father in\nthe corner.\n\nOn the sixth night she moved him to the eastern side of the house. That\nnight he grew tired of staying with the spirits; he wanted to leave the\nunderground world, but he wanted to take some of the spirits with him\nto people the upper world. \u201cAfterward,\u201d said he, \u201cI am going to the\nplace where the sun rises. I shall travel on the sun\u2019s road till I come\nto where he stops at midday. There I will build a house.\u201d\n\n\u201cSome of the spirits are angry with you,\u201d said Wus-Kumush. \u201cBecause you\nare not dead they want to kill you; you must be careful.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey may try as hard as they like,\u201d said Kumush; \u201cthey can\u2019t kill me.\nThey haven\u2019t the power. They are my children; they are all from me. If\nthey should kill me it would only be for a little while. I should come\nto life again.\u201d\n\nThe spirits, though they were bones then, heard this, and said: \u201cWe\nwill crush the old man\u2019s heart out, with our elbows.\u201d\n\nKumush left Wus-Kumush and went back to the eastern side of the house.\nIn his corner was a pile of bones. Every bone in the pile rose up and\ntried to kill him, but they couldn\u2019t hit him, for he dodged them. Each\nday his daughter moved him, but the bones knew where he was, because\nthey could see him. Every night the spirits in the form of living\npeople danced and sang; at daylight they lay down and became\ndisconnected bones.\n\n\u201cI am going away from this place,\u201d said Kumush, \u201cI am tired of being\nhere.\u201d At daybreak he took his daughter\u2019s bones, and went around\nselecting bones according to their quality, thinking which would do for\none tribe and which for another. He filled a basket with them, taking\nonly shin-bones and wrist-bones. He put the basket on his back and\nstarted to go up the eastern road, the road out. The path was steep and\nslippery, and his load was heavy. He slipped and stumbled but kept\nclimbing. When he was half-way up, the bones began to elbow him in the\nback and neck, struggling to kill him. When near the top the strap\nslipped from his forehead and the basket fell. The bones became\nspirits, and, whooping and shouting, fell down into the big house and\nbecame bones again.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll not give up,\u201d said Kumush; \u201cI\u2019ll try again.\u201d He went back, filled\nthe basket with bones and started a second time. When he was half-way\nup he said: \u201cYou\u2019ll see that I will get to the upper world with you\nbones!\u201d That minute he slipped, his cane broke and he fell. Again the\nbones became spirits and went whooping and shouting back to the big\nhouse.\n\nKumush went down a second time, and filled the basket. He was angry,\nand he chucked the bones in hard. \u201cYou want to stay here,\u201d said he,\n\u201cbut when you know my place up there, where the sun is, you\u2019ll want to\nstay there always and never come back to this place. I feel lonesome\nwhen I see no people up there; that is why I want to take you there. If\nI can\u2019t get you up now, you will never come where I am.\u201d\n\nWhen he put the basket on his back the third time, he had no cane, so\nhe thought: \u201cI wish I had a good, strong cane.\u201d Right away he had it.\nThen he said: \u201cI wish I could get up with this basketful of bones.\u201d\n\nWhen half-way up the bones again tried to kill him. He struggled and\ntugged hard. At last he got near the edge of the slope, and with one\nbig lift he threw the basket up on to level ground. \u201cMaklaks\u00fbm k\u00e1ko!\u201d\n(Indian bones) said he.\n\nHe opened the basket and threw the bones in different directions. As he\nthrew them, he named the tribe and kind of Indians they would be. When\nhe named the Shastas he said: \u201cYou will be good fighters.\u201d To the Pitt\nRiver and the Warm Spring Indians he said: \u201cYou will be brave warriors,\ntoo.\u201d But to the Klamath Indians he said: \u201cYou will be like women, easy\nto frighten.\u201d The bones for the Modoc Indians he threw last, and he\nsaid to them: \u201cYou will eat what I eat, you will keep my place when I\nam gone, you will be bravest of all. Though you may be few, even if\nmany and many people come against you, you will kill them.\u201d And he said\nto each handful of bones as he threw it: \u201cYou must find power to save\nyourselves, find men to go and ask the mountains for help. Those who go\nto the mountains must ask to be made wise, or brave, or a doctor. They\nmust swim in the gauwams and dream. When you are sure that a doctor has\ntried to kill some one, or that he won\u2019t put his medicine in the path\nof a spirit and turn it back, you will kill him. If an innocent doctor\nis killed, you must kill the man who killed him, or he must pay for the\ndead man.\u201d\n\nThen Kumush named the different kinds of food those people should\neat,\u2014catfish, salmon, deer and rabbit. He named more than two hundred\ndifferent things, and as he named them they appeared in the rivers and\nthe forests and the flats. He thought, and they were there. He said:\n\u201cWomen shall dig roots, get wood and water, and cook. Men shall hunt\nand fish and fight. It shall be this way in later times. This is all I\nwill tell you.\u201d\n\nWhen he had finished everything Kumush took his daughter, and went to\nthe edge of the world, to the place where the sun rises. He traveled on\nthe sun\u2019s road till he came to the middle of the sky; there he stopped\nand built his house, and there he lives now.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWANAGA BECOMES WUS-KUMUSH\n\n\nTwo brothers, Kumush and Wanaga, lived east of Tula Lake. Wanaga was\nuneasy; he didn\u2019t want to be always with Kumush, so one day he started\noff toward the northwest to hunt for woodchucks. When he had killed\nfive, he took out the intestines, cleaned them, filled them with fat\nand cooked them in front of the fire. The bodies he cooked on hot\nstones. He was eating the intestines when his brother came up to the\nfire. Kumush\u2019s face was wet, he had run so fast.\n\nWanaga was mad, but he said: \u201cNow you are here, come and eat some of\nthese intestines.\u201d\n\nKumush didn\u2019t want a part of the intestines; he wanted them all, and\nwanted the woodchucks, too, so he asked: \u201cWhich way did you come?\u201d\n\nWanaga told him, but told him wrong.\n\nKumush said: \u201cI saw a long track the way I came. I thought it was\nyours.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you eat?\u201d asked Wanaga.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t, my heart beats so. I am scared; I feel as if some one were\nnear here, watching us. I will go down the hill and look around in the\nbushes.\u201d\n\nKumush went into thick bushes where Wanaga couldn\u2019t see him; he pulled\nevery hair out of his head, eyebrows, eye-lashes, ears, beard, armpits,\npulled out every hair on his body, and said to them: \u201cYou must be\npeople; you must scream and shout and run after me, as if you were\ngoing to catch me and kill me.\u201d\n\nRight away the hairs became men, and pursued Kumush. As he ran, Kumush\nscreamed: \u201cWanaga, save yourself! Wanaga, save yourself!\u201d\n\nWanaga started up, then he remembered his bow and arrows. He got them,\nthen he ran off as fast as he could; he forgot all about the five\nwoodchucks.\n\nAs soon as Wanaga was out of sight, the hairs were back in Kumush\u2019s\nhead and body, and he sat down to eat the woodchucks. As he ate he kept\nsaying: \u201cMy brother, you shouldn\u2019t eat such nice things alone; I like\nwoodchucks.\u201d\n\nWanaga felt lonesome, for he thought that Kumush had been killed. As he\ntraveled along, he caught a woodchuck. Then he saw another one, and he\nfollowed it and killed it with a club; he killed a third one among the\nrocks. He built a fire and cooked the woodchucks. Just as he was\nbeginning to eat the intestines, he heard Kumush call out: \u201cOh, I am\nglad you are alive. I was afraid those men had killed you.\u201d\n\nWhen Kumush came up to the fire he said: \u201cI hid under the bushes where\nthey couldn\u2019t find me; that is how I got away! I saw tracks out here;\nare they yours?\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t come that way,\u201d said Wanaga.\n\n\u201cI feel queer,\u201d said Kumush; \u201cI will go back and see if there is any\none around. I am scared.\u201d\n\nWhen he got where Wanaga couldn\u2019t see him, he pulled all his hair out\nagain, and said: \u201cBe men! As soon as you are near the woods, make a\nring around me and act as if you were going to kill me.\u201d\n\nWhen they surrounded him, Kumush screamed: \u201cSave yourself, Wanaga! Run\nfor your life! These men will kill you.\u201d\n\nWanaga took his bow, quiver and club and ran off as fast as he could;\nhe forgot about his woodchucks again, and Kumush ate them, saying: \u201cMy\nbrother, you shouldn\u2019t eat such good things alone.\u201d\n\nThe next day Wanaga kept thinking about Kumush. At last he said to\nhimself: \u201cIf Kumush wasn\u2019t killed yesterday he is fooling me.\u201d\n\nWanaga killed five woodchucks and this time he cooked them without\ntaking out the intestines. Just as he was ready to begin eating, he saw\nKumush coming. When Kumush came up to the fire he pretended to cry, he\nwas so glad that Wanaga was alive. Wanaga offered him part of a\nwoodchuck, but he wouldn\u2019t take it. He said that he couldn\u2019t eat; he\nhad seen tracks, and the grass was trampled down as if people were\naround; he would go and see.\n\nWanaga thought: \u201cYou\u2019ll not fool me this time!\u201d When Kumush screamed to\nhim to run as fast as he could, he ran, but he took the woodchucks with\nhim.\n\nWanaga traveled for two days without camping. Kumush was hungry, but he\nfollowed his brother. The third day Wanaga caught a wood chuck. He was\ncooking it when Kumush came up.\n\n\u201cI have been mourning for you,\u201d said Kumush. \u201cI thought you were\nkilled. Over there by the bushes I saw tracks; I will go and look at\nthem.\u201d He tried the old trick, but Wanaga wasn\u2019t fooled; he took the\nwoodchuck with him.\n\nIt was cold, but Kumush followed Wanaga. He followed him all winter. In\nthe spring, when Kumush was only one day behind, Wanaga came upon\nporcupine tracks. He made a fire near an old tree where he thought the\nporcupines would come when it began to grow dark. He hadn\u2019t been there\nlong before he saw a porcupine and killed it; then he saw another and\nkilled it. The next day, when he was cooking the porcupines, Kumush\ncame up. \u201cHow did you kill those porcupines?\u201d asked he.\n\nWanaga was mad, but he said: \u201cSit down and eat, then I will tell you\nhow I catch porcupines.\u201d When they were through eating, Wanaga said:\n\u201cIf I want to kill porcupines, I find a tree where I think they live; I\nset fire to the tree, then I wrap my blanket tight around me and lie\ndown under it; when the tree gets to burning well, the porcupines fall\nout of it.\u201d\n\nWanaga traveled on, and Kumush stopped to kill porcupines. He set a\ntree on fire, wrapped his blanket tight around him and lay down. The\ntree burned quickly, and soon limbs began to fall. A heavy bough fell\non Kumush, and he thought: \u201cThat is a big porcupine!\u201d Another fell.\nKumush lay still; he thought: \u201cOh, I shall have lots of big, fat\nporcupines!\u201d At last the tree fell and killed him. His body was burned\nup, nothing was left of it but the skull and the disk. They lay in the\nashes for a long time; at last the morning star saw them and called\nout: \u201cWhat is the matter, old man? Why do you sleep so long? Get up!\u201d\n\nKumush sprang up, and right away began to track Wanaga. It was warm\nweather, and Wanaga was hunting woodchucks among the rocks. He had\nkilled five when Kumush came. Wanaga divided the meat with his brother,\nand the two spent the night together.\n\n\u201cHow do you kill woodchucks?\u201d asked Kumush.\n\n\u201cWhen I see one among the rocks, I jump down and catch it. It is easy\nfor me; I am used to it.\u201d\n\nThey started on together, Wanaga ahead. Kumush saw a woodchuck; he\njumped and caught it, then he cooked and ate it, for Wanaga had told\nhim he must eat the first one he caught before he tried to catch\nanother. When his stomach was full, he saw a woodchuck down in a hole\nbetween high rocks; he jumped, struck on the rocks, burst open and\ndied.\n\nHis body lay there a long time; then crows came and ate it up, till\nonly the disk was left. They tried to eat that, but couldn\u2019t. At last\nthe morning star saw the disk and cried out: \u201cWhat are you doing down\nthere, old man? Get up. Wanaga has gone far; you must hurry!\u201d\n\nKumush sprang up. \u201cOh, I was sleeping!\u201d said he.\n\nWanaga turned back. He wished for a wide river to flow between him and\nhis brother, and right away it was there. Kumush traveled up and down\nthe river. After a long time he found a ford and crossed. Wanaga was on\nPitcowa flat, where a great deal of ges was growing. He got two sticks,\numda, sharp at both ends, took them out on the flat, showed them the\nges, and said: \u201cWork hard. Dig lots of ges!\u201d\n\nThey dug fast and made a great many piles of ges. At sundown, Wanaga\nwent to the flat; he washed a few roots and ate them; they were nice\nand white, and the skin came off of itself. He carried the sticks back\nto his camp. The next day, when Kumush came, Wanaga gave him plenty of\nroots to eat.\n\n\u201cHow did you get all of these roots?\u201d asked Kumush.\n\n\u201cI made two sticks, one straight, the other bent. Then I took them to\nthe flat and told them to dig.\u201d\n\nKumush cut five sticks and sharpened them at both ends. Wanaga said:\n\u201cYou must take them to the flat and leave them; you mustn\u2019t go near\nthem till sundown.\u201d\n\nKumush took his sticks to the flat, put a basket by each stick, and\nsaid: \u201cYou must work hard; you must dig plenty of roots.\u201d He went back,\nbut he couldn\u2019t wait, and in a few minutes he ran over to see if the\numda were digging fast. That made them mad and they stopped digging. He\nwent back again, for he thought that when he was out of sight they\nwould go to work, but they didn\u2019t.\n\nThe next morning Wanaga made small, and put into two baskets, the piles\nof ges his sticks had dug. (When he wanted to, he poured out the ges,\nthought hard, and it was big again.)\n\nKumush was so mad that he broke up his sticks and threw them away.\n\nWanaga took his sticks to the flat, stuck them in the ground, and said:\n\u201cGrow here and be of use to people in later times.\u201d\n\nThe sticks grew, and are the kind that are used in digging roots now.\nWhen he had planted the sticks, Wanaga said: \u201cHereafter I will be\nWus-Kumush.\u201d Then he left Kumush, stole away in the night. Kumush\nstayed two or three days. When he had eaten all the ges Wanaga left, he\nwent off toward the east. Thenceforth he traveled about in the world,\nalone.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTEALING FIRE\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas         Eagle\n    D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts         California Lion\n    Goww\u00e1           Swallow\n    K\u0101hkaas         Stork\n    K\u00e2noa           A Small Bird\n    K\u00e1whas          Blackbird\n    K\u00e9is            Rattlesnake\n    K\u00e9kina          Lizard\n    K\u00f3we            Frog\n    K\u00fblta           Otter\n    Lok             Bear\n    Moi             Squirrel\n    M\u00fakus           Owl\n    N\u00e9b\u0103ks          Sickness\n    S\u00e4ltg\u0103ls        The Red of Morning\n    S\u00fabbas          Sun\n    Tcanpsaudewas   The People to Come\n    Tcwais          Turkey Buzzard\n    Ts\u012dhl\u00e4s         Red Squirrel\n    Tusas\u00e1s         Skunk\n    Tskel           Mink\n    W\u00e1manik         Bull Snake\n    W\u00fblk\u00fbtska       Black Marten\n    Wus             Black Fox\n\n\n\nThe ten N\u00e9b\u0103ks brothers, who lived in the east at the edge of the\nworld, and the ten S\u00fabbas brothers, who lived in the west, where the\nsky touches the earth, were the owners of fire.\n\nOther people had no fire, they ate their meat raw, but they knew about\nfire, and were thinking how to get it; they knew that those men owned\nit.\n\nAt last Wus called a council of all the people in the world. When they\nhad assembled, he said: \u201cI feel sorry for the people who are to come.\u201d\n(He had heard that people would come soon, and that he and his people\nwould no longer be persons. He called the people who were to come\nTcanpsaudewas.) \u201cIt will be hard for them in the world if they have no\nway of keeping warm. I know where fire is, and if you will help me I\nwill get it.\u201d\n\nAll promised to help, then Wus said: \u201cYou must stand in a line, one\nperson a long running distance from another, and the line must reach\nfrom here to within one running distance of the place where the N\u00e9b\u0103ks\nhave their house. I will go to the house and steal fire, but you must\nbring it home.\u201d\n\nWus sent the best runner to the farthest station, the second fastest\nrunner to the second station and so on, till near home he placed men\nwho could run only a little, men who soon tired out. The K\u00e9is family he\nsent underground. People who traveled in the air formed a line above\nthe earth.\n\n\u201cWe will tell you how the N\u00e9b\u0103ks brothers live,\u201d said the people of the\nair, \u201cfor we see them often. Every morning they build fires on the\nmountains to drive deer to their snares. When you see a big smoke, you\nwill know that you are near their house. Two Moi brothers are the\nservants of the N\u00e9b\u0103ks. The Mois never hunt; they stay in the house and\nwatch that no one steals fire.\u201d\n\nWus traveled toward the east for a good many days. At last he reached\nthe N\u00e9b\u0103ks\u2019 house without being seen by the brothers, or by their\nservants. When he went through the smoke hole into the house, the Moi\nbrothers were terribly scared; one ran out to call the N\u00e9b\u0103ks, but Wus\ndrove him back.\n\n\u201cWhy are you frightened?\u201d asked he. \u201cI have come to talk to you. Sit\ndown. Why don\u2019t you have your faces painted? you would look nice. I\nknow how to paint; I will paint them for you.\u201d\n\nHe took dead coals, drew long lines across their faces and said: \u201cGo to\nthe spring and look at yourselves.\u201d (From that time those people have\nstripes on their faces.)\n\nAs soon as they were out of the house, Wus took the largest piece of\nfire, put it behind his ear and ran off as fast as he could. When he\npicked up the coal, the fires on the mountains died down.\n\n\u201cSomebody is in our house,\u201d said the N\u00e9b\u0103ks brothers. \u201cSomebody has\nstolen fire!\u201d And they hurried home.\n\nWhen Wus had fire behind his ear, he ran a long distance, ran till he\nmet Tskel. Tskel took fire and ran till he came to Kaiutois; the next\nman to carry fire was D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts. D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts carried it till he came to\nW\u00e1manik, who was stationed under the ground.\n\nThe N\u00e9b\u0103ks brothers were fast runners and they nearly caught W\u00e1manik.\nHe was so scared that he was just going to drop fire and run off when\nhe met Ts\u012dhl\u00e4s and gave it to him. The next to carry fire was Lok. Lok\nwas a slow runner and the N\u00e9b\u0103ks nearly came up to him before he met\nMoi, a fast runner. When Moi was getting tired, and was running slower,\nhe came to K\u00e9kina. K\u00e9kina sprang away and was soon far ahead. When he\nreached W\u00fblk\u00fbtska the N\u00e9b\u0103ks brothers were a long way off, but\nW\u00fblk\u00fbtska was not a good runner, and the N\u00e9b\u0103ks gained on him fast.\nThey got so near that he hid in the bushes and gave out a frightened\ncall. K\u00fblta was waiting right there; he snatched fire and ran as fast\nas he could till he was tired and was thinking: \u201cWhere is the man who\nis going to take fire? I can\u2019t hold out much longer.\u201d\n\nThen he met Tusas\u00e1s. Blaiwas took fire from Tusas\u00e1s; he went up in the\nair and carried fire a long distance, until Goww\u00e1 took it. When\ndarkness came, M\u00fakus was there to carry fire, and he and his people\ncarried it till daylight. Then S\u00e4ltg\u0103ls took it, and afterward K\u00e1whas.\nK\u00e1whas was about to drop it, when he saw Tcwais and called: \u201cTake it\nquick! I am tired! I can\u2019t hold it; I shall let it drop.\u201d\n\nTcwais looked back as he started. The N\u00e9b\u0103ks were so near that his head\nturned yellow from fright, but he reached the next man\u2014and so they\ncarried fire day after day, till the ocean was not far off. Only a few\nrunners were left, and some of them couldn\u2019t run ten steps.\n\nAt last wood dove took fire, but the N\u00e9b\u0103ks brothers were so near that\nhe hid in the bushes. He thought: \u201cNow they will kill me, and then\npeople will never have fire.\u201d It made him feel lonesome; and he cried,\nnot loud, but down in his throat.\n\nThe N\u00e9b\u0103ks heard his cry, and said: \u201cWe can never overtake these\npeople; that cry is far off. We can\u2019t get fire back, but the people who\nhave stolen it will have us with them always. We will stay in their\ncountry; we won\u2019t go back to our old place; we will scatter and live\neverywhere in the world.\u201d\n\nTill that time the N\u00e9b\u0103ks brothers had lived by themselves, and had\nnever troubled people. After fire was stolen, they were everywhere in\nthe world. People had fire, but they had sickness too.\n\nWus-Kumush saw this race, but he didn\u2019t help, for at the council, when\nhe told the people what would happen, they wouldn\u2019t listen to his\nwords. They liked the words of Wus better.\n\nNow Wus called a second council of all the people in the world, and\nwhen they came he said: \u201cWhat else shall we do for the people who are\ncoming? I think we should steal fire from the brothers who live in the\nwest, at the edge of the world. I can go there and get it.\u201d\n\n\u201cK\u0101hkaas, S\u00fabbas\u2019 servant, will see you,\u201d said the people; \u201cyou will\nnever get there.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I can get there,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI will kill the ten brothers and come\nback. It will not be hard.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat will you do when you get to the house? No person has ever been\nthere.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t kill all the brothers,\u201d said Wus-Kumush. \u201cIf you do it will be\ndark here. There will never be any light again. It will always be\nnight.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will freeze to death,\u201d said some of the people. \u201cThere is deep\nsnow along that trail.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will build ten houses, where I can rest and get warm.\u201d\n\n\u201cBefore you get to S\u00fabbas\u2019 house there is a long, broad flat,\u201d said\nBlaiwas. \u201cThe brothers dig roots there. I often see them when I am up\nin the air. Near the house there is a high mountain. You must go to the\ntop of it and watch the brothers from there. When they start for home,\nthere is always a terrible snowstorm. The eldest brother goes first,\nand one follows another. In the morning, when they start to hunt for\nroots, the youngest goes first.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus came to the mountain he talked to it and asked it for help;\nthen he watched for the brothers. Soon he saw the youngest brother come\nout of the house and start toward the flat. One brother followed\nanother till all ten had gone to dig roots; then Wus went toward the\nhouse. The house was made of dirt and covered with turf. K\u0101hkaas didn\u2019t\nsee Wus coming; when he sprang in at the smoke hole K\u0101hkaas screamed\nout. Wus jumped on him, choked him and scolded him; then he threw him\ninto a corner, and said: \u201cWhen I come to see you, what makes you\nscream? I want to talk nice to you; I want you to go home with me. This\nis a bad place. I will give you shells and nice beads.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go out and make just a little noise,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas, \u201cand then\nthe brothers won\u2019t come home; that is the way I do.\u201d\n\nWus let him go out, but he followed him so he wouldn\u2019t scream loud.\n\nThe brothers heard K\u0101hkaas and one said: \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter? I heard\nsomething.\u201d When they heard him the second time they said: \u201cOh, that is\nK\u0101hkaas at play.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do these men live?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cEvery morning they go early to dig roots; they dig all day, then one\nbrother comes home. When he gets to the house, he puts down his basket\nof roots, comes to the smoke hole and looks all around to see if any\none is here; then he comes in. Each brother comes in the same way; each\none brings a basketful of roots, and each looks around the house before\nhe comes in. The five oldest brothers come first, then the five\nyoungest follow. As each one starts for home, there is a terrible\nsnowstorm. I build a big fire from that pile of sticks outside the\nhouse. The snow and cold almost put the fire out, but I keep putting on\nsticks.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere can I hide, so that they won\u2019t see me when they look around?\u201d\nasked Wus.\n\n\u201cThey don\u2019t look toward the east,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas; \u201cyou must hide in the\neast part of the house, in the hole where we keep roots.\u201d\n\n\u201cHide me there,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI am going to take you home with me. You\nmust tie up a bundle of roots for us to eat on the road. You will have\nto eat a good deal or you will give out. It is a long road.\u201d\n\nThe eldest brother was coming, so K\u0101hkaas built a great fire. When the\nman got to the house he put down his basket of roots and looked in at\nthe smoke hole; he looked all around, then asked: \u201cWhy did you scream?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was getting late; I wanted you to come home,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas.\n\nJust then Wus sprang at S\u00fabbas and cut off his head. He and K\u0101hkaas\npulled the body in and hid it; then they put the head in the hole where\nthe roots were.\n\nAgain it began to snow; the second brother was coming. Soon he looked\nin at the smoke hole, and asked: \u201cWhy did you scream?\u201d\n\n\u201cI missed the step and fell into the house,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas.\n\n\u201cWe have always told you to be careful,\u201d said S\u00fabbas.\n\nThat moment Wus sprang up. S\u00fabbas screamed, but Wus cut his head off\nand dragged the head and the body to the hole where the roots were.\n\nWhen the third brother came he asked: \u201cWhat noise was that? I thought I\nheard my brother scream.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was screaming,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas. \u201cI wanted to hurry you home.\u201d\n\nWus killed the third brother, as he had the other two.\n\nAgain it began snowing; the fourth brother was coming. Wus told K\u0101hkaas\nthat he must work around as he always did. \u201cYou must not talk,\u201d said\nK\u0101hkaas; \u201che will hear you. He is stronger than the other brothers.\u201d\n\nS\u00fabbas looked in at the smoke hole, and asked: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you brush up\nthe snow? What makes it so yellow?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been walking in the ashes,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas.\n\nS\u00fabbas was just going to draw his head up out of the smoke hole and\ncome down into the house, when Wus sprang at him and cut his head off.\nThat time a good deal of blood was left. K\u0101hkaas couldn\u2019t clean it up;\nit made the snow yellow.\n\nWus was afraid the fifth brother would see the blood. \u201cI will go\noutside and kill him,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYou mustn\u2019t do that,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas. \u201cIf you do the other brothers will\nsee you.\u201d\n\nS\u00fabbas was at the house now; he left his basket outside and looked in.\n\u201cWhy does it look so around here?\u201d asked he. \u201cIt looks queer.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ve worked around a good deal,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas, \u201cthat is why it\nlooks queer.\u201d\n\nS\u00fabbas stretched half his length in to see that no one was there and\nWus sprang at him and cut his head off.\n\n\u201cNow the other five brothers will come,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas. \u201cThey come\nquicker, for it is getting late.\u201d The fifth brother had screamed louder\nwhen Wus killed him. His brothers had heard his scream and they were\nrunning.\n\nWus jumped out of the house and started for home. K\u0101hkaas picked up the\nbundle, put it on his back and followed. Both ran as fast as they\ncould; sometimes K\u0101hkaas got ahead of Wus, then Wus was ahead. The wind\nblew terribly. Wus\u2019 ears were filled with snow, and he was almost\nfrozen. They were giving out when they reached the last house that Wus\nhad built; the fire was still burning. They had just got warm when they\nheard the brothers coming, and started off again. They ran till K\u0101hkaas\nsaid: \u201cI\u2019m so tired I can\u2019t run any farther!\u201d\n\n\u201cHurry,\u201d said Wus. \u201cThey won\u2019t overtake us. We are near the next\nhouse.\u201d They reached the ninth house, and the fire was burning.\n\n\u201cLook and see if they are coming,\u201d said Wus.\n\n\u201cNot yet.\u201d\n\nAfter a while K\u0101hkaas looked again. \u201cThey are coming!\u201d called he. And\noff the two ran as fast as they could. When they got near the eighth\nhouse, the brothers were close behind.\n\n\u201cI am afraid!\u201d said K\u0101hkaas.\n\n\u201cI am not,\u201d said Wus, but he kept on running, though snow was in his\nears and in his hair; he was almost frozen. They stopped at the seventh\nhouse, but K\u0101hkaas looked back and said: \u201cThey are coming; they are not\nfar away!\u201d\n\nThe brothers were tired. They began to think that they couldn\u2019t\novertake Wus and K\u0101hkaas. They still carried their baskets. Wus didn\u2019t\nstop at the sixth or fifth house.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t open your mouth so wide,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas; \u201cif you do, it will fill\nwith snow.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo matter,\u201d said Wus, \u201cthat will help me to run.\u201d\n\nWhen the brothers reached the fifth house and found it empty, the elder\nsaid: \u201cLet us be only five. We can never catch up with the man who\nkilled our brothers, and stole our servant. Let us go back, but we will\nalways watch this country. We won\u2019t let any one come here again. I\nthought we were the strongest people in the world. I wonder who this\nman is.\u201d\n\nThey didn\u2019t know the people of this world; they had always lived by\nthemselves. The only man they knew about was K\u0101hkaas.\n\nWhen the people saw Wus coming, they went to one place to wait for him.\nThey talked about him, and said: \u201cWus is a smart man; we couldn\u2019t have\ndone what he has done.\u201d When Wus came up to them, they saw that he had\nK\u0101hkaas with him. K\u0101hkaas still had his bundle of roots, for he hadn\u2019t\nhad time to eat many. Everybody was glad now, for there was summer and\nwinter. Up to that time people had had only clouds and storms.\n\nAfter a while Wus said: \u201cWe must do another thing for the\nTcanpsaudewas. We have done a good deal,\u2014they will have two kinds of\nfire,\u2014but there is too much cold. We must hold a council and decide how\nmuch cold they can have,\u2014how long winter will be.\u201d\n\nWus sent for all the people in the world. Every one came; every one\nthought: \u201cWhat will Wus say?\u201d But nobody talked; they all sat still\nwaiting. At last Wus said: \u201cThere should be ten months of cold.\u201d Then\neverybody began to talk. Nobody wanted ten months. Some said: \u201cIf there\nare ten months of cold, people will starve to death; they can\u2019t lay up\nroots and seeds enough. Let us have five months.\u201d Others said: \u201cTwo\nmonths are enough.\u201d Wus kept saying: \u201cThere should be ten.\u201d When they\ncouldn\u2019t agree, some one said: \u201cLet the oldest man here decide.\u201d There\nwas one very old man there,\u2014the oldest of all, but he only listened, he\ndidn\u2019t say a word. Again Wus said: \u201cThere should be ten months.\u201d\n\nThe council lasted all night; then people asked: \u201cWhere is K\u00e2noa? Why\ndoesn\u2019t he talk?\u201d It was getting daylight, and Wus still insisted on\nten months. \u201cThe months can be short,\u201d said he, \u201cnot many days long.\u201d\nNow the people said to K\u00e2noa: \u201cSpeak, old man; maybe you have something\nin your mind to say.\u201d He started to go, and just then he called out:\n\u201cDanwacuk\u201d (three months).\n\nWus was mad, but the other people were glad, and said: \u201cThe old man is\nright. There will be three months of winter.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid people will not be thankful for what we have done,\u201d said\nHedgehog, \u201cand will eat us.\u201d Porcupine was afraid, too, but others\nsaid: \u201cWe have got fire for them; we have killed five of the S\u00fabbas\nbrothers; we have made winter short; they will be thankful.\u201d\n\nThe council broke up, and soon after all those people turned to common\nanimals, for real people were coming.\n\nThe five S\u00fabbas brothers lived in their house in the west, but they\nwatched the world. And since then things have been as they are now.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHOW SICKNESS CAME INTO THE WORLD\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Gletc\u00f3was\n    K\u00e9is        Rattlesnake\n    N\u00e9b\u0103ks      Sickness\n    Sno\u00fatiss    Blowsnake\n    W\u00e9wenkee    Whipsnake\n\n\n\nK\u00e9is and his brother, Sno\u00fatiss, lived on the southwest side of Little\nShasta. The three Gletc\u00f3was brothers lived on the northwest side.\n\nThe Gletc\u00f3was brothers were great hunters; they made snares of grass\nropes knotted and tied together, and fastened them between trees. Each\nmorning they drove deer into the snares. As the brothers traveled, they\ncalled out their own name, \u201cGletc\u00f3was,\u201d and they called it as they went\nhome at night. When they had snared as many deer as they wanted, they\npacked them up and carried them to the house; they never skinned or cut\nup a deer in the woods. The Gletc\u00f3was brothers were so small that they\nlooked like children, but they were young men.\n\nK\u00e9is, the elder of the two brothers who lived on the southwest side of\nthe mountain, always sat at home making bows and arrows. Sno\u00fatiss, his\nlittle brother, dug roots, and while he was digging he listened to the\nGletc\u00f3was brothers. He heard their song, and knew that they were great\nhunters. One day he said to K\u00e9is: \u201cThe Gletc\u00f3was brothers have plenty\nof meat.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us go to their snares and get some,\u201d said K\u00e9is.\n\n\u201cThey never cut up their deer in the woods,\u201d said the younger brother;\n\u201cif they did, they couldn\u2019t catch any more; they carry them home whole.\nYou might go to their house and ask for meat, but don\u2019t go near their\nsnares; if you do you will get into trouble.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9is went, but he didn\u2019t do as his brother told him. He went straight\nto the snares the Gletc\u00f3was brothers had set. In one of the snares was\na large fat deer. K\u00e9is tried to untie the knot in the rope around its\nneck; he couldn\u2019t do it; so he pulled at it till he broke out all but\ntwo of his teeth.\n\n\u201cWe will go to the snares, and see if we have caught anything,\u201d said\nthe eldest of the Gletc\u00f3was brothers.\n\n\u201cI will stay and dry meat,\u201d said the youngest. There was a great deal\nof meat hanging on trees near the house.\n\nWhen the two brothers came to where their snares were, they saw a man.\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked one of them.\n\nK\u00e9is didn\u2019t answer, but as soon as they untied the deer he sprang upon\nit and cried: \u201cThis is mine!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, it is ours!\u201d said the eldest brother, \u201cbut if you will come with\nus, we will give you some of the meat. We can\u2019t cut the deer up here;\nit would spoil our snares.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9is didn\u2019t listen to them; he went off. His mouth was bleeding, and he\nwas mad. When he got home, he sat down and began to make poison\u2014fever\nand black vomit and terrible things.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Sno\u00fatiss. \u201cWhat makes your mouth bleed? Why\nare you working so hard over that bad stuff? It is wrong to make that.\nIt may get out of our house and spread everywhere; then the people to\ncome will have these terrible things and die.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose brothers in the northwest took my deer from me,\u2014a large, fat\none,\u201d said K\u00e9is, and he kept on making the medicine.\n\n\u201cYou must have gone to their snares,\u201d said the boy. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t cut\nthe deer up there in the woods.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9is didn\u2019t answer, and Sno\u00fatiss thought: \u201cI will go and find out what\nhas made K\u00e9is so mad.\u201d When he got to the house of the three brothers,\nthey said: \u201cCome in, little boy. What is the trouble with your\nbrother?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll his teeth are out, but two, and with those he is making bad\nmedicine. He is mad; he says that you took a deer away from him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe took our own deer. We told him to come and get some of the meat,\nbut he wouldn\u2019t; he went away without saying a word.\u201d\n\nThe brothers gave Sno\u00fatiss meat; he took it and started for home. When\nhe got to the house he looked in at the smoke hole and he was\nfrightened. His brother was hard at work; the whole house was dripping\nwith sores; there were aches and pains of all kinds, and terrible\nsickness.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t come in,\u201d cried the little boy. \u201cYou have made those things\nand now they will be here always, and will make trouble. You got mad\nfor nothing. I can\u2019t stay with you; I will go to my uncle.\u201d\n\nWhen Sno\u00fatiss came in sight of W\u00e9wenkee\u2019s house, a little boy saw him,\nand called to his father: \u201cA boy is coming!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is Sno\u00fatiss,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee. \u201cHe has never been here before; he\nwouldn\u2019t come now if he wasn\u2019t in trouble.\u201d\n\nWhen Sno\u00fatiss got to the house, he stood outside, crying.\n\n\u201cTell him to come in,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee to his son. Sno\u00fatiss went in.\n\u201cWhat is the matter? Why do you cry?\u201d asked his uncle.\n\n\u201cMy brother is mad. He has made all kinds of terrible sores and\nsickness. I feel badly, for those things can never be got rid of; they\nwill live always to trouble the people who are to come. It looks badly\nand smells badly in our house. My brother got mad for nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose Gletc\u00f3was brothers are mean men,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee, \u201cbut if K\u00e9is\nwanted meat he should have gone to their house. I am stronger than your\nbrother; I have a wildcat skin blanket, all painted. I will go home\nwith you. How far away is your house?\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the other side of a flat there are big rocks, our home is under\nthose rocks. I don\u2019t want to go there. I can\u2019t go in the house, it\nsmells so badly.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go alone,\u201d said his uncle.\n\nWhen W\u00e9wenkee got to the house, he crawled in through a crack in the\nwall. His nephew didn\u2019t see him, didn\u2019t know that he was there. There\nwas such a terrible smell in the house that W\u00e9wenkee couldn\u2019t stay; so\nhe got out quickly. The only way he could look in was by painting red\nstripes across his forehead and around his wrists. When he got home, he\nsaid to Sno\u00fatiss: \u201cYou told me the truth. Hereafter there will be all\nkinds of sickness. Sickness will spread everywhere. Does K\u00e9is think he\nis more powerful than I am? I can do all that he can do. I know that\nwhat he has made will live always. Will you go home now?\u201d asked\nW\u00e9wenkee.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to go,\u201d said Sno\u00fatiss.\n\nW\u00e9wenkee started off again. After he had gone, his wife said to\nSno\u00fatiss: \u201cYou should have gone with your uncle. Do you think that he\nhas only one blanket? His blankets are doubled around his body, one\nover another, and one is worse than another. They are blankets of\nsickness and sores. W\u00e9wenkee is chief of those things; he can make more\nbad medicine than your brother can. When he is mad, he can raise a\nterrible whirlwind. That is the kind of man he is. You should have gone\nwith him.\u201d\n\nSno\u00fatiss went out then and followed his uncle, but W\u00e9wenkee didn\u2019t see\nhim. As the old man traveled, sores came out all over him. He cried,\nand his tears were drops of matter. When he went into his nephew\u2019s\nhouse, he said: \u201cYou have done wrong; now all this bad stuff will soak\ninto the earth and make great trouble.\u201d\n\nW\u00e9wenkee made a big ball of soft bark, rolled it around and gathered on\nit all the sores and sickness that were on the top and sides of the\nhouse, and on the ground. \u201cDon\u2019t you wink again and let that stuff\nfall,\u201d said he to his nephew.\n\nHe rolled the bark ball over K\u00e9is\u2019 body, cleaned him of sores, and then\nhe squeezed the ball over his own head and said: \u201cThis is mine. How did\nyou dare to let this out? Sickness belongs to N\u00e9b\u0103ks. It is only loaned\nto us; we had no right to let it out till he told us to. Now it has\ngone from us; I have saved some, but a great deal has scattered and\ngone through the world. You have frightened your brother so he won\u2019t\ncome back to you\u201d\u2014W\u00e9wenkee didn\u2019t know that Sno\u00fatiss was on top of the\nhouse listening to what he said.\n\n\u201cWill you change skins with me?\u201d asked W\u00e9wenkee.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said K\u00e9is, \u201cI want my own skin.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is too bad I can\u2019t get up all this sickness,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee,\u2014he was\nstill rolling the bark ball,\u2014 \u201cit has soaked into the ground, and in\nhot weather and in winter it will come out.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9is didn\u2019t say much, for he didn\u2019t want W\u00e9wenkee to see that his teeth\nwere gone.\n\n\u201cThe Gletc\u00f3was brothers are bad men, but you should have asked them for\nmeat, not tried to steal it,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee.\n\n\u201cThey wanted to kill me.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow many teeth have you?\u201d asked W\u00e9wenkee.\n\n\u201cTwo.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me have them for a little while.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I want them myself; people will always hate me, these teeth will\ndefend me. If I want to kill any one I can do it with my teeth. I can\nthrow medicine at them and kill them. I shall keep poison medicine in\nthe ends of my teeth; I will be as bad as others are.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will always be good, unless somebody makes me mad,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee.\n\u201cIn later times people will like my skin and want to take it. Maybe\nthey will throw dirt at me so they can hide my face and eyes from them,\nbut they can do me no harm. I will not be a servant to any one; but\nthose who go to the swimming ponds on the mountains, and those who are\nwilling to travel at night, I will like. I will give them my skin, and\nthe earth will give me another. [7] I shall never appear to any one,\nwho is not a doctor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do just as I have done,\u201d said K\u00e9is. \u201cIf I get mad, I will kill\npeople by throwing out sickness.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you do, you will be hated, and you will always be in trouble,\u201d said\nW\u00e9wenkee. And he begged hard for K\u00e9is to put away sickness. \u201cYou are my\nnephew,\u201d said he; \u201cyou should do as I say. I am a chief, too. I am\nsorry for the people who are to come, and you ought to think of them.\nLet us put sickness back in our bodies, and never use it unless this\nearth tells us to. It won\u2019t be long that we shall be persons; soon we\nshall live under rocks and in holes in the ground. When the people to\ncome take our places, they will hate you. I am sorry for your little\nbrother. I would go away now, but I don\u2019t want to be changed till some\none comes to tell me what I shall be.\u201d\n\nSo W\u00e9wenkee talked to his nephew, and at last K\u00e9is took off all his\nsicknesses and tied them up in a bundle. He put the bundle in his\nquiver, and said: \u201cI will only take these out when people abuse me.\u201d\nThen he told his brother to come in.\n\n\u201cMy little nephew,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee, \u201cthose Gletc\u00f3was can turn to\nanything; sometimes they are fish and sometimes they are bugs or ticks.\nYou might catch one of them and think that you were holding him in your\nhand, but he would be gone. You can remember better than K\u00e9is; that is\nwhy I tell you about those brothers. Sometimes they are large animals,\nsometimes they are a straw on a trail, or a stump of burnt wood, or\nlice. Often, in the night, they are wind; or they are mole hills for\nmen to fall over. I can\u2019t tell you all that they turn to. I know they\nare going to kill your brother, for he has tried to kill them.\u201d Then he\nsaid to K\u00e9is: \u201cStand up.\u201d When his nephew stood up, W\u00e9wenkee turned him\naround, looked at him on every side, and said: \u201cI don\u2019t like any part\nof your skin, and your mind is mean. What part of my skin do you like?\u201d\n\nK\u00e9is said: \u201cI like the spots on your breast and the gloss on your\nbody.\u201d\n\n\u201cLie down,\u201d said W\u00e9wenkee, \u201cand cover yourself up and sleep all day;\nthen maybe your mind will be better and you won\u2019t get mad so easily.\u201d\nHe told him over and over not to open the bundle of sickness, then he\ntold Sno\u00fatiss to watch K\u00e9is, and if he started to untie the bundle to\ncome and tell him. He said: \u201cNobody will be able to kill sickness; your\nbrother has spoiled the world. In later times we may have no mind, but\nwe may want to go near houses. People will hate K\u00e9is, but they will\nsay: \u2018His uncle was chief before we came,\u2019 and they will know that I\nwon\u2019t hurt them.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9is slept till night, then he woke up and sent his brother for water.\n\u201cI wonder why he sent me for water when there was water in the house,\u201d\nthought Sno\u00fatiss, and he hurried back and looked in at the smoke hole.\nK\u00e9is was sitting by the fire, untying his bundle. When he heard\nSno\u00fatiss on the top of the house, he tied up the bundle and pulled his\nblanket around him.\n\n\u201cWhat were you doing?\u201d asked Sno\u00fatiss.\n\n\u201cI was covering myself up.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know what you were doing,\u201d said the boy; \u201cyou were letting out\nsickness. Our uncle told you never to untie that bundle.\u201d\n\nSno\u00fatiss ran off to his uncle\u2019s house and told him what K\u00e9is had done.\nW\u00e9wenkee was so mad at his nephew that he stretched himself out full\nlength; then he made a circle around the world and pressed everything\ntogether, but K\u00e9is went in among rocks and W\u00e9wenkee couldn\u2019t press hard\nenough to break them.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d asked W\u00e9wenkee.\n\n\u201cWhat I want to,\u201d said K\u00e9is.\n\n\u201cIf you want to be great of your own strength, I will leave you,\u201d said\nW\u00e9wenkee, and he started for home.\n\nNow K\u00e9is began to sing like a doctor; the three Gletc\u00f3was brothers\nheard his song, and wondered who was around among the rocks singing.\n\n\u201cI will find out,\u201d said the eldest brother, and he went toward the\nrocks.\n\nThe second brother followed him. When near they smelt smoke,\u2014K\u00e9is was\nsmoking Indian tobacco,\u2014and they knew who was singing. \u201cI wonder what\nthat man is doing,\u201d said one of the brothers; \u201cwe must think how to\nkill him.\u201d\n\nNow W\u00e9wenkee sent Sno\u00fatiss to see what K\u00e9is was doing; he came back,\nand said: \u201cMy brother is among the rocks, singing.\u201d\n\nW\u00e9wenkee rubbed himself around in the dirt, and said: \u201cThis is what I\nknew would happen when he went by his own strength. All that I have\ntalked to your brother I will take off and give to the dirt. I will rub\noff all that I promised to help him, and give it back to the ground. We\nwill no longer be living persons. You will remember me in later times,\nfor I have been a great chief. You will be near me always, for you will\nbe my brother. Hereafter you will be only a little snake and blow with\nyour mouth.\u201d Right away Sno\u00fatiss became a common little snake. Then\nW\u00e9wenkee turned himself into a whipsnake.\n\nThe youngest of the Gletc\u00f3was brothers listened to K\u00e9is\u2019 song and\nwatched for him to come out from among the rocks. As he ran back and\nforth he called: \u201cGletc\u00f3was! Gletc\u00f3was!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked his brothers.\n\n\u201cI have no father or mother; that is why I cry all the time.\u201d\n\nThe brothers said to one another: \u201cK\u00e9is is the man who killed our\nfather and mother; we must kill him.\u201d\n\nAs Gletc\u00f3was went toward the rocks, he hit against a mole hill and\nfell; then he talked to the earth, and said: \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t treat me in\nthis way. I have no father or mother; you should carry me safely.\u201d\n\nAs Gletc\u00f3was fell, K\u00e9is came out from among the rocks. He had grown so\ntall that he almost touched the sky. His song was loud and nice.\n\nThe brothers hid behind rocks and tied cross sticks to their arrows.\n\u201cGo up to the sky,\u201d called they to their youngest brother, for K\u00e9is was\njust going to throw his medicine at him.\n\nThe brothers shot their arrows and hit K\u00e9is. He fell, but he kept\nsinging. The eldest brother pulled up a tree stump and pounded him on\nthe head till he died. They cut K\u00e9is into small pieces, threw the\npieces over the rocks, and said: \u201cYou will no longer be great; even old\nwomen will kill you.\u201d The pieces became rattlesnakes.\n\nThen the three brothers went north. K\u00e9is had made them lose their\nminds. They crossed the Shasta River and became birds.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHOW OLD AGE CAME INTO THE WORLD\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Kom\u00fachass   Old Age\n    N\u00e9b\u0103ks      Sickness\n\n\n\nFive brothers and their sister lived alone on a mountain; the brothers\nhad killed a great many people in the country around.\n\nThe sister gathered the wood and cooked the meat. When it was time for\nher maturity dance, she asked: \u201cHow can I dance when there is nobody to\nsing for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cWalk around all the time,\u201d said her eldest brother; \u201cpile stones, and\ndon\u2019t sleep for five nights.\u201d\n\nThe girl kept awake four nights, then she was so tired that she fell\nasleep. She dreamed that her brothers were covered with sores and were\nstarving. When she woke up, she cried and said: \u201cI wish I had died long\nago, then I shouldn\u2019t have brought trouble on my brothers. I have done\nthis by not dancing and by going to sleep.\u201d\n\nWhen she got home, she found that Sickness had been in the house.\nSickness came every day for five days. Then each one of the five\nbrothers had great sores on his body. There was nobody to hunt for\ndeer, or rabbits, and soon the brothers were starving. The sister\nbrought wood and kept the fire, but she couldn\u2019t find anything to eat.\nEverybody was glad that the brothers were sick and hoped they would\ndie.\n\nOne of the brothers saw two swans on a pond near the house, and when\nthe sister came with a load of wood on her back, he said: \u201cI wish we\ncould kill one of those swans.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe I can kill one,\u201d said the sister. She got her brothers\u2019 bows and\ntried the strings to see which string was the strongest. She put down\none bow after another, saying: \u201cThat isn\u2019t strong.\u201d The strings had\nbeen strong enough for her brothers, but for her they were weak. She\ntook the bow that belonged to her youngest brother, pulled the string,\nand said: \u201cThis will do.\u201d\n\nWhen she started for the pond, one of the brothers watched her, he\nsaid: \u201cNow she is near the pond; now she is sitting down on the bank!\u201d\nShe drew the bow, and when he thought she had missed the swan, he\nnearly fell, he was so sorry. He didn\u2019t look out again. The arrow went\nthrough both swans.\n\nThe sister brought the swans home and left them outside; she took the\nbow and arrow in and put them away. Her brothers felt badly; they were\ndisappointed. When she asked: \u201cShall I cook them in the house?\u201d they\nwere glad. They tried to get up, but they couldn\u2019t stand on their feet,\nthey were so weak.\n\nThe girl cooked the swans and gave her brothers some of the meat. She\nsaid: \u201cEat a little at a time, so it will last longer.\u201d She saved the\nfat and rubbed her brothers with it, to heal their sores.\n\n\u201cNow I am stronger,\u201d said the eldest brother. \u201cGive me my bow; I feel\nas if I could shoot something.\u201d Each brother said the same.\n\nWhen the people at the foot of the mountain heard that the five\nbrothers were sick, they were glad and sent a young man to find if it\nwere true. He came back, and said: \u201cThey are sick and are going to\ndie.\u201d\n\nWhen the sister had gone for wood, the eldest brother said: \u201cI know\nthat somebody is coming; I want to be strong.\u201d They all had the same\nfeeling, and each one tried his bowstring. When the sister came back,\nthe eldest brother said: \u201cYou must roll us up in our blankets, and tie\nthem around us as though we were dead. Put our bows and arrows and\nbeads near us.\u201d\n\nWhen she had done that, she went off to the mountains, for she felt\nbadly and didn\u2019t want to stay with her brothers; she didn\u2019t want to\nlive any longer.\n\nThe brothers waited for her, and when it was dark and she didn\u2019t come,\none said: \u201cOur sister is always talking about dying; maybe she is\ndead.\u201d\n\nNow the people at the foot of the mountain sent a little boy to see if\nthe five brothers were alive. He crossed the pond in a canoe; he rowed\nthe canoe by saying: \u201cPeldack! Peldack!\u201d (Go fast). When the boy saw\nthe men tied up in their blankets, he went back, and said: \u201cThey are\ndead. In their house there are bows and arrows and nice beads. You must\ngo and get them.\u201d\n\nThe chief said: \u201cGet ready; we will go and scalp those men, and take\ntheir things.\u201d\n\nWhen the brothers saw the men coming, they said: \u201cWe will lie here as\nif we were dead, and when they pack up our things and start away, we\nwill spring up and fight them with knives.\u201d\n\nThe men came into the house. They unrolled the brothers and kicked them\naround; they took their blankets, bows, arrows and beads, took\neverything they could find, and started off.\n\nThen the five brothers jumped up and ran at them with knives. They\nkilled every man, threw the bodies into the pond, and started off to\nhunt for their sister. They hunted a long time. At last they found her\nbody and burned it; then the eldest brother said: \u201cLet us leave this\ncountry and kill every man we can find.\u201d\n\nThey started and traveled toward the west. They killed every man or\nwoman they met. When people saw them coming they ran and hid, they were\nso afraid of them. The brothers traveled a long time, and killed a\ngreat many people. At last they came to a big lake. They made a canoe\nand started to cross it, but before they got to land, the canoe sank.\nIt went under the water and under a mountain and out into another lake.\nThere they met Storm.\n\nHe was a man then and could kill anybody he could catch and draw into\nthe water. He tried to kill the five brothers, but the youngest brother\nfought with him, cut him to pieces with his knife, and said: \u201cYou will\nbe a person no longer; you will only be something to scare people,\u201d and\nhe drove him away. All the people under the water hid, for they were\nafraid of the brothers.\n\nWhen the brothers couldn\u2019t find any one to kill, they turned toward the\neast and traveled till they came to a country where they found a very\nold man and a very old woman. They said: \u201cWe have come to fight you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to fight,\u201d said the old man. \u201cWe have always lived here,\nthis is our place; nobody ever came here before to trouble us. We don\u2019t\nbother any one. Go away and leave us.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must fight,\u201d said the brothers. \u201cIf you don\u2019t, we will kill you;\nwe kill every one we meet.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t kill us or harm us, no matter what you do,\u201d said the old\nman. \u201cWe are Kom\u00fachass (Old Age). We shall live always.\u201d\n\nThe five brothers were mad; they didn\u2019t listen to the old man, but shot\nat him with arrows, and pounded him with clubs; then they built a fire\nand tried to burn him. When they couldn\u2019t kill him in any way, they got\nscared and ran off.\n\nThe old man called to them to stop, but they didn\u2019t listen; then he\nsaid: \u201cWe shall follow you; you cannot get away; wherever you go we\nshall go. You will never get home.\u201d\n\nThe old man and old woman followed the brothers for a long time, and at\nlast they caught up with the eldest brother. Right away he was old and\nweak. He stumbled along for a little way, then fell to the ground and\ndied.\n\nThey overtook the second brother; he also grew old and weak, fell to\nthe ground and died. The third brother reached the lake; he was running\non the ice when Kom\u00fachass overtook him; he grew weak and fell; the ice\nbroke and he was drowned. The fourth brother died in the same manner.\nThe youngest brother thought he was going to get away from the old man;\nhe was only a few steps from home when Kom\u00fachass overtook him. Right\noff he was an old man; he stumbled along a step or two, then fell to\nthe ground and died.\n\nThis is how old age came into our world. If the five brothers had let\nthe old man and his wife alone, they would have stayed in their own\ncountry, and there would have been no such thing as old age.\n\nKom\u00fachass turned the bodies of the five brothers into five rocks, and\nthose rocks are still to be seen in the Klamath country.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLEM\u00c9IS AND NUL-WE\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    K\u00f3kolaileyas           The Necklace (K\u014fko means bone)\n    Lem\u00e9is or Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as   Thunder\n    Nul-we\n\n\n\nOld Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as was a man-eater. He lived among big rocks at one end of\na long, swampy flat. At the other end of the swamp lived an old woman\nand her little grandson. Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as had killed all the old woman\u2019s kin,\nexcept the boy. He had strung their elbow and ankle bones on a grass\nrope and he wore them for a necklace. People called him K\u00f3kolaileyas,\n(Bone Necklace).\n\nThe grandmother was too old to dig roots, so the little boy dug them\nfor her. One day Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as saw the boy digging; he crept up and lay\ndown near him, and when the boy\u2019s basket was full of nice, white roots,\nhe ate them all at a mouthful. After that, he came every day. No matter\nwhere the boy went to dig, Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as followed him. If the boy ate a\nroot while he was digging, Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as struck him on the forehead with\nhis hammer. He listened and knew when he took a root. The little boy\nfelt badly; he wanted to carry roots to his grandmother, for he knew\nshe was hungry. He cried all the time he was digging, cried \u201cNul-we!\nNul-we!\u201d (that was his name). He always went home at sundown.\n\nOne day he cried on the way home. His grandmother heard him, and said:\n\u201cMy grandson, you mustn\u2019t cry so loud. A bad man lives among the big\nrocks. He will hear you and come where you are digging. Maybe he will\nkill you; he has killed your father and your mother and all your kin.\u201d\n\nThe next morning, when Nul-we went to dig roots, Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as came, and\nsaid: \u201cLittle Nul-we, I am waiting for you; I am hungry. I want you to\ngrow fast and get big, then I will kill you and eat you. I will put\nyour bones in my necklace, between the bones of your father and the\nbones of your mother, and they will make my necklace nice and long.\u201d\n\nThat evening, when Nul-we went home without any roots, his grandmother\nsaid: \u201cWhen you were a little fellow, you brought your basket full of\nroots. Now it is always empty. I am hungry. I have only dry, old roots\nto eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cI eat all the roots I dig,\u201d said Nul-we; then he cried, he was so\nsorry for his grandmother. He didn\u2019t want to tell her about Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as.\n\nThe next morning, as soon as Nul-we began digging, Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as came,\nrattling his bone necklace as he traveled. He lay down right by Nul-we,\nand said: \u201cLittle boy, I am tired; peel me some nice, white roots.\u201d\nWhen he had eaten the roots, he took hold of his necklace, rattled it,\nand said, as he divided the bones: \u201cThese are your father\u2019s bones;\nthese are your mother\u2019s bones; these are your sister\u2019s bones; these are\nyour brother\u2019s bones; these are your grandfather\u2019s bones. Now dig away,\nlittle boy; when you are big enough, your bones will be in my\nnecklace.\u201d\n\nThat day Nul-we dug four basketfuls, and Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as ate them all. Then\nhe said: \u201cLittle boy, you should kill me, for I have eaten your father\nand your mother and all your kin.\u201d Then Nul-we thought: \u201cMaybe I could\nkill this bad old man; I will get a bow and arrow and try.\u201d\n\nThe next day, when Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as had eaten all the roots, he said: \u201cLittle\nboy, you should kill me; I have killed all your kin. You must shoot me\nin the body; that is where I keep my heart.\u201d\n\nThat night the grandmother asked: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you bring me roots? I am\nhungry; you shouldn\u2019t eat them all.\u201d\n\n\u201cI dig roots early in the morning,\u201d said Nul-we, \u201cthen I eat them and\nlie down and sleep all day.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat isn\u2019t true,\u201d said his grandmother, \u201cyou don\u2019t deceive me;\nsomebody takes your roots away from you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want you to make me a bow and arrow,\u201d said Nul-we, \u201cand put poison\nin the end of the arrow. I miss all the birds I shoot at with sticks.\u201d\n\nIn the morning Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as said to him: \u201cI think you are about big\nenough to eat.\u201d\n\nThat night Nul-we said to his grandmother: \u201cI dig a great many roots,\nbut a bad man comes and eats them all. He wears a necklace made of\nbones. He says they are the bones of my father and of my mother and of\nall my kin; and that my bones will make the necklace nice and long.\u201d\n\nThe grandmother was frightened, for she knew it was old Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as, the\nman who lived among the rocks. She gave Nul-we his father\u2019s strong bow\nand put fresh points on the arrows; then she made the bow and arrows\nlook like a little boy\u2019s first bow and arrows, and said: \u201cThat man\u2019s\nheart isn\u2019t in his body; it\u2019s in the end of his first finger; you must\nshoot him there.\u201d\n\nWhen Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as came, the boy fed him lots of roots. He dug fast and\ngave the old man all he could eat. Then Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as lay down to sleep.\nUsually he lay with his head on his hands, but that time he lay with\nhis face up and his hands spread out. Nul-we got his arrow ready, and\nmade up his mind which way to run; then, when he saw something moving\nin Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as\u2019 finger, he shot. The heart came out on the end of the\narrow.\n\nLim\u0101lim\u00e1as sprang up and ran after the boy. Ever so many times he\nalmost caught him, but each time Nul-we dodged and got away. At last\nthey came to a dried up river-bed where there were big rocks and deep\nholes. Lim\u0101lim\u00e1as was getting weak; he stumbled and fell into a hole.\nNul-we ran across the river-bed; then he turned and called to\nLim\u0101lim\u00e1as: \u201cYou shall not live in this world and kill people.\nHereafter you will make a great noise, but you will not have the power\nto harm anybody. When another strikes, you will shout for him; that is\nall you will be able to do.\u201d\n\nNul-we took the heart off the end of his arrow, blew it up into the\nsky, and said: \u201cYou can go up there and live; you can\u2019t live down here\nany longer.\u201d\n\nNow Nul-we could dig roots and carry them to his grandmother; he was\nglad, and he didn\u2019t cry any more.\n\nThe old man-eater became Thunder.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWIND AND THUNDER\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Gala\u00edwa         Mouse\n    K\u00e1whas          Blackbird\n    Lem\u00e9is          Thunder\n    M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis    South Wind\n    T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis   North Wind\n    Tc\u00fbskai         Weasel\n    Tskel           Mink\n\n\n\nTc\u00fbskai and Tskel lived together on North Wind Mountain (east of\nKlamath marsh). Tskel thought it was time to have a wife. He knew there\nwere women off in the north, so he said to Tc\u00fbskai: \u201cGo to Sycan and\nget two women.\u201d When Tc\u00fbskai got to the place, the women were digging\nroots. He snatched their caps and ran home with them. All the women\nfollowed him. In that old time this was one way of getting a wife. A\nman stole something a woman was wearing; then she knew he wanted her,\nand she followed him home.\n\nWhen Tc\u00fbskai brought so many caps, Tskel was angry. He said: \u201cWhy do\nyou always make trouble? I sent you for two women, and you have brought\na great many. What will you do now?\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai kept two of the caps and threw the other ones away. When the\nwomen came, they picked up their caps and went home; only two women\nstayed. After a while each woman had a little boy. They rubbed the\nchildren with ashes, and they grew fast.\n\nAs soon as the boys could run around and play, they began to quarrel.\nTc\u00fbskai made them arrows to shoot birds and squirrels with; after that,\nwhen they got angry, they shot at each other. Then Tc\u00fbskai made them\narrows with poisoned points, and one day when they were fighting, they\nkilled each other.\n\nTc\u00fbskai stayed in the house, but he knew what had happened; he always\nknew everything. Tskel was away hunting for deer. As soon as he came\nhome, he looked around for his boys; when he found that the two boys\nwere dead, he called Tc\u00fbskai and they burned the bodies. Then Tskel\nsaid to his brother: \u201cI want you to travel in the mountains and swim in\nthe ponds. After that you can go south and cut off M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 head.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai wanted to go north.\n\nTskel said: \u201cIf T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis should put out his head, you would die.\nHe would cover everything with ice, and you would freeze to death.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can go north as well as you can,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai. \u201cI don\u2019t want to go\nsouth; you can go there.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo north if you want to,\u201d said Tskel. \u201cIt won\u2019t be my fault if you are\nkilled.\u201d\n\nThey went to all the high mountains and swam in the swimming pools,\nthen Tc\u00fbskai went to T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 home, and his brother went south to\nM\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 home.\n\nWhen Tc\u00fbskai got near T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 house, he rolled himself up tight\nin his blanket, but as soon as T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis stuck his head out to see\nwho was around, Tc\u00fbskai died. Wind and cold cut through his body and\nkilled him. When T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis drew his head in, Tc\u00fbskai came to life.\n\nTskel was at M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 place, but he saw Tc\u00fbskai and knew what was\nhappening. M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis put his head out, Tskel cut it off, skinned it,\nand made himself a cap of the skin. Tskel had his emi [8] in his hand.\nNothing in the world could break that knife, but whatever it was thrown\nat broke\u2014Tskel made it that way by thinking hard. As soon as he had cut\noff M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 head, he went north to help his brother. When he got\nto T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 house, he put Tc\u00fbskai under his blanket, and watched\nfor Sl\u00e9wis to put his head out. Tskel could endure the cold, for he had\non the cap made of the skin of M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 head.\n\nAs soon as T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis put his head out, Tskel cut it off. Now both\nM\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis and T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis were killed, and that is why it is not\nas cold in winter, or as hot in summer as it used to be. Their bodies\nare dead, but their spirits are alive. The wind that blows from the\nsouth is M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 spirit, and the wind that comes from the north\nis T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 spirit.\n\nTskel skinned T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 head, and now he had two caps.\n\nWhen they got home Tc\u00fbskai wanted the cap made of T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis\u2019 head,\nfor whenever he put it on he could freeze people to death, but Tskel\nwouldn\u2019t give it to him. He was afraid that Tc\u00fbskai wasn\u2019t strong\nenough to wear it; that it would freeze him to death.\n\nTskel said: \u201cThe five Lem\u00e9is brothers are bad men; they kill people and\neat them. Their house is in a deep place, and there are great rocks\naround it. The tallest tree in the world wouldn\u2019t reach to the bottom\nof the house. Our sister, who married Kaiutois lives there with her\nhusband and his five brothers; we will go and visit her.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k and K\u00e1whas went with Tc\u00fbskai and Tskel. When they came to the house\nthe men were off hunting; only old Lem\u00e9is and his wife and daughter and\nKaiutois\u2019 wife were at home. Tskel had on the cap made of T\u00e1ni\u00e4s\nSl\u00e9wis\u2019 head. The minute he went into the house ice was everywhere. Old\nLem\u00e9is and his wife were terribly scared; they thought somebody had\ncome who was stronger than they were. They wanted to get away as soon\nas they could, but the ladder was covered with ice, and they kept\nslipping back into the house. At last they got out.\n\nKaiutois\u2019 wife and children were warm. Tskel made it so, for she was\nhis sister.\n\nOld Lem\u00e9is\u2019 daughter was meaner than her brothers. The belt around her\nwaist was made of men\u2019s bones; she killed men by making them put on\nthat belt. As soon as the belt was around a man\u2019s waist, the bones\npressed together until they cut him in two. She handed the belt to\nTskel and told him to put it on.\n\nHe said: \u201cI will put on your belt, if you will put on my cap first.\u201d\nShe put the cap on. It pressed her head and almost froze her to death,\nbut she snatched it off and ran out of the house. She was scared.\n\nOutside old Lem\u00e9is and his wife were crying with cold. The eldest of\nthe five brothers came with two men in his belt. His father said:\n\u201cThere is somebody in our house who is stronger than we are.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is nobody in the world stronger than I am,\u201d said the young man.\n\u201cI will kill the man who is in there.\u201d He put one foot on the ladder,\nbut sprang back and began to scream.\n\nThe second brother came with dead men in his belt. He said he was the\nstrongest person in the world, but the minute he put one foot on the\nladder, he sprang back, crying with cold.\n\nThe third brother put his foot on the second rung of the ladder, then\nhe turned back. He roared terribly; he tried to frighten Tskel, but\nTskel wasn\u2019t afraid.\n\nThe fourth brother came with four dead men in his belt; one was kin to\nTskel. He went down four rungs of the ladder, then sprang back; the\ndead man who was kin to Tskel slipped out of his belt and fell inside.\nTskel made that so by thinking. Then he brought the dead man to life.\n\nWhen the youngest and strongest one of the brothers came, he got down\nthe ladder into the house, but he was out as soon as he was in. Just at\nsundown Kaiutois came with a deer on his back. Tskel took his cap off\nand Tc\u00fbskai put on his cap made of South Wind\u2019s head. Right away all\nthe ice was gone.\n\nNow the Lem\u00e9is brothers came inside. They built a big fire and heated\nrocks, put the rocks in a basket of water, and boiled pieces of the men\nthey had brought home. Kaiutois roasted deer meat and gave it to his\nbrothers-in-law. G\u00e4k and K\u00e1whas ate the meat old Lem\u00e9is gave them. That\nis why crows and blackbirds eat any dead thing they can find.\n\nAfter eating, everybody lay down. The five Lem\u00e9is brothers lay in a\nrow; they were watching, for they wanted to kill Tskel.\n\nK\u00e1whas had bright eyes; when he was asleep the Lem\u00e9is brothers thought\nhe was awake. Tskel made the five brothers go to sleep. They had long\nhair and Tskel tied one brother\u2019s hair to another\u2019s, till he had the\nfive tied together. He did this so that when they woke up each one\nwould think that his brother was pulling his hair, and all of them\nwould get to fighting. Tc\u00fbskai, Tskel, G\u00e4k, K\u00e1whas, Kaiutois and his\nwife went outside. Tskel hired Gala\u00edwa to fill all the holes in the\nhouse with pitch and pile pitch wood up around it; when that was done\nhe set fire to the place.\n\nWhen the house began to burn, the five brothers sprang up; that made\ntheir hair pull and they began to fight one another with their long\nflint knives. Soon they were all dead. Their bodies were burned up, but\ntheir hearts flew out of the fire. Tc\u00fbskai and Tskel were watching, and\nas soon as a heart came out they pushed it back into the fire. They did\nthis till each heart burst and the spirit came out and went away. Four\nof the hearts were destroyed, but the heart of the youngest and\nstrongest brother got away from Tskel. It went up to the sky and became\nLem\u00e9is. Lem\u00e9is is up there yet; we hear him when he travels around.\n\nKlamath Indians think that Thunder is a little fellow with very long\nhair.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nG\u00c1UKOS AND K\u00dbLTA\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00e1ukos    Moon\n    K\u00f3we      Frog\n    K\u00fblta     Otter\n    Lok       Bear\n    Weketas   A Small Green Frog\n\n\n\nG\u00e1ukos and K\u00fblta had a house among the rocks on the east side of\nKlamath Lake. On the west side of the lake lived the ten K\u00f3we sisters,\nbeautiful little women. Their clothes were covered with beads and\nporcupine quills. They were powerful women, too; they could do anything\nthey wanted. A Weketas woman lived with the ten sisters. She was big\nand ugly, and the only thing she could do was to bring people to life.\n\nG\u00e1ukos grew lonesome. He was tired of living in the world. K\u00fblta said:\n\u201cI will go and tell the ten sisters that you want a wife. With a woman\nto cook for us, it won\u2019t be lonesome.\u201d\n\nK\u00fblta went to the ten sisters, and said: \u201cA young man on the east side\nof the lake wants one of you for a wife, but he don\u2019t know which one.\u201d\n\nEach one of the ten sisters got ready to go; they cooked nice roots and\npounded sweet seeds. They put on new moccasins and dresses, pulled\ntheir canoe into the water, and started. Weketas had nothing to cook\nand nothing new to wear. She had on a ragged old cap, and was half\nnaked, but she went to row the canoe. The sisters kept pushing her, and\nsaying: \u201cRow faster, ugly thing! Row faster!\u201d\n\nG\u00e1ukos sat on the rocks where he could watch the sisters. When they\nreached land, they left the canoe, one by one. To the first one G\u00e1ukos\nsaid: \u201cNot you; another.\u201d To the second sister he said the same, and so\non to the last.\n\nK\u00fblta told them to go back to the canoe; then he said to G\u00e1ukos: \u201cTell\nme which one you want.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe one at the end of the canoe.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want of that ugly thing?\u201d asked K\u00fblta. \u201cYou should take\none of those nice girls.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will take the one I know will be best for me, the one that will live\nin my heart and always save me.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t take that ugly Weketas woman,\u201d said K\u00fblta.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to live around here,\u201d said G\u00e1ukos. \u201cEvery night, I see\nsome of the big-mouthed people. They are watching me; they like to eat\nsuch men as I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can that ugly Weketas woman save you?\u201d asked K\u00fblta.\n\n\u201cIf there should be only a little bit of me left in Lok\u2019s mouth, she\nwould bring me to life,\u201d said G\u00e1ukos.\n\nK\u00fblta was willing now, but the ten sisters wouldn\u2019t let the Weketas\nwoman pass them. She crept along on the edge of the canoe, and each\nsister pinched her as she passed; they made her arms and legs bleed.\n\nG\u00e1ukos wiped the blood off, rubbed her with deer tallow, and gave her a\nnice blanket. Then he put her in his bosom and started off toward the\neast. As he left, he said to K\u00fblta: \u201cYou will see me every month; I\nshall live always and will always travel on the sky.\u201d\n\nTo this day G\u00e1ukos travels and he always will travel. People can see\nWeketas, for G\u00e1ukos still carries her in his bosom. Sometimes they can\nsee Weketas\u2019 children lying near her. When S\u00fabbas comes, and G\u00e1ukos is\nstill in the west, he gets eaten up by the big-mouthed people, but\nWeketas always brings him to life and will do so just as long as he\ncarries her in his bosom.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTCOITCAK AND HIS PACK\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Tcoitcak   A Bird (English name unknown)\n    Tc\u00fbskai    Weasel\n    Tskel      Mink\n\n\n\nOnce Tcoitcak was going along near the house where two brothers,\nTc\u00fbskai and Tskel, lived. He was carrying a big pack on his back.\nTc\u00fbskai liked to stay outside the house looking around. Tskel scolded\nhim for not staying at home, so when he went away he always left his\ntail hanging down inside the smoke hole and left his voice with his\ntail. He said: \u201cIf Tskel calls me, you must answer: \u2018I am here\u2019!\u201d\n\nWhen Tc\u00fbskai saw the man coming with a big pack, he went to meet him.\n\u201cWhat are you packing?\u201d asked he.\n\nTcoitcak didn\u2019t answer.\n\n\u201cLet me see what you have in your pack,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai.\n\nThe man kept walking along, but didn\u2019t speak. Tc\u00fbskai followed him and\nteased him to tell what he was carrying. \u201cSit down and rest,\u201d said\nTc\u00fbskai. \u201cThat pack is too heavy to keep on your back all the time.\u201d\n\nAt last Tcoitcak got angry; he pulled the pack off his back and put it\non the ground. In that big bundle Tcoitcak had lots and lots of little\nbundles. Tc\u00fbskai untied the big bundle, snatched one of the little\nbundles and opened it. Out came Darkness, and that minute it spread all\nover the world. It was black everywhere. Tc\u00fbskai couldn\u2019t see, but he\nsnatched a second bundle and pulled it open. A crowd of stars came out.\n\nIn the big pack there were bundles of all kinds. Twilight was in one\nbundle, Daybreak in another. Each big star that has a name was tied up\nin a separate bundle,\u2014Morning Star in one, Evening Star in another.\nWhatever time there is of day or night was in Tcoitcak\u2019s pack. Clouds,\nRain, Snow, everything was there.\n\nTc\u00fbskai was lost in the darkness. He ran around everywhere, but\ncouldn\u2019t find his way home.\n\nTskel knew what Tc\u00fbskai had done, and that he couldn\u2019t find his way\nhome. He let him run around for a long time, then he pointed his flint\nknife toward the east, and cut a hole in the darkness to let light in.\n\nIt is because Tc\u00fbskai was running around so long in the dark that\nnights are so long and dark in winter time.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWITSDUK\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Tcut\u00fbk    Rock Squirrel\n    Witsduk   Snow that the Wind Blows and Drifts\n    Wus       Fox\n\n\n\nWhen Witsduk was a person, her home was in the Modoc country; she and\nher family were that snow which the wind carries in every direction.\nWherever they went, they made people shiver, blinded them, and took\ntheir breath away. Everybody was tired of the Witsduks and wanted to\nget rid of them.\n\nAt last Tcut\u00fbk, an old medicine woman, said: \u201cI can destroy Witsduk and\nher family, but I am afraid of Wus. He is a bad man; he likes to tease\npeople, and he is always around. I can put Witsduk and her family in my\nbag and hide them under rocks where they can\u2019t get out, but if I meet\nWus he will take the bag away from me, and untie it. Then the Witsduks\nwill kill us.\u201d\n\nThe people were glad when Tcut\u00fbk said she could destroy the Witsduks;\nthey promised to watch for Wus and kill him if he tried to get the bag\naway from her.\n\nTcut\u00fbk went to the mountain where the Witsduks lived. She opened her\nbag and waited for a long time. The Witsduks were going back and forth\nin every direction; Tcut\u00fbks was so cold that she was almost frozen. At\nlast they came near her hiding-place, but they didn\u2019t see her. When\nthey were right there, Tcut\u00fbk said magic words and the Witsduks began\nto go into the bag. They couldn\u2019t help going; Tcut\u00fbk pushed them down,\ncrowded them, packed them solid. When they were all in and her bag was\nfull, she tied it with a buckskin string, took it on her back, and went\ntoward the rocks; she traveled fast.\n\nWhen Tcut\u00fbk got to the foot of the mountain, she said to the people\nwaiting for her: \u201cI have every Witsduk in the world in this bag on my\nback; now you must come with me to the rocks where I am going to hide\nthem. I am afraid of Wus; I am afraid that I will meet him. If he\nshould open my bag and let the Witsduks out, I should feel badly, for\nthen no one would be safe. The Witsduks are mad; they would come out\nand kill everybody. Then they would live forever; they would scatter\nand be everywhere.\u201d\n\nThe people said: \u201cIf we meet Wus, we will kill him,\u201d but they were\nafraid. They went a little way, then turned back. Tcut\u00fbk traveled on\nalone till she came to a log; when she was climbing over the log, she\nsaw Wus; he was hunting for mice. Tcut\u00fbk stood still, for she didn\u2019t\nknow what to do. As soon as Wus saw her, he came up, and right away he\nbegan to tease her to tell him what was in her bag, to open it and let\nhim see.\n\nAt last Tcut\u00fbk said: \u201cI am carrying off people you have met, and they\nhave made you shiver. I am going to destroy them.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me have them,\u201d said Wus, \u201cI will eat them. I can eat anything in\nthe world, all the people that crawl, or fly. I can eat Wind and Air.\nYou haven\u2019t anything in that bag that I can\u2019t eat. I can eat Clouds and\nRain,\u2014everything.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you sure that you can eat all kinds of people?\u201d asked Tcut\u00fbk.\n\n\u201cThere isn\u2019t anything in the world that I can\u2019t eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am carrying the Witsduks; you don\u2019t want to eat them, do you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes. Open the bag and let them out; I will eat them right away.\u201d\n\nWus talked and teased. Tcut\u00fbk tried to make him let her pass. He got\nmad and caught hold of her head-strap and pulled on it till it cut her\nforehead. When she couldn\u2019t keep the bag any longer, she said: \u201cTake\nthe bag and untie it! But don\u2019t untie it till I am across the flat over\nthere.\u201d\n\nShe dropped the bag from her back and ran as fast as she could, but\nbefore she was half-way across the flat Wus loosened the string. Right\naway the Witsduks began to come out. Wus caught them, one by one, and\nate them. Before Tcut\u00fbk reached the end of the plain, he loosened the\nstring a little more; then the Witsduks came out fast. Wus caught them\nall; he ran around, snapped his mouth in every direction, ate as fast\nas he could,\u2014ate till he was so full he couldn\u2019t eat any more. The\nstring came off from the bag, and the rest of the Witsduks rushed out\nin a crowd. They were mad; they went everywhere, covered the whole\nworld. Wus ran away, but they overtook him and killed him. The Witsduks\nhe had eaten came out through his mouth and ears and nose and eyes.\n\nAll the people Tcut\u00fbk had tried to save, by catching the Witsduks in\nher bag, were killed. Tcut\u00fbk turned to a squirrel and hid among the\nrocks.\n\nThe Witsduks scattered everywhere, and they will live forever. Wus did\nthis. If Tcut\u00fbk had hidden them under the rocks, there would have been\nno more Witsduks in the world. At the place where Wus was killed nobody\ncan live to this day; every one dies from cold or starvation, for old\nwoman Witsduk lives there yet.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDJ\u00c1KALIPS\n\n\n    CHARACTER\n\n    Dj\u00e1kalips   Red Clouds\n\n\n\nDj\u00e1kalips lived on the west side of Klamath Lake. He had eyes as red as\nblood and he always looked down; he wouldn\u2019t look up at any time. When\nhe ate, he closed his eyes, and when fishing he shaded them with his\narm.\n\nTwo sisters went to live with Dj\u00e1kalips and be his wives. He said to\nthem: \u201cWhen you clean fish, you must not break the gall; if you do\ntrouble will come.\u201d\n\nOne day one of the sisters said to the other: \u201cDid you ever see\nDj\u00e1kalips\u2019 face?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I don\u2019t lie as near him as you do; you must know how he looks.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t, for I never see his eyes; he always covers them with his arm,\nor turns his face away from me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want to see his eyes,\u201d said the younger sister; \u201cI don\u2019t want a man\nwho won\u2019t look at me.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe if we saw his eyes we would die,\u201d said the elder sister.\n\n\u201cWhy do we stay here?\u201d asked the younger sister. \u201cEvery woman has to\nlook at her husband and every man at his wife. I feel as if something\nwould happen to us, but I am going to see Dj\u00e1kalips\u2019 eyes.\u201d\n\nThey tried in every way to make Dj\u00e1kalips look up. Sometimes they told\nhim that people were coming; sometimes they called out: \u201cThere is a\ndeer!\u201d But no matter what they said, he didn\u2019t look up.\n\nOne morning Dj\u00e1kalips went fishing. At midday he had a basketful of\nnice fish. The elder wife cooked some of the fish in the coals and gave\nthem to her husband to eat; she spoke to him, but he didn\u2019t answer. He\nkept his arm over his eyes. The two sisters sat down in front of their\nstraw house to dress fish and watch Dj\u00e1kalips. They were mad at him.\nThey didn\u2019t like him any longer. The younger sister thought: \u201cI will\nmake him look up!\u201d She broke the gall of a fish and screamed: \u201cOh! I\u2019ve\nbroken a gall!\u201d\n\nDj\u00e1kalips looked up. His eyes were balls of fire, and his face was as\nred as blood.\n\nThe sisters were terribly frightened; they wanted to get away. The\nelder sister said: \u201cWe have no wood, you must come and help me get\nsome.\u201d They ran off to the river and began to twist reeds to make a\nrope long enough to reach from the ground to the sky. They worked fast.\nWhen the rope was finished, they made it into a ball and threw the ball\nup till it caught in the sky; then they climbed on the rope that hung\nfrom the ball. As they climbed, they said: \u201cWe will leave the rope, and\nif Dj\u00e1kalips follows us, we will come down again.\u201d They left a little\nanimal sitting on the ground near the end of the rope, and told him not\nto tell where they had gone.\n\nDj\u00e1kalips wondered why his wives didn\u2019t come. At last he tracked them\nto the place where they had made the ball; he saw the little animal,\nand asked: \u201cWhere are my wives?\u201d It wouldn\u2019t tell. Dj\u00e1kalips pulled its\nhair, took out a handful; still it wouldn\u2019t tell. He looked everywhere\nfor tracks; then he came back to the same place and asked again: \u201cWhere\nare my wives?\u201d He got no answer. He pulled out another handful of the\nlittle animal\u2019s hair, then he went to hunt for tracks again. The tracks\nalways led him back to the animal.\n\nWhen he had pulled all of the animal\u2019s hair out, it said: \u201cThey have\ngone to the sky.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did they go?\u201d asked Dj\u00e1kalips.\n\n\u201cOn a rope made of reeds. Here is the end of it. Look up and you will\nsee where they are.\u201d\n\nDj\u00e1kalips climbed the rope. The sisters went far west, but he tracked\nthem. They ran north and south, then they ran back to the rope and came\ndown. As they touched the ground, the elder sister called to Dj\u00e1kalips:\n\u201cYou will never come back to this earth; you will always stay there in\nthe sky. You will stay where the sun goes down, and in later times,\nwhen you look up and people see your red eyes, they will say:\n\u2018Dj\u00e1kalips is going to make water freeze.\u2019\u201d\n\nDj\u00e1kalips followed his wives north and south, but couldn\u2019t find them;\nthen he went back to where the sun sets and stayed there. He turned\ninto the red clouds which we see in the fall of the year. When\nDj\u00e1kalips is seen in the west, water freezes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMOAS\u00c4M BEPS, THE DAUGHTER OF SOUTH WIND\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Moas\u00e4m Beps   South Wind\u2019s Daughter\n    Ts\u00e1kiak       A Bird (English name unknown)\n\n\n\nAt Euks a great many people were starving to death; they were so weak\nthey couldn\u2019t stand. It was winter; snow was falling all the time. The\npeople were out of doors. They didn\u2019t live in houses. Ts\u00e1kiak was the\nonly person who had a house. He took people in, warmed them, and gave\nthem a little to eat; he hadn\u2019t much.\n\nOne day, when it was cold and there was deep snow everywhere, Ts\u00e1kiak\nwent on top of his house and stood looking around. He felt badly, felt\nsorry for the people, they were so cold and hungry. Just then he saw\nMoas\u00e4m Beps coming from the south; she was bringing minnows, holding\nthem out in her hand as she came along; when she passed Ts\u00e1kiak\u2019s\nhouse, she gave him the minnows. He cooked them over his fire and gave\nthem to the hungry people. He felt glad in his heart.\n\nThe next day, Moas\u00e4m Beps came again and brought many minnows; she had\nboth hands full. When she passed Ts\u00e1kiak, she gave them to him. He was\nhungry himself, but he gave all of the minnows to the starving people.\n\nThe next day Moas\u00e4m Beps\u2019 hands were empty, but she asked Ts\u00e1kiak where\nthe nut pine trees were. He said: \u201cThey are on both sides of the fire\nin my house.\u201d\n\nMoas\u00e4m Beps went in and sat on a pine tree. As soon as she was there,\nthe snow melted and went away. She said to Ts\u00e1kiak: \u201cSpread five\nblankets under each tree; then go out and don\u2019t look in.\u201d\n\nSoon on each one of the ten blankets there was a big pile of pine nuts.\nThen Moas\u00e4m Beps called the people in; those who were too weak to eat\nshe fed.\n\nRight away all the people were strong; they were happy, too. They gave\nMoas\u00e4m Beps wildcat skins and beads of every kind, and then they went\ntheir own way, for it was warm and they had plenty to eat. Ts\u00e1kiak and\nMoas\u00e4m Beps went to Moas\u00e4nik, her father\u2019s home, for Moas\u00e4m Beps was\nTs\u00e1kiak\u2019s wife now.\n\nThe day they got to Moas\u00e4nik, Moas\u00e4m Beps gave her husband a pair of\nmoccasins, and said: \u201cYou must wear these moccasins all the time you\nare here; if you take them off, you will die.\u201d\n\nThe next day she told him to go and hunt for deer. He went to the top\nof a high mountain, where there was snow. Ts\u00e1kiak tracked a herd of\ndeer and killed five.\n\nTs\u00e1kiak went hunting every day for five days,\u2014he started before it was\nlight in the morning and came home in the evening. Each time he went\nMoas\u00e4m Beps told him not to take off his moccasins. The sixth morning,\nwhen he was ready to start, Moas\u00e4m Beps said: \u201cEven if your feet are\nwet and cold, you mustn\u2019t take off your moccasins; if you do you won\u2019t\ncome home; you will die on the mountain.\u201d\n\nTs\u00e1kiak tracked deer for a long time. The ground was wet and muddy. At\nlast he went to the other side of the mountain, where the ground was\ndry; it looked nice. Ts\u00e1kiak said: \u201cThis is a good place to walk, the\nground is dry. I will take off these wet moccasins and walk around a\nlittle.\u201d\n\nHe took off one moccasin. Snow began to fall and the wind to blow hard\nand cold. Ts\u00e1kiak took off the other moccasin. \u201cI don\u2019t care for you\nany longer,\u201d said he. \u201cYou are cold and wet.\u201d He picked up both\nmoccasins and threw them as far as he could. Right away the wind blew\nfuriously. It turned awfully cold, so cold that Ts\u00e1kiak couldn\u2019t walk;\nhis legs were stiff. Snow came down fast, like big basketfuls tipped\nover. Ts\u00e1kiak couldn\u2019t get air, couldn\u2019t breathe; he died.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWEST WIND\u2019S WIVES\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis     South Wind\n    T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis    North Wind\n    Tk\u00e1lmas Sl\u00e9wis   West Wind\n\n\n\nTk\u00e1lmas Sl\u00e9wis and his younger brother lived together. Tk\u00e1lmas had two\nwives, M\u00f3was Sl\u00e9wis and T\u00e1ni\u00e4s Sl\u00e9wis; M\u00f3was had a little baby.\n\nM\u00f3was was mild and kind and pleasant. The weather was nice when she was\nat home, but T\u00e1ni\u00e4s was always cross and stormy.\n\nM\u00f3was went to visit her father at Moas\u00e4nik, and only T\u00e1ni\u00e4s was left at\nTk\u00e1lmas\u2019 house. Right away it grew cold in the house and there was snow\nand ice everywhere. Tk\u00e1lmas\u2019 brother sat all the time looking toward\nthe south, and kept saying: \u201cI wish my sister-in-law would come. We\nshall die if she doesn\u2019t come soon; we shall freeze to death.\u201d\n\nAt last he saw M\u00f3was coming. When she was still a long way off the snow\non the top of the house began to melt, and water dripped down through\nthe smoke hole, but as fast as it fell it dried up.\n\nTk\u00e1lmas\u2019 brother said: \u201cOh my best sister-in-law, even if water freezes\nas hard as a rock, you can melt it. No matter how much ice there is,\nyour soft breath thaws it. You are the kindest and the most useful\nwoman in this world.\u201d\n\nTk\u00e1lmas heard what his brother said, but he didn\u2019t care; he was glad\nthat M\u00f3was had come. The house was dry now and the sun was shining.\nM\u00f3was gave them nice things to eat, things she had brought from\nMoas\u00e4nik.\n\nT\u00e1ni\u00e4s was angry at her brother-in-law, and jealous of M\u00f3was, so as\nsoon as M\u00f3was came home T\u00e1ni\u00e4s took all of Tk\u00e1lmas\u2019 beautiful beads,\nwhite, and yellow, and every color, took the nice things she had\nbrought when she came to marry him, and went back to her home in the\nnorth. But once each year she goes to her husband, and stays with him\ntill M\u00f3was comes home from Moas\u00e4nik; then she gets angry and jealous\nand goes back to her home in the north.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAR BROTHERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00e4k                    Crow\n    Gapni                  Louse\n    Kaltsik                Spider\n    K\u00fblta                  Otter\n    Sk\u00f3la                  Meadow Lark\n    Tekewas\n    Toh\u00f3s                  A Duck\n    T\u00fbtats\n    W\u00e1manik                Bull Snake\n    Yauk\u00f9l                 \u201cOne of the Stone People\u201d\n    Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s or Y\u00e1-hi-yas or Y\u00e1hyahiy\u00e1as, always represented \n    as a one-legged man\n\n\n\nOn the south side of Lake Klamath lived five brothers. The eldest was\nmarried to Sk\u00f3la. Four of the brothers were without wives. Tekewas,\ntheir sister, was married to K\u00fblta, and lived not far away. The\nbrothers were bad men. The name of the youngest brother was T\u00fbtats.\nWhen he was a child his sister was fond of him; then her mother made\nher forget him, but after a long time she remembered him again, and\nthought: \u201cI wonder where T\u00fbtats is. I used to nurse him; he was nice\nwhen he was a baby. I will go and find him.\u201d\n\nTekewas got to her brothers\u2019 house at midday. When she had been there a\nwhile they asked: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you go home?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not going,\u201d said the sister. \u201cI have come to stay all night.\u201d\n\nThey tried to drive her away, but she wouldn\u2019t go. The next day, when\nTekewas\u2019 brothers told her to go home, she went to her mother, who was\noutside pounding seeds, and asked: \u201cWhat have you done with T\u00fbtats? Is\nhe dead?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you care if he is?\u201d said her mother. \u201cYou had better go home.\nThe next time you come I will tell you about T\u00fbtats.\u201d\n\nTekewas went home then, for she was glad. As soon as she was out of\nsight the old woman took T\u00fbtats from under the ground, where she kept\nhim in a big bark basket, and his brothers carried him to the river and\nlet him swim.\n\nThe eldest brother said to his mother: \u201cI am the only person who knows\nwhat my sister thinks. She thinks bad; she will come again. You must\nmake T\u00fbtats dry and put him back.\u201d\n\nWhile swimming, T\u00fbtats lost a hair out of his head. It was a beautiful,\nbright hair. The mother didn\u2019t notice it; she wiped him quickly, rubbed\nhim with deer fat, put him in the basket, and carried him back under\nthe ground.\n\nThe next morning, when Sk\u00f3la was starting off to dig roots, she saw\nsomething red on the ridge of the mountains. Her husband said: \u201cThat is\nTekewas lying there; she means to kill us.\u201d The brothers were so\nfrightened that they wouldn\u2019t go out of the house, but sat inside; they\nwouldn\u2019t even look out. But Sk\u00f3la watched.\n\nWhen Tekewas came to the house, the eldest brother asked: \u201cWhy do you\ncome so often? You were here yesterday.\u201d\n\nTekewas stayed all day; while she was swimming in the river she found\nthe long bright hair. She took it to her mother and asked: \u201cWho is so\nbeautiful as to have this kind of hair?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo matter,\u201d said her mother. \u201cWhy do you come to trouble your\nbrothers? You are K\u00fblta\u2019s wife; you should stay with him.\u201d\n\nThe next day Tekewas brought five pairs of nice moccasins, and told her\nmother to give them to her brothers, and tell one of them he must go\nhome with her and get some of K\u00fblta\u2019s beads. The eldest brother said:\n\u201cI will go.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want you to go,\u201d said Tekewas.\n\n\u201cYour second brother is ready to go,\u201d said her mother.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want him; he has enough of my beads.\u201d One after another, the\nbrothers got ready, but Tekewas refused each one. \u201cNo,\u201d said she, \u201cyou\nhave had enough of K\u00fblta\u2019s beads. I want T\u00fbtats to go with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is he?\u201d asked her mother.\n\n\u201cYou know that you can\u2019t fool me. I have a young brother; I want him to\ngo with me. It is getting late; where is he?\u201d Every time Tekewas turned\nher body she talked to the sun, told it to go quick, so it would be\ndark soon.\n\nHer brothers didn\u2019t want her to stay all night, so they took the basket\nfrom under the ground, and got T\u00fbtats ready to go. They let down his\nhair and combed it. It was blue and beautiful, and reached to his feet.\nHe cried all the time they were combing it, for he didn\u2019t want to go\nwith his sister. When she started, he walked behind her, crying.\n\nTekewas talked to the sun, told it to go down, scolded it to make it\nhurry. The sun was scared and it went as though it were sliding down a\nslippery place. When they came to a clump of cedar trees, it was\nalready dark. Tekewas stopped and said: \u201cWe will camp here.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is too near,\u201d said T\u00fbtats; he was crying.\n\n\u201cIt is too dark to follow the trail,\u201d said Tekewas. She built a fire\nand gave T\u00fbtats roots from her basket. After eating, he lay down on one\nside of the fire and she on the other; then she thought: \u201cLet him go to\nsleep quick.\u201d When he was asleep, she went over to lie by him.\n\nHe woke and got up; he was still crying. \u201cLet her sleep till I get\nhalf-way to the sky,\u201d said he to himself. He found a log, put it by his\nsister\u2019s side, and told it to keep her asleep. Then he hurried home.\n\n\u201cWhat is the trouble?\u201d asked his brothers. \u201cWhy did you come back?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like my sister. I left her asleep. When she wakes up she will\ncome to kill us. We must get away from here.\u201d\n\nThe brothers hired old man Kaltsik to help them. Kaltsik made a basket\nand put the five brothers into it; then he made a web, took the basket\nup into the air, let it down into the web, and started.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t look down till I tie you to the sky,\u201d said the old man. \u201cIf you\ndo, you will fall out and get killed.\u201d\n\nWhen Tekewas woke up, she ran back to the house and asked: \u201cWhere are\nmy brothers?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said the old woman.\n\n\u201cYes, you do. Here is a trail going up to the sky!\u201d Tekewas was so mad\nthat she ran around the house so fast and so many times that she set it\non fire.\n\nOld man Kaltsik was half-way to the sky when he saw the blaze, and\nsaid: \u201cYour house is burning!\u201d The eldest brother forgot and looked\ndown, over the edge of the basket. That minute the web broke, and the\nfive brothers fell out, one after another.\n\nThe mother and daughter were fighting; each had a wooden paddle. When\nTekewas saw her brothers falling, she said to her mother: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t\nsay: \u2018Fall this side\u2019; you must say: \u2018fall in the middle.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cFall this side! Fall this side!\u201d cried the mother.\n\nTekewas knocked the paddle out of her hand into the fire. Four of the\nbrothers fell into the fire. When sparks flew out, Tekewas pushed them\nback with her paddle. As often as her mother got her paddle out of the\nfire, Tekewas knocked it in again. The youngest brother fell last.\n\n\u201cThis side! This side!\u201d cried his mother.\n\nTekewas jumped on her and fought with her. T\u00fbtats swayed back and\nforth, back and forth, and fell outside the fire, but his sister pushed\nhim into it, and he was burned up.\n\nHis mother ran to the south side of the fire, his sister to the north\nside. The old woman knocked T\u00fbtats\u2019 heart out of the fire, for she was\non the right side. She said to the heart: \u201cWe shall see who will live,\nyou or your sister. You will be a great mountain with a white top, and\nwill live always. In later times people will come to you to get wisdom,\nto be great talkers, and brave warriors, and you will talk to them and\nhelp them.\u201d\n\nThe heart flew north and became Mount Shasta; then the mother stirred\nthe fire till four hearts flew out and off toward the north. Each heart\nbecame a mountain. The heart of the eldest brother went as far as the\nocean. But the youngest brother is the largest of the five, and he is\nthe only one who always has snow on his head.\n\nTekewas, when she thought she had killed her brothers, went home to\nK\u00fblta; then the old woman remembered Sk\u00f3la, and hunted for her. At last\nshe found her; she was dead, but by her side were two babies. The\ngrandmother pressed them together with her hands, and they became one.\nShe was glad and called the child W\u00e9ahjuk\u00e9was. She made a hole in the\nground and hid him.\n\nThat night the old woman took the baby out and rubbed him with ashes.\nIn the morning he noticed things. Each night she rubbed him with ashes;\neach morning he was larger and stronger. She talked to the earth, to\nthe mountains, and to the springs, and asked them to make her grandson\nstrong and make him grow fast.\n\nOne morning the grandmother saw Tekewas lying on the ridge of a hill;\nshe was red and beautiful. The old woman was frightened; she thought\nTekewas had seen the little boy.\n\nTekewas came to the grass house and asked for seeds and roots. The\ngrandmother had forgotten the boy\u2019s deerskin blanket; she had left it\nin the house when she put him under the ground as she always did in the\ndaytime. Tekewas saw the blanket, and said: \u201cYou have a baby! Whose is\nit?\u201d\n\nThe old woman said: \u201cMy daughter, you shouldn\u2019t talk so to me. I am\nold; I had children, but now I am alone; you have killed all my sons.\nGo away! You know where the seeds and roots are; take them and go off.\u201d\n\nTekewas got the seeds and started, but she came back and said: \u201cI know\nwhose baby it is. It is Sk\u00f3la\u2019s, and you must give it to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cSk\u00f3la is dead,\u201d said the old woman; \u201cshe had no children.\u201d She drove\nTekewas away and followed her to see that she didn\u2019t stop on the\nmountain to watch the house. She was sorry that Tekewas had seen the\nblanket. When she came back, she rubbed the boy and talked to the\nearth, to the mountains, to the trees, to everything for a long time;\nthen she put him away under the ground.\n\nEach night and morning the old woman rubbed the little boy with deer\u2019s\nfat, and soon he was large enough to run around and play. Then she said\nto him: \u201cMy grandson, you mustn\u2019t show yourself; you must always play\nin the tall grass; never go away from it!\u201d\n\nTekewas came every day; sometimes she wanted to stay, but her mother\ndrove her off. When the boy was large enough to trap birds, his\ngrandmother said: \u201cStay near the house; don\u2019t go far, for if you do,\nyou will get killed.\u201d One evening she asked: \u201cWhat have you been doing\nall day?\u201d\n\n\u201cPlaying with birds,\u201d said the boy. \u201cThey can talk to me now.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe best way to play is with a bow and arrows. You can shoot an arrow\ntoward the sky, then watch and see where it falls.\u201d\n\nOne day the boy noticed that his shadow was two, and he was one. The\nnext morning, when he went out to play, he shot an arrow up to the sky;\nthen he held his head down and listened. The arrow came back, hit him\non the top of the head and split off one half of him; there was another\nboy just like him. He wished the second boy to be small, to be a baby.\nHe called the baby by his own name. He went to a clump of brush,\nscratched a place in the middle of it, put his blanket down there, put\nthe baby on it, and said: \u201cDon\u2019t cry; if you do, our aunt will come and\neat us up.\u201d\n\nFor a long time he sat and talked with his little brother, then he went\nhome. It was night and his grandmother was frightened; she thought that\nTekewas had killed the boy.\n\n\u201cWhy did you stay so long?\u201d asked she.\n\n\u201cI lost my blanket. I put it down in the brush and then couldn\u2019t find\nit.\u201d\n\nThe next morning his grandmother gave him a wildcat skin blanket, and\nhe went out to play; but he didn\u2019t play, he sat by his little brother\nand cried, he was so sorry for him. When it was dark, he covered the\nchild with brush and went home. \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked his\ngrandmother. \u201cWhy have you been crying?\u201d\n\n\u201cI shot at a bird and then couldn\u2019t find my arrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can make you as many arrows as you want; don\u2019t cry,\u201d said his\ngrandmother.\n\nThe next morning, when he was starting out, the boy said: \u201cI must take\na few seeds with me; I get hungry.\u201d\n\nShe gave him seeds, tied them up in a squirrel skin and said: \u201cBe\ncareful this time, don\u2019t lose your blanket or arrows.\u201d\n\nWhen he came home in the evening, he said: \u201cGrandmother, you must pound\nseeds for me to carry to-morrow. I don\u2019t like whole seeds, and I can\u2019t\neat the roots in my arms, I bite myself.\u201d\n\nThe next day he took pounded seeds to his little brother, fed him,\npetted him, and talked to him till night, then he wrapped his wildcat\nskin blanket twice around the child, took his old blanket, and went\nhome.\n\n\u201cWhere is your new blanket?\u201d asked his grandmother.\n\n\u201cI found my old one. I like it better. I left the new one in the\nbrush.\u201d\n\nWhen four days old, the little boy could walk. The fifth day the elder\nboy cried all the time; he was wondering who had killed his father and\nmother. His grandmother had never told him; she only frightened him to\nmake him careful. His little brother could play with him now.\n\nThat night his grandmother asked: \u201cWhat ails you? Why do you cry?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I have nobody to play with.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are a lonely child, but you mustn\u2019t think of that,\u201d said his\ngrandmother, and she began to cry.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow will you fill my sack full of pounded seeds?\u201d asked the boy.\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t eat all I give you; you must waste it,\u201d said his\ngrandmother, \u201cbut you shall have all you want.\u201d\n\nThe little boy could eat a great deal; he ate the pounded seed his\nbrother brought and that afternoon he cried for more. The elder boy\nmade five straw rings to shoot at and roll around to amuse the little\nfellow. The next day, when the child began to cry for more seeds his\nbrother went home, and said: \u201cGrandmother, you must give me more\npounded seeds. I shot my arrow up, and when it was coming down to hit\nme on the head, I ran away and it hit my sack and spilt all the seeds.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must be more careful,\u201d said his grandmother.\n\n\u201cYou told me you would give me all I wanted to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, but you must not waste things.\u201d\n\nShe filled a willow pan, and told him to go away before any one saw\nhim.\n\nWhen night came, the boy gave his brother his bow and arrows, covered\nhim with grass, and went home, crying.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked his grandmother.\n\n\u201cI have lost my bow and arrow. I dropped them to follow a bird and kill\nit with a stone; when I came back I couldn\u2019t find them.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t cry,\u201d said his grandmother. \u201cI will make you another bow and\nmore arrows. You shall have everything you want.\u201d\n\n\u201cI threw away my moccasins to-day; I want a new pair,\u201d said the boy.\n\nThe next morning he had a nice pair of new moccasins. The two boys\nplayed all day, rolling straw rings and shooting at them with arrows.\n\nThat night the old woman looked at her grandson and said: \u201cYou have\nonly one head; where is the other?\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t have two heads,\u201d said the boy, and he began to cry.\n\n\u201cYou had two heads.\u201d\n\n\u201cI had only one.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have always had two; now you have one. Where is the other?\u201d At\nlast he told her about his brother. \u201cAfter it is dark,\u201d said she, \u201cgo\nand bring your brother to the house.\u201d\n\nHe brought the little boy on his back. The old woman cried when she saw\nhim; she rubbed him with ashes, and talked to the earth and mountains,\nasking them not to hurt him. In the morning she put both of the\nchildren in the hole where the first child had been and threw a straw\nmat over the hole.\n\nThat day Tekewas came for roots. She saw the mat and asked: \u201cWhy did\nyou throw away that nice mat?\u201d\n\n\u201cGo off!\u201d cried her mother. \u201cDon\u2019t torment me. You have killed your\nbrothers. My spirit is old; you can kill me if you want to, but don\u2019t\ntorment me. Go away and let me alone!\u201d She drove her off.\n\nThe next morning Tekewas went early to look for tracks. She found the\nplace where the boys had rolled straw rings and saw that some of the\ntracks were very small. She followed the larger tracks till she came to\nher mother\u2019s house. \u201cYou didn\u2019t tell me the truth!\u201d cried she. \u201cThere\nare children here! Every afternoon I hear little boys laughing.\u201d\n\nThe old woman scolded her, drove her off, watched her till she was out\nof sight; then she took the boys out of the hole and told them to go\nand play, but not to run around; if they did a bad woman would catch\nthem.\n\nThat day the boys followed a white-necked duck. They tried to shoot it\nbut couldn\u2019t. At night the elder boy said: \u201cGrandmother, you must give\nme an arrow with a strong head; then I can kill ducks.\u201d\n\nShe gave him one and all the next day he followed the duck; at last he\nhit it. The bird screamed like a man and hid in the bushes. Ever since\nthat time ducks like that one scream in the same way. When the boy\nfound the bird, it said: \u201cDon\u2019t kill me. I always bring good news. Take\nthis arrow out and I will talk to you.\u201d\n\nThe boy pulled out the arrow, then the bird said: \u201cLittle boys, don\u2019t\nthink that you have a father and a mother. Your aunt killed them. She\nloved her youngest brother, but he didn\u2019t love her, so she killed him\nand all of her brothers. Now she is trying to kill you. I hear her sing\nin her heart: \u2018I will kill my nephews, I will kill my nephews!\u2019 When\nyou are large enough to shoot ducks from a canoe, you can kill her if\nyou try. She swims in the lake in the form of a duck; when she is in\nthe form of a woman she has long red hair. She will call you as though\nshe loved you, but you must remember my words. Don\u2019t tell your\ngrandmother that you know about your aunt; she wouldn\u2019t let you kill\nher. She could have saved your father if she had killed her daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrandmother,\u201d asked the boy that night, \u201cis there any place around\nhere where there are green-headed ducks?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, but you can\u2019t kill them; you are too small.\u201d\n\nThe boy went to the lake, sat in the reeds, and watched till he saw two\ngreen-headed ducks and killed them. The next day he killed five\ngreen-headed ducks. The old woman was frightened. She didn\u2019t dare to\nlet a feather drop or fly away for fear Tekewas would see it. She\nburned each feather and roasted the ducks in hot ashes.\n\n\u201cWhen I kill a duck, I shiver, and am cold,\u201d said the boy.\n\n\u201cWhy is that?\u201d asked the grandmother.\n\n\u201cBecause I want a canoe.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo-morrow, when you go to the lake, you will find a canoe.\u201d\n\nHe was glad. \u201cI will take my brother,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the grandmother, \u201che is too small; he might fall into the\nwater and you couldn\u2019t get him out.\u201d\n\nThe boy started off alone, then he thought: \u201cMy arrows are not strong\nenough to kill big birds.\u201d He ran back and his grandmother gave him\nfive strong arrows and a straw mat to wrap them in. That day he killed\nmany ducks, and his grandmother was glad.\n\nThe next morning he said: \u201cWhen I am in the reeds at the edge of the\nwater, I always feel that somebody is looking at me to scare me.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid,\u201d said his grandmother; \u201cmaybe the earth is trying to\nget hold of you.\u201d She thought of Tekewas, but she didn\u2019t want to tell\nthe boys about her.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said he. \u201cI feel that somebody is looking at me. I want my\nbrother to go with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe can go, but be careful; don\u2019t let him fall into the water.\u201d\n\nAll day the little boy slept in the canoe; when the sun went down, his\nbrother cooked him a duck to eat, and then the two went home.\n\nThat lake was their aunt\u2019s swimming-place. One day when the boy had\nkilled a good many ducks, and had gone to the shore to cook one for his\nbrother, he saw something swimming in the water; only a head could be\nseen,\u2014a great, ugly head, with long red hair floating around it. As\nsoon as the boys saw the head, they made themselves small. The little\nboy screamed. The woman called to them and tried to go to them, but she\ncould only come up out of the water as far as her waist. \u201cI shall see\nyou another day,\u201d screamed she. \u201cI will wait till you are larger.\u201d\n\nWhen the boys got home, the grandmother asked: \u201cWhy did you scream so\nloud?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy brother swallowed a duck bone,\u201d said the elder boy. \u201cYou must cook\nseeds for him to eat.\u201d\n\nEvery day the brothers went for ducks. Many times the aunt floated up\nto their canoe, put her breast against the side of it, and almost\ntipped it over. Each time the little boy screamed. The elder boy drove\nher away. He was angry, but he was waiting for his brother to get older\nand stronger. Sometimes the woman didn\u2019t come; she was with K\u00fblta, who\nlived in the lake near the place where the boys hunted for ducks.\n\nThe grandmother gave the older boy a knife to sharpen his arrows. \u201cI\nwant a stronger one.\u201d said he. She gave him another, a very strong,\nsharp knife. That day Tekewas put her breast to the canoe and almost\ntipped it over. The little boy screamed, he was so scared.\n\nWhen they went home, the grandmother asked: \u201cWhy did your brother\nscream so loud?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe cut his finger.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is because I gave you a sharp knife. You shouldn\u2019t let him have\nit.\u201d\n\nThe next day they killed a good many ducks. When the aunt came toward\nthem the boy said to his little brother: \u201cDon\u2019t scream.\u201d But when the\nhead looked up over the edge of the canoe the child couldn\u2019t help\nscreaming.\n\n\u201cWhy does he always scream?\u201d asked the grandmother. \u201cYou must be\ncareful when you are down by the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you say that?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause the earth sometimes has a pain, and wants people.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid, grandmother, we belong to the earth; it won\u2019t hurt\nus.\u201d\n\nOne day when the grandmother asked why the little boy screamed, his\nbrother said: \u201cHe got choked with a bone. I got it out, but he was\nalmost dead, and I cried.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must leave him at home.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, the water looks ugly. I\u2019m afraid when I\u2019m alone.\u201d\n\nThe next time Tekewas came to the canoe and tried to tip it over, the\nboy cut her head off with his sharp knife. He threw the head down in\nthe end of the canoe, then dragged the body into a deep hole among the\nrocks in the water. The water around that place is Tekewas\u2019 blood, and\nto this day it is as black as ink. As they pushed the body down into\nthe hole, the elder boy said to it: \u201cYou will never be great again. You\nwill be small and weak, and people will say you are too nasty to eat.\u201d\nThe spirit came out of the body and flew around the lake, an ugly bird.\n\nThe brothers shot ducks and piled them up on the head in the end of the\ncanoe. When they got home, the elder boy said: \u201cGrandmother, give us\nplenty of seeds and roots to eat.\u201d While they were eating, the old\nwoman began to bring in the ducks. Each time she went for a load, the\nelder brother talked to the fire, to the water, to the wood, to the\nbows and arrows, talked to the pounder, to the basket, and to the\ndigging sticks, talked to everything in the house and everything\noutside, told them not to tell where he and his brother went,\u2014but he\nforgot to tell awl. When he thought he had told everything, he took his\nbrother and went down in the ground near the fire. He put a coal over\nthe hole and started toward the east.\n\nEach time the old woman brought in a basketful of ducks, she asked:\n\u201cAre you here, boys?\u201d and the spirit in the wood and the fire answered:\n\u201cWe are here.\u201d\n\nShe found blood in the canoe, and wondered where it came from. When she\ngot hold of the head, she screamed and ran to the house. She pulled her\nclothes off and was going to kill her grandsons. \u201cWhere are you?\u201d cried\nshe.\n\n\u201cWe are in the corner.\u201d\n\nShe went there, but didn\u2019t find them. Then she called again: \u201cWhere are\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are on the top of the house.\u201d\n\nShe looked for them there, then called: \u201cWhere are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are in the grass of the house.\u201d The house was made of twigs and\ngrass.\n\nThen they said they were among the wood. She pulled the logs apart and\nthrew them out, but she didn\u2019t find the boys. \u201cWe are in the canoe.\u201d\nShe went there, and when she failed to find them, she screamed: \u201cWhere\nare you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are where your roots are.\u201d\n\nShe scattered the roots.\n\n\u201cWe are sitting in the fire.\u201d\n\nShe threw out the wood and coals. She hunted all night but couldn\u2019t\nfind them.\n\nAt last awl said: \u201cWhat are you going to do, old woman? The boys are\nnot to blame. Your daughter was a bad woman; she killed her brothers,\nand then she wanted to kill her nephews. Your grandsons are a long way\noff; you can\u2019t catch them. Look at that little coal. Under it is the\nhole where they went down in the ground.\u201d\n\nThe old woman saw the coal, picked it up, found the hole, and started\nto follow her grandsons.\n\nThe boys traveled toward where the sun comes up. They wanted to be\nservants of Sun, to be of use to him. The first house they came to was\non the south side of Tula Lake; Toh\u00f3s, W\u00e1manik\u2019s wife, lived there; she\nwas their aunt.\n\nToh\u00f3s had a great red lump on her forehead. The little boy laughed at\nher, and said: \u201cThat looks like a boil. It don\u2019t look well. I don\u2019t\nlike to see it. People who come hereafter may look as you do.\u201d He took\nhis fire-drill and pressed the swelling downwards. From that time fowls\nand beasts do not carry their young in their foreheads.\n\n\u201cOh, my nephew,\u201d said his aunt, \u201cwhat have you done? Your uncle is a\nbad man; he will be mad and maybe he will kill you.\u201d\n\nW\u00e1manik was off hunting; when his bowstring broke he knew what had\nhappened at home. He let himself out full length, then made a circle\naround the world and began to press in trees, rocks, mountains,\neverything. When he began to press his own house, the elder nephew went\non the top of it, lay down, drew his bowstring, snapped it, and sent an\narrow into W\u00e1manik\u2019s head and killed him. Then he cut his body into\nsmall pieces. Each piece turned to a rock, and the rocks made a great\nmountain. The spirit of W\u00e1manik came out and was a snake. The nephew\nsaid: \u201cYou will be of no use; only dirty people will eat you.\u201d\n\nWhen the boys started toward the east, Toh\u00f3s\u2019 spirit followed them a\nwhile, then said: \u201cMy nephews, tell me where you are going and when you\nare coming back.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are not coming back,\u201d said the boys. \u201cIt is a lonesome world. We\nhave no father or mother; our aunt has killed them. We don\u2019t want to\nlive here any longer. We shall never come back; we are going to where\nthe sun comes up.\u201d And they went on.\n\n\u201cI am dry,\u201d said the little boy; \u201cI want to drink.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know this country,\u201d answered the elder boy. \u201cI don\u2019t know\nwhere the springs are.\u201d As they traveled they came to a place where\nwater flowed out of two holes in a rock. They drank there and the elder\nbrother named the place G\u00e1d\u00fbm (Stone Springs). While they were drinking\na little snake ran into the spring. The younger boy laughed and said to\nthe snake: \u201cIn later time, if strangers come here to drink, you and\nyour people will show yourselves and scare them.\u201d\n\nThey started on, but hadn\u2019t gone far when the little boy wanted water\nto drink. The elder boy shot his arrow off toward the east, but he saw\nno water. He shot a second arrow and a third; then he shot through a\nmountain and into a lake, and water came through the mountain and made\na spring that he called Ktsisk\u0103salkis. (People have to crawl in under\nthe rocks to drink from it.)\n\nThey crossed a high mountain and came to a lake. \u201cI am hungry,\u201d said\nthe little boy.\n\n\u201cSit down, and I will go into the water and get tuls [9] for you,\u201d said\nhis brother.\n\nWhile they were eating the grass, they saw a catfish. When the elder\nbrother shot at it, a great many fish came up out of the water. He\ncaught some and cooked them. The place where the boys sat while eating\nis called E\u016dd\u00e9lis, and to this day a great many catfish are caught in\nthe river near there.\n\nAs the boys traveled on, they came to a muddy stream. The elder brother\nscratched the mud away, multiplied the fish that were there, and said:\n\u201cYou will be of use for my people.\u201d There were a good many eels in the\nwater and along the bank, and the little boy was afraid of them. He\ntook his fire-drill, picked them up, one by one, threw them off into\nthe lake, and said: \u201cYou are not living people. I don\u2019t want you to be\naround here. In later times people will roast and eat you, and say you\nare good.\u201d\n\nNear their camping-place that night there were a great many round,\nsmooth stones. The younger brother didn\u2019t know that those stones were\npeople, so he played with them, broke some of them, and struck one\nagainst another. When it grew dark, the stones began to fight; they\nflew at one another, pounded one another, and made a terrible clatter.\nThe boy was frightened; he struck at them with his fire-drill, and\nsaid: \u201cHereafter you will be stones, not people! You will stay in the\nwater, but in the evening and early in the morning you will make just\nsuch a noise as you have made to-night.\u201d To this day the noise made by\nthose stones can be heard evening and morning. The place is called\nD\u0103nwag\u00e1iyas.\n\nAs the brothers traveled east, they came to a place where there were\nlarge rocks. \u201cI\u2019m hungry,\u201d said the little boy. His brother scolded him\nfor being always hungry, but said: \u201cWe will sit down by the rocks;\nperhaps we\u2019ll see a squirrel.\u201d\n\nAfter a while a squirrel, on its way to the flat, passed them; they\nkilled and roasted it, ate half of it, and took half with them. They\ncame to a place on the top of smooth, level rocks, where at night there\nwas a lake, and in the daytime only a little muddy water. There they\ncaught one large fish. The little boy wanted to catch more, but his\nbrother said: \u201cNo, this world was made before we came. Those fish were\nmade for some purpose; we must leave them here.\u201d\n\nThey went on till they came to a hill. There were no trees on the hill,\nbut it was covered with grass, and from the top of the hill they could\nsee a long distance.\n\n\u201cLet us stay here,\u201d said the little boy. \u201cLet us have this hill for our\nhome.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said his brother, \u201cthis is a lonely world; I don\u2019t want to stay.\nWe will go where we can be of use; we will go to where the sun comes\nup.\u201d\n\nThen they talked about which one they would rather serve, Sun or Moon.\nThe elder brother said: \u201cI would rather serve Sun.\u201d The younger said:\n\u201cI would like to serve Moon, for then people can\u2019t see me.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeople will always look at us,\u201d said his brother. \u201cThey will watch for\nus, and be glad when they see us.\u201d\n\nSoon the boys came to a wide plain at the foot of a mountain. They dug\nroots, cleaned, and ate them, then climbed the mountain. \u201cThis\nmountain,\u201d said the elder boy, \u201cis brother to Salw\u00e1he. Hereafter people\nwill come to this place for rock to make knives of.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us stay here,\u201d said the little boy.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said his brother. \u201cI know what it is best to do; I am older than\nyou are. This world isn\u2019t for us to live in always.\u201d\n\nThat night they camped at a place which the elder brother named\nW\u00e9losina. The next morning they climbed a hill, and looking down into\nthe valley on the other side, saw a great dirt house.\n\n\u201cWhen shall we get to that house?\u201d asked the little boy.\n\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t safe to go there in the daytime,\u201d said his brother. \u201cOld\nYauk\u00f9l, the man who lives there, kills people by twisting their wrists;\nhe has a knife stuck in the ground near the fire, and after he kills a\nman he cuts him up and burns the pieces. No one ever comes away from\nhis house. We will go there in the night.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t go to that bad place,\u201d said the little boy.\n\n\u201cIf I go, maybe I can kill that man; I don\u2019t think he has the power to\nlive always.\u201d\n\nThe elder brother gathered the strongest wood he could find and made\nbones of it. He put the bones into his brother\u2019s wrists and into his\nown, and outside of those he put bones made of brittle wood. When night\ncame, they went to the valley and climbed to the top of the house. Then\nthey turned themselves into dead coals and dropped through the smoke\nhole.\n\nYauk\u00f9l had two servants, G\u00e4k and Gapni. The old man and G\u00e4k were\nasleep, but Gapni was awake and he called out: \u201cSomething fell in!\nSomething fell in!\u201d They didn\u2019t hear him; they were sound asleep: he\nhad to call to them a good many times. Even if dust fell, Gapni heard\nit and called out: \u201cSomething fell in.\u201d At last they woke up. \u201cWhat can\nyou see with your little eyes?\u201d asked G\u00e4k.\n\n\u201cI can see everything in the world, and I can count everything.\u201d G\u00e4k\nhated Gapni.\n\nYauk\u00f9l got a torch and looked around the fire. G\u00e4k wouldn\u2019t look, for\nhe didn\u2019t believe that anything fell in. Gapni kept repeating:\n\u201cDw\u00fbh\u00e9libina!\u201d (Something fell in).\n\n\u201cI can look through the world,\u201d said G\u00e4k; \u201cI know that nothing fell\nin.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know for myself that something came in,\u201d said Yauk\u00f9l. He lighted the\nfire and hunted. At last the old man was tired; he put his hands on his\nknife, leaned on it, and rested. Then the elder brother changed into a\nman and stood in front of him.\n\n\u201cOh, I am glad you have come!\u201d said Yauk\u00f9l. (He thought he would have\nsomething to eat.) \u201cG\u00e4k,\u201d said he, \u201cI knew that Gapni didn\u2019t lie; he\nnever lies, he always tells the truth. He can see farther and hear\nbetter than you can; he shall be chief.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k was ashamed and mad.\n\nThe younger brother then stood up. \u201cI am glad that you have come,\u201d said\nYauk\u00f9l. \u201cGapni was right; he said there were two. What do you want?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe came to visit you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I will play with you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am too small to play with such a big man as you are,\u201d said the\nlittle boy. Yauk\u00f9l took hold of his wrists. When the brittle bones\ncracked, he was glad. \u201cI can kill him easy,\u201d thought he.\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t play with him first,\u201d said the elder brother, \u201cyou must play\nwith me; I am older than he is.\u201d\n\nWhen Yauk\u00f9l took hold of the elder boy\u2019s wrists, the bones cracked, and\nhe was glad.\n\n\u201cNow it is my turn,\u201d said the boy. He caught hold of Yauk\u00f9l\u2019s wrists,\nbroke them, and killed him. Then he tore out the old man\u2019s arms, and\nsaid: \u201cYou will no longer be a person and have arms; you will be a bird\nwith legs, and you will stand by the water to watch which way the wind\nblows, so as to find dead fish to eat. You, G\u00e4k, will no longer be a\nman; you will fly in the air and go around among the rocks to watch for\nwhat hunters throw away, and what you find you will eat.\u201d Then he said\nto Gapni: \u201cYou will no longer be the wisest man in the world; you will\nlive in people\u2019s heads. Some will crack you, like this\u201d\u2014he took him in\nhis fingers and cracked him\u2014\u201cothers will put you in the fire, and\nothers will catch you in their heads and will bite you to pay you for\nbiting them. You will waken people at night, and they will catch and\nkill you.\u201d He burned up the dirt house, and said: \u201cHereafter, Yauk\u00f9l,\nyou will have no home, you will live everywhere in the world.\u201d\n\nToh\u00f3s, their aunt, had told them that after passing Yauk\u00f9l\u2019s house,\nthey would be out of their own country and must go along at the foot of\nmountains, for on the mountains a one-legged man was always walking\naround. But they were traveling east and couldn\u2019t go around the\nmountains. On the first one they came to, they met the one-legged man,\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. He had a great, bushy head, his face and body were painted\nred, his blanket was made of untanned elk-skin, and rattled as he\nwalked. On his back he carried a straw quiver. He had only one leg, but\nhe traveled very fast. He came up to the boys, and sitting down said:\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think that I should meet anybody.\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t expect to see you,\u201d said the elder boy, \u201cbut a little while\nago I felt that somebody was looking at me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you light your pipe?\u201d asked Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. (This was always his\nquestion.)\n\n\u201cI have no pipe,\u201d said the younger boy.\n\n\u201cEverybody who travels should have a pipe,\u201d said the man. He lighted\nhis own and handed it to the elder brother. The first whiff the boy\ndrew the pipe broke.\n\n\u201cWhy did you bite my pipe and break it?\u201d asked Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t break it; I drew a whiff, and the pipe fell apart.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are the first man to break my pipe. Let me take your pipe.\u201d When\nhe had it, he said: \u201cI will keep this to pay for mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the boy, \u201cthat pipe rests me when I am tired; you can\u2019t have\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall keep it to pay for mine,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. He drew a whiff,\nhanded the pipe back, and said: \u201cPut in more tobacco.\u201d When he had the\npipe again, he struck it against a rock, but it didn\u2019t break; then he\ntook a rock and pounded it.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t break my pipe,\u201d said the boy. \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to break yours.\u201d\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s threw the pipe against a great rock, and the pipe rolled to\nits owner. He picked it up, put it in his pouch, and put the pouch into\nhis quiver.\n\nThe one-legged man built a fire. \u201cNow we will wrestle,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cWhy did you build the fire?\u201d asked the boy.\n\n\u201cThe one that gets beaten will be thrown into the fire and burned up.\u201d\n\nWhile Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was fastening his leg to a rock, the elder boy said to\nhis little brother: \u201cTake our quivers and bows and stand on the north\nside of the fire with your back toward us. When we begin to wrestle,\nrun as fast as you can and don\u2019t look back, no matter who calls to you.\nRun till you are on the other side of that high mountain over there and\nthen wait for me. I shall kill this man and burn up his body, but his\nspirit will follow us as far as we go.\u201d\n\nThe two began to wrestle. A good many times Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s swung the boy\naround and almost killed him, but the boy clung to him, and at last\nbent him back with a twist and broke his leg off. He threw the leg and\nthe body into the fire, poked the fire up around them, and ran off as\nfast as he could toward the mountain, where he had told his brother to\nwait for him.\n\n\u201cCome back and wrestle with me,\u201d called Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 spirit. \u201cYou haven\u2019t\nthrown me. Come back!\u201d Then he called to the younger brother: \u201cCome\nback, little boy; I have thrown your big brother into the fire.\u201d The\nboy didn\u2019t turn. His brother soon overtook him, and they went on\ntogether.\n\n\u201cYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 spirit will follow as far as we go,\u201d said the elder\nbrother.\n\nThey traveled a good many days; one day Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 spirit went ahead,\nthen turned and came toward them. The spirit looked exactly as\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s had looked. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s had a deer on his back. The boys\ncouldn\u2019t turn, for they were always going east.\n\nThe spirit stopped on the trail, took the deer off his back and built a\nfire. When the boys came to the place, they sat down. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s didn\u2019t\noffer them meat, but he said: \u201cLet us smoke,\u201d and he gave his pipe to\nthe elder brother. With the first whiff, the pipe broke. \u201cLet me smoke\nyour pipe,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. When he couldn\u2019t break the pipe by drawing\non it, he tried in every other way. At last the boy said: \u201cYou sha\u2019n\u2019t\nbreak my pipe; it is the only one I have.\u201d He snatched it away from\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s, put it in his pouch, and started to go.\n\n\u201cStop and wrestle with me,\u201d said the spirit. \u201cDid you meet a man who\nlives straight west on this road? He is a bad man; he kills every man\nthat passes his house.\u201d\n\nThe boy didn\u2019t listen; he hurried on. The spirit pretended to turn\nback, but only went aside till they were out of sight, then followed\nthem.\n\nThey traveled a good many days. The little boy was used to walking now;\nhe didn\u2019t get tired or hungry, so they traveled day and night. One day,\nwhen they were near a river, they saw the spirit of Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s again.\n\nHe stopped them, and asked: \u201cHave you a pipe?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the boy.\n\n\u201cEvery man has one when he travels,\u201d said the spirit.\n\n\u201cI have no time to smoke. I am looking for a place to cross this river.\nDo you know of one?\u201d asked the boy.\n\n\u201cYes, above here there is a place where the river is shallow. How did\nyou pass the one-legged man\u2019s house? He lives on the road you came\nover. His house is under the rocks; all you can see of it is the smoke\nthat comes out.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are going to Sun\u2019s house,\u201d said the elder boy. \u201cWe must hurry on;\nwe\u2019ve no time to talk.\u201d\n\nThey left the spirit at the crossing. There was a big stump in the\nmiddle of the river; it was Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 crossing-place. He leaped from\nthe bank to the rock and from there to the other bank. The elder boy\ntook his little brother under his arm and jumped across the river.\n\n\u201cStop! stop!\u201d called Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 spirit. \u201cGive me your pipe.\u201d\n\nThe brothers paid no heed; they went on, and at the end of two days\ncame to a house covered with deerskins. Some of the skins were dry;\nothers were fresh. Around the house there was a great deal of deer\nmeat.\n\n\u201cLet us go to that house and get something to eat,\u201d said the little\nboy.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t go there,\u201d answered his brother. \u201cThat is the one-legged man\u2019s\nhouse.\u201d\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was watching; when he saw the boys pass he came out, and\ngoing around them, came up driving a deer that looked tired and ready\nto fall. As the spirit met the boys, the deer ran off.\n\n\u201cYou have made me lose my deer!\u201d screamed the spirit. \u201cNow give me your\npipe to smoke.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have no pipe.\u201d\n\n\u201cTravelers always have a pipe.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have traveled long,\u201d said the boy. \u201cWhen I had traveled two summers,\nmy tobacco was gone.\u201d\n\nThey left Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s and went on. That night they crossed two mountains,\nand the next day the elder brother said: \u201cWe are near the end of our\njourney.\u201d Just then Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s came to them; on his back were two deer.\nThe elder brother saw him first. \u201cThat is the spirit of the one-legged\nman,\u201d said he to the little boy. \u201cDon\u2019t be deceived.\u201d\n\nThe brothers turned to black coals, and a strong wind, like a\nwhirlwind, carried them along. Sometimes they rolled and sometimes they\nwent through the air. When they were over two high mountains, they took\ntheir own forms. Again Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s came to them. This time his face and\nbody were painted white. \u201cWe have no time to talk with you,\u201d said the\nelder brother, and they hurried on.\n\nWhen they reached the top of the third mountain, the spirit of the\none-legged man was there. That time his face and body were painted red,\nand long bright hair floated behind him. He called out: \u201cWho are you\nthat can never be caught?\u201d\n\nThe moment he spoke, the brothers again turned to black coals, and a\nwhirlwind carried them away. The whirlwind stopped on the bank of a\ndried up stream, and the boys took their own forms, and traveled on.\nMany times Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 spirit met them, always in a different dress, and\npainted differently, but the brothers knew him.\n\nAt last the boys reached the eastern ocean, where nothing stood between\nthe water and the sky. There were lots of rocks there. The brothers sat\ndown and the elder took out his pipe to smoke.\n\nThat minute Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was there, and said: \u201cLet me smoke.\u201d That time\nthe boy gave him his pipe. (He was going to destroy the spirit.)\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s tried to break the pipe, but couldn\u2019t; then the boy said:\n\u201cGive me your pipe.\u201d With the first whiff he broke it to pieces.\n\n\u201cYou must wrestle with me,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. He built a fire and\nfastened his leg to the rocks.\n\n\u201cYou must stand by the fire with your back toward us,\u201d said the elder\nboy to his little brother. \u201cWhen you hear us wrestling shut your eyes\nand run as fast as you can. Don\u2019t look back. Run straight east. Run on\nthe water; and don\u2019t stop till I call to you. We have left the house\nwhere our father and mother were killed. We are leaving the world, but\neach year we shall see our father\u2019s country.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy had killed Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s, he threw him into the water, and\nsaid: \u201cYou will never be a person again. You will only be something to\nentice and fool people. You will think that you can kill people, but\nyou will have no strength. You will wander around on the mountains and\nappear (in dreams) to doctors, and they will be your servants.\u201d\n\nAs the boy ran off, the spirit called: \u201cWhen I appear, you will appear,\nbut you will have no power. You and your brother will no longer be\npersons; you will be stars, and between summer and winter your people\nwill fight over you.\u201d\n\nThe younger boy was at the edge of the sky when the old man\u2019s spirit\nsaid: \u201cYou will be a star.\u201d Right away he was one. As soon as the elder\nboy reached the edge of the sky, he became a star, too.\n\n\n    Note.\u2014Those two stars appear early in the morning toward the end of\n    winter. They are the heralds of spring.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE RAINMAKER\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00e1hga     Heron (Small Green Heron)\n    K\u0101hkaas   Stork\n\n\n\nG\u00e1hga and his brother lived together. They were so small that people\ncalled them \u201cthe two little G\u00e1hga brothers.\u201d The elder brother was\nblind, but he was a great doctor; he could see everything, by the help\nof his medicines.\n\nOne day a man came to the G\u00e1hga brothers, and said: \u201cA great many\npeople are going to snare deer. They have made bark ropes and tied them\nbetween trees; now they are ready to drive the deer in. They want you\nto come and help them.\u201d\n\nThe elder brother was married. He had a nice-looking wife and a little\nboy. He said to his wife: \u201cYou must pound seed and get ready to go with\nmy brother. I don\u2019t want to take my medicines there; I will stay here\nby the fire with our boy. I can\u2019t look out of my eyes. Maybe the deer\nwould kill me.\u201d\n\nThe woman pounded seed; she left some for her husband and little boy to\neat, and took a bagful for herself and her brother-in-law. G\u00e1hga got\nout his medicine and watched his wife and brother. He sat by the fire,\nbut he followed them all the way to where the people were driving in\ndeer. As he watched them, he got jealous and mad, for he saw that his\nwife and brother were fond of each other. When they came home, they\nbrought a fawn. The woman cut it up, roasted the meat, and gave some of\nit to her husband; he kicked it away. She gave him some w\u00fbdj\u00fbk (weed\nlike mustard), to eat; he tasted of it, spat it out, and threw the rest\nin the fire.\n\nShe said: \u201cThe people were kind to me to-day; they gave me the fawn and\nasked me to come to-morrow,\u201d and she began to pound seed and get ready\nto go.\n\nThe next day when the woman and her brother-in-law were starting off,\nG\u00e1hga said: \u201cI know what kind of stuff you are feeding me! I know you\nare making sport of me. You don\u2019t fool me. You can do what you like; I\ndon\u2019t care for you any longer, but I will make you feel sorry.\u201d They\ndidn\u2019t answer, didn\u2019t say a word to him.\n\nThat day G\u00e1hga\u2019s sister came to see her little nephew. G\u00e1hga said: \u201cI\nwant you to get me a straw plate.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you want a straw plate?\u201d asked his sister.\n\n\u201cGet it for me, I want it.\u201d\n\nShe wouldn\u2019t get him the plate till he told her what he was going to do\nwith it, and he wouldn\u2019t tell. She was afraid of him; she knew he was\nmad about something.\n\nAfter a while old man K\u0101hkaas came; he was kin of G\u00e1hga. G\u00e1hga asked\nhim for the plate and he gave it to him, and said: \u201cYour brother is\nstealing your wife. All the people at the deer hunt say so. But you\nmust keep quiet; you mustn\u2019t get mad. You are old and blind; your\nbrother is young, and your wife is nice-looking.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1hga screamed, he was so mad. He called his sister and said: \u201cLead me\nto the hunt!\u201d\n\nShe was so scared that she had to do as he told her. He took the straw\nplate, and the three started. When they got to the place, his sister\nsaid: \u201cSit down here, away from the snares; then you will be safe.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said G\u00e1hga, \u201cI am going where my wife is.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be a fool,\u201d said his sister. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t want you; she has\nanother man.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1hga took the plate from under his arm, and sat down on it.\n\nAbout midnight his sister asked: \u201cWhat are you doing? Why don\u2019t you lie\ndown and go to sleep? Why are you sitting on that plate and keeping\nawake all night?\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep still and let me alone,\u201d said G\u00e1hga. \u201cStay here by me; I am going\nto punish those people.\u201d Then he got up and began to dance on the plate\nand to call out: \u201cHo! ho! ho!\u201d\n\nRight away rain came down, but G\u00e1hga didn\u2019t get wet. He kept shaking\nhimself and calling: \u201cHo! ho! ho!\u201d Each time that he called, it rained\nharder. There was deep water everywhere, but the plate was dry and the\nground around it was dry. The people got as wet as though they had been\nswimming.\n\nG\u00e1hga\u2019s sister said: \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t get mad and act in this way; you\nwill kill everybody.\u201d\n\nHe didn\u2019t listen to what she said; he called, \u201cHo! ho! ho!\u201d and danced\nfaster and faster. The people were almost drowned; the water was up to\ntheir arms. Still G\u00e1hga kept shaking himself and dancing and calling:\n\u201cHo! ho! ho!\u201d\n\nWhen the people saw that G\u00e1hga and his sister were dry, they said to\nhis brother: \u201cYou have done this. You have made G\u00e1hga mad. You have\ntaken your brother\u2019s wife,\u201d and they threatened to kill him.\n\nHe said: \u201cI don\u2019t want her. I am going to die; I am freezing.\u201d\n\nThe people caught hold of the woman, dragged her along in the water,\nand threw her down in front of her husband. He stopped dancing, and\nright away it stopped raining.\n\nThe people said: \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be mad at us. We didn\u2019t do this. We\ndon\u2019t want to die; we want to go home. You should feel sorry for us and\ndry up the water.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1hga was sorry for them. He danced on the plate, but he didn\u2019t call:\n\u201cHo! ho! ho!\u201d The water began to go away, and soon the ground was as\ndry as it had been before the rain, and every one went home except\nG\u00e1hga and his wife and his brother.\n\nG\u00e1hga sat on his plate; he wouldn\u2019t get up or he wouldn\u2019t speak. His\nwife got mad. She pushed him, and asked: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you get ready to go\nhome?\u201d He didn\u2019t answer: then she took hold of his arm, jerked him up,\nthrew him on top of the load of meat on her back, and went home.\n\nHis brother went off on the mountains; he was afraid of G\u00e1hga, and\nafraid of the people; for they hated him, and the woman didn\u2019t care for\nhim any longer.\n\nG\u00e1hga was so jealous and cross that he drove his wife away. His sister\ntook the little boy, and G\u00e1hga stayed alone. Maybe he is dead and maybe\nhe is living. Doctors who have him for their medicine can make rain\nwhenever they want to. It is a good medicine. When any one has it, they\ncan look through a man\u2019s body just as we look through a window.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOLD MAN LULUS-DEWIEAS OR EARTHQUAKE OLD MAN\n\n\n    CHARACTER\n\n    Lulus-Dewieas   A Sweet Root; Dewieas means a Great Eater, a \n                    Glutton\n\n\n\nOld man Lulus-Dewieas and his son and daughter-in-law lived in the\ncountry where the lava beds are now. They ate a great deal of sweet\nlulus; it was the old man\u2019s medicine. Always when the son went to hunt\nfor deer, he told his wife to take good care of his father, and be sure\nto give him food before she ate herself, or gave any food to the\nchildren. If she didn\u2019t, she would bring misfortune on herself and the\nchildren. The woman remembered what her husband said, and she always\ngave the old man food first; he was glad and fed his grandchildren.\n\nOne day, early in winter, the son said to his wife: \u201cThere is plenty of\ngame now. I want to kill a good many deer before deep snow comes. While\nI am gone, you mustn\u2019t forget to feed my father before any one else.\u201d\nThe old man was white as snow; he was very old and was almost blind.\n\nThe next morning, when the young man was starting off, he said: \u201cI had\na bad dream last night. I don\u2019t want to go, but the children are always\ncrying for fat meat. I dreamed that I came home and found only a deep\nhole where our house is now. You must keep the children away from their\ngrandfather. Don\u2019t let them bother him; he might get mad. As long as\nyou treat him well, he won\u2019t harm them.\u201d\n\nWhen the young man got to the top of the mountain, he looked back; he\ncould see his house, but somehow he felt lonesome and scared. He kept\nlistening, as if he expected to hear something. It was the first time\nthat he had felt that way. He found a deer and drove it on to a hill,\nand shot at it. Right where it stood, it disappeared. Then he knew that\nsomething was going to happen to him. He said: \u201cThis is the first time\nI have lost a deer after shooting it.\u201d When he got tired of looking for\nthe deer, he sat down to rest.\n\nAfter her husband was gone, the young woman got a heavy stone and began\nto pound seeds. While she was pounding, she made up her mind to find\nout what her father-in-law would do if she put the seed away without\ngiving him any. When the seed was fine enough, she put up the mortar\nwithout saying a word. When the old man saw her do that, he crept out\nand sat down on the south side of the house. As he sat there, he began\nto swell up. He took black paint and painted himself in stripes. Right\naway he began to turn and turn, and to throw up dirt. His hair grew as\nred as fire, and when the hole he made was large enough, he sank into\nit.\n\nWhen the little girl saw her grandfather going down in the ground she\nscreamed: \u201cOh, grandfather, come back!\u201d\n\nThe woman heard the child cry, and she ran out to see what the matter\nwas. When she saw what had happened, she called: \u201cOh, father, come\nback. I\u2019ll give you lots of seeds to eat! Come back!\u201d\n\nBut the old man had gone too far, and was too mad; the house, the\nwoman, and the children all sank into the hole.\n\nThe old man went on, boring as he went. Everywhere he broke and threw\nout the earth. Once in a while he raised himself up a little. At such\nplaces the earth would be level for a short distance, then it would\nsink down in a deep hole and leave a wide opening in the ground.\n\nThe son heard a terrible roar and he knew that his wife had made his\nfather mad. People living a long way off heard the roar. They knew what\nkind of an old man that was; they stayed in their houses and fastened\nup their doors. As the old man traveled, he kept calling his own name:\n\u201cLulus-Dewieas, Lulus-Dewieas!\u201d When the young man came to where his\nhouse had been, he found only a wide gap in the earth. He followed the\nsound of his father\u2019s traveling and called to him; but the old man\ndidn\u2019t hear him.\n\nHe traveled under the ground till he got beyond Mount Shasta and came\nto where there was water. He stopped there, but stayed under ground.\nThe son stood above the place and spoke to his father.\n\nThe old man said: \u201cYou must not feel badly; my spirit belongs to this\nearth. You must go away from me; you must not try to follow me. I shall\nlive forever under the earth.\u201d\n\nLulus-Dewieas could hardly speak when he said this. The son left him,\nand ever after wandered around in the world. He felt sorry and\nlonesome.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nM\u00c1IDIKDAK\u2019S DAUGHTERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    M\u00e1idikdak   Snowbird\n    Wus         Fox\n\n\n\nM\u00e1idikdak and her two daughters lived in the south. The old woman knew\nthat five chiefs lived in the north, with their father, who was a\nchief, too. She wanted her daughters to marry those five brothers, so\nshe made them ready for the road. To one daughter she gave a basket of\nfood; to the other beads, nice shells, and porcupine quills.\n\nWhen the girls were ready to start, she said: \u201cIf you see a man coming\nfrom the east, you will know he is Wus. Don\u2019t stop to talk to him. He\nis a powerful man; he can do any thing he likes. If he gets mad, he\nwill turn you into an animal or a bird. Don\u2019t go on the west side of\nthe lake. Follow the trail on the east side.\u201d\n\nWhen the girls came to the lake, the west side looked nicer, the trail\nwas brighter. The elder sister wanted to follow it, but the younger\nsister said: \u201cOur mother told us not to go on that side.\u201d\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cYou can follow the other trail if you want to.\nI am going on this trail; it is nicer.\u201d\n\nThe younger girl didn\u2019t want to be alone, so she went with her sister.\nWhen they passed Wus\u2019 house she was frightened. She said: \u201cI feel as if\nsomebody were looking at me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel that way too,\u201d said the elder sister. Presently they saw a\nyoung man coming toward them.\n\n\u201cWhat nice girls those are,\u201d thought Wus. When he came up to them, the\nyounger sister said to the elder: \u201cDon\u2019t stop. Go right on. This is the\nman our mother told us about. Don\u2019t speak to him.\u201d\n\nBut the elder girl stopped. Wus made her stop. The younger went on a\nlittle way, then she turned back; she was afraid to go on alone.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cTo the chief\u2019s house,\u201d said the elder sister.\n\n\u201cWhat chief is there out this way? I am the only chief here. I am the\nchief of this world.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are not the chief we are going to. That chief never travels\naround. Our mother told us there was a bad man on this side of the\nlake. His name is Wus; he doesn\u2019t smell good.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know that man,\u201d said Wus. \u201cHe is not bad. He has power and can do\nanything he wants to.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are not going to stop here,\u201d said the elder sister. \u201cWe are going\nto the chief who lives in the north, and has five sons.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo on, if you want to,\u201d said Wus.\n\nWhen the girls started, Wus watched them till they went out of sight;\nhe was saying things in his mind. As they traveled, they became old\nwomen, with humps on their backs; their bodies shriveled up, there was\nno flesh on their bones, they could scarcely move; their hair turned\nwhite, and their teeth fell out. Their beautiful clothes turned to\ndirty straw; their strings of beads were twisted bark; their baskets\nlooked old and broken and the roots in them turned to moldy skins; the\nshells and porcupine quills were bits of bark.\n\nThe younger sister said: \u201cWe didn\u2019t go the way our mother told us to.\nThat man was Wus; he has done this. If we had gone on the east side of\nthe lake, we shouldn\u2019t have met him. We should have done as our mother\ntold us; she is old, and she knows more than we do.\u201d After a long time,\nthey got to the chief\u2019s house. The five brothers were out hunting. The\nchief didn\u2019t know what to give the women to eat; he thought they were\ntoo old to eat roasted liver (old people\u2019s food). When he gave them\nsome, they pushed it away. They lay down to sleep, and while they were\nsleeping the five brothers came. They knew M\u00e1idikdak\u2019s daughters and\nknew who had made them old.\n\nThe youngest brother asked: \u201cDid you give these women anything to eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cI gave them liver,\u201d said the old man, \u201cbut they couldn\u2019t eat it; they\nhaven\u2019t any teeth.\u201d\n\nThe young man was glad they had come; he sat down and watched them.\nAbout midnight they turned to beautiful girls. In the morning, when\nthey woke up, they were old women again.\n\nThe chief said to himself: \u201cWhat kind of a man is my son? Why does he\nstay by those dirty old women?\u201d\n\nThe young women heard his thoughts and they felt badly. At last they\ncrawled up and went out to wash in the river. The elder sister said:\n\u201cIf we swim, maybe it will make us young again.\u201d\n\nThey took off their dirty, ragged clothes and old torn moccasins and\nbegan to swim. Right away they turned to beautiful girls; their long\nhair floated on the top of the water. As they swam, they talked and\nlaughed, for they were glad to be young again. They made sport of their\nfather-in-law, and said: \u201cThat big chief thought we were old women; he\nfed us liver!\u201d\n\nThe young man heard this and said to his father: \u201cYou fed those girls\ndirty liver. Did you think they were old women?\u201d\n\nThe girls kept diving down in the water and coming up, and soon they\nbegan to change. They became green-headed ducks, and floated off toward\nhome. The young man felt badly; he didn\u2019t want them to go.\n\nOld M\u00e1idikdak heard them coming, and when they were near the house, she\nsaid: \u201cMy daughters, you didn\u2019t do as I told you. I told you about that\nbad man. If I hadn\u2019t this would be my fault; now it is yours.\u201d She\ntried to catch them, but couldn\u2019t. At last she went under the water and\ncaught hold of their legs. She pulled off their feathers and they were\ngirls again.\n\nThe next morning the young man said to his father: \u201cI am going to carry\nmy wives\u2019 clothes and beads and porcupine quills to their mother.\u201d\n\nWhen he got to M\u00e1idikdak\u2019s house the two sisters were off gathering\nwood. The old woman saw him sitting on top of the house and she asked:\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am one of the five brothers who live in the north.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you the youngest?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I have brought back your shells and porcupine quills. Wus changed\nyour daughters to ducks.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome in, son-in-law, my daughters have gone for wood.\u201d\n\nThe young man was glad. When the girls came, he said: \u201cI have left my\nfather and brothers. I will live here now.\u201d Ning\u00e1daniak. [10]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWUS KUMUSH AND TSMUK\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Kaiutois          Wolf\n    N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt\n    Tsmuk             Darkness\n    Wus Kumush\n    Wuswel\u00e9kg\u0103s       Wus\u2019 Old Woman\n\n\n\nOld man Tsmuk and his wife had three sons and one daughter. The\ndaughter was always thinking about Wus and singing about him.\n\nWus heard her, but he didn\u2019t know how to get to her, for everywhere\naround Tsmuk\u2019s place it was dark. He tried in all directions, but\ncouldn\u2019t get there. He listened to the girl\u2019s song. At last he thought:\n\u201cI can do anything I want to; I am Wus. I will make a place where that\ngirl will come, and I can see her.\u201d He burned over ground and made it\nready for ges. [11] Then he thought of ges, and it grew there right\naway.\n\nOne day, when the three sons of old man Tsmuk were starting off to hunt\ndeer, they asked their sister: \u201cWhat will you eat while we are gone?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have nothing to eat,\u201d said the girl.\n\n\u201cNot far from here,\u201d said the brothers, \u201cthere is ges growing; you can\ndig that.\u201d And they told her where the place was.\n\nWus saw her digging roots and singing, and he thought: \u201cHow can I get\nnear her without frightening her?\u201d He turned himself into an old woman,\nput his bow and arrows and quiver into a basket, tied bark around his\nlegs and head, just as an old woman does, and went to the girl. He\ntalked like a woman, spoke kindly, asked her who she was, and where her\nhome was.\n\nThe girl was tired; she complained because she had to come so far for\nroots.\n\n\u201cAre you very far from home?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cI have to camp one night on the way back,\u201d said the girl. When she\nstarted for home, Wus hurried the sun down, made night come quickly,\nthen he said: \u201cLet us sit down and sing songs.\u201d\n\nWhile they were singing, Wus wished her to sleep. She went to sleep\nright away. Then he built a brush house over her; he worked all night,\nand in the morning the house was finished. When the girl woke up, she\nwas in a bright, many-colored house, and she wondered where she was.\nWhen she remembered, and looked around for the old woman, she saw a\nhandsome young man; his clothes were covered with beads.\n\nThe next day Tsmuk\u2019s daughter had a child. It was like any child,\nexcept that it had fox ears. The mother cried.\n\n\u201cWhy do you cry?\u201d asked Wus. \u201cAre you sorry to be here? For a long time\nI have listened to you. When I have been out hunting, I have heard you\nsinging about me. If you don\u2019t like me, why did you sing that song?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not crying about you, I am crying about my baby; I think my\nfather or brothers will kill it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey will not kill the baby. I have power; I can do anything; I am\nWus,\u201d said the young man.\n\nWus pushed the sun and made it go down quickly. As soon as the woman\nwas asleep, he fixed the baby\u2019s ears, made them like the ears of a\nperson. He did this by thinking hard and wishing them to be that way.\n\nOld Tsmuk and his wife were looking for their daughter. They knew that\nWus had been trying to find her and they thought he had caught her.\nThey called to her, and listened for her song, but didn\u2019t hear it.\n\nTsmuk\u2019s daughter wanted to go home; she wanted to see her father and\nmother. Wus knew her thoughts, and he asked: \u201cWhy do you think of such\nthings? What I wish for will be. To-morrow you will go home.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Wus wrapped up the baby and tied it on a board. The\nchild was bright and beautiful. It looked like a rainbow.\n\nOld man Tsmuk sent his youngest son to hunt for his sister. When the\nyoung man saw her coming, he didn\u2019t know her, she was so beautiful; she\nwas different from what she had been before. He ran into the house, and\nsaid: \u201cThere is a beautiful woman coming.\u201d When the second brother saw\nher, he said: \u201cThat is our sister.\u201d The woman was alone, except for the\nbaby on her back. When she went into the house, her father asked: \u201cWhat\nman have you found? If Wus is your husband, you can\u2019t stay here!\u201d\n\nWus was a long way off, but he heard what the old man said and he was\nangry. He thought: \u201cI will find out if old Tsmuk is mad at his\ndaughter.\u201d Then he wished the baby to turn to a little fox. When the\nyoung woman took the baby off her back, it was like a baby fox. It was\ncovered with hair.\n\n\u201cThat child smells like a fox!\u201d cried the old man. He snatched it and\nthrew it out of the house. The mother screamed. Wus heard her, and\nsaid: \u201cNow I will torment Tsmuk.\u201d That moment Wus\u2019 wife was an old\nwoman. Her youngest brother was so frightened that he lay down and\ncried. The baby was crying itself to death, but the mother couldn\u2019t do\nanything; she was bent over and helpless, too old to go out of the\nhouse.\n\nWus thought: \u201cBring in that child!\u201d That minute the young man got up,\nwent out, and brought in the baby and put it by its mother. He said to\nhis sister: \u201cLie down, and I will cover you up.\u201d\n\nWus thought: \u201cMy brother-in-law is going to like me,\u201d and he was glad.\nHe gave his own feelings to the young man.\n\nThe brother watched his sister, and after a while he saw that she was\ngetting younger; then he said: \u201cGo to the river and swim. Maybe you\nwill be young again. I don\u2019t care if you are old, I love you just the\nsame; but I am sorry for the baby.\u201d He kept the child covered, and it\nwent to sleep. He went to sleep himself, and slept till the middle of\nthe night, then he woke up, but he slept again, and when he woke up the\nsecond time it was almost morning. He looked at the baby; it was like a\nperson. He didn\u2019t go to sleep again; he was afraid to; he thought if he\ndid the child would turn into a fox.\n\n\u201cDo you know what Wus can do?\u201d asked his sister. \u201cHe can do anything.\nHe can make people old in a minute; he can turn them to anything; he\ncan move a house or tear it down by wishing. When I saw Wus, he looked\nas I do; he was a woman and carried a basket on his back. While I was\nasleep, he turned to a man and built a house. The house is so bright\nand has so many colors that it hurts my eyes to look at it. If anything\nhappens to Wus\u2019 child, I think we shall die. When it was thrown out, I\ngot old; now that it is in the house, I am growing young again.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d asked Tsmuk. \u201cOld Wus is listening to\neverything. He listens while he catches mice to eat.\u201d\n\nWhen the brother and sister started to go to Wus\u2019 house, they didn\u2019t\ntell their father where they were going. Soon they heard Wus blowing on\nreeds, making music. It was nice and it sounded far off. They followed\nthe music till they came to the house. The brother stood outside; he\nwas afraid to go in.\n\nWus said to the woman: \u201cWhy do you let your brother stand outside? Tell\nhim to come and sit here by me.\u201d\n\nWhen the young man went into the house, he couldn\u2019t see, it glittered\nso; the light was so bright that it hurt his eyes; he had to hold his\nhead down. Wus said: \u201cI know that you like me,\u201d and he called the young\nman brother-in-law. \u201cTake off your clothes and put on these I give you;\nthen you can look around.\u201d\n\nThe sister asked: \u201cWhen do you want to go back to our father and\nmother?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn two days I will go,\u201d said the brother.\n\n\u201cWill you take blankets and beads with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI shall come back; I don\u2019t like to stay\nthere.\u201d\n\nWus wanted to go to Tsmuk\u2019s house. His brother-in-law said: \u201cI will\nshow you the way; you will get there if I am with you.\u201d\n\nThey all started; when near the house the young man went ahead. Old\nTsmuk spoke cross to him; asked: \u201cHave you been in Wus\u2019 house?\u201d and he\ncalled Wus bad names.\n\nAt last the young man said: \u201cDon\u2019t say such bad things of Wus; if you\ndo, harm will come to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can Wus harm me?\u201d asked the old man. \u201cI have lived a long time,\nand nobody has been able to harm me,\u201d and he kept abusing Wus.\n\nOld woman Tsmuk cried; she thought Wus was a nice-looking man, and she\ndidn\u2019t want to hear him abused. She spread around mats and blankets,\nand Wus and his wife went in and sat down.\n\n\u201cWhy does your mother cry?\u201d asked Wus.\n\nTsmuk heard this and it made him mad. He screamed to his wife: \u201cPut\nthat man off by himself! He smells badly; he will spoil all our seeds\nand roots!\u201d\n\nWus didn\u2019t listen to his father-in-law. He said: \u201cI wonder if I could\nfind any game if I went hunting?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy brothers hunt,\u201d said his wife, \u201cbut they never catch anything.\u201d\n\nWus didn\u2019t want to hunt; he wanted to torment his father-in-law. As\nsoon as he was a little way from the house, he turned into a fox. One\nof his brothers-in-law was outside; he saw the fox, and called: \u201cLook!\na fox is coming.\u201d\n\nOld Tsmuk said: \u201cThat is not a fox; that is your brother-in-law. You\nsee what kind of a man he is!\u201d And he scolded the son who had been at\nWus\u2019 house.\n\nWus caught a sackful of mice, carried them to the house, and sent his\nmother-in-law outside to roast them.\n\n\u201cWhat smells so badly?\u201d asked old Tsmuk.\n\n\u201cMother is roasting mice,\u201d said the youngest son.\n\n\u201cAre you going to eat mice?\u201d the second brother asked the youngest.\n\n\u201cYes. Are you going to stay with father?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the second brother. \u201cI don\u2019t like his way.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you must eat some of those mice.\u201d\n\nThey ate together. Wus spoke to his father-in-law, but the old man\ndidn\u2019t answer.\n\n\u201cAre you going to be mad all the time?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said old Tsmuk. \u201cI don\u2019t want you for a son-in-law. I think you\nare bad; that you are dirty.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you think so?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause you are not a person; you are not a man.\u201d\n\nWus asked again: \u201cAre you going to be mad all the time?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes. You have no sense. I don\u2019t like you; you smell badly.\u201d\n\nWus asked the third time: \u201cAre you going to be mad all the time?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes. I want you to go to your own place; I hate you.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn which direction can you see farthest?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cI can see far off in any direction I like.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you see when you look straight east?\u201d asked Wus.\n\nOld Tsmuk looked toward the east. That moment Wus made a great wind\ncome from the west. The old man\u2019s body melted like snow, and right away\nhe turned into a black cloud, and the wind blew him off toward the\neast. Wus said: \u201cHereafter, old man, you will have no sense. You will\nno longer be a person. You will be darkness, and people will sleep when\nyou come; but I shall never sleep when you are here. I shall sleep in\nthe daytime and travel when you come. People will call you Tsmuk, and\nwill do evil when you are around. They will steal, and will kill one\nanother, for you are bad, and will give them bad thoughts. I asked you\nthree times if you were mad, asked you not to be mad.\u201d\n\nThe son said to his father: \u201cFrom quarreling with my brother-in-law you\nare no longer a person. I thought you had power, but you hadn\u2019t. You\nwere calling Wus what you were yourself. I don\u2019t care for you any\nlonger. I like Wus.\u201d\n\nWus said to his brothers-in-law: \u201cYou will come to my country and live\nwith me always.\u201d To his wife he said: \u201cI am taking you from Darkness;\nnow you will change feelings. I will give you the water of life. When\nwe get to the house, you must go in first, drink the water you find\nthere, and give some to each one of your brothers and to your mother;\nit will change your minds. As you travel, go straight ahead; don\u2019t look\nback. If the wind comes from the east, you must go around it. Old Tsmuk\nhas tried to beat me in many ways; maybe he will try again.\u201d\n\nWhen they got to Wus\u2019 house, the young woman went in and gave water to\nher mother and to her brothers. As they drank, they seemed to open\ntheir eyes, they had good feelings, felt light.\n\nWus said to his wife: \u201cOff on a high mountain I have an old\ngrandmother; her name is Wuswel\u00e9kg\u0103s; I am going to see her.\u201d When he\nstarted, he began to sing. The old woman heard his song, and said: \u201cMy\ngrandson is coming.\u201d\n\nWus traveled fast; he went like a spirit, and right away he was there.\nHe thought: \u201cI will cheat her.\u201d Then he said: \u201cGrandmother, I have lost\nmy mind; this world has made me lose it. When I slept, G\u00e4k woke me up,\nand I hadn\u2019t my mind.\u201d\n\nHis grandmother said: \u201cI was afraid Tsmuk would kill you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI have turned Tsmuk to a cloud and driven him away.\nBut he may try to beat me yet; that is why I came to tell you to take\ncare of yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I take care of myself? I shall be hungry,\u201d said the old woman.\n\n\u201cI will show you where there are mice,\u201d said Wus, and he took her to a\nfield where there were lots of them. She was glad, for she would always\nhave plenty to eat.\n\nWhen Wus started home, he began to sing. His wife said: \u201cWus is\ncoming,\u201d and she pounded roots for him to eat.\n\nWhen Wus got to the house, his brother-in-law asked: \u201cWill you go with\nme to hunt deer on the mountain?\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cI always hunt on the flats; I never go to the mountain.\u201d\n\nThe brother-in-law went to the top of a high mountain, and when night\ncame he camped there. Wus hunted on the flat and came back with plenty\nof mice. When he got home, his wife had another child. Wus kept awake\nfor five days and five nights; his brother-in-law didn\u2019t come home.\n\nWus\u2019 wife said: \u201cI feel badly. I am afraid something has happened to my\nbrother.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cI know which way he went; I will track him.\u201d\n\nHe started out and soon found his brother-in-law lying under a tree.\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Wus. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you come home? Your sister\nfeels badly; she thinks that you are lost.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy toe nails have fallen out,\u201d said the young man; \u201cI was going to\nstay longer, but I will go with you.\u201d\n\nWus knew that he had been thinking about his father, and he felt sorry\nfor him. When they got home, Wus said to his wife: \u201cI am going to a\nswimming pond on the mountain; maybe I will have a good dream about my\nbrother-in-law. Maybe I will find out what is going to happen.\u201d\n\nWus couldn\u2019t forget his brother-in-law; he felt lonesome. He sang all\nthe way up the mountain, then he piled stones and worked till morning.\nAt daylight he fixed a bed of dry grass and lay down and slept. He\ndreamed that he heard his brother-in-law say: \u201cI am going away from\nyou; I shall never come back. I am going to stay lost.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus woke up, he was crying. He was sorry that he had come to the\nmountain to dream. When he got home, his wife was painted. She said:\n\u201cWe can eat now; the baby is five days old. You must put red paint on\nyour face.\u201d\n\nWus painted his face, then he sat down and ate. When he got up, he said\nto his brother-in-law: \u201cWhile I was on the mountain, I had a dream. I\nheard you say that you were going away, that you would be a person no\nlonger.\u201d\n\nThe young man was angry; he scolded Wus for going to the mountain.\n\nWus said: \u201cI will go away myself, then you can stay here; I will change\nto an animal, but I will keep a little of my mind.\u201d Wus left his wife\nand children and wandered off,\u2014a fox.\n\nThe wife cried; the brother-in-law felt ashamed; he scolded her, and\nsaid: \u201cThrow the children out; I don\u2019t want them around here.\u201d The\nmother said: \u201cWus told me to keep the children.\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t have them here,\u201d said her brother, and he threw them out. The\nmother screamed. Wus heard her and put his head to the ground to\nlisten. Soon he heard his children coming\u2014they were little foxes. He\nwaited for them, and asked: \u201cWhat is the trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cOur uncle threw us out.\u201d\n\nWus didn\u2019t know what to do; he thought a while then said: \u201cYou must\nlive with my grandmother, old Wuswel\u00e9kg\u0103s; she will take care of you. I\nam going to the end of the world. You mustn\u2019t tell her where I am.\u201d He\ntook the children part way, then pointed out the old woman\u2019s house and\nleft them.\n\nOld Wuswel\u00e9kg\u0103s was glad to have the boys, for she was lonesome. \u201cWhere\nis your father?\u201d asked she.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d said the elder boy.\n\nShe didn\u2019t believe him and she kept asking the same question till at\nlast he said: \u201cMy father has lost his mind and gone off. He said that\nwe would never see him again.\u201d Then the boy told her how his father\nwent to a swimming pond on the mountain and had a bad dream, and their\nuncle threw them out.\n\nThe old woman felt badly; she asked the earth to give her grandson his\nmind. She roasted mice for the boys and showed them how to play with\nbows and arrows. One day, when the younger boy was eating, and was\ncrying for his mother, he got choked with a mouse bone. The grandmother\ntried to get it out of his throat, but she couldn\u2019t, and the child\ndied.\n\nThe next day old Wuswel\u00e9kg\u0103s buried the body and covered it with ashes\nand stones. That night she begged the earth to give her grandson his\nmind again. She said: \u201cHe is off on a mountain at the edge of the\nworld. You used to have power and strength; now bring back my\ngrandson\u2019s mind.\u201d\n\nWus heard his grandmother\u2019s voice and it gave him some strength. He was\nonly bones; there was no flesh on his body. He started, went a little\nway, then sat down and rested. He was too weak to go far.\n\nEvery evening old Wuswel\u00e9kg\u0103s called: \u201cMy grandson, my grandson! where\nare you now?\u201d And she kept asking the earth to give back his mind. She\ntalked to Wus, and said: \u201cWhen you were a child you went to the great\nmountain and it gave you power. Now you must go again, and you will get\nstrength. The mountain will give you your mind.\u201d\n\nWus heard this and grew strong. He went to the top of Wew\u00e9keni, and lay\nthere five days and five nights. He thought: \u201cI shall get my mind back\nhere. I am lying on the head of Wew\u00e9keni. I am lying where all living\nthings get their mind. I shall get my mind from the head of this\nmountain.\u201d He was glad. He talked loud, and as he talked he looked\ntoward the west, then toward the east, and told how he suffered. He\nlooked north and then south; he talked all the time, asked for power.\nHis mind came back to him a little at a time. Then he asked in the same\nway for flesh to come on his body. He heard his grandmother say: \u201cYour\nlittle boy is dead. You must come and see the only boy you have.\u201d\nBefore he started, Wus spoke to the mountain, and said: \u201cYou are my\nmountain. I thank you for giving me back my mind.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy saw his father, he felt lonesome.\n\nThe grandmother asked: \u201cWhy are you lonesome?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am thinking of my little brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t think of him; think of your father,\u201d said the old woman.\n\nThe next day Wus remembered his first cousin, Kaiutois. He wanted to\nsee him. His grandmother didn\u2019t want him to go; she said: \u201cWhy do you\nleave me? I thought you would stay here always.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cI must go; I don\u2019t feel well here.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere will be many bad places along the road,\u201d said the old woman.\n\u201cYou will meet Wek\u00f3mpmas. He carries great stones on his back; he has\ndug deep holes around his house, and when a man falls into one of them,\nhe throws stones on to him and kills him.\u201d\n\nWus wouldn\u2019t stay; he wasn\u2019t afraid. He started off and soon he met\nWek\u00f3mpmas, a big, old man. In his house he had five yans [12] hung up;\nthey were his medicine, and he didn\u2019t let any one touch or go near\nthem. Just as Wus met him, Wek\u00f3mpmas turned and ran home; he felt that\nsome one had touched his medicine.\n\nTwo men went to Wek\u00f3mpmas\u2019 house; one was a fool. He talked smart and\nfelt smart, but always did foolish things. Those men saw the yans, and\nthe foolish one said: \u201cLet\u2019s eat them. Old Wek\u00f3mpmas says they are\nmedicine. I don\u2019t believe it. If we eat them and they make us vomit\nblood, we shall know.\u201d\n\nWek\u00f3mpmas\u2019 sister tried to stop them, but couldn\u2019t. As soon as they had\neaten one yan, she climbed a tree near the house and drew up her child.\nThen she listened for her brother.\n\nWhen he came he called out: \u201cWhere are my yans? Where are my yans?\u201d He\nkilled the two men, then he scratched his arms with his nails and\nsucked his own blood. Right away he was a man-eater. He killed all the\npeople around and ate them. Then he started off to find others to kill\nand eat. As he traveled he looked in at every smoke hole, but he found\nonly empty houses, for everybody had heard of him and had run away. In\nonly one house did he find a living person. In the house at the edge of\na village was a woman with but one leg. She sat inside making a basket.\nWhen Wek\u00f3mpmas looked down the smoke hole, he was glad, and said: \u201cShe\ndoesn\u2019t see me! Now I will have something to eat!\u201d\n\nBut N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt had seen him, for she had an eye on the top of her\nhead. Just as he was going to throw a stone down and kill her, she took\nher cane, and, with one hop, went far away, turned into a bug as small\nas a louse, and crawled under the rocks.\n\nWek\u00f3mpmas tried to get her; he punched the ground with a stick, turned\neverything over; but N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt was a medicine woman, and he\ncouldn\u2019t find her.\n\nAs Wus traveled around, he came to a village where all the people were\ncrying. \u201cWhy are you crying?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cThere is a terrible man-eater in this country; he destroys whole\nvillages. He will kill and eat us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will meet him,\u201d said Wus. \u201cGive me strings to tie back my hair, and\ndon\u2019t make any noise.\u201d\n\nWomen gave him bark strings; as he tied his hair back with them, they\nturned into beaded bands.\n\nOld Wek\u00f3mpmas was coming along through a low place at the foot of a\nhill. Wus took off his own skin, filled it with grass, and put his mind\nin the end of the nose. He left his body in a damp place where it\nwouldn\u2019t dry up, then his skin and mind ran off to meet Wek\u00f3mpmas. As\nhe got near, the old man put down his stone, and asked: \u201cWhere are you\ngoing?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am just traveling around,\u201d said Wus. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going around the world,\u201d said the old man, and he began sucking\nthe blood out of his arms, he was so glad that he was going to have\nsomething to eat.\n\nWus asked: \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d\n\n\u201cCome and lie down on this hole,\u201d said Wek\u00f3mpmas.\n\n\u201cWhy should I do that?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a game.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you lie down when I get up?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d\n\nWus stretched himself across the hole, and said: \u201cI think you will hit\nme!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, this is the way we are going to play.\u201d The old man raised his\nstone and struck Wus on the back, but it didn\u2019t hurt him, for his body\nwasn\u2019t there. He jumped up, and said: \u201cNow lie down here, old man. I am\nin a hurry; I want to go.\u201d\n\nWek\u00f3mpmas lay down and Wus struck him a terrible blow, smashed him to\npieces, then he said: \u201cHereafter people will pound roots and dried meat\nwith you. You will no longer be a person; you will be a stone pounder\n(pestle).\u201d\n\nWus went to his body, sprinkled his skin with water, got it moist and\nsoft, and put it on; then he went to the house of the one-legged woman.\nHe sat on one side of the fire, she sat on the other side. Wus and\nN\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt were the only people left in that village. She fed him\nroots and seeds. While he was eating, he cried, for he had no home, and\nhe was thinking where he could go. While he was crying, he fell asleep.\n\nThe woman fixed him a nice place, then she woke him up and said: \u201cYou\nmust sleep here where I have fixed you a place. Why do you think about\nleaving me? Whoever comes to me can never go away.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cWhen I came here I didn\u2019t think I would find anybody alive.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you think now?\u201d asked the woman.\n\n\u201cI think that I shall have to stay here.\u201d N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt was glad; she\nsaid: \u201cWe will raise many children.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Wus said: \u201cI will go to the mountain and bring home\nsome dried deer meat I left there.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go with you,\u201d said the woman.\n\nWus looked at her leg, and asked: \u201cHow can you go?\u201d\n\nThat made her laugh. She said: \u201cI have traveled all my life on one leg.\nYou must go ahead; I always travel alone. As soon as you are on the\nmountain and ready to pick up the meat, I will be there.\u201d\n\nWus ran all the way. When N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt thought he was there, she\ntook her cane, and with one hop came down at his side. Wus was scared,\nbut right away he thought: \u201cHow shall we carry all this meat?\u201d\n\nN\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt knew his thoughts; she said: \u201cYou must make a big\nbundle of the meat; then go home as fast as you can. I will take care\nof the bundle.\u201d\n\nShe put the bundle on her back and with one hop was at home.\n\nThe next morning Wus killed a deer and made himself a cap out of the\nskin of its head. He looked far off around the country, but he couldn\u2019t\nsee any one. The world seemed empty, and he felt lonesome. He went\nhome, and lay down by the fire.\n\nHis wife said: \u201cI told you not to think of anything, not to be\nlonesome. You have been feeling sorry for the world because so many are\ndead. You are lonesome.\u201d\n\nThe next day Wus killed five deer and brought them all home on his\nback. N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt had made them light. He thought: \u201cWhere shall I\nput them; there is no room in the house.\u201d\n\nThe woman said: \u201cPut them down; there will be plenty of room.\u201d And\nthere was.\n\nThat day N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt had two children, a boy and a girl. She washed\nthem, then took ashes from the fire, and rubbed them. While she rubbed\nthe children they grew fast. In a few days they were running around.\n\nWus made the boy a bow and arrows out of big blades of dried grass. The\nmother said: \u201cThat is not right; there are bad thoughts in those\nthings.\u201d\n\nThe next day the woman had two more children, and not long after two\nmore. She had children every few days, and always two at a time. Soon\nthe house was full of children. They played together and were happy,\nbut the mother was sorry that their father had made them arrows for\nplaythings. She knew that trouble would come from them; that the\nchildren would get to quarreling and fighting.\n\nThe house was crowded. Wus had to hunt all the time to get meat enough.\nHe scolded, but his wife said: \u201cI told you that we would have many\nchildren. If there are too many, you must build another house.\u201d\n\nThe mother took no care of the children; they grew up by themselves,\nand grew very fast. Soon they began to quarrel and fight with one\nanother. Wus was unhappy; he wanted to go away from a house where there\nwas nothing but fighting.\n\nThe woman knew his thoughts; she said: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you try to find other\npeople?\u201d\n\nWus was glad to go. When he started, he said: \u201cHereafter one half of\nthe people in this world will fight with the other half. There will be\nno peace.\u201d\n\nAfter traveling a long time, Wus came to a village. A fool lived in\nthat village; as soon as he saw Wus, he called out: \u201cThere is the\nfather of many children! Look at him!\u201d He followed Wus, and wouldn\u2019t\nleave him; he kept calling out: \u201cLook at him! Look at him!\u201d At last Wus\ngot mad and slashed him with his knife. The fool screamed and ran\naround. Every man kept his house closed, no one would let him in. At\nlast he died.\n\nWus said: \u201cI didn\u2019t want to hurt you, but you made me mad.\u201d He was\nsorry and he sent for G\u00e4k to come and step over the body.\n\nG\u00e4k came, stepped five times over the body, and the man stood up. He\nhad a good mind now, and was thankful for what Wus had done.\n\nWhen Wus went home, he found his children quarreling. He lay down\nwithout eating. His wife said: \u201cWe won\u2019t have any more children; they\nare bad.\u201d\n\nWus divided the country between his children, gave each twelve of them\na place by themselves. To the first twelve he said: \u201cYou will stay\nhere, you will be called Modocs.\u201d To the second twelve he said: \u201cYou\nwill be near the big mountain and will be called Klamaths.\u201d So he\ndivided his children into tribes, and made each tribe speak a different\nlanguage. Most of the tribes of the west come from that division of\nWus\u2019 family, and Wus named each tribe. To the first twelve children,\nthe Modocs, he said: \u201cYou will be the strongest of all the tribes and\nthe greatest warriors.\u201d\n\nWus kept five of the youngest children.\n\nHe felt badly about his children, he blamed himself. He said: \u201cSomebody\nmust have given me the thought to make those arrows; I did wrong.\u201d\n\nNow Wus and N\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt and their five youngest children traveled\nnorth toward the end of the world. When they came to a large river Wus\nsaw little fish in the water. \u201cI am hungry,\u201d said he. \u201cI don\u2019t want\nlittle fish; I want salmon.\u201d That moment the river was full of salmon.\nHe caught a good many and took their heads off. Then he said to his\nwife: \u201cCook these fish a long time, for if we eat them raw, we shall\nget sick and die. So it will be hereafter; people who eat this kind of\nfish raw will get thin and die.\u201d\n\nN\u00e1tcaktc\u00f3kask\u012dt said: \u201cI saw deer tracks near the river; I want some\ndeer meat to eat.\u201d The next morning Wus went to Pakol Keni to hunt\ndeer. Soon he saw a big stag. As he got near it, the stag hallooed like\na person. Wus thought: \u201cWho can be ahead of me?\u201d The stag hallooed\nagain. That time Wus heard the words, and he said: \u201cI know who you are;\nI know all about you. I used to kill your people to get sinews out of\ntheir backs and strings out of their legs.\u201d\n\nWus killed the stag and carried it to his camp. When he told his wife\nthat the stag had hallooed at him, she said: \u201cSomething bad is going to\nhappen to you.\u201d She was angry at him for killing the deer.\n\nWus wanted her to eat some of the meat, but she wouldn\u2019t and they began\nto quarrel.\n\nWus said: \u201cGive me one of the children and I will go away.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d screamed the woman, \u201cI will keep them all!\u201d And jumping up, she\nsaid: \u201cHereafter you will be a black crow! You will no longer be a\nperson. You will only be good to tell people where dead things are!\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cYou are like the wind that never stops blowing; you are\nalways talking. Hereafter you will be a D\u00f3-d\u00f3-la and sing all the time.\nYou will watch for daylight so you can begin to sing, and you will sing\ntill night comes, and your children will be like you!\u201d And so it was.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFROST AND THUNDER\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas     Eagle\n    Goww\u00e1       Swallow\n    Lok         Bear\n    Tsasgips    Frost That Breaks Trees\n    W\u00e2h\u016dtus\n    Wus         Fox\n    Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s   (Always represented as a one-legged man)\n\n\n\nGoww\u00e1 and W\u00e2h\u016dtus were married to the same woman; she was kin to Goww\u00e1.\n\nOne day the two men went hunting and left their wife at home. While\nthey were gone Wus came along, and said to her: \u201cCome to my house and\nbe my wife. I have a big house and lots of nice blankets and beads. Why\ndo you stay with these men? They are poor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to go with you,\u201d said the woman. \u201cGoww\u00e1 and W\u00e2h\u016dtus will\ncome right away. If you stay here, they will kill you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not afraid of those men,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI am stronger than they are;\nI can kill them.\u201d She couldn\u2019t make him go away.\n\nWhen the men came, each had a deer on his back. \u201cCook some deer meat,\u201d\nthey said to the woman. \u201cWe are hungry.\u201d They didn\u2019t see Wus.\n\nShe said: \u201cA man is holding me; I can\u2019t get up.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are fooling us; nobody is holding you. Hurry up and cook for us.\u201d\n\nWhen the woman didn\u2019t move Goww\u00e1 got mad and went toward her to jerk\nher up; then he saw Wus holding her down.\n\nThe fire had gone out, and it was dark in the house. Goww\u00e1 punched the\nfire and said to W\u00e2h\u016dtus: \u201cThere is somebody over there with a nice\nskin on. We\u2019ll kill him and make a blanket.\u201d They caught Wus and pulled\nhis skin off, then they threw him out.\n\nThe next morning, when Goww\u00e1\u2019s mother went for water, she saw Wus and\nshe felt sorry for him; she went to a swamp, and got cattails and\nwrapped them around him. Right away the cattails turned to nice fur.\nWus was cured; he went home.\n\nThat day, while the two men were off hunting, Lok came and stole their\nwife. She was afraid of him and had to go. There were five Lok\nbrothers, living in a house under the rocks.\n\nWhen Goww\u00e1 and W\u00e2h\u016dtus came home and found their wife gone, their old\nmother-in-law said: \u201cLok, a big, nice-looking man, came and carried her\noff.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Goww\u00e1 and W\u00e2h\u016dtus started for Lok\u2019s house. As they\nwent along they practiced killing each other to see how they were going\nto kill Lok. Goww\u00e1 killed W\u00e2h\u016dtus and went on a little way alone.\nW\u00e2h\u016dtus came to life and overtook Goww\u00e1. Then W\u00e2h\u016dtus killed Goww\u00e1 and\nwent on. Goww\u00e1 came to life and caught up with W\u00e2h\u016dtus. So they kept on\ntill they got to Lok\u2019s house.\n\nGoww\u00e1 climbed to the top of the house. W\u00e2h\u016dtus went in at a hole on one\nside.\n\nThe five brothers were lying by the fire; one jumped up, tore W\u00e2h\u016dtus\ninto little pieces and threw the pieces out. W\u00e2h\u016dtus grew together,\ncame to life, and ran into the house. Five times Lok killed W\u00e2h\u016dtus,\ntore him to pieces, and threw the pieces out; each time W\u00e2h\u016dtus ran in\nagain.\n\nGoww\u00e1 stood on the top of the house and waited. When they had killed\nW\u00e2h\u016dtus five times, he crept down and began throwing flint at the\nbrothers. He was a great doctor, and right away all five of the\nbrothers were dead. Then W\u00e2h\u016dtus and Goww\u00e1 took their wife and went\nhome.\n\nThe next day while they were off hunting Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s came and stole their\nwife, and carried her off to his house. Whenever Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s saw a nice\nwoman, he took her; he stole everybody\u2019s wife. Five great rocks were\naround his house, and he lived underground, in the middle. The name of\nthe house was Hw\u0103lis; nobody but Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s could get into it. There\nwere many women there; he carried them in on his shoulders.\n\nW\u00e2h\u016dtus and Goww\u00e1 didn\u2019t know how to get their wife back. At last they\nsent to all the people in the world and asked them to come and help\nbreak the rocks around Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 house. Everybody came, and each man\ntried, but no one could break off even a small piece of a rock.\n\nThen Tsasgips (Frost) came. He was such a small man they had forgotten\nto ask him. He said: \u201cI can break those rocks.\u201d\n\nThe people didn\u2019t listen to him; they kept on trying to break them.\nThen somebody asked: \u201cWhat does that little fellow say? He talks all\nthe time!\u201d\n\n\u201cHe says that he can break these rocks,\u201d said Blaiwas.\n\nThen men began to talk about Tsasgips, and to say: \u201cMaybe he had better\ntry. Maybe he is a ki\u00faks [13] and can do something.\u201d\n\nThe people got him ready, sprinkled him with white paint, so he was all\nwhite spots in front. He made, with his mouth, a noise like blowing;\nthe first rock crumbled to pieces. He made the same noise with his\nmouth and struck against the second rock; the rock fell into small\npieces. He broke all five rocks in the same way. Then the people killed\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s with arrows, but his spirit went up in the air and became\nThunder. They shot a great many times at the spirit as it flew up, for\nthey saw it rising, but they couldn\u2019t hit it; they missed it every\ntime.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYAHY\u00c1HA\u00c4S\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00e4k         Crow\n    Sk\u00f3\u016dks      Woodtick. (In every story Tick is a Shasta woman.)\n    Tc\u00fbskai     Weasel\n    Tskel       Mink\n    Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\n\n\n\nSoutheast of the Modoc country there was a large village. The people of\nthat village lived on seeds and roots. One day a man came from the\nsouth, and said: \u201cSeeds are ripe. It is time to gather them.\u201d\n\nThe people were glad. All went; only four persons were left at home. In\none house there was a sick woman, the chief\u2019s wife. She had a little\ngirl and a baby. In another house was a very old woman.\n\nThe chief\u2019s wife was afraid of Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. She said to the little girl:\n\u201cThere is a Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s around. I have often seen him near the river.\nWhen he travels, he hops with his one leg and keeps calling his own\nname. He has a great bushy head. He is awful tall and is always naked.\nHe comes from the rocks and mountains off in the north. You must watch\nfor him, and if he comes here, we will run away.\u201d\n\nOne day the little girl saw a man coming. She called to her mother to\ncome and see him. The mother said: \u201cThat is Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s! Take the baby on\nyour back and run as fast as you can to where the men are. Tell them to\ncome home and save me.\u201d\n\nThe little girl put the baby in the water basket, but Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was in\nthe house before she could start. She said: \u201cI am going for water.\u201d She\ntook the basket and went to the creek, then she ran off as fast as she\ncould; she couldn\u2019t go very fast, for the baby was heavy.\n\nThe old woman knew that Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was in the sick woman\u2019s house, but\nshe didn\u2019t go there; she took her grass blankets and hid herself in the\nbushes. When Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s went into the house, the sun began to go down\nfast; he made it go.\n\nThe sick woman thought: \u201cIf I am good to him, maybe he will let me\nlive.\u201d She gave him salmon, and said: \u201cEat this.\u201d\n\n\u201cEat this,\u201d repeated the man.\n\nShe gave him an eel; he kicked it away. She gave him white roots, and\nsaid: \u201cEat these.\u201d\n\n\u201cEat these,\u201d said he, and kicked them away.\n\nShe gave him dry manzanita berries, and said: \u201cEat these; they are\ngood.\u201d\n\n\u201cEat these, they are good,\u201d said the man, and he threw them in her\nface.\n\nShe gave him a blanket; he threw it at her, and said: \u201cUse it\nyourself.\u201d She was frightened. She thought: \u201cI will say I am going for\nwood, then I will run away.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going for wood,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. He was right behind her.\n\nShe went for water; he was there by the creek. She stayed out of doors;\nhe did, too. Every time she said: \u201cGo away!\u201d he said: \u201cGo away!\u201d When\nshe cried; he cried. She went to the bushes where the old woman was; he\nfollowed.\n\nWhen the sun was down, Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s rubbed his forehead with his hand and\nmade the woman sleep as if dead. At daylight he began to tickle her;\nshe laughed till the sun was high, laughed till she died. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s cut\noff her little finger and put it on a string of fingers he wore around\nhis neck; then he went off to the mountain, where he lived under a\ngreat flat rock. He had children under the rocks, but he had no wife.\n\nWhen the little girl found the men and told them that Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was\ngoing to kill her mother, they left their seeds and went home. They\nfound the woman dead and they began to hunt for Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s to kill him.\n\nTwo brothers, Tc\u00fbskai and Tskel, lived near a swimming-place on the top\nof a high mountain. Sk\u00f3\u016dks, a Shasta woman, was Tskel\u2019s wife. She went\nto visit her kin in Shasta, and took her baby with her. Tc\u00fbskai was\nlonesome; he missed the baby. One day when he was out on the rocks, he\nheard people mourning. He wanted to go where they were, but Tskel said:\n\u201cStay in the house. Don\u2019t run around everywhere.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai said: \u201cI am watching for Sk\u00f3\u016dks; I want to see if she is\ncoming.\u201d\n\nHe went high up on the rocks and listened; then he went in and said to\nhis brother: \u201cThere are lots of people crying in the village down at\nthe foot of the mountain.\u201d\n\n\u201cStay in the house,\u201d said Tskel.\n\n\u201cI am going to sit by the smoke hole and watch for Sk\u00f3\u016dks,\u201d said\nTc\u00fbskai. After a while Tskel asked: \u201cAre you there?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m right here,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s voice. Tc\u00fbskai was at the foot of the\nmountain, but the next minute he was in the house and teasing to go and\nsee why people were crying.\n\nTskel said: \u201cWell, go and find out what the trouble is; then come back.\nDon\u2019t let them hire you to do anything.\u201d\n\nTskel dressed his brother up in the clothes he had worn himself when he\nwas a boy, and he started. As soon as he was outside of the house, he\nwas in the village.\n\nThe people were ready to burn the dead woman; men were piling up nice\nthings to burn with her,\u2014beads and shells and blankets. When they saw\nTc\u00fbskai, some of the men asked: \u201cWho is that nice-looking young man?\u201d\nOthers said: \u201cThere is Tc\u00fbskai; maybe he can make this woman alive\nagain. His brother is strong; he can do anything he likes.\u201d\n\nThey talked to Tc\u00fbskai, promised him many wives and nice shells and\nbeads. At last he said: \u201cI can bring the woman to life if I can find\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s and kill him. Then you will give me the chief\u2019s daughter.\u201d\n\nHe began to hunt for Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. He went to the edge of the world, then\ntraveled in circles, working in all the time. He ran on every mountain,\nevery hill, and every tree. He ran under the ground and under rocks and\ninto holes. In one day he went all over the world, but he didn\u2019t find\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\nThe next day Tc\u00fbskai listened at every hole, as one would listen at a\ndoor to hear people talk or snore. Under a great flat rock on the top\nof a high mountain he heard Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s snore. He crept under and saw\nhim; then he went to the village, and said: \u201cI have found him under a\nrock. Bring lots of wood and dry grass and pile up around the rock;\nwhen the rock is out of sight, set fire to the wood. Then stand around\nand throw in every stick and coal that falls out.\u201d\n\nThey did this, and soon there was a terrible noise under the rock. The\nhills and rocks and the whole country shook. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s burst; the rock\nblew into little pieces, and a big bird flew up to the sky. It was\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 spirit. The people went back to the village. Tc\u00fbskai stepped\nfive times over the dead woman, and she got up. She was glad to be\nalive. The chief gave Tc\u00fbskai nice things, and gave him his daughter.\n\nThe next day Tc\u00fbskai went home. Soon he saw Sk\u00f3\u016dks coming. She had on a\nShasta dress, and had Shasta things in a bundle on her back, and on top\nof the bundle was the baby. Tc\u00fbskai went to meet her. He took the baby\nand ran around with it; he was glad.\n\nTskel said: \u201cDon\u2019t be silly. Act like a man!\u201d Sk\u00f3\u016dks laughed, for she\nliked Tc\u00fbskai.\n\nTc\u00fbskai told Sk\u00f3\u016dks: \u201cThe chief\u2019s daughter is my wife. Maybe they will\ncome here to-day.\u201d\n\nTskel was glad; he said: \u201cMy little brother is going to be a strong\nman; he will be stronger than I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur house is too small,\u201d said Sk\u00f3\u016dks.\n\n\u201cGo out and walk around it in a big circle,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai. \u201cEach time\nyou take a step, put your foot down hard.\u201d Sk\u00f3\u016dks did so, and when she\ngot around there was a large house instead of the small one.\n\nSk\u00f3\u016dks cooked plenty of deer meat. Tc\u00fbskai lay down on one side of the\nhouse and wrapped himself in a panther skin blanket.\n\nWhen the people came, the girl stopped a good way from the house.\nSk\u00f3\u016dks brought her in and seated her by Tc\u00fbskai. The girl\u2019s mother had\ntwo small bones; she tied one in each side of Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s hair. Sk\u00f3\u016dks\nfed the people deer meat, then she put a Shasta cap on each woman\u2019s\nhead, and said to Tskel: \u201cTc\u00fbskai must give these people nice things.\u201d\n\nTskel took a buckskin shirt and pounded it to powder, rolled the powder\nin a deer skin, and wet the skin. Then he thought hard, and said: \u201cI\nwant many buckskin shirts,\u201d and he drew out of the skin a buckskin\nshirt for each man. Now they all had a plenty of nice things to carry\nhome. The mother-in-law\u2019s sister was the last one to go, and she said\nto her niece, \u201cI haven\u2019t enough to carry home. I am ashamed of you; you\ngave yourself away for nothing.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai was mad; he began to break off little bits of the bones his\nmother-in-law had tied in his hair; soon he had a great pile of\nbeautiful beads. Then he took five bites out of his panther skin\nblanket, and he had five beautiful blankets. He gave the beads and the\nblankets to the aunt, and she went home.\n\nAfter a day or two, Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s wife said: \u201cI\u2019m lonesome here; I wasn\u2019t\nmade to live in the mountains. I want to go home.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai and Tskel were mad. Tc\u00fbskai said: \u201cGo home and never think of\nme again. I hope our women won\u2019t be like you and get tired of their\nhusbands so soon.\u201d\n\nSk\u00f3\u016dks asked: \u201cIs she going to stay always?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe will not live long,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai, \u201cand I will not live always; I\ndon\u2019t want a wife.\u201d\n\nSk\u00f3\u016dks took a handful of dirt, threw it into the air, and said: \u201cLet\nher be a bird!\u201d She threw a second handful toward the woman, and she\nflew off to the mountains, a bird.\n\nThen Sk\u00f3\u016dks asked Tskel: \u201cIs there anybody who can go to that woman\u2019s\nvillage and turn all the people into birds?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Tskel. \u201cOld man G\u00e4k can do it. He lives on a mountain in\nthe east. He is a great doctor.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai went to old G\u00e4k\u2019s house and told him how his wife had treated\nhim. G\u00e4k flew to the village, in the form of a crow.\n\nWhen the people saw him, they called out: \u201cSee that great black bird.\nMaybe he has come to eat dead fish.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k said: \u201cI didn\u2019t come to eat dead fish; I always eat deer meat.\u201d\nThen he shouted: \u201cLet all these people be birds and creeping things,\nnot be persons any longer.\u201d And so it was.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYAHY\u00c1HA\u00c4S\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas   Eagle\n    Tusas\u00e1s   Joker (Skunk)\n\n\n\nFive Blaiwas brothers started off to hunt for deer. When they got to\nthe top of the first high mountain, they took out their fire-drill to\nmake a fire. As they turned the drill they talked to the mountains, to\nthe trees, to the rocks and the bushes, and asked for good luck, but\nthey forgot to ask the drill to keep Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s away. They made a fire,\ncooked their meat, and then got ready to hunt. When they were leaving\nthe camp, they hung their dry meat and their seeds on a tree where they\ncould get them when they came back in the evening.\n\nAfter they had gone some distance, one of the brothers said: \u201cThat is\nthe place where Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s comes. He starts from the east; when he sees\nany one he walks slowly, but he can go around and come up in front of a\nperson. He can disappear like a flash. Sometimes his face is painted\nred, and he carries a red cane with red feathers on the end of it.\nMaybe he will come while we are gone and will eat our meat and seeds.\u201d\n\nThe men were sorry that they had forgotten to tell the drill to keep\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s away.\n\nJust then one of them looked east, and said: \u201cThere he is; he is coming\nnow!\u201d\n\nThe men were scared; they didn\u2019t dare to run away, so they sat down and\nwaited. When Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s came to them, he said:\n\n\u201cWell, well, I thought I would never see people again, but I see them\nnow. I am glad you are here. Why don\u2019t you start a fire?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe forgot our drill.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought people never forgot their drills. What are you here for?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe came to hunt for deer and rabbits.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have looked around all the morning,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s; \u201cI have been\neverywhere, but I haven\u2019t seen a deer track.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe may as well give up hunting and go home,\u201d said one man to another.\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t you feed me smoke?\u201d asked Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\n\u201cWe have no tobacco.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis earth will make people trouble if they don\u2019t carry a fire-drill\nand tobacco,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. \u201cIf you can\u2019t feed me with smoke, you\nmust wrestle with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have no pipe or fire-drill to make smoke with,\u201d said the eldest\nBlaiwas brother. \u201cHow can we feed you with smoke when we can\u2019t start a\nfire? We are in a hurry. We didn\u2019t come here to wrestle or play games,\nwe came to hunt.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is my way,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. \u201cIf people don\u2019t feed me smoke and\nmake me glad. I wrestle with them and throw them; then I am glad. Will\nyou feed me smoke?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t,\u201d said Blaiwas. \u201cWe have no tobacco.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we will wrestle,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\nThe men didn\u2019t want to wrestle; they said they didn\u2019t know how. But\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s kept talking about wrestling, talked till half a day was\ngone.\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was red from head to foot. His red cane was sharp at both\nends, and on his back was a red quiver full of red, sharp-pointed\narrows.\n\nAt last Blaiwas said to his brothers: \u201cWe had better wrestle with him.\nIt is just as well for us all to die here. If we start for home, he\nwill kill us.\u201d\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s fixed a place for his leg and piled up stones on a cliff\nabove the lake. The eldest brother was chief; he was the first man to\nwrestle. He said: \u201cBe strong, my brothers, you can\u2019t save yourselves.\nIf he throws me over the cliff into the lake, don\u2019t get weak. Be strong\nand all die together.\u201d Then he sent a young boy to the village to tell\nthe people that Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was going to kill him and his brothers.\n\nRight away Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s threw Blaiwas over the cliff. As he sank in the\nlake, his bones boiled up to the top of the water, washed against the\nrocks, and rattled terribly.\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s threw over one man after another. As each man sank, he turned\nto bones and the bones floated against the rocks, struck hard and made\na great noise.\n\nIn Blaiwas\u2019 house there was an old medicine woman. She woke up, and\nsaid: \u201cI dreamed that I saw people crying and putting ashes on their\nheads. Our men have been killed. At noon to-morrow we shall get word of\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cWomen always have bad dreams,\u201d said Tusas\u00e1s. \u201cThere is nobody in the\nworld strong enough to kill the five brothers.\u201d At noon the next day a\nboy came along the trail; he was crying and screaming. When he got to\nBlaiwas\u2019 house, he said: \u201cThe five brothers are killed. By this time\nnot one of them is alive.\u201d He went to the next village and told the\nsame news.\n\nTusas\u00e1s threw dirt on his head and rolled in the ashes. The people cut\noff their hair and mourned. The next morning they said: \u201cLet us go and\nsee the place where our men were killed.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas\u2019 little boy was sleeping by the fire; his sister shook him, and\nsaid: \u201cWake up and wash your face; we are going to see the place where\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s killed our people.\u201d\n\nWhen his face was washed, the boy said: \u201cFix my feet; I want to go\ntoo.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are too small,\u201d said his mother. \u201cWhy do you want to go?\u201d\n\n\u201cI want to die with my uncles. I am lonesome; I don\u2019t want to live any\nlonger.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are too small to go. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s could take you up with one finger\nand throw you over the cliff.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going where my uncles were killed,\u201d said the boy. \u201cPaint me with\nred paint right in the center of my head, where my thoughts come in and\nteach me.\u201d\n\nThey painted him and got him ready to go. Tusas\u00e1s cut a long cedar\ntree, tied it on his head, and went with the others. He started off as\nif going to gamble; he laughed, jumped, and whooped. The people said:\n\u201cYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s will hear you and he will kill us all.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt won\u2019t be hard for me to kill Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s,\u201d boasted Tusas\u00e1s. \u201cI will\nthrow him over the cliff quickly.\u201d Then he said to the boy: \u201cWhy are\nyou here? I sha\u2019n\u2019t need your help. You are too small to go to the\nmountains; you had better go home.\u201d\n\nThe boy didn\u2019t look at Tusas\u00e1s; he said to his mother: \u201cYou must stop\ncrying. I want all the people to stop crying and follow me.\u201d He went\nahead.\n\nThe people looked at him and stopped crying. When they got to the lake,\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was not there, but he was not far off. The people hunted for\nthe place where the men had been killed, but they couldn\u2019t find it.\nThen the little boy said: \u201cHere it is! Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s is coming. You can\u2019t\nsee him, but I can. He will soon show himself in the east.\u201d\n\nTusas\u00e1s said: \u201cI will be the first man to wrestle with him; I will\nthrow him into the lake.\u201d\n\nThe people said: \u201cIt is bad to make fun of our chief and the men that\nwere killed here. You will make trouble for us.\u201d\n\nRight away they saw Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s coming from the east. He had on a pale\nyellow coat that rattled as he hopped along. He had a yellow cane, and\nhis face was painted yellow. When he came to the people, he said: \u201cI\nlike to see men and women. I don\u2019t like to walk around and see no one;\nit makes me lonesome. Will you feed me smoke?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have nothing to make smoke with,\u201d said one of the men.\n\n\u201cDid you come to play with me?\u201d asked Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. \u201cI like to wrestle.\nThe last man I saw threw me, and went away somewhere.\u201d\n\nThe little boy sat on the edge of the cliff; he didn\u2019t say anything,\njust looked at the water. At last he began to see men swimming around\nunder the surface; then he saw the five brothers and lots of other\nmen,\u2014his own people. He felt strong and glad when he saw them.\n\nTusas\u00e1s said: \u201cYou want to fight, don\u2019t you? You think you can kill\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s, don\u2019t you?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet the boy alone,\u201d said his mother. \u201cDon\u2019t make fun of him; maybe he\ncan teach us things.\u201d\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s kept asking the men to wrestle with him. At last they said:\n\u201cWe may as well get killed here. If we start for home, he will follow\nus.\u201d And they began to wrestle. Soon every man was over the cliff,\nexcept Tusas\u00e1s. One man was very strong; he nearly broke Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019\nleg. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s screamed out: \u201cThat is not the way to wrestle. You\nshouldn\u2019t twist my leg!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is right for me to throw you any way I can,\u201d said the man. \u201cYou\nhave killed a great many of my people.\u201d Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s laughed, threw the\nman,\u2014took him up with one hand, and flung him over the cliff.\n\nWhen Tusas\u00e1s began to wrestle, he held tight to Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\n\u201cLook out! Don\u2019t hold me so tight,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\n\u201cI have always seen men hold tight,\u201d said Tusas\u00e1s, and he clung\ntighter. But Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s loosened his hold and threw him into the lake.\n\nThe little boy told the women to go home, then he sat there alone.\n\n\u201cWhy do you sit there so long?\u201d asked Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. \u201cI wonder if such a\nlittle fellow can wrestle. Come and try.\u201d Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s caught hold of the\nboy and began to throw him up and play with him.\n\n\u201cWhy do you make fun of me?\u201d asked the boy. \u201cWait till you get\nthrough.\u201d He caught hold of Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s, twisted his leg, broke it off,\nand pushed him into the lake.\n\nThen the boy called: \u201cCome out, my people. Come out of the water!\u201d\n\nThere was a great noise, then all the men came out of the lake. The boy\ncalled to them: \u201cDon\u2019t look back! Don\u2019t look back! If any man looks\nback, he will die.\u201d As they climbed up the cliff, the boy stood on the\nedge and said to each one: \u201cDon\u2019t look back. If you do, you will die.\u201d\nWhen all were up he followed them and kept calling out: \u201cDon\u2019t look\nback! Don\u2019t look back!\u201d\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s came out of the water and screamed to the people, \u201cYou\nhaven\u2019t thrown me yet! I am standing in the same place. Why do you run\naway? Come back and throw me!\u201d\n\nThe boy said: \u201cYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s is dead; that is his spirit. It will kill us\nif we look back.\u201d They were far off, but still they heard the call:\n\u201cCome back and wrestle! Look back and see me! The boy lies; he didn\u2019t\nthrow me. Men don\u2019t run away. Come back!\u201d\n\nThe boy said: \u201cDon\u2019t look back!\u201d He talked to the spirit without\nturning his face toward it. He said: \u201cYou will not treat my people in\nthis way again; but you will always live. You will always be on the\nmountains and by the water; you will walk around by the lakes and\nrivers; but you will never be a person again.\u201d\n\nThen the boy said to his people: \u201cIt is hard work to live in this\nworld; we will be birds and live in the air.\u201d That moment they all\nbecame birds. The boy is a medicine bird. Doctors often see him, and he\nhelps them cure sick people.\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s is a great medicine; if a doctor has him for a medicine, he\ncan cure a dying man.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYAHY\u00c1HA\u00c4S AND THE K\u00daJA SISTERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas     Eagle\n    Gala\u00edwa     Mouse\n    Kaiutois    Wolf\n    K\u0115laiwa     House Mouse\n    K\u00faja        Rat\n    K\u00fblta       Otter\n    W\u014fn         Elk\n    Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s   The One-legged Man\n\n\n\nOld K\u00faja and his five daughters lived in the mountains east of Tula\nLake. The old man never went hunting, or went out of the house. His\nfive daughters were hunters. When getting ready to hunt, they took off\ntheir clothes and became red from the waist up; then they put on breech\nclouts and went out as men. One of the sisters built a ring of fires\naround the mountain they wished to hunt on. The fire and smoke drove\nthe deer toward the top of the mountain. The other sisters shot the\ndeer with arrows; an arrow always went through a deer and came out.\n\nWhenever the K\u00fajas were hunting deer, people knew by the smoke which\nsister built the fire. The smoke from the fire built by the youngest\nsister went highest and straightest, for she was the strongest. The\nsmoke from the fire built by the fourth sister was not as straight or\nas high; and so on. The eldest sister\u2019s fire smoked the least, and the\nsmoke spread everywhere, for she was the weakest.\n\nThe K\u00fajas had always hunted on those mountains. Nobody else could hunt\nthere, for when the sisters knew that a man was on one of their\nmountains they built fires around it, drove him toward the top, and\nkilled him.\n\nIn old K\u00faja\u2019s house there were many sacks of dried meat and of white\nroots. When the sisters went to dig roots, each one carried a basket on\nher back and had a long digging stick; they looked like old women.\n\nOn a mountain southwest of where the K\u00fajas hunted there was a large\nvillage. Blaiwas had a house there; he was chief of the village. One\nmorning the K\u00faja sisters went to hunt deer on a mountain west of the\none they lived on. In Blaiwas\u2019 village men called to the women: \u201cCome\nout and look at that mountain over there! The K\u00faja sisters are driving\nin deer!\u201d\n\nSome of the men said: \u201cLet us go over there and see how those sisters\nlook!\u201d Others said: \u201cThose sisters are wise; they can turn us or\nthemselves into anything they want to. Let them alone!\u201d\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cKeep away from the K\u00faja sisters. From the waist up they\nare as red as blood. I have tried to get near them, but I couldn\u2019t.\nTheir fire was far away, but I was burning up.\u201d\n\nOld man Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was visiting in Blaiwas\u2019 village. He heard the men\ntalking and he asked: \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d\n\n\u201cAbout the K\u00faja sisters,\u201d said Blaiwas. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to marry, and\nnobody can get near enough to see how they live. They are young girls,\nbut when they are out hunting they look like men, and when they are\ndigging roots, they are ugly, old women.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you afraid of?\u201d asked Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. \u201cI came here for a wife;\nmaybe I had better take one of those sisters; they would give me plenty\nof deer meat.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll not get a wife here,\u201d said Blaiwas. \u201cMy people have soft\nblankets and nice beads. Your blanket is stiff and so hard that it\nsticks out like a dry elk skin. The girls don\u2019t like you.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the sisters built a fire around Lok\u00famsis, a mountain\nin the west. Men called to Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s and said: \u201cLook over there! That\nis what we were talking about yesterday. The K\u00faja sisters are out\nhunting.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can go there and see how they look,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\n\u201cNobody can get near enough to see them,\u201d said Blaiwas.\n\n\u201cI can go there and take their bows and arrows from them. They can\u2019t\nhurt me, unless they throw me down.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou had better stay away from those girls,\u201d said Blaiwas, but\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s didn\u2019t listen to what he said; he started off. He took a\nmountain at a step, but before he could get there, the sisters put out\ntheir fire and went home. They had heard everything the men said.\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s hunted for them all day, then he went back to Blaiwas\u2019\nvillage.\n\nThe next morning the sisters hunted on another mountain. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\nstarted again, but before he got there, they put their fire out and\nwent home. Each time they saw Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s coming, they said to the\nmountain: \u201cYou are our friend; draw him away from us.\u201d And it did.\n\nOld woman Gala\u00edwa lived in Blaiwas\u2019 house; she was kin of the K\u00faja\nsisters. Now Blaiwas was mad at Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. He was chief, and he didn\u2019t\nwant Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s to bother the K\u00faja girls. He knew they had power to do\nanything they wanted to. He was afraid they would get angry at his\npeople. He said to Gala\u00edwa: \u201cI want you to try and go to old K\u00faja\u2019s\nhouse. If you get there, ask the K\u00faja sisters if Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s bothers\nthem. Tell them he says they are only common women, and he can do what\nhe likes with them. Tell them how he talks.\u201d\n\nWhen Gala\u00edwa got to K\u00faja\u2019s house, the sisters were out digging roots.\nOld man K\u00faja said: \u201cMy daughters can\u2019t hunt any more. A one-legged man,\nwith a big head and bushy red hair, is always trying to get near them.\nThey see his head first. He has a straw quiver on his back and carries\na cane sharp at both ends; the feathers of a red-headed woodpecker are\ntied around it in two places.\u201d (The feathers were Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 medicine.)\n\u201cWith one step he crosses a high mountain. Do you know anything about\nthat man?\u201d\n\nGala\u00edwa told him all that Blaiwas had said about Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\nWhen the girls came, their father said: \u201cThe one-legged man boasts that\nhe can come where you are and take your arrows away from you.\u201d\n\nEach of the five sisters cried out: \u201cI will not run away from him\nagain. I will stay and see if he can get my arrows!\u201d\n\nOld K\u00faja said: \u201cI am afraid Blaiwas will get mad if you do anything to\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Gala\u00edwa, \u201cthe chief and his sons hate Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. They don\u2019t\nwant him to stay in their village.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre the chief\u2019s sons like us?\u201d asked the sisters.\n\nGala\u00edwa didn\u2019t answer; she said: \u201cIt is late, I must go home.\u201d\n\nThe K\u00faja sisters said: \u201cWe will fix your eyes so no matter how dark it\nis, you will see the trail and get home. We will open our eyes wide,\nand give you some of our light.\u201d The youngest sister opened her eyes\nwide and looked into Gala\u00edwa\u2019s eyes. Right away a little black spot\ncame inside each of the old woman\u2019s eyes. Then everywhere it seemed\nbright and light to her; she traveled fast; she didn\u2019t have to look for\nthe trail. Since then all of her kin can see as well at night as in the\ndaytime.\n\nEarly the next morning the K\u00faja sisters went to hunt for deer. The\nyoungest sister started the fires around a mountain, then they sat down\non flat rocks and waited for Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s to come. While they were sitting\nthere, they asked one another: \u201cWhich of us will try first?\u201d The eldest\nsister said: \u201cI will.\u201d The youngest sister said: \u201cYou must fix your\nmind on what you are going to do, then think of nothing else.\u201d She got\nred all over; her arms and legs and eyes were as red as fire.\n\nThey saw Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s coming. He started in the southwest, went toward the\nnorth, then turned west, and came to their mountain. They watched him\nall the time. When he saw them, he squatted down and began to creep\ntoward them. He crept behind every tree and stone and every blade of\ngrass. Every step he took he thrust his cane down under the earth.\n\nEach sister had a bunch of woodpecker\u2019s feathers in a hole in her nose.\nAs Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s came along, the eldest sister took a feather out of her\nnose and stuck it under the ground. It came up a streak of fire in\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 cane; he was so scared he almost lost his mind. When he got\nnear, she took out a second feather, put it under the ground, and it\nalso came out a streak of fire in Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 cane. That time he was so\nscared that he dropped his cane and called out: \u201cWhat are you doing?\nThis is my cane!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you think now?\u201d asked the eldest sister. \u201cYou boasted that we\nhad no power, that you could take our bows and arrows away from us.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must wrestle with me,\u201d said Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. \u201cThat is the way I find out\nhow strong people are.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must make a fire first,\u201d said the sisters.\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s took his fire-drill out of his quiver and tried to start a\nfire.\n\nThe sisters laughed, and said: \u201cYou must make it with your own power,\nnot with a drill; anybody can use a drill.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I do it?\u201d asked Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\n\u201cDo as I do,\u201d said the eldest sister. She pulled up a spear of grass\nand threw it into the air. It came down blazing. Then she said to a big\nrock: \u201cStand apart far enough for a leg to go between you.\u201d Right away\nthe rock opened. Then the sisters said to Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s: \u201cPut your leg in\nthere and get ready to wrestle.\u201d\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s painted his face straight up through the middle; then he\nasked: \u201cWhich sister is going to wrestle with me first?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d said the eldest. \u201cI will wrestle a while for fun, and then in\nearnest.\u201d As she spoke a bunch of red-headed woodpecker\u2019s feathers came\nout of her head. She began to wrestle with Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. Soon he said:\n\u201cThat is enough. Let the next one try.\u201d\n\nThe eldest said to the second sister: \u201cPut your foot in where his leg\nis.\u201d Then she said to Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s: \u201cHurry, now! It is getting late!\u201d\n\nAll the time the sisters were gathering wood and putting it on the\nfire. Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s tried four of the sisters. He couldn\u2019t do anything with\nthem; only the eldest moved a little, three of them stood as firm as a\nrock.\n\nThe youngest sister said to the others: \u201cIt is my turn now. Make the\nfire blaze up high! Put on more wood, then stand with your backs toward\nme.\u201d She said to Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s, \u201cI\u2019m ready!\u201d That minute she put her arms\naround him. She broke his leg off and threw him into the fire. They\npunched the fire around him, made it blaze up high\u2014it was a great\npile\u2014then they ran away as fast as they could.\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 spirit called: \u201cCome back, old K\u00faja\u2019s daughters, come back!\nYou haven\u2019t killed me. Come back and wrestle with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are killed,\u201d said the sisters. \u201cYou will never be a person again,\nbut your spirit will always roam around on high mountains.\u201d\n\nHe called till they got back to the house.\n\nOld K\u00faja asked: \u201cWhere are my deer entrails?\u201d\u2014He never ate any other\npart of the deer.\n\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t hunt for deer to-day,\u201d said the youngest daughter. \u201cWe are\ngoing to swim and then dig roots.\u201d\n\nAfter that the sisters hunted deer for five days. On the fifth day,\nBlaiwas and his sons sent old woman Gala\u00edwa to ask if they had seen\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s. When she got to the house, she said: \u201cBlaiwas and his five\nsons want to know if Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s has been here to bother you. He has gone\naway, and they don\u2019t know where he is.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe haven\u2019t seen him,\u201d said the sisters. \u201cMaybe he ran into our fire\nand got burned up. Why does Blaiwas send you to ask us questions? Do\nthose young chiefs want to marry us?\u201d\n\nGala\u00edwa didn\u2019t answer. She knew now that they had killed Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s.\n\nOld K\u00faja said to his daughters: \u201cI feel lonesome. I am hungry all the\ntime. You don\u2019t kill deer enough. Why don\u2019t you marry some of those men\nin Blaiwas\u2019 village? They would hunt for me, and I would have plenty to\neat.\u201d\n\nThe sisters said: \u201cThere are many men in that village; which shall we\ngo to?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe eldest must go to Blaiwas\u2019 son; the second to Kaiutois\u2019 son; the\nthird to W\u00fblk\u00fbtska\u2019s son; the fourth to W\u014fn\u2019s son.\u201d To his youngest\ndaughter he said: \u201cYou must get K\u00fblta\u2019s son, for he can make a road\nunder the ground, and can go under the water and get different kinds of\nfish. He can make a road to the ocean and drive fish into the river. I\nwant to eat such fish as he catches.\u201d\n\nThe girls started early; when they got near Blaiwas\u2019 village they met\nold Gala\u00edwa and she told them which houses to go to. The first house\nwas K\u00fblta\u2019s. The youngest sister stopped there; the others went on.\n\nTusas\u00e1s lived in that village. When he saw the sisters coming, he began\nto make fun of them and tell lies about them. \u201cWhy do you let those\ngirls come into your houses?\u201d asked he. \u201cThey don\u2019t smell good; you\nshould drive them away.\u201d He made such a fuss that young Blaiwas and\nKaiutois and W\u00fblk\u00fbtska and W\u014fn ran off and hid.\n\nThe next morning all the people gathered in Lok\u2019s house to talk and\nmake up their minds what to do.\n\nOld Gala\u00edwa asked Blaiwas\u2019 son: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you stay with your wife?\nShe will get mad and kill you. Those sisters have great power. They can\ndo anything.\u201d\n\nLok said: \u201cI am afraid of those sisters. My home was on a high\nmountain; I never lived where the land was flat. Those sisters took my\nmountain and drove me away. You should have let them alone; you\nshouldn\u2019t have sent Gala\u00edwa to ask questions.\u201d\n\nThe people talked a long time; they didn\u2019t know what to do.\n\nThe next morning the eldest sister went to the second and together they\nwent to the third and the fourth sister. They found that each sister\nhad stayed alone; then they went to K\u00fblta\u2019s house to see their youngest\nsister. Her husband had stayed with her; he liked her, and she was\nglad. She didn\u2019t want to go home with her sisters, but they said: \u201cOur\nfather will feel lonesome if we come home without you,\u201d so she went.\n\nAs soon as they left Blaiwas\u2019 village, Tusas\u00e1s got on top of a house\nand called out: \u201cOld K\u00faja\u2019s daughters came to hunt for husbands, but\nthey have gone home without them.\u201d He called the girls names and made\nsport of them. He kept screaming: \u201cLook at them! See them go home!\u201d\n\nSome of the people said: \u201cOld Tusas\u00e1s ought to be killed; he will get\nus into trouble.\u201d At last Blaiwas made him stop screaming and talking.\n\nThe sisters turned back; they looked like men. They made a circle\naround Blaiwas\u2019 house and danced a war dance. The people were terribly\nscared; they ran into their houses and looked through the cracks. When\nthe dance was over, the sisters started for home. All the way they made\na great noise. When they went into the house, they pounded their father\non the head and back with their fists, and said: \u201cOld man, to please\nyou we have tried to get husbands. They ran away from us!\u201d They pounded\nhim again, almost killed him.\n\nWhen K\u00fblta\u2019s son found that his wife was gone, he felt badly and cried.\n\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you catch her when she went out?\u201d asked his father. \u201cShe is\na good daughter-in-law; I like her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know that she was going,\u201d said the young man.\n\nK\u00fblta was frightened; he was afraid of the sisters. He went to old man\nWitk\u00e1tkis, and said: \u201cYou must come and talk to my son.\u201d\u2014Witk\u00e1tkis was\na great ki\u00faks.\n\nWhen Witk\u00e1tkis looked at the young man, blood came out of his own\nmouth, and he said: \u201cYou are going to die. You will follow your wife,\nand when you get where those sisters live your blood will spread over\nthe ground.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the sisters told their father to make them bark\nsticks. He made five, and gave one to each girl. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you talk\nto them over the fire?\u201d asked the youngest sister.\n\n\u201cYou can talk to them yourself,\u201d said the old man.\n\nThey built fires around the mountain, then they put the sticks on one\nof the fires, and said: \u201cDraw to us those men who made fun of us.\u201d The\neldest sister said to her stick: \u201cI want Blaiwas\u2019 son to be here before\nme.\u201d Each sister, except the youngest, talked to her stick in the same\nway; then they asked the youngest sister: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you talk to your\nstick?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have nothing to tell it,\u201d said she. While they were hunting, her\nbowstring broke. She felt lonesome; she knew something was going to\nhappen.\n\nK\u00fblta\u2019s father tied a stone knife on his son\u2019s arm, and said: \u201cDon\u2019t\nlet old K\u00faja have this unless he will take you for his son-in-law.\u201d\n\nWhen the young man got to the house, the old woman hurried off to tell\nher daughters that he had come. The youngest sister began to cry; the\neldest sister said: \u201cWe will kill him and throw him out.\u201d The old woman\nscreamed: \u201cLet him alone! He isn\u2019t one of the men who made fun of you.\u201d\nBut they ran in, caught hold of K\u00fblta, pounded him hard; pounded him\ntill he died, then they threw him out.\n\nThe youngest sister put ashes on her head and tied a blanket around\nherself, as a woman does when she mourns for her husband. She told her\nmother to take K\u00fblta\u2019s body off and put sticks over it.\n\nDown in Blaiwas\u2019 village, old Witk\u00e1tkis said: \u201cIn a dream I saw fresh\nblood spread on the ground. K\u00fblta is dead!\u201d\n\nBlaiwas said to Gala\u00edwa: \u201cYou must go to old K\u00faja\u2019s and find out what\nthey have done to K\u00fblta.\u201d\n\nWhen Gala\u00edwa was near the house, she saw K\u00fblta\u2019s wife mourning, and she\nasked: \u201cHave you killed K\u00fblta?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy sisters have killed him,\u201d said the young woman. \u201cYou must make his\nfather think he is alive. I want the other men to come here. Then I\nwill show my sisters what I can do.\u201d\n\nWhen Gala\u00edwa got home, the people asked: \u201cIs K\u00fblta alive?\u201d\n\nShe said: \u201cI didn\u2019t see him; he was off hunting for deer.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas didn\u2019t want his son to go to K\u00faja\u2019s house, but the young man\nwas drawn there; he couldn\u2019t help going.\n\nThat day the eldest sister\u2019s bow broke. She sat down with it in her\nhand; she felt lonesome. The youngest sister asked: \u201cWhy do you feel\nlonesome? Why don\u2019t you mend your bow?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I? It is broken.\u201d\n\nThe sister took it, and right away it was whole. She threw it into her\nsister\u2019s lap, and said: \u201cYou think you have as much power as I have.\nYou have killed K\u00fblta. Wait a while; you will find out what I can do.\u201d\n\nWhen they got home, young Blaiwas was there. The eldest sister went in\nand sat down by him. The next day Kaiutois came, and then W\u00fblk\u00fbtska\u2019s\nson, and W\u014fn\u2019s son. The four sisters wanted to stay with their\nhusbands, but the youngest sister made them go with her to hunt for\ndeer.\n\nThat night Gala\u00edwa came again.\n\n\u201cWhy do you come here so often?\u201d asked K\u00fblta\u2019s wife.\n\n\u201cBlaiwas sends me to see if his people are alive yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are people yet,\u201d said the young woman, \u201cbut I feel worse and\nworse all the time.\u201d\n\nGala\u00edwa said: \u201cYou have power; why don\u2019t you bring K\u00fblta to life?\u201d\n\n\u201cHis body is spoiled,\u201d said the woman. But she told her mother to\nuncover the body and put it in water.\n\nOld woman K\u00faja said: \u201cYou always tell me if anybody kills you to put\nyour body in water, but that won\u2019t bring K\u00fblta to life.\u201d She put the\nbody in water, washed it, then stretched it out and stepped over it a\ngood many times. At last it moved. She washed it and stepped over it\nagain. Then K\u00fblta stood up. He was glad to be alive, and to see his\nwife.\n\nK\u00fblta\u2019s wife said: \u201cHereafter, my sisters and their husbands will not\nbe persons. They will be spirits and will roam around on the\nmountains.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTSMUK AND G\u00d3SHGOISE\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00f3shgoise   Rabbit (small)\n    Juljulcus   Cricket\n    Kaudokis    Worm\n    L\u00f3luk       Fire\n    Sk\u00f3la       Meadow Lark\n    Tsmuk       Darkness\n    Yauk\u00fbl      Stone People\n\n\n\nFive brothers lived together on the east side of Tula Lake; all had the\nsame name, Yauk\u00fbl; the youngest was chief. Not far away lived the five\nTcpun brothers, kin of the Yauk\u00fbls; each brother had one child. The\nwives of those men had been captured by the Yauk\u00fbl brothers, and made\nservants.\n\nEach day old woman Yauk\u00fbl went to the top of her house and watched the\ntrail. Whenever she saw people coming, she called to her sons, who sat\nby the fire, with long spears stuck in the ground around them. They\nwent out, killed the men, and brought the women home. The brothers\nnever left the house except when they went to kill people.\n\nEach morning old Yauk\u00fbl went to every house in the village and sent the\nwomen to dig roots; then she watched them from the top of the house,\nand if a woman ate even one little root, she had her punished.\n\nOne morning, the old woman said to her sons: \u201cThere is snow on the\nground.\u201d\n\nThe youngest son said: \u201cTell the Tcpun brothers to go for rabbits.\u201d\n\nShe went to the house of the five brothers, and said: \u201cGo and hunt\nrabbits; my sons are hungry for meat.\u201d\n\nFour of the Tcpun brothers had been worked so hard that they were only\nskin and bones. The fifth brother was able to hunt, for while hunting\nhe always stole and ate a rabbit. The brothers had only ragged bark\nblankets; the old woman took away the rabbit skins.\n\nThe youngest brother got ready and started; as he went along, he picked\nup pieces of bark to tie on his feet to keep them from freezing. While\nhunting he kept saying: \u201cI am hunting as though I were going to eat,\nbut I never eat.\u201d\n\nEach day for three days an orphan boy heard those words. When he got\nhome, the third night, he said: \u201cGrandmother, in the woods I hear a man\ntalking and crying. I thought no one lived around here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat does he say?\u201d\n\nWhen the boy told, the old woman said: \u201cThat is my brother,\u201d and she\nbegan to cry. Then she told G\u00f3shgoise, the boy, about the Yauk\u00fbl\nbrothers. \u201cTo-morrow I am going to see that man,\u201d thought G\u00f3shgoise.\nThe grandmother knew his thoughts; she knew he would try to kill the\nYauk\u00fbls.\n\nThe next morning old Yauk\u00fbl said to her sons: \u201cThere is snow on the\nground.\u201d\n\nThe youngest son said: \u201cTell the Tcpun brothers to go for rabbits.\u201d\n\nShe went to their house and said: \u201cThis is a good day to hunt rabbits;\nmy sons are hungry for meat.\u201d\n\nThe youngest brother started off. He killed rabbits by calling them to\nhim and dropping large stones on them. That day the boy was watching;\nhe saw the man a long way off, saw him kill a rabbit, skin it, and then\nbuild a fire. He went toward him, and when near hid behind bushes. When\nthe man turned to pick up sticks, he saw the boy and was scared. He\nsaid: \u201cI never saw you before; I didn\u2019t know there was any one like you\nliving around here.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy grandmother and I live among the rocks,\u201d said the boy. \u201cI came to\nsee you; I often hear you cry. Why can\u2019t you eat what you kill? I\nwouldn\u2019t kill, if I couldn\u2019t eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere I live, nobody can eat,\u201d said the man; \u201cthe Yauk\u00fbls would kill\nthem. They have killed your father and all your people. I am sorry you\nheard me crying. I don\u2019t want them to find you; I want you to grow to\nbe a man. That is why I never looked for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you cook another rabbit?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey will kill me if I carry home only a few. The old woman never has\nenough.\u201d\n\nThe boy had his belt full of rabbits; he gave them to the man, and\nsaid: \u201cStay here and cook these; don\u2019t go home till it is dark, don\u2019t\ngo till you are sure the old woman can\u2019t see you. Then feed your\nbrothers and the children. To-morrow I will come and see you.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a bad place; don\u2019t come,\u201d said the man. \u201cThe Yauk\u00fbls will kill\nyou. You must stay away and grow up.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy got home, his grandmother said: \u201cYou are late, but you\nhaven\u2019t any rabbits.\u201d\n\n\u201cI met my uncle and gave him my rabbits. I have found out why he cries\nso. He has to hunt rabbits for the Yauk\u00fbl brothers, but if they knew\nthat he ate even one little rabbit they would kill him. To-morrow I am\ngoing to see my uncles.\u201d\n\nThe grandmother said: \u201cIf you go, you will not come back; the Yauk\u00fbl\npeople will kill you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going,\u201d said the boy. \u201cGet my things ready.\u201d\n\nHis grandmother gave him a spear like the spears used by the Yauk\u00fbl\nbrothers.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want that spear,\u201d said the boy, \u201cit will break.\u201d\n\nShe gave him a thick axe, and he said: \u201cThat is too heavy.\u201d She gave\nhim a knife, made of wood and covered with pitch, and he said: \u201cThat is\nnot strong enough; it will break.\u201d\n\nThat night, while the boy was asleep, the old woman made a quiver out\nof her own hair. The quiver was blue and bright. Then she made a spear\nthat would last always and never get old or break. At daylight she said\nto him: \u201cNow, my grandson, it is time to get ready. Wash and eat, then\nI will tell you what to do.\u201d\n\nHe washed in the brook and ate pounded seeds. Then she gave him the\nspear, and said: \u201cGo to the rock out there and try this spear. Stand on\nthe right side of the rock and strike it five times.\u201d He struck four\ntimes, and each time great pieces of rock fell; the fifth time the rock\nsplit in the center. Every time he struck, the spear looked like a\nflash of lightning.\n\nHis grandmother said: \u201cLook at your spear and see if it is hurt.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the boy, \u201cit is as good as ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, put it in its quiver; then stand up straight.\u201d\n\nHe stood up straight. She made him tall and covered his body with five\nkinds of rock. The outside cover was of granite.\n\nThen the boy asked: \u201cHow many places are there where people kill\nfolks?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Yauk\u00fbl place is the worst of all,\u201d said his grandmother, \u201cbut\nbetween that place and the end of the world in the north there are\nthree bad places.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t get frightened if I am gone a long time,\u201d said the boy. \u201cI am\ngoing to all those bad places.\u201d And he started.\n\nOld woman Yauk\u00fbl, from the top of her house, saw him coming. Her sons\nwere lying on their backs and looking at her through the smoke hole;\nthey thought she saw some one, and the chief called out: \u201cWhom do you\nsee?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see a man who is just big enough to bring water. He has a\nrabbit-skin blanket, and he has something on his back, something that\nis nice and bright.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo and get him,\u201d said the chief, \u201cand the thing he is carrying. I\nwonder who it is that has never heard of me!\u201d\n\nWhen the old woman got to G\u00f3shgoise, she said: \u201cGive me your blanket\nand quiver.\u201d\n\nThe boy walked along; he didn\u2019t say a word.\n\nShe went back to her sons, and said: \u201cHe looks like a bad man; he won\u2019t\nsay a word, and he won\u2019t give me what he has on his back.\u201d She called\nhim names; she was mad.\n\nHer son said: \u201cGo again!\u201d\n\nWhen she came to G\u00f3shgoise the second time, she said: \u201cGive those\nthings to me, quick; my son is mad.\u201d\n\nG\u00f3shgoise was lying on the ground with his head on his hands. He didn\u2019t\nsay a word, didn\u2019t notice her. She talked and talked, but couldn\u2019t get\nthe things. She went and told her sons that the man wouldn\u2019t give her\nhis blanket and quiver, and wouldn\u2019t speak to her.\n\nThe youngest son said: \u201cWho can that man be? Has he never heard of me?\nI thought every one knew about me. Go again, and this time be sure to\nget the things.\u201d\n\nThe old woman ran to G\u00f3shgoise, and screamed: \u201cGive me your blanket and\nquiver! This is the last time I\u2019m going to ask for them! My sons are as\nstrong as you are. You\u2019ll give up your things when they come!\u201d She was\nmad, she looked ready to fight. The Tcpun brothers were watching; they\nwere scared. Still the boy didn\u2019t say a word. When she couldn\u2019t make\nhim speak, she went back to the house.\n\nHer son screamed: \u201cWhere are the things?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe won\u2019t give them up.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go and kill him,\u201d said the eldest brother. When he stood up, he\nwas so tall and heavy that he shook the house. He thought he could kill\nthe boy easily, so he didn\u2019t put on his stone cover. With one step he\nreached G\u00f3shgoise. \u201cGive me those things!\u201d shouted he.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise stood up. With his right hand he held his spear under his\nleft arm, but his head was covered with his blanket, as if he didn\u2019t\nhear or see the man.\n\nWhen G\u00f3shgoise didn\u2019t answer, Yauk\u00fbl screamed: \u201cDon\u2019t you hear?\u201d and he\nraised his spear to strike. That minute G\u00f3shgoise\u2019s spear flashed out\nand took Yauk\u00fbl\u2019s head off with one blow.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise threw the head over the house, and the body after it. The old\nwoman cried out: \u201cWhat is that? It looks like my son\u2019s head!\u201d and she\nran around the house to see what had fallen.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise went into his uncle\u2019s house, and said: \u201cCut a hole through\nthe wall, so that I can see out.\u201d\n\nWhen the Yauk\u00fbls saw that G\u00f3shgoise had killed their brother, they got\nready to fight. They had a sister, who had never been out of the house,\nand had never spoken to any one. When the brothers were putting on\ntheir stone bodies, the sister said: \u201cYou will find that you are not\nthe strongest people in this world,\u201d and she began to cry. The brothers\nwere frightened. They had never heard their sister\u2019s voice before.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise gave a spear to each of the five Tcpun brothers and said: \u201cIf\nthe last Yauk\u00fbl comes, you must help me fight him.\u201d\n\nWhen the second brother was half-way to the house G\u00f3shgoise met him,\nand the two began to fight. At the first blow the boy struck Yauk\u00fbl\nwith his spear; the first kind of rock flew off. When Yauk\u00fbl struck the\nboy, only dust flew. The boy hit Yauk\u00fbl five blows. At each blow a\ndifferent kind of rock was broken. When the fifth cover broke, Yauk\u00fbl\ndied. Each blow of the boy\u2019s spear was a flash of lightning. The third\nand fourth brother came out to fight. Every time they struck G\u00f3shgoise\na blow, he said: \u201cIn another place,\u201d so they never hit him twice in the\nsame place. G\u00f3shgoise struck their covers off and killed them.\n\nWhen the fifth brother came, he struck first, and raised a flash of\nfire that went through three of the boy\u2019s stone covers. G\u00f3shgoise\nstruck off two of Yauk\u00fbl\u2019s stone covers, then told his uncles to strike\nright where he had struck. They broke all the covers and killed the\nman. As he died, the boy said to him: \u201cHereafter, you and your brothers\nwill be nothing but water fowls, you will eat only dead fish. People\nwill laugh at you, for you will always sit by the water, whichever way\nthe wind blows.\u201d\n\nG\u00f3shgoise killed old woman Yauk\u00fbl and threw her body off; she became\nthe same kind of bird as her sons. The daughter he took for a wife.\nAmong the captives in Yauk\u00fbl\u2019s house he found his mother and aunts.\n\n\u201cI am going away,\u201d said G\u00f3shgoise to his uncles. \u201cYou mustn\u2019t stay\nhere; you and all these women must go to my grandmother\u2019s place.\u201d He\nknew that his grandmother would have a big house ready for them.\n\nHe asked his mother how many people there were at the next bad place.\n\n\u201cThere are five brothers,\u201d said she. \u201cThe eldest brother has a\nbeautiful wife. Those brothers have killed all the men and children in\nthat country. The women are captives and have to dig roots for the five\nbrothers. The eldest brother\u2019s wife goes with them to watch them while\nthey dig.\u201d\n\nG\u00f3shgoise traveled on. He went to the top of a high mountain, looked\ndown on the other side, and saw, on the flat below, women digging\nroots. The first woman was his father\u2019s sister; her head was covered\nwith pitch, for she was mourning for her husband. When G\u00f3shgoise got\nnear, he crept along quietly till he stood behind his aunt. She saw a\nsecond shadow and turned around to see what made it. The minute she saw\nG\u00f3shgoise, she knew he was her nephew; she cried out: \u201cGo away! Why did\nyou come here? This is a bad place!\u201d G\u00f3shgoise didn\u2019t answer. \u201cHow did\nyou pass the Yauk\u00fbl brothers?\u201d asked his aunt.\n\n\u201cI killed them.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe five Kaudokis brothers live here,\u201d said the woman. \u201cWe have to\nwork for them. If we didn\u2019t work, they would cut our legs or ears off\nand make us eat them. The eldest brother has a beautiful wife\u2014that\nbright woman over there\u2014she looks like the moon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have come here for a wife,\u201d said G\u00f3shgoise. \u201cHave those men\nsisters?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, my nephew,\u201d said his aunt, \u201cgo away, you will be killed. We are\nall captives. There is no woman here for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want that bright woman,\u201d said G\u00f3shgoise, \u201cand I\u2019m going to fight for\nher.\u201d\n\nHe ran to the woman, caught hold of her, and made her sit down; then he\nput his head on her knees.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d cried the woman. \u201cGo away! The five brothers will see\nyou and they will kill you. Go away!\u201d\n\nShe cried, and all the women cried and begged G\u00f3shgoise to go away; but\nhe stayed there; he wouldn\u2019t get up, and he wouldn\u2019t let the woman get\nup.\n\nThe Kaudokis brothers wore blankets made of untanned elk-skin.\nG\u00f3shgoise heard the noise of some one running and at the same time\npounding a dry, stiff hide. The eldest brother was coming.\n\nThe women cried: \u201cRun away; he will kill you!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, he won\u2019t,\u201d said G\u00f3shgoise, and he covered his head with his\nblanket. Mole was G\u00f3shgoise\u2019s medicine, and was always with him. He\nsaid to Mole: \u201cMake holes around here!\u201d\n\nMole made a great many holes. When Kaudokis came rushing along with a\nspear in his hand, he fell into one of the holes, and G\u00f3shgoise cut his\nhead off. The second brother came and was killed in the same way. The\nwomen were watching; they were glad. Each time they called out:\n\u201cAnother is coming!\u201d\n\nAs the third brother came near, he called out: \u201cWhere did you come\nfrom? What do you want here? Nobody can beat me!\u201d\n\nThat minute he fell into a hole, and G\u00f3shgoise cut his head off. Each\ntime G\u00f3shgoise killed a Kaudokis, he pulled off his elk-skin blanket,\nand put it on himself.\n\nThe women said: \u201cNow the youngest brother is coming! He is stronger\nthan the others.\u201d\n\nThe fifth brother came in a terrible whirlwind. G\u00f3shgoise thought:\n\u201cMaybe he will kill me,\u201d and he cried to Mole: \u201cDig deeper holes!\u201d Just\nas Kaudokis raised his spear to strike, he stumbled and fell into a\nhole. G\u00f3shgoise cut his head off, put on his elk-skin blanket, and\nsaid: \u201cHereafter, you and your brothers will be nothing but creeping\nthings.\u201d That minute the souls of the Kaudokis brothers flew out and\nbecame worms.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise took the eldest brother\u2019s wife for his own wife; then he\nfreed all the captives and sent them, with his wife and his aunt, to\nstay with his grandmother, while he went farther.\n\nHis aunt said: \u201cAs you travel, you will come to a high mountain; from\nthe top of the mountain you will see a large village. Old man Juljulcus\nlives there. He has one son and one daughter, and if any man falls in\nlove with the girl, her brother kills him.\u201d\n\nG\u00f3shgoise traveled very fast; that night he camped on a high mountain,\nand the next morning he looked down into the valley. There was a river\nin the valley, and many women were walking along the bank; they were\nhunting for roots. Behind them all, G\u00f3shgoise saw Sk\u00f3la, one of his\naunts. As he went down the mountain, he stopped often to listen, for\nall those women were singing. He could hear his aunt\u2019s voice. She was\ncleaning roots and throwing them into a basket that she had on her\nback. When G\u00f3shgoise came behind her, she saw two shadows. She turned\naround and looked up; when she saw who it was, she cried out: \u201cWhy did\nyou come here? This is a bad place.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you know me?\u201d asked G\u00f3shgoise.\n\n\u201cYou are my nephew. How did you pass the house of the five Kaudokis\nbrothers?\u201d\n\n\u201cI killed them.\u201d\n\nWhen G\u00f3shgoise saw the daughter of old Juljulcus, he told his aunt he\nwas going to her.\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to her for?\u201d asked Sk\u00f3la. \u201cDon\u2019t go there; you will\nget killed. Don\u2019t you see that great pile of bones there by the house?\nThose are the bones of men who have come for old Juljulcus\u2019 daughter.\u201d\nThat minute the wind began to blow, and Sk\u00f3la said: \u201cThey know that you\nare here. They know everything. The brother is coming to kill you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is \u2018Two-Tongued\u2019 talking to?\u201d asked one woman of another. (They\ncalled Sk\u00f3la two-tongued, because she could talk two ways.) \u201cHe is a\nnice-looking man, but Juljulcus will kill him.\u201d\n\nG\u00f3shgoise ran to old Juljulcus\u2019 daughter, caught hold of her, drew her\ndown, and put his head on her knees.\n\nShe was scared and tried to get away. \u201cLet me go!\u201d said she. \u201cNo man\ncan fall in love with me; if he does, my brother will kill him.\u201d\n\nThe brother was coming in the middle of a whirlwind. His blanket, made\nof the dried skin of people, rattled terribly.\n\nThe sister bent over G\u00f3shgoise to save him. He said: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t do\nthat; you might kill me.\u201d He told Mole to dig a great hole right there\nnear him. The wind blew so hard that the women fell down and were blown\nalong over the flat, but G\u00f3shgoise held himself and the girl to the\nground.\n\nJust as Juljulcus\u2019 son lifted his spear to strike, he fell into the\nhole Mole had made, and G\u00f3shgoise killed him. \u201cHereafter,\u201d said\nG\u00f3shgoise, \u201cyou will be small and weak; nothing but a cricket. You will\nlie near roots, and wherever people put their seeds and dried roots\nunder the ground, there you will be.\u201d\n\nJuljulcus\u2019 spirit came out and was a cricket. When the girl stepped\nover her brother\u2019s body, the cricket jumped on G\u00f3shgoise; it seemed to\nlike him.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise spent the night at old Juljulcus\u2019 house; in the morning he\nasked his wife: \u201cAre all the great fighters dead?\u201d\n\nShe asked her father, and he said: \u201cMy son-in-law, bad people live near\nthe ocean. As you travel, you will come to a high mountain; from the\ntop of that mountain, if you look toward the ocean, you will see a\nvillage, with smoke rising from each house. You must get to that\nvillage after dark. Don\u2019t go there in daylight.\u201d\n\nG\u00f3shgoise told his father-in-law and all the women to go to his\ngrandmother\u2019s place and stay there till he came.\n\n\u201cHow far away is your grandmother\u2019s house?\u201d asked the old man.\n\n\u201cIt is on the other side of the world, in the south,\u201d said G\u00f3shgoise.\n\nOld Juljulcus\u2019 spear was the little lightning that flashes all around\nthe sky. G\u00f3shgoise gave his spear, long lightning, to his\nfather-in-law, and took the old man\u2019s spear. His wife gave him seed to\neat on the road, and they started. Old Juljulcus looked back, and said:\n\u201cSon-in-law, don\u2019t forget what I have told you.\u201d\n\nIt took G\u00f3shgoise two days to reach the mountain, but his wife and his\nfather-in-law camped a good many times before they got to his\ngrandmother\u2019s house.\n\nWhen G\u00f3shgoise reached the top of the mountain, he found a spring; he\ntalked to the spring, and to the earth, and to the trees, and to the\nrocks; asked them not to hurt him. When he looked toward the ocean he\nsaw many houses and smoke coming out of each house; then he remembered\nwhat his father-in-law had told him. As soon as he saw the smoke, the\nsun went down.\n\nThe village was full of people; they looked like lightning bugs,\nthrowing fire, for each person had a lighted torch. When G\u00f3shgoise got\nto the village, he found the people killing one another. He crept up\ncarefully, and with his short lightning spear began to cut off heads.\nAll night he killed people and burned houses. At daybreak, when there\nwas no one left to kill, G\u00f3shgoise went to the mountain, and standing\non the top, looked down. Only one house was left; that was the house of\nold Tsmuk. (The people he had killed were L\u00f3luks.) G\u00f3shgoise stayed all\nday on the mountain, and when night came he went to Tsmuk\u2019s house. (Day\nwas night for the people who lived with Tsmuk and night was day.)\n\nIn Tsmuk\u2019s house there was a great ball of light; the light was so\nstrong that no one could look at it. G\u00f3shgoise held his lightning spear\nin front of the ball, and said: \u201cMy spear is as bright as this ball; my\nlong spear would be stronger and brighter than the ball.\u201d\n\nTsmuk\u2019s daughter was near the door. She had the bright ball right there\nat her side. G\u00f3shgoise sat down by her and turned his spear over. It\nfrightened those in the house, and one man called out: \u201cWhat is that? I\nsaw something flash.\u201d G\u00f3shgoise held the spear near his head, and they\ndidn\u2019t see it again.\n\nThere were six persons in the house,\u2014the old grandmother, Tsmuk, his\nwife, his two sons, and his daughter. When the elder son was going to\nmake a fire, G\u00f3shgoise held out his spear. The young man saw it and was\nscared. In the morning it was night for him, and he could see\nG\u00f3shgoise. He pushed his brother, and said: \u201cThat is what came in here\nlast night.\u201d He pushed his father, and said: \u201cThat is what came in here\nlast night!\u201d\n\nOld Tsmuk and his family were terribly scared, for lightning was\ndarting among them, and it was red like fire. The three men ran out of\nthe house, for they were afraid the thing would kill them.\n\nGushwean, an orphan, who had run away when G\u00f3shgoise was killing the\nL\u00f3luk people, came to the old man\u2019s house. \u201cSomething strange got into\nour house last night,\u201d said old Tsmuk; \u201cwe didn\u2019t know it was there. It\nis bright and nice, but it scares us.\u201d Then the old man asked: \u201cWhere\ndid you come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cI live near here. Some one has killed all my people.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe this thing killed them,\u201d said the old man; \u201cit is bloody. Look\nin and see it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the boy. \u201cIt will kill me.\u201d\n\nOld Tsmuk and his sons were afraid to look in. The mother and daughter\nwere in the house. The girl was crying; she was sorry for her father\nand brothers. When she cried, G\u00f3shgoise asked: \u201cWhy do you cry?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is the first time my father and brothers have ever been out of\nthe house.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell them to come in,\u201d said G\u00f3shgoise. She told them, but they\nwouldn\u2019t come; they were afraid.\n\nOld Tsmuk asked: \u201cCan I live if I come in?\u201d His voice trembled. \u201cIf you\nwill put that thing away, I will come.\u201d Old woman Tsmuk told him that\nthe stranger had put his spear under his arm. Then Tsmuk said: \u201cAsk the\nstranger if he has come for my daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have come for her,\u201d said G\u00f3shgoise.\n\nThen the old woman asked: \u201cWhere will you stay?\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t stay here; my old grandmother is far away in the north. I will\ntake my wife to that place.\u201d\n\nWhen old man Tsmuk came in, G\u00f3shgoise put lightning above his head, and\nit shot through the house and up to the sky. He did this to let his\ngrandmother know that he was at the end of his journey. Then he gave\nthe spear to his father-in-law to pay him for his daughter. Since that\ntime old Tsmuk has had short lightning.\n\nTsmuk took hold of G\u00f3shgoise\u2019s hand, called him son-in-law, and began\nto cry because he had nothing to give him. Tsmuk and his family were\nnaked; they had no beads or blankets.\n\n\u201cWhy do you cry?\u201d asked his wife. (She was a powerful old woman; she\ncould do anything.) When he told her, she said: \u201cThere is an island off\nin the water; my brother lives there. You can go to that island and get\nshells for our son-in-law. I will make you an elk-skin canoe.\u201d She cut\nan elk-skin into four pieces; one piece was for the bottom of the\ncanoe, one for the top and one for each side. \u201cThis canoe is strong,\u201d\nsaid she. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid, and don\u2019t think of anything bad. If a storm\ncomes, it will go around the canoe.\u201d\n\nTsmuk and his younger son got into the canoe; the old woman raised a\nstrong wind behind it, and the canoe flew over the water. When it was\ngoing very fast, old Tsmuk thought: \u201cWhat would happen if a storm\ncame?\u201d That minute a terrible whirlwind struck the canoe and drove it\nback to the shore.\n\nThen the water was calm. The old woman felt badly; she knew Tsmuk had\nthought of a storm. She told him again not to think of anything, not to\nbe afraid, then she made a strong wind behind the canoe, and that time\nit reached the island.\n\n\u201cWhat did you come for?\u201d asked the brother-in-law.\n\n\u201cA man has come for my sister,\u201d said Tsmuk\u2019s son. \u201cMy father has\nnothing to give him.\u201d\n\nThe uncle brought beautiful shells and beads. As he loaded them into\nthe canoe, the canoe grew larger and larger, till Tsmuk had as many\nshells and beads as he wanted.\n\nThe day that Tsmuk started for the island, his daughter had a little\ngirl. After fasting, G\u00f3shgoise wanted to go to his own home, for he was\nhungry. He was a great hunter, but he couldn\u2019t hunt in Tsmuk\u2019s country,\nand he couldn\u2019t eat what the Tsmuk people ate.\n\n\u201cYou mustn\u2019t go,\u201d said his mother-in-law; \u201cyou must wait for the\ncanoe.\u201d\n\nHe went to the top of the high mountain, and looking off, saw on the\nwater something as big as a hill. \u201cThat must be an island,\u201d thought he.\nWhen he went back to Tsmuk\u2019s house, he said to his mother-in-law: \u201cIn\nthe water there is an island as big as a hill.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat must be the canoe,\u201d said the mother-in-law, and she went out to\nsee.\n\nAs soon as Tsmuk and his son left the island, they fell asleep, and\nthey slept till they were near land. Old Tsmuk woke up first. He wanted\nto talk; he shook his son, and asked: \u201cWhat do you think of your\nbrother-in-law?\u201d\n\n\u201cI like him,\u201d said the son.\n\nThat moment the canoe stopped; it was sinking, but the old woman spoke\nto it, called: \u201cCome farther! Come farther!\u201d The canoe stopped sinking.\nShe made a rope of deerskin, threw one end of it to Tsmuk and began to\npull the canoe toward land. Under her arm she had her daughter\u2019s baby.\n\nWhen Tsmuk saw the baby, he was glad; he wanted to get ashore quickly.\nHe went to the end of the canoe and ran forward to jump, but he hit the\ncanoe and pushed it away. The old woman had to talk a long time and\nmake the wind blow in every direction, before she could get it back\nagain. Old Tsmuk was so scared that he couldn\u2019t speak, and he couldn\u2019t\nhear.\n\nHis wife was scared and mad; she screamed to him: \u201cYou have made lots\nof trouble. You will no longer be a person; you will be darkness, to be\nused when people want to sleep!\u201d And so it was.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise and his wife went to his grandmother\u2019s house, and old woman\nTsmuk and her sons went with them. The daughter kept the ball of light\nby her side, and when people saw them coming they were scared, and\nsaid: \u201cThose people are coming to kill us.\u201d But as soon as the\ngrandmother saw them, she said: \u201cThat man is my grandson!\u201d Then every\none was glad.\n\nAfter that, G\u00f3shgoise lived in his own country, with his wives, his\ngrandmother, and all his kin.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKAIUTOIS FOOLS WUS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Kaiutois   Wolf\n    Wus        Fox\n\n\n\nKaiutois was sick for a long time, and he was alone in his house. One\nday Wus went to see him and Kaiutois said: \u201cI want you to find me\nsomething to eat; I am hungry.\u201d\n\nWus killed some mice, put them in a basket, and carried them to\nKaiutois. Kaiutois ate them at one mouthful and said: \u201cI feel better,\nbut I am weak, for I am hungry. You must call deer and try to kill one.\nCall loud so they can hear, and say: \u2018Come and dance. Big-ribs is going\nto die.\u2019 When they come, you must kill a white-faced one; they are the\nfattest.\u201d\n\nWus called: \u201cAll those who live in the mountains, come! The man who has\nkilled so many people is dying. I am going to have a dance. I am glad.\u201d\n\nThe deer didn\u2019t hear, so Wus called again: \u201cBig-ribs, the man who\ndrives you around and kills you, is dying. Come and dance!\u201d\n\nThat time Big deer heard, and said: \u201cGet ready; Wus wants us to dance\nwith him. Big-ribs is dying.\u201d\n\nWhen they started, Wus saw them and called to Kaiutois: \u201cThey are\ncoming! they are coming!\u201d\n\nKaiutois lay down and Wus wrapped him up so no one could see him. When\ndeer crowded into the house, Wus took a club and began to dance; every\ntime he came to Kaiutois, he struck him with the club. The deer danced\nand raised a terrible dust.\n\nAt last Big deer said: \u201cThat is enough; we have a long way to go before\ndark.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cIf this man doesn\u2019t die to-night, I will call you again\nto-morrow.\u201d\n\nThe white-faced deer went first. They looked so big that Wus was\nscared; he didn\u2019t touch them. The last to go was a fawn. Wus told him\nto wait, and when the big ones were out of sight, Wus killed the little\none.\n\nKaiutois ate him and complained that he hadn\u2019t enough. He said: \u201cIt is\njust as if I hadn\u2019t eaten a mouthful. I didn\u2019t tell you to catch that\nlittle lean fawn; I told you to kill a big, white-faced deer. To-morrow\nyou must call to the w\u016dy\u0115s (mountain sheep). Maybe it will be easier to\nkill one of them. They live among the rocks.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Wus called: \u201cThose who always live among the rocks,\ncome and dance. The man who runs after you and kills you is going to\ndie, and I am glad. When he killed a deer, he drove me off; he never\ngave me a bite. Come and dance with me!\u201d\n\nWus watched, and when he saw them coming, he told Kaiutois.\n\nKaiutois said: \u201cWrap me up tight. When they are through dancing, kill\none that has never had young; they are the best.\u201d\n\nWhen the w\u016dy\u0115s were in the house, Wus took up a club, and they all\nbegan to dance. They danced a long time and raised a terrible dust.\nWhen they were ready to go, they looked so big that Wus was afraid; he\nlet them all go but the last one, a little fellow. He held him back,\nand said: \u201cWait, wait a minute, you will get pushed down if you go in\nthat crowd.\u201d\n\nWhen the large ones were out of sight, Wus killed the little one and\ntold Kaiutois to get up and eat.\n\nKaiutois couldn\u2019t stand up; he was too sick; so Wus fed him. Kaiutois\nsaid: \u201cThis meat is too soft, and there isn\u2019t enough of it. I shall\nnever get well if I don\u2019t have plenty to eat. You must kill something\nthat is fat and old.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cMaybe I could, if you would help me.\u201d\n\nKaiutois found him a heavier club and told him to call the antelopes.\nWus called: \u201cAntelopes, come and dance with me. The man who has eaten\nso many of your people is almost dead. He will die quickly if we\ndance.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus saw them coming, Kaiutois said: \u201cCover me with something thin;\nmaybe I\u2019ll catch one.\u201d\n\nWus stood on the top of the house and danced, and sang: \u201cI\u2019m glad\nKaiutois is going to die. He always drove me away when he had anything\nto eat.\u201d When the antelopes were all in the house, Wus told them to\nstand around and see him dance on Kaiutois. He jumped up and down on\nKaiutois, while Kaiutois looked at the antelopes and picked out the one\nhe wanted,\u2014the fattest one. When they were through dancing, and ready\nto go, Wus caught hold of the fat antelope. It came near carrying him\noff, but Kaiutois jumped up and killed it.\n\nKaiutois ate the meat and fat and gave the intestines to Wus. He felt\nstronger then, and said: \u201cMaybe I will get well if I can get out in the\nwoods. Maybe I can kill big game again.\u201d\n\nWus helped him out, and after a while Kaiutois told him to call deer.\nHe said: \u201cI\u2019ll go into the house and wrap up in a blanket, and when\nthey are almost through dancing, you must say: \u2018This man is dead. Throw\nhim out!\u2019 When they throw me out, I will run at them and kill as many\nas I can.\u201d\n\nWus called: \u201cI want everybody who lives on the mountains and among the\nrocks to come. Kaiutois is almost dead. This is his last day, we must\nall dance!\u201d\n\nEverybody came, for everybody was glad. When they had danced enough,\nthey threw Kaiutois out and started for home. Kaiutois ran after them\nand killed a great many. Wus helped him all he could. Kaiutois told him\nhe should have as much as he wanted to eat, but when the deer were\npiled up in the house, Kaiutois drove Wus away, told him to go and hunt\nmice for himself.\n\nKaiutois stayed in the house till he had eaten all the deer meat. Then\nhe turned to a wolf and went off to the mountains. He never had a home\nagain.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBLAIWAS AND THE HEAD\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas     Eagle\n    D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts     Panther\n    Nd\u00fakis      Hawk\n    Tc\u00fbskai     Weasel\n    W\u00fblk\u00fbtska   Marten\n\n\n\nBlaiwas, D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts, W\u00fblk\u00fbtska, and other strong men, lived in a house on\na high mountain. They were head men, and all the people around brought\nthem meat. One day, Blaiwas said: \u201cWe had better let old man Nd\u00fakis\ndivide our meat.\u201d They called Tc\u00fbskai, a fast runner, and sent him for\nNd\u00fakis.\n\nNd\u00fakis had four brothers and a mother, and he lived in a brush\nhouse\u2014just as we did long ago. Nd\u00fakis went to Blaiwas\u2019 house and\ndivided the meat; he ate some, but he didn\u2019t carry any to his mother or\nhis brothers.\n\nThe next morning, when the head men were starting off to hunt, Nd\u00fakis\nwent with them. He hunted all day, but caught only one mouse. He ate\nthe mouse and went home.\n\nBlaiwas sent again for Nd\u00fakis to come and divide the meat; when he had\ndivided it the men began to make fun of him for being such a poor\nhunter. They made him open his mouth and then they threw meat into it.\nWhen he had swallowed all the meat he could, they sent him home.\n\nOld woman W\u00fblk\u00fbtska and her two daughters lived at the foot of the\nmountain. There was no one to kill game for them, and sometimes the\nmother was almost starved. One day she said to her daughters: \u201cGreat\nhunters live on the top of the mountain; they always have lots of deer\nmeat. You must go there and get husbands.\u201d\n\nOne of the girls asked: \u201cHow can we go; we don\u2019t know where their house\nis?\u201d\n\nThe mother said: \u201cThere is only one big house. You will know Blaiwas\nwhen you see him, for he flies without moving his wings.\u201d\n\nWhen the girls came to the top of the mountain, they sat down to rest\nand watch for Blaiwas. They hadn\u2019t been there long when they saw Nd\u00fakis\ncoming.\n\nHe was out of breath, for it was hard for him to fly high.\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cThere is Blaiwas; he flies just as mother said\nhe did.\u201d\n\nThe younger sister said: \u201cNo, that isn\u2019t Blaiwas.\u201d They watched him\ntill he flew down among the rocks; then the elder sister said: \u201cHis\nhouse is down there; we must follow him.\u201d\n\nWhen Nd\u00fakis got home, he was so nearly dead that he fell into the\nhouse. His mother jumped on him, and asked: \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d (He\nknew that the girls were watching him and he had tried to fly as\nBlaiwas did.) The old woman kept asking what had happened, but Nd\u00fakis\nwouldn\u2019t tell.\n\nWhen the sisters came in sight of the house, the elder said: \u201cThat is\nBlaiwas\u2019 house.\u201d\n\nThe younger said: \u201cMother told us that Blaiwas\u2019 house was large; that\none is small. It isn\u2019t Blaiwas\u2019 house.\u201d The elder sister scolded her\nand pulled her along.\n\nWhen Nd\u00fakis saw the girls coming, he told his mother to hurry and fix a\ngood place for them to sit.\n\n\u201cWhat shall I fix it with?\u201d asked the old woman. They had no mats or\nblankets.\n\n\u201cOh, anything,\u201d said Nd\u00fakis. \u201cYou must watch, and if the girls sit down\nnear the house, you must bring them in. They are sisters; they saw me\nflying and they followed me.\u201d\n\nWhen the girls came to the top of the house, the old woman told Nd\u00fakis.\nHe turned his eyes up, as Blaiwas did, and sent her to bring them in.\nThe girls saw him turn his eyes, and the elder said: \u201cYes, that is\nBlaiwas. See what big eyes he has.\u201d She went in and sat down by him.\n\nWhen Blaiwas and the head men came home, they sent Tc\u00fbskai to tell\nNd\u00fakis to come and divide the meat. Nd\u00fakis said: \u201cWhy do they always\nsend for the chief to divide their meat? I am tired of it.\u201d He didn\u2019t\nwant to leave the girls.\n\nWhen the meat was divided, the head men told Nd\u00fakis to open his mouth.\nThen they amused themselves by throwing pieces of meat at him. They fed\nhim the livers and intestines, parts which they didn\u2019t like. When he\nhad eaten all he could, he started for home; on the way he thought:\n\u201cWhat shall I feed those girls with?\u201d\n\nWhen he couldn\u2019t think of anything else, he said: \u201cI will cut some of\nthe meat off from my legs,\u201d and he did so. When he gave the pieces to\nhis mother to cook, she asked: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you bring more? Here isn\u2019t\nhalf enough for the girls to eat.\u201d\n\nThe younger sister tasted of the meat, and said: \u201cThis isn\u2019t deer meat.\nThis tastes badly.\u201d The elder sister scolded her. The younger said:\n\u201cYou think this man is Blaiwas, but I know he isn\u2019t.\u201d\n\nNd\u00fakis acted as much like Blaiwas as he could.\n\nThe next morning Blaiwas and the head men went to hunt for deer. Nd\u00fakis\ndidn\u2019t go; he wanted to stay with the girls. At night the hunters came\nback with deer hanging in their belts, as men hang squirrels in their\nbelts now.\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cOld man Nd\u00fakis is getting lazy. Tell him to come and\ndivide this meat.\u201d Nd\u00fakis held back, scolded, and said: \u201cWhy do they\nalways send for the chief? I won\u2019t go.\u201d But he wanted to go and have\nplenty to eat.\n\nAfter he had been gone a while, the younger sister said: \u201cLet us go and\nsee how that man divides meat.\u201d They followed his trail till they came\nto a big house. They crept up carefully and looked in. Nd\u00fakis was\nsitting by the ladder, and men were throwing meat into his mouth. The\nsisters saw Blaiwas and then they knew that it was his house.\n\nThe elder sister was ashamed, and they both started for home.\n\nNd\u00fakis knew what had happened, and so did Blaiwas; and they followed\nthe girls. Blaiwas caught up with them first, and when Nd\u00fakis came, the\ntwo men began to quarrel. Blaiwas\u2019 four brothers came and so did\nNd\u00fakis\u2019 brothers, and there was a big fight.\n\nThe eldest Blaiwas said to the sisters: \u201cI am going to cut off Nd\u00fakis\u2019\nhead and carry it above the sky. You mustn\u2019t look up. If you do, the\nhead will fall and kill my brothers.\u201d\n\nThe five Blaiwas brothers killed the five Nd\u00fakis brothers: then the\neldest brother cut off Nd\u00fakis\u2019 head and flew away with it. He was\nalmost to the sky when the sisters looked up; they couldn\u2019t help it.\nThat minute the head fell to the ground. It flew at the four Blaiwas\nbrothers and killed them all.\n\nThe head was the husband of the two sisters. The younger sister was\nafraid of the head; she wouldn\u2019t stay where it was. The elder sister\nput it in her basket and carried it on her back; she cried all the\ntime.\n\nAfter a while, the head asked: \u201cWhat do you see?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see a deer,\u201d said the woman.\n\n\u201cClimb up as high as you can, then take me out of the basket, and put\nme down, looking toward the deer.\u201d\n\nThe woman got as high as she could and put the head down. \u201cNow look,\u201d\nsaid the head. It flew straight at the deer and killed it. The woman\nput the head back in her basket, then camped.\n\nThe head said: \u201cPut me where I can watch you.\u201d\n\nShe made a sort of scaffold and put the head on it. Then she cut up the\ndeer and hung the meat on a tree to dry. When the meat was dry and the\nwoman was ready to go home, the head said: \u201cYou must put meat in the\nbasket; then put me in, and put meat on top of me.\u201d\n\nThe woman thought she would go and see Kumush, for maybe he could do\nsomething for her husband. On the road she wouldn\u2019t speak; she was\nafraid that if she saw a deer the head would kill it, and she would\nhave to dry the meat.\n\nWhen Kumush saw the woman, he said: \u201cI must have that woman for my\ndaughter,\u201d and he asked her: \u201cHave you anything to eat?\u201d\n\nShe put down the basket, and when Kumush looked at the meat, she said:\n\u201cDon\u2019t take much.\u201d\n\nKumush thought: \u201cWhy does she say that? Maybe she is hiding something,\u201d\nand he began to pull the meat out of the basket.\n\nThe woman went into the house, for she was afraid. The head had great\neyes and long hair, and when Kumush came to it he was scared; he threw\ndown the meat and ran into the house.\n\nThe head called out: \u201cWhat are you doing? Take me into the house, I\ndon\u2019t want to stay out here.\u201d (The head could fly when it got mad or\nwanted to kill something, but not at other times.)\n\nKumush said to the woman: \u201cThis head is your husband; we must bring it\nin.\u201d He fixed a place for it and carried it in. The next morning,\nKumush said: \u201cI am going to make a sweat house for this man. I like\nhim; I will make a body for him.\u201d (He wanted to kill the head.)\n\nKumush made a sweat house and covered it with five kinds of stones. He\nheated rocks red hot and put them inside, and carried the head in and\nput it down by the rocks; then he went out and fastened up the place\nwith stones.\n\nSoon the head called out: \u201cI\u2019ve sweat enough. Take me out!\u201d Nobody\ncame. It screamed louder: \u201cTake me out quick! If you don\u2019t, I will get\nout and kill you both!\u201d When nobody came, the head flew up and struck\nthe stones on top of the house. It broke four of them, then its\nstrength gave out, and it died.\n\nKumush said: \u201cI don\u2019t hear any noise; maybe your husband is dead.\u201d\n\nThe woman said: \u201cWait a little; don\u2019t open the place yet. If he is\nalive, he will kill us.\u201d\n\nWhen Kumush opened the sweat house, he saw a beautiful young man lying\non the ground; but he was dead. Kumush felt sorry. The woman felt\nsorry, too. Kumush took the body out of the sweat house; then he piled\nup logs and burned it. When it was burning, he said: \u201cHereafter, people\nwill do this way: When their friends die, they will burn them as I am\nburning this man.\u201d And that is the way we did till white men came.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWUS AND HIS TROUBLES\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Kuyas        Red Ants\n    Pshag\u00e9knik   Gopher\n    Slikwis      Fire-drill\n    T\u00e1lwas       Hot-Water Baskets\n    Wus          Fox\n\n\n\nTen T\u00e1lwas brothers lived in two houses, five in one house, and five in\nthe other; near by, in two other houses, lived the ten Slikwis\nbrothers. One day Wus came from the west and went into the house of\nfive of the Slikwis brothers.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Wus, \u201cwhat are these nice long sticks here around the fire\nfor? They would make good gambling sticks. I will take them. If I meet\npeople, I can gamble with them and beat them with such nice sticks.\u201d\n\nHe took all five of the Slikwis brothers in one hand.\n\nAs soon as he had them, they blazed up high. They were mad at him for\npicking them up.\n\nHe threw them down and ran out screaming: \u201cWhat can those things be?\nAre they people?\u201d He cried, for his hand was burned.\n\nWhen he came to the second house, he looked in and said: \u201cThose look\nlike the same kind of sticks, but I will try to pick them up. I could\nbeat everybody if I had such nice gambling sticks.\u201d As soon as he took\nthe sticks up, he screamed, threw them down, and ran out of the house.\nHis hands were burned and his hair was singed. \u201cOh,\u201d said he, \u201cI never\nheard that such kind of people lived around here. I don\u2019t like them;\nthey are bad people.\u201d\n\nHe went farther and came to the house of the five T\u00e1lwas brothers. When\nhe went in, he saw water baskets standing near the fire.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said he, \u201cI am glad to see water; I am dry. Everybody is gone;\nthe water is left to cook with when they come back.\u201d Wus looked for\nsomething to eat, and when he couldn\u2019t find anything, he said: \u201cI will\nwash my hands in one of these baskets, and I will drink out of\nanother.\u201d He put his hands into one of the baskets; the water boiled up\nand scalded him. He screamed, then all the baskets boiled up and threw\nwater. Wus was terribly scalded. He ran out of the house, then looked\nback, and said: \u201cWhat can that be? I am almost dead!\u201d\n\nHe went on till he came to the second house. He looked in, and when he\nsaw five other baskets, he said: \u201cThey would kill me; I won\u2019t touch\nthem.\u201d He hunted inside and outside of the house for something to eat,\nbut couldn\u2019t find anything. He was so dry that he crept up to one of\nthe baskets and put his little finger into the water; it was cold\nwater. He thought: \u201cNow I will have a good drink. This is just water;\nthat over there is something else. This is such water as I drink when I\nam traveling.\u201d He began to drink out of the smallest basket.\n\nThat was the youngest brother, and he didn\u2019t get mad. He knew how his\nbrothers had scalded Wus and he felt sorry for him. He thought: \u201cLet\nhim drink of me if he wants to; I will be cold for him.\u201d But the other\nbrothers began to jerk and gurgle and bubble up; they were mad at Wus.\nWus got scared and ran out.\n\nHe stood at the door and looked in. The four brothers boiled up and\nthrew water over the house. Wus was terribly scared; he ran as fast as\nhe could till he came to two other houses. Those were the houses of the\nten Kuyas brothers. He went into the first house; there was a big fire\nburning. He looked around and wondered where the people were who built\nthe fire. He thought: \u201cI will wait till they come; maybe they will give\nme something to eat, since they are going to cook.\u201d\n\nWus waited till the middle of the day, then he said: \u201cI am tired of\nwaiting; I\u2019ll hunt around and maybe I can find something to eat.\u201d He\ncouldn\u2019t find anything, then he said: \u201cI will stay till night; they\nwill come when it gets dark,\u201d and he lay down by the fire.\n\nThe five brothers were sitting around the fire, but Wus didn\u2019t see\nthem. When he lay down, one brother bit him. He jumped up and screamed:\n\u201cWhat bit me?\u201d Another brother bit his leg, a third one bit his hand.\nWus screamed: \u201cWhat can it be that bites so?\u201d And he threw burning\ncoals around the house to kill what had bitten him. The five brothers\nwere mad, and they all bit him.\n\nWus ran out of the house, came to the second house, looked in and saw a\nfire burning. Five brothers were sitting around the fire, but Wus\ncouldn\u2019t see them. Those five brothers jumped on him and bit him; the\nother five came in and helped them. Wus screamed with pain, but they\ndidn\u2019t stop biting. They killed him and had almost eaten him up when\nPshag\u00e9knik came in.\n\nHe saw Wus, and asked: \u201cOld man, why are you sleeping so long?\u201d\n\nThat minute Wus jumped up, and said: \u201cOh, I\u2019m sleepy!\u201d He went out of\nthe house and traveled on toward the north.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCEDAR BIRD\u2019S DAUGHTERS MARRY BULL SNAKE\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    K\u00e9is        Rattlesnake\n    K\u00e9kina      Lizard\n    K\u00e9we        Eel\n    K\u00fblta       Otter\n    Moi         Squirrel\n    Nd\u00fakis      Duck-hawk\n    Tco\u00f3ks      Crane\n    Tusas\u00e1s     Joker (Skunk)\n    W\u00e1manik     Bull Snake\n    W\u00edsk\u00e4k      Cedar-bird\n    Witk\u00e1tkis   A Hawk\n    Ygiak       A Bird \u201cthat never sleeps.\u201d (English name unknown.)\n\n\n\nNd\u00fakis\u2019 house was on the bank of Klamath Lake and near it was the house\nof old man Tco\u00f3ks. On the south side of the lake lived W\u00edsk\u00e4k and her\ntwo daughters. The daughters liked the Shasta people; they went often\nto see them and carry them presents. Once, on the way home, the girls\nstopped to dig roots west of where Nd\u00fakis and Tco\u00f3ks lived. Nd\u00fakis saw\nthem. He thought: \u201cThose are nice-looking girls. They dig roots fast. I\nlike those girls.\u201d\n\nNow Witk\u00e1tkis came to visit Nd\u00fakis and his son; they were kin. Nd\u00fakis\u2019\nwife said: \u201cI\u2019m glad you have come, there are nice-looking girls living\nright south of here. They are good workers; they dig roots summer and\nwinter, you should get one of those girls for a wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid they wouldn\u2019t like me,\u201d said Witk\u00e1tkis.\n\n\u201cWhere do they live?\u201d asked Nd\u00fakis\u2019 son.\n\n\u201cYou have traveled all around,\u201d said his mother. \u201cYou ought to know\nwhere they live. When you are on the mountain, look toward the south,\nand you will see a big house; they live in that house.\u201d\n\nThe next time the sisters came from Shasta, they camped on the way, and\nin the night one said to the other: \u201cI can\u2019t sleep; I feel that\nsomebody is looking at me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel that way, too,\u201d said her sister. They got up and started for\nhome.\n\nNd\u00fakis\u2019 mother said: \u201cIf you want to see those girls, you must go to\nthe mountain and watch for them. After a while you will see them\ndigging roots. Don\u2019t go to their house. Wait a little while and watch\nthem, then go down the mountain till you come to a small house. An old\nman lives in that house. He is kin of old man Tco\u00f3ks. Go in and talk to\nhim.\u201d\n\nNd\u00fakis went to the mountain and soon he heard the girls singing. They\nalways sang when they worked. He watched them and saw how quickly they\ndug roots; then he went to Tco\u00f3ks\u2019 house.\n\nTco\u00f3ks had been fishing. He was cooking fish when Nd\u00fakis got there.\n\u201cWhat did you come for?\u201d asked the old man. \u201cYou never thought of me\nbefore\u2014young men should travel around and see people; that is the way\nto be strong. Do you want some fish?\u201d\n\nTco\u00f3ks\u2019 wife said: \u201cNd\u00fakis never eats our kind of food; he eats ducks.\u201d\n\n\u201cCook him a duck,\u201d said Tco\u00f3ks, but he thought in his head: \u201cWhy\ndoesn\u2019t he eat fish?\u201d\n\nThe old woman cooked a duck and gave it to the young man. He ate all\naround the neck, but didn\u2019t eat the rest of the duck.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you eat?\u201d asked Tco\u00f3ks. \u201cMy old woman is kin to you; you\nshould eat lots. In a strange house it would be right not to eat much;\nhere it\u2019s different.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe never eats much,\u201d said the old woman. Nd\u00fakis didn\u2019t say anything.\n\n\u201cYou are a young man, you should have a wife,\u201d said Tco\u00f3ks. \u201cThere are\nnice-looking young women in the next house; they are great workers.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey wouldn\u2019t like me,\u201d said Nd\u00fakis.\n\n\u201cOnce K\u00fblta tried to buy those girls,\u201d said Tco\u00f3ks. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t go\nwith him. They said they didn\u2019t belong to the water and they wouldn\u2019t\nmarry a man who lived in the water. Maybe they will go with you; you\nlive on land. Every time a rain is over, they bring out nice\nthings,\u2014beautiful shells, and beads.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want you to go and buy them for me,\u201d said Nd\u00fakis. \u201cI am kind of\nscared.\u201d\n\nTco\u00f3ks went to old woman W\u00edsk\u00e4k\u2019s, and Nd\u00fakis went home.\n\nTco\u00f3ks said: \u201cDon\u2019t you get tired of your girls sometimes? They are old\nenough to get a man. They have lived single a long time.\u201d\n\n\u201cK\u00fblta wanted them but I couldn\u2019t make them go with him,\u201d said W\u00edsk\u00e4k.\n\n\u201cMy nephew wants them,\u201d said Tco\u00f3ks. \u201cHe told me to ask you for them.\nHe will give you nice things.\u201d\n\nThe girls were digging roots; when they started for home, and were near\nthe house, the elder said: \u201cI hear somebody talking. Some man is in our\nhouse. Let us sit down outside.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the younger. \u201cIt is better to go in.\u201d They went in, sat by\nthe fire, and held their heads down. The elder whispered: \u201cI wonder\nwhat Tco\u00f3ks is here for?\u201d\n\nTheir mother asked: \u201cWill you marry this man\u2019s nephew?\u201d\n\nThe elder sister asked the younger: \u201cWhat will you do?\u201d\n\n\u201cNd\u00fakis lives on high rocks,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe we would fall off. I\ndon\u2019t like high rocks.\u201d\n\nW\u00edsk\u00e4k said: \u201cI knew you would say something bad.\u201d Then she asked the\nelder sister: \u201cWill you go with him?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo. Why do you ask a second time? Nd\u00fakis is not like us. He doesn\u2019t\nlive the way we do. I wish you would let us alone.\u201d\n\nTco\u00f3ks said: \u201cI am afraid of Nd\u00fakis. He can beat everybody by getting\nup early. That is the kind he is. If you go around digging roots, he\nwill be watching you. He won\u2019t want you, but he will be mad. That is\nhis way.\u201d\n\nThe next morning, when the girls started off, they said: \u201cWe are going\nto Mlaiksi.\u201d [14]\n\n\u201cWhy do you go there so often?\u201d asked their mother. \u201cYou had better not\ngo to-day, you might meet Nd\u00fakis.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will go where we like,\u201d said the elder sister. \u201cWe are not afraid;\nNd\u00fakis can\u2019t hurt us.\u201d\n\nThey started early, but Nd\u00fakis was on the mountain, watching for them.\nThe elder sister walked ahead. Every step she took she stumbled, as if\nthe steps were telling her that she was going to meet somebody. At last\nshe said to her sister: \u201cMy steps stumble. That means something.\u201d\n\n\u201cTco\u00f3ks told us Nd\u00fakis was a bad man when he got mad. It is your fault\nif we meet trouble,\u201d said the younger girl.\n\nThey looked around as they climbed the mountain, but Nd\u00fakis was sitting\non the highest rocks and they didn\u2019t look high enough to see him. When\nthey were on the other side of the mountain, the younger sister looked\nback. She saw Nd\u00fakis and screamed. She ran one way, and her sister ran\nanother. They were frightened. They went into thick bushes and stayed\nthere a long time. Nd\u00fakis sat on the rocks and laughed to see how\nfrightened they were. He sat there till midday, then went home.\n\nThat day young man Moi was out hunting for deer. He was fine-looking.\nHe wore a beaded buckskin band around his head. All at once he came\nupon the W\u00edsk\u00e4k girls hiding in the bushes. \u201cWho are you?\u201d asked he.\n\u201cYou scared me.\u201d\n\nThe elder sister said: \u201cI know you; you are the little chief who lives\nby the river. You are our kin.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome out of the bushes,\u201d said Moi. \u201cWho frightened you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe saw Nd\u00fakis watching us,\u201d the elder sister said.\n\n\u201cHe is a nice young man,\u201d said Moi. \u201cHe won\u2019t hurt you, but you can go\nwith me if you are afraid of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the elder sister, \u201cwe are going to Mlaiksi.\u201d And they\ntraveled on.\n\nWhen Nd\u00fakis passed Tco\u00f3ks\u2019 house, the old man asked: \u201cWhere have you\nbeen?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have just been walking around,\u201d said Nd\u00fakis. \u201cI met the two sisters.\nThey were scared and ran into the bushes. I don\u2019t like them.\u201d\n\nWhen Tco\u00f3ks told W\u00edsk\u00e4k that Nd\u00fakis was mad at her daughters, she\ncried; she thought maybe he had killed them.\n\nOn the way home from Mlaiksi, the girls saw people digging roots in\nplaces where they had always dug.\n\nWhen they told their mother, she said: \u201cStay in the house. I will go\nand see why they are digging around here.\u201d\n\nShe took five steps and was there. The people were scared. They had\nnever seen W\u00edsk\u00e4k, for she always stayed at home and sent her daughters\nto dig. When she found that they were getting all the roots, she went\nhome, and said: \u201cCome and help me; we must dig fast and get as many\nroots as we can.\u201d\n\nThose people lived near Shasta River. When they started, they sent word\nto all their kin that they were going off to dig roots, but they forgot\nto tell young man W\u00e1manik, who lived on the north side of the digging\nplace, so he started off alone.\n\nThe elder W\u00edsk\u00e4k girl said to her mother: \u201cYou go straight ahead: we\nwill go on the north side, where there are nice long roots.\u201d When they\ngot there, the ground was turned up and all the roots were gone.\n\nW\u00e1manik was there. When he found that the roots had been dug, he was\nmad. He stood up tall and looked bright. The elder sister didn\u2019t see\nhim. The younger one saw him and ran.\n\nW\u00e1manik fell in love with her right away. He thought she was so\nnice-looking that he would like her for a wife, and in some way he took\nhold of her heart, so she wouldn\u2019t get frightened. He followed her to\nthe spring where she went to get water to drink.\n\nHer sister was there. The younger asked: \u201cDid you pass anybody?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen your eyes are poor, for I saw a nice-looking young man.\u201d\n\nThe elder sister took her cap and was going to drink. Just then W\u00e1manik\nstood up in the form of a snake. She screamed, dropped her cap, and ran\noff, when she came to where her mother was digging, she was so scared\nthat her eyes were sticking out, and she couldn\u2019t speak.\n\nHer mother asked: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you talk?\u201d\n\nAfter a while she said: \u201cThere is a big snake in the spring.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well,\u201d said her mother, \u201cwhat kind of a man do you want? You\ncan\u2019t live single all your life.\u201d\n\nWhen the elder sister ran away, W\u00e1manik turned to a nice-looking man.\nHe came up to the younger girl and said: \u201cI can be a great many\ndifferent things. I am a spirit of this earth; I have seen you often,\nbut I didn\u2019t want to show myself to your sister; I wanted to frighten\nher. I don\u2019t like her as well as I do you. I have heard you talk, and I\nwant you for a wife, for I like you. I can turn to a snake, but I am a\nman, and I have lots of nice clothes.\u201d Then he turned to a snake again,\nfor he saw the old woman and her daughter coming.\n\nOn the way home the younger girl said to her mother: \u201cMake a bed for us\nand put on our panther-skin blankets.\u201d\n\nW\u00e1manik was under the ground just where the girls were sitting. In the\nnight when they woke up, they felt somebody between them. At daylight\nW\u00e1manik went down in the ground right where the bed was. Every night\nafter that the girls changed. If a person saw them one day they didn\u2019t\nknow them the next. W\u00e1manik came each night. In the daytime he was\nunder the ground near where they were digging roots.\n\nThere was a Tusas\u00e1s among the people digging roots, and he said: \u201cI am\ngoing to marry those nice-looking girls. They are great workers; they\nwill get me lots to eat.\u201d\n\nPeople knew now that W\u00e1manik was the husband of old W\u00edsk\u00e4k\u2019s daughters,\nand that that was why they looked different each morning, so they said\nto Tusas\u00e1s: \u201cIf you make W\u00e1manik mad, you won\u2019t be a person long. He is\na strong man; he can do anything.\u201d\n\nTusas\u00e1s said: \u201cI am stronger than W\u00e1manik. I am not afraid of him.\u201d\n\nW\u00e1manik heard him talk about his wives and right away he was mad. He\nmade Tusas\u00e1s itch till he scratched the skin and flesh off from his\nbody. People laughed at him, and said: \u201cMaybe W\u00e1manik will kill you; he\nis a great doctor.\u201d\n\nW\u00e1manik said to K\u00e9we: \u201cGo and tell Tusas\u00e1s to stop making fun of my\nwives and stop talking about me. If he doesn\u2019t, he\u2019ll no longer be a\nperson.\u201d\n\nW\u00e1manik was bright like the sun, and both his wives were bright. He was\nso bright that people couldn\u2019t go into old woman W\u00edsk\u00e4k\u2019s house. He was\na man at night and when he went to hunt for deer, but if he got mad, or\ndidn\u2019t want people to see him, he turned to a snake and went under the\nground. He was a great hunter. There was lots of deer meat in the old\nwoman\u2019s house.\n\nW\u00edsk\u00e4k\u2019s brother had such a large family that his children were always\nhungry. W\u00e1manik told his mother-in-law to send for him to come and get\nmeat. The old woman sent a man for him, but the man came back alone,\nand said: \u201cHe won\u2019t come.\u201d That made the old woman cry; she said: \u201cMy\nkin hate us.\u201d\n\nThe man said: \u201cThey are afraid of your son-in-law; that is why they\ndon\u2019t come here. They don\u2019t want to see him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t hurt them,\u201d said W\u00e1manik; \u201cthey are my wives\u2019 kin. I have no\npeople; I belong to the Earth. I live under the mountains and under the\nwater. Go and tell them not to be afraid of me; tell them to come. I am\na person. Maybe they don\u2019t know that.\u201d\n\nThe man went back and talked nice, but they wouldn\u2019t come. Then he\nsaid: \u201cIf you don\u2019t come, you will make W\u00e1manik mad.\u201d\n\nThey all came. W\u00e1manik gave nice things to the youngest boy. \u201cAre you\nafraid of me now?\u201d asked W\u00e1manik. \u201cI heard what you said. I can hear\nwhat people say when they are far away. I like you and I want you to\nlike me.\u201d The children ate lots. They felt glad.\n\nOne day old W\u00edsk\u00e4k said: \u201cMy girls are tired of digging roots, I want\nto dig sometimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ll never get tired,\u201d said W\u00e1manik, \u201cthey\u2019ll always work. You are\nold and you must rest; you\u2019ll die soon.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9kina said to W\u00e1manik: \u201cYour wives don\u2019t love you. There is a young\nman after them all the time. They wanted to marry Nd\u00fakis.\u201d\n\nThat made W\u00e1manik feel badly. In the evening, when he went to his\nmother-in-law\u2019s house, he asked the elder sister: \u201cIs any one in love\nwith you and your sister?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the woman. \u201cWhy do you ask that?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like the way you talk. You don\u2019t tell me the truth,\u201d said\nW\u00e1manik. \u201cThe first time I saw you, your eyes stuck out, as if you had\nseen somebody; you looked scared. I won\u2019t keep you if somebody else\nwants you.\u201d\n\nOld W\u00edsk\u00e4k had been after red bark to color roots; when she came home\nshe found her younger daughter crying. The girl told her what W\u00e1manik\nhad said. The old woman was angry, but she didn\u2019t know what to do.\n\nK\u00e9kina went to Nd\u00fakis, and said: \u201cW\u00e1manik is saying bad things about\nyou.\u201d\n\nNd\u00fakis listened and heard what W\u00e1manik said to his wife. The next\nmorning he went early, before anybody was up in the world, and sat on a\nrock where he could see old W\u00edsk\u00e4k\u2019s house; he looked awful ugly.\nYgiak, a man who never slept, was out hunting for sticks; when he saw\nNd\u00fakis, he was so scared that he dropped his sticks and ran home.\n\nAt midday Nd\u00fakis came down from the rocks. Somebody ran into Lok\u2019s\nhouse, and said: \u201cThere is going to be a great fight. Nd\u00fakis is mad at\nW\u00e1manik and he will kill him.\u201d\n\nLok said: \u201cNd\u00fakis has a big spirit. W\u00e1manik is strong, too. They will\nscare each other, but they won\u2019t fight.\u201d\n\nOld W\u00edsk\u00e4k was willing Nd\u00fakis should kill her son-in-law, for she\ndidn\u2019t like him. She said to her daughters: \u201cI am going to leave you; I\nhave lived with you long enough. I don\u2019t like your husband. When he\nwanted you, why didn\u2019t you say that you couldn\u2019t live under the ground,\nthat you would smother? You should have taken Nd\u00fakis; he is your kind.\u201d\nAs she talked, she turned to a bird, and when she was through talking,\nshe flew off to the mountains. She did it herself; she didn\u2019t want to\nbe a person any longer. But each day she came back and talked to her\ndaughters; she wanted to make them willing to turn to birds and go with\nher to the mountains, for she could not go far away while they were\npersons.\n\nPeople heard W\u00edsk\u00e4k talk as she flew around. The youngest daughter\nsaid: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t talk so much. You wanted us to marry. W\u00e1manik is as\ngood as Nd\u00fakis.\u201d\n\n\u201cNd\u00fakis doesn\u2019t turn to a snake every time he goes out of the house,\u201d\nsaid the old woman.\n\nThe elder daughter cried all the time, and didn\u2019t eat anything. She\ndidn\u2019t want to go to the mountains; she didn\u2019t want to stay with\nW\u00e1manik, and she didn\u2019t want to marry Nd\u00fakis. She said to her mother:\n\u201cYou mustn\u2019t come around where people live; you must hide among the\nbrush and trees.\u201d\n\nW\u00edsk\u00e4k didn\u2019t like that. She said: \u201cI will turn you into a snake, and\nwhen you cross the road in front of people they will throw dirt in your\nface. You will deceive people; you will pretend to be kind, then you\nwill bite them.\u201d\n\nShe turned her daughters into snakes, and then flew off toward the\neast. As she started, she called out to her son-in-law: \u201cYou will never\nbe a man again; you will be a snake, with a body like your panther-skin\nblanket.\u201d\n\nThe old woman kept going east till she came to a place where there were\nlow cedar trees; she made her home there. She talks like a person yet,\nand that place is full of her kin.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLOK AND HER CHILDREN\n\n\n    CHARACTER\n\n    Lok   Bear\n\n\n\nLok was a widow with two children; she lived with her mother. The old\nwoman took care of the roots. She put them in a hole and slept with her\nhead near it. When her daughter brought roots home and poured them into\nthe hole, the children wanted some of them to eat, but the old woman\nsaid: \u201cFirst I must give roots to the fire, to the mountains, the\ntrees, the house, and the springs.\u201d (This is the custom.)\n\nThe daughter said: \u201cMy children are hungry; you must give them some of\nthe roots.\u201d\n\nLok said: \u201cYou don\u2019t know about these things. If they get sick, you\nwill blame me.\u201d\n\nThe old woman took roots and talked to the mountains; she said: \u201cYou\nmust give us wood that won\u2019t burn us.\u201d To the springs she said: \u201cOld\ngrandmother, you always have water under your care; give us plenty of\ngood water.\u201d To the house she said: \u201cYou know us, our house that we\nbuilt.\u201d She talked to each part of the house. (If people didn\u2019t talk to\nthe posts of the house they would fall. The woman who told this myth\nsaid she had known of such cases.) To the posts she said: \u201cHold up this\nhouse; be good to us.\u201d\n\nShe packed away all the roots they dug, ten large basketfuls, then she\nand her daughter brought in wood enough to last till spring.\n\nThe old woman said: \u201cGrandchildren, I want you to bring me gum from the\ncedar trees.\u201d When they brought it, she covered her face with it and\nstopped up her eyes. Then she lay down with her head over the hole and\ndidn\u2019t go out of the house again all winter. Some mornings she woke up\nand gave a handful of roots to the children. In the night, when the\nchildren were asleep, she ate plenty of roots herself.\n\nOne morning her daughter asked: \u201cHow is it that rats are always\ngnawing; why don\u2019t you kill them?\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish you wouldn\u2019t listen to everything,\u201d said the old woman.\n\nOne morning she said to the little girl: \u201cI wish you wouldn\u2019t cry in\nthe night.\u201d\n\nThe mother said: \u201cYou don\u2019t give the children enough to eat; they are\nhungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t know about the winter,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cIt\u2019s going to\nbe long, and our roots won\u2019t last: the snow will be deep yet.\u201d\n\nThe children were hungry, but their mother said: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t cry, it\nmakes your grandmother worse.\u201d\n\nThe boy said: \u201cLet us kill her; she has no eyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf we tried to kill her, she would kill us; you are small and I\ncouldn\u2019t run fast enough to get away from her.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you whispering about?\u201d asked the grandmother.\n\n\u201cThe children talk low because they are weak; you are starving them to\ndeath.\u201d\n\nOne morning old Lok asked: \u201cWhich way does the snow come?\u201d\n\nThe boy looked out, and said: \u201cIt comes from the north.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat shows it will be good weather to-morrow.\u201d She gave the children a\nfew roots.\n\nThe next day the old woman said: \u201cI wish I had some meat to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d said her daughter. \u201cDon\u2019t talk like that.\u201d She was afraid that\nher mother wanted to kill the children and eat them.\n\nThe next morning the grandmother asked: \u201cHow does the sky look?\u201d\n\nThe little boy said: \u201cThere are clouds.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are the clouds?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are around Omisna.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat means rain,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cIt won\u2019t be long till spring\ncomes.\u201d She took out plenty of roots and pounded them for the children.\n(They were fooling her.)\n\nThe next day she sent the little girl to look at Mlaiksi.\n\nThe girl said: \u201cSmoke is rising from the top of the mountain, as if\nsomeone had made a fire up there.\u201d\n\nThe old woman was taking out a few roots, but she poured them back, and\nsaid: \u201cThere is going to be a great storm.\u201d\n\nThe storm came. It put out their fire, and for four days old Lok didn\u2019t\nmove. Five days the children were without anything to eat; then she\nasked the little boy: \u201cHow does it look now?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is raining.\u201d\n\nThe old woman said: \u201cIf it rains, you can go and dig roots.\u201d\n\nThe daughter cried and told her the children were starving. She gave\nthem a few roots. The little boy said to his mother: \u201cWhy can\u2019t we dig\na hole near the roots and steal some of them?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know what you are talking about,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cI know that\nit is winter yet.\u201d\n\nOne morning she asked: \u201cIs it spring?\u201d\n\nHer daughter said: \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d and she told the children not to\ntell their grandmother anything about the weather. It rained and\nhailed. Every night the mother and children cried. Each morning they\nstamped on the ground to find out if it were soft. One day the mother\nwent off, and when she came back she brought a few roots. The children\nwere sitting out of doors, and she heard the old woman ask them: \u201cWhere\nis your mother?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe has gone for wood,\u201d said the boy.\n\nThe mother put away some of the roots and gave the rest to the\nchildren.\n\nThe old woman asked: \u201cDoes it snow yet?\u201d\n\nThe little boy said: \u201cThere is so much snow that I can\u2019t see the tops\nof the trees.\u201d\n\nThe grandmother put more gum on her eyes, rolled herself up tight, and\nlay still.\n\nThe mother made two pairs of straw moccasins, and the next morning\nstarted for roots. It was spring now, and she found plenty for her\nchildren to eat. While she was gone, the old woman asked: \u201cWhich way is\nthe wind?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom the southwest,\u201d said the boy. His mother had told him to fool his\ngrandmother, and let her lie there all summer. The mother could make\nthe wind blow\u2014the wind was her medicine. Every time she found a fly in\nthe house, she killed it with a porcupine quill, so the old woman\nwouldn\u2019t know it was spring.\n\nThere were a good many of the Lok people around the place where the\nmother dug roots; she left some roots for them to take care of, and\nsaid: \u201cIn two days I will come back and bring my children.\u201d\n\nWhen she got home, she made moccasins for the children, and in the\nmorning, when she was ready to start, she said to her mother: \u201cIt\nsnows. I am tired of packing wood; I am going to take the children to\nthe woods and keep a fire there; you never stay by the fire.\u201d\n\nThe mother worked all day and dug a great many roots; she had a big\nbasketful to put away. She wondered where she could put them so the old\nwoman couldn\u2019t find them. Then she thought of Ke\u014fnise, a hill where Lok\ndidn\u2019t go. It was a long way off, but she carried the roots there and\nhid them.\n\nWhen the children didn\u2019t come back, the grandmother scratched around in\nthe ashes, found live coals and melted the gum out of her eyes; then\nshe tracked her daughter.\n\nAs soon as the daughter knew that her mother was coming, she went to\nthe house, took the roots out of the hole, and threw them around\neverywhere.\n\nWhen the old woman came back, the daughter said: \u201cWe won\u2019t be persons\nany longer. In later times people will kill and eat us.\u201d\n\nThe old woman said: \u201cIt is better so.\u201d\n\nThey wandered off to the mountains, and from that time only a male bear\nand female bear live together, and they never have more than two\nchildren.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nG\u00c4K AND THE KAIUTOIS BROTHERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00e4k          Crow\n    Kaiutois     Wolf\n    Kaltsik      Spider\n    K\u00e9we         Eel\n    Pakol        Deer\n    Sk\u00f3\u016dks       Woodtick\n    Tc\u00fbskai      Weasel\n    Tciwididik   Road Runner\n    Tskel        Mink\n\n\n\nThe eldest of the five Kaiutois brothers was a great man. The brothers\nwere all good hunters; they had plenty to eat and to wear. G\u00e4k lived\nnear them, and when they went to hunt, he followed to find the game\nthat ran off and died.\n\nOne day the brothers asked G\u00e4k to go with them to visit Tskel and\nTc\u00fbskai. They made deerskin moccasins to wear on the journey and told\nG\u00e4k to make himself a pair out of antelope skin. They wanted to start\nbefore daylight. G\u00e4k woke early and called the brothers.\n\nThey said: \u201cWe are up already,\u201d but they were not.\n\nG\u00e4k said: \u201cThat isn\u2019t true; nobody in the world can beat me in getting\nup.\u201d\n\nThe brothers told G\u00e4k to walk behind them. They traveled all day, then\ncamped. That night G\u00e4k\u2019s medicine, slikwis (the fire-drill), woke him,\nand said: \u201cSwallow me!\u201d The youngest of the Kaiutois brothers thought:\n\u201cHow can G\u00e4k swallow his fire-drill?\u201d That minute the drill stuck in\nG\u00e4k\u2019s throat and choked him.\n\nThe eldest brother said: \u201cWhoever thought this must unthink it, then\nG\u00e4k will unchoke. If he dies, people will say we killed him. Who\nthought about his swallowing his slikwis?\u201d\n\nThe youngest brother said: \u201cI thought: \u2018He can\u2019t swallow such a long\nstick,\u2019 but I don\u2019t know how to unthink it, or how to talk the slikwis\nout of his throat.\u201d\n\nFor a minute Kaiutois held his head in his hands\u2014G\u00e4k was almost\ndead\u2014then he said to G\u00e4k: \u201cSince that is your medicine, it must come\nout of your throat.\u201d The drill came out right away.\n\nG\u00e4k\u2019s mother knew that he was choking, for the little fire-drill, that\nhe had hung up in the smoke hole at home, fell.\n\nThe next day they got to Tskel\u2019s house. Tskel was glad to see them; he\ntold Tc\u00fbskai not to play tricks with the Kaiutois brothers or G\u00e4k, for\nthey were his kin.\n\nTskel and Tc\u00fbskai got deer meat for their visitors and Sk\u00f3\u016dks, Tskel\u2019s\nwife, cooked it. Tc\u00fbskai watched the men.\n\nG\u00e4k was ashamed of his moccasins; he took down Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s quiver and his\nown, and said: \u201cLet\u2019s go and hunt.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai wouldn\u2019t go; he looked at G\u00e4k\u2019s feet, and began to bother him.\nG\u00e4k tried to hide his feet, then Tc\u00fbskai asked one of the five\nbrothers: \u201cWhy don\u2019t that old fellow sit still?\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k got mad and wanted to go home. The eldest Kaiutois told him not to\nfeel badly, but to stay; for those men were his kin.\n\nTskel said: \u201cI am glad you came. My brother is so full of mischief that\nI can\u2019t go visiting. I hunt, but many deer get away from me and die in\nthe woods.\u201d\n\n\u201cG\u00e4k can track deer,\u201d said Kaiutois; \u201che always finds ours.\u201d\n\nTskel said: \u201cI will go and tell him where I killed a deer yesterday;\nmaybe he can find it.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai wanted to go, but Tskel told him to stay at home, that they\nwould come back as soon as they found the deer.\n\nG\u00e4k tracked the deer and found it among brush and fallen trees. He\ncalled to Tskel: \u201cHere it is!\u201d\n\nThey skinned the deer. It was as fresh as if just killed. They made a\nfire and cooked some of the meat, then they started for home.\n\nTskel asked Kaiutois if he would let G\u00e4k stay with him a while.\n\nKaiutois said: \u201cYour brother is bad; he would tease him. My brothers\nnever meddle with him; your brother might make him mad and he would\nkill you.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai ran out to meet them. He asked: \u201cDid old G\u00e4k find that deer?\u201d\n\nTskel scolded him, told him not to talk so much.\n\nAt that time people softened deerskins by soaking them in water and\nthen chewing them. Old man K\u00e9we lived near Tskel\u2019s, and he always\nchewed skins for him. Tskel gave G\u00e4k the skin for finding the deer, and\nK\u00e9we chewed it for him.\n\nThe next day Kaiutois said: \u201cWe must go home now.\u201d While they were\ngetting ready, Tc\u00fbskai stole G\u00e4k\u2019s fire-drill. He took it to a muddy\nplace, stuck it in the ground, and tried to break it.\n\nG\u00e4k fell backwards, blood came out of his mouth, and he died.\n\nThe Kaiutois brothers were scared, they didn\u2019t know what to do. They\ndidn\u2019t know what had made G\u00e4k die.\n\nTskel looked in G\u00e4k\u2019s quiver and saw that the fire-drill was gone; then\nhe went to look for Tc\u00fbskai. He found him at the spring, trying to\ncatch fish with G\u00e4k\u2019s fire-drill. Tskel caught hold of his brother,\ndragged him along, threw him into the house and pounded him till he\nkilled him. Then he asked the brothers how G\u00e4k could be brought to\nlife. They didn\u2019t know.\n\nTskel said: \u201cIf G\u00e4k comes back to life, my brother will live again; but\nif he stays dead, my brother will stay dead. I never taught him to\ntreat people this way.\u201d\n\nTskel had red paint that was boiled; he gave it to the youngest brother\nand told him to paint G\u00e4k\u2019s fire-drill over, make it nice and red. When\nthat was done, he laid the fire-drill on G\u00e4k\u2019s head.\n\nAfter a long time, the drill brought G\u00e4k to life; then he sang to the\nearth and wind, and tried to cure himself. When Tskel saw that G\u00e4k was\nalive, he stepped five times over Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s body. Then Tc\u00fbskai jumped\nup, and said: \u201cOh, I\u2019ve slept a long time.\u201d\n\nThe five brothers and G\u00e4k went home, and Tskel took a deerskin to old\nman K\u00e9we, to have him chew it soft. When he came back, he said to\nTc\u00fbskai: \u201cStay in the house. Don\u2019t go to old man K\u00e9we and bother him.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai thought: \u201cI wonder why Tskel don\u2019t want me to go to K\u00e9we\u2019s\nhouse.\u201d As soon as he had a chance, he slipped out and went there.\n\nK\u00e9we was chewing the skin; he had all of it in his mouth except one\nlittle end. Tc\u00fbskai took hold of that end and pulled the whole skin out\nof the old man\u2019s mouth. At the same time he pulled out all of K\u00e9we\u2019s\nteeth but two.\n\nK\u00e9we was so mad that he said: \u201cAs long as people live, deerskins will\nbe good as far as I have chewed this one, but the end I haven\u2019t chewed\nwill be hard and rough.\u201d And as K\u00e9we said, so it is. And since that\ntime K\u00e9we people have but two teeth.\n\nTc\u00fbskai carried the skin home, and said: \u201cI found old K\u00e9we eating up\nour deerskin; I got it away from him.\u201d Tskel was mad; he scolded\nTc\u00fbskai and struck him with a stick.\n\nWhen the five brothers got home, G\u00e4k\u2019s mother was crying. She said to\nG\u00e4k: \u201cYou must never go away again; I have always told you that some\none would find it easy to kill you.\u201d\n\nOld man Wus chewed deerskins for the Kaiutois brothers. One day when a\nskin was stretched out to dry, a coal fell on it and burned a hole. Wus\nwas scared; he didn\u2019t know what the brothers would do.\n\nWhen they came home, they found him crying. The elder brother asked:\n\u201cWhat are you crying for?\u201d\n\n\u201cA coal fell on the deerskin, and burned it.\u201d\n\nThe brothers laughed and made fun of Wus, said: \u201cA man shouldn\u2019t cry\nfor such a thing; you will never be of much account. You will be poor\nand always be hunting for something to eat. Take the skin and make\nmoccasins for yourself.\u201d\n\nWus was glad to get the skin, for the brothers didn\u2019t give him much.\nThe next day he said: \u201cI left my mother a long time ago, I must go and\nsee her.\u201d\n\nThe brothers gave him dried meat to carry to her, and told him to come\nback soon, and chew skins for them.\n\nOn the way home, Wus forgot about the Kaiutois brothers. His mother was\nalmost starved; the dried meat didn\u2019t last long; Wus and his mother\nwere soon poor and hungry. Wus hunted mice, but he gave only the\nsmallest ones to his mother; sometimes he gave her only the heads.\n\nOne day, when Wus was hunting, a Pakol girl came to the house to borrow\ngrass to make a cap.\n\nOld woman Wus said to the house: \u201cGrow small!\u201d\n\nThe girl asked: \u201cWhy is the house getting small?\u201d\n\nThe old woman said: \u201cThat is always the way it does when a stranger\ncomes; you can creep out backwards.\u201d She made the awl over the door\ngrow long. It stuck in the girl\u2019s head and killed her. The old woman\ncut up the body; then she thought: \u201cI will pay my son for feeding me\nmouse heads.\u201d She took a dry old piece of an intestine and talked to\nit; said: \u201cGo out there on the flat and when it is dark burn like a\ncamp fire, and talk as if there were a lot of people sitting by a fire.\nWhen you see Wus coming, go farther and farther, draw him away as far\nas the great water.\u201d\n\nThe old woman cleaned up the blood, so Wus wouldn\u2019t see that anything\nhad been killed in the house; then she cooked a piece of meat and hid\nit under her blanket.\n\nWhen Wus came with mice his mother cooked them for him. He ate the\nbodies and gave her the heads. While she crunched the heads, she ate\nmeat, too.\n\nWus listened; he thought that his mother was eating something besides\nmouse heads. Right away he jumped up and asked: \u201cWhat are you eating?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am eating mouse heads. How could I get anything else to eat?\u201d Again\nshe ate heads and meat.\n\nWus searched till he found the piece of cooked meat.\n\n\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d asked he.\n\n\u201cYour uncles were here a little while ago, they have plenty of deer\nmeat.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t they give you more?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are near here now. If you look out, you will see their camp. They\ncouldn\u2019t go far, for they had a heavy load.\u201d\n\nWus looked out; he saw the fire and heard people talking. \u201cI am going\nover there!\u201d said he, and he started off on a run. When he thought he\nwas almost there, the fire and the talking were farther off. He ran\nvery fast, but couldn\u2019t get to the fire; it was always a little ahead\nof him. Each time he said: \u201cNow I shall jump right down by it,\u201d but he\nnever got any nearer than he was when he started.\n\nWus was a fast runner; from a flat, with one jump, he reached the top\nof a high mountain. When he wanted to run very fast, he called: \u201cWich!\nwich!\u201d When he wanted to go slow, he said: \u201cHach! hach!\u201d In one night\nhe got near the great water. When the sun came up, he was on a high\nmountain. Looking down, he saw a fire, and men roasting meat and\ntalking, and throwing knives at one another. Wus said: \u201cNow I shall be\nthere!\u201d He called: \u201cWich! wich!\u201d and made a running leap. He came down\nwhere he thought the camp was, but he found only sand; the fire was far\noff on the water. He turned back, but he was too weak to walk; he lay\ndown on the ground, and began to cry.\n\nTciwididik heard him; she was his aunt. She came, pushed him with her\nfoot, and said: \u201cYour mother fooled you; she wanted to kill you. You\nshouldn\u2019t always do what people tell you to.\u201d She put Wus in her basket\nand took him to her house. When he was almost well, she carried him\npart way home. He traveled many days, camping each night. He spent the\nlast night in Kaltsik\u2019s house.\n\nWus\u2019 mother had cut her hair off and covered her head with pitch; she\nwas mourning. When she saw Wus, she screamed, she was so glad. She\nrubbed deer marrow on his body and cured him; he got fat. They moved to\na new place where there were lots of black crickets. Sometimes Wus\nkilled a basketful in a day, and he and his mother had plenty to eat.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWAR BETWEEN BEASTS AND BIRDS\n\n\nOnce there was a war between beasts and birds. Bat was on birds\u2019 side.\nIn the first battle, the birds were badly beaten. As soon as Bat saw\nthat the battle was going against them, he crept away, hid under a log,\nand stayed there till the fight was over.\n\nWhen the animals were going home, Bat slipped in among them.\n\nAfter they had gone some distance, they saw him, and asked one another:\n\u201cHow is this? Bat is one of the men who fought against us?\u201d\n\nBat heard them, and he said: \u201cOh, no! I am one of you; I don\u2019t belong\nto the bird people. Did you ever see one of those people who had double\nteeth? Go and look in their mouths, and see if they have. If you find\none bird with double teeth, you can say that I belong to the bird\npeople. But I don\u2019t; I am one of your own people.\u201d\n\nThey didn\u2019t say anything more; they let Bat stay with them.\n\nSoon after, there was another battle; in that battle birds won. As\nBat\u2019s side was getting beaten, he slipped away and hid under a log.\nWhen the battle was over, and birds were going home, Bat went in among\nthem.\n\nWhen they noticed him, they said: \u201cYou are our enemy, we saw you\nfighting against us.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d said Bat, \u201cI am one of you; I don\u2019t belong to those beasts.\nDid you ever see one of those people who had wings?\u201d\n\nThey didn\u2019t say anything more; they let him stay with them.\n\nSo Bat went back and forth as long as the war lasted. At the end of the\nwar, birds and beasts held a council to see what to do with him. At\nlast they said to Bat: \u201cHereafter, you will fly around alone at night,\nand will never have any friends, either among those that fly, or those\nthat walk.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWUS WANTS TO MARRY A BUTTERFLY\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Dj\u00e1udjau     Flying Squirrel\n    W\u00e1lwil\u00e9gas   Butterfly\n    Wus          Fox\n\n\n\nWus and his mother lived at Wusn\u00e9see. Wus was a middle-aged man. There\nwas a spring of water right by their house, at the foot of a high\nmountain. It was a nice place to live, and Wus and his mother had been\nthere a long time.\n\nOne day Wus asked his mother: \u201cIs there a swimming pond on any of the\nmountains around here?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you want to know?\u201d asked his mother.\n\n\u201cI want to go and swim.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are too old to go; only young men, who want to be great gamblers\nor doctors, go to those swimming places.\u201d\n\nWus had fallen in love with a W\u00e1lwil\u00e9gas girl that he had seen near the\nspring, but his mother didn\u2019t know that.\n\nHe kept asking the old woman to tell him where the swimming ponds were,\nand which were the best ones. She wouldn\u2019t tell him; she always said:\n\u201cIt is too late for you to go to such places. You are too old. You\nshould have gone when you were young. There are no swimming ponds near\nhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care how far away they are,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI\u2019m going. You must\nsend for old Dj\u00e1udjau to come and make holes in my ears and nose.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no use in making holes in your ears and nose,\u201d said the old\nwoman. \u201cYou are too old to go to the swimming ponds. The earth and the\nmountains won\u2019t listen to what you say.\u201d\n\nWhen she told old Dj\u00e1udjau what her son wanted, he said: \u201cIt is too\nlate, but let him try; maybe he can get something out of this earth. If\nthe earth pushes him away, he will come home. But I think he is after\nsome woman, and is trying to fool you.\u201d The old man made holes in Wus\u2019\nears and nose, and tied a deerskin blanket around him.\n\nWhen Wus was ready to start, he asked: \u201cWhere are the most powerful\nswimming places?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe first swimming place is on the top of Mlaiksi, the other one is on\nMlaiksi\u2019s brother,\u201d said the old man. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think you will get\nto either place.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo matter how far away they are,\u201d said Wus, \u201cI can get there.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think you will go far,\u201d said the old man. \u201cI think you are in\nlove with some woman. But if you go, you must do right; don\u2019t stop on\nthe road, except at night, and don\u2019t touch anything. When you get\nthere, you must pile stones and talk to the mountains and the earth.\nWhen I was a young man I went to all the swimming places. I talked to\nthe mountains, to the earth, to the trees, and to the rocks. They gave\nme power and made me strong, but I did just what old people told me to\ndo. If you do your own way, the earth will push you away. I wouldn\u2019t\nhave thought of these things, but you have wakened me out of old age.\nThese things were told to us when the world was made. After you leave\nhere, you mustn\u2019t think of yourself. You must lose yourself. You\nmustn\u2019t think of what you have in your heart. I can see your heart. I\nknow that you are trying to fool us. After you have been on the\nmountains and done your work, there will be time enough to get a wife.\nYou must sing on the way and sing as you go around on the mountains;\nsay: \u2018My father, I have come to you; I want to be your son. I want you\nto give me all you can; I want you to put good thoughts in my head.\u2019\u201d\n\nWhen Wus started, old Dj\u00e1udjau walked behind him and called to the\nmountains: \u201cWake up! wake up! Wus is coming for you to see him and take\ncare of him. You have ears to hear with. I want you to listen to him,\nand give him all that is in this world.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus got to the foot of the mountain, he saw that the mountain was\ncovered with snow. It looked so high and cold that he almost turned\nback. He didn\u2019t think he could live to get to the top, but he kept on\nwalking. He camped ten nights. As he traveled, he sang the song the old\nman had taught him. All the way the words of old Dj\u00e1udjau pushed him\nalong. At first he didn\u2019t mean to go, he was fooling his mother. When\nhe was near the top of the mountain, he was so weak that he fell and\nrolled back\u2014that was because he was too old\u2014but he got up and went on.\nAt dark he was at the top; he piled up stones and talked to the\nmountain, to the earth, to the sky, to the clouds, to the trees, and to\nthe rocks. Then he lay down and went to sleep.\n\nWus dreamed that the mountain was a white-headed old man who asked:\n\u201cWhat are you doing here? I am the biggest of all the mountains,\u201d said\nhe. \u201cI shall live always. I shall never grow old or die. Is that the\nkind you want to be? I will give you your life because you have called\nme father, but you must live where the sun goes down, for other people\nare coming to live where you are living now.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus woke up, he started for home. He had been gone a long time,\nand his mother thought he was lost, but old Dj\u00e1udjau said: \u201cI know\nwhere he is. He has made no mistake.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus was on the way home, his mother saw a big fire on the top of\nthe mountain. It looked as if it went way up to the sky. Wus didn\u2019t\nbuild that fire; the mountain built it to show his mother that Wus had\nbeen there. She thought he had gone off somewhere else.\n\nWhen old Dj\u00e1udjau knew that Wus was near home, he heated stones and\nsweated; then he went to meet him. He said: \u201cIf you dreamed anything\nbad, you must tell it; but if you dreamed of the mountain talking to\nyou, you mustn\u2019t tell the dream. The mountain talked to me when I was\nyoung. It said that I should never die, that my spirit would live\nalways, that I should live among the mountains\u2014but I shall not have\nthis form much longer.\u201d\n\nWus was changed. He didn\u2019t look as he did when he went away; he looked\nbetter and stronger.\n\nThe old man said: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t eat meat for ten days. If medicines\nappeared to you in your dream, you mustn\u2019t eat meat for twenty days.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know about any of the medicines that travel around on this\nearth,\u201d said Wus.\n\nThe old man said: \u201cAfter ten days I want you to try and get one of\nthose nice-looking W\u00e1lwil\u00e9gas girls for a wife.\u201d\n\nWhen the ten days were over, Wus sweated, then Dj\u00e1udjau painted his\nface and body red and gave him nice clothes. The old man was glad that\nWus was the Mountain\u2019s son. He said: \u201cTake your bow and arrows and\nshoot birds. Don\u2019t pick up the first one you shoot; don\u2019t pull the\narrow out; leave the bird right there, as if you threw it away.\u201d\n\nWus killed a yellow-footed duck and left it on the ground; then he\nkilled other ducks and took them home. The old man had deer meat ready\nand Wus ate. He was glad to eat; he hadn\u2019t eaten anything since he\nstarted to go to the mountain.\n\nWhen he had eaten enough, he said: \u201cI want to go and see people.\u201d He\nstarted out but hadn\u2019t gone far, when he saw a crowd of W\u00e1lwil\u00e9gas\ngirls; they were washing roots in the creek. He watched the girls a\nlong time, then he said: \u201cHow beautiful those girls are. They are too\nsmall, but they are beautiful. I don\u2019t know which one I like best.\u201d\n\nThe girls were on each side of the creek; some of them saw Wus and\ncalled out: \u201cThere is Wus. He is coming here!\u201d Others said: \u201cNo, that\nisn\u2019t Wus.\u201d The nicest-looking one of all the girls said: \u201cNo, that\nisn\u2019t Wus.\u201d Another girl said: \u201cYes, it is the same old Wus, but he has\nbeen on the mountains; that is why he looks differently.\u201d\n\nWus went to the bank of the creek and sat down among the girls. That\nminute all the youngest and nicest-looking girls got up and went away.\nOne of the largest and oldest called out: \u201cWhy do you go away? Why\ndon\u2019t you stay here and finish washing your roots?\u201d But they had\nscattered and gone.\n\nWus was mad in his heart; he got up and started for home. On the road\nhe came to a house and went in to see who lived there. He found G\u00eduwas\nand his wife. They were glad to see him. The woman was kind. She asked:\n\u201cHave you had anything to eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Wus, \u201cI haven\u2019t been hunting. I have been down by the creek\nwhere there was a crowd of girls.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose are bad girls,\u201d said the woman. \u201cThey act proud, as if they\nthought every man must fall in love with them; they never feed anybody.\nHow did they treat you?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey got up and flew off,\u201d said Wus. \u201cHereafter, they will travel in\nthat way, but they will be people no longer.\u201d\n\nAll the old W\u00e1lwil\u00e9gas women were crying, for their daughters were no\nlonger people. The girls had lost their minds. They had become common\nbutterflies.\n\nAfter Wus had eaten enough, he said: \u201cI am going now.\u201d\n\nThe woman was afraid he would turn them all to animals; she told her\nhusband to hurry to the river where their son was fishing and tell him\nto get out of the way.\n\nWus knew their thoughts; he could hear them as if they talked aloud,\nand he said: \u201cI won\u2019t hurt you or your son.\u201d\n\nWhen the young man saw Wus coming he hid and Wus went by, didn\u2019t see\nhim.\n\nWhen Wus got home, his mother asked: \u201cDid you see those nice-looking\ngirls? Did they give you roots to eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, they treated me meanly. They are nothing now. They have no minds.\u201d\n\nWus and his mother moved away from the foot of the mountain, but\nDj\u00e1udjau wouldn\u2019t go. He said: \u201cI am named for the mountains and I will\nnever leave them.\u201d\n\nOld Dj\u00e1udjau is hunting on those mountains yet. People who travel on\nhigh mountains often hear him calling his own name. Wus and his mother\nwent to Klamath Lake, and people say that they live there now.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLOK SNEW\u00c9DJAS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas     Eagle\n    Kai         Rabbit\n    Kaiutois    Wolf (Gray)\n    K\u00e9kina      Lizard\n    K\u00edskina     Beetle\n    Lok         Bear\n    Snew\u00e9djas   Married woman\n    Tskel       Mink\n    Tusas\u00e1s     Skunk\n\n\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas was a woman in the daytime and a bear at night. She lived\nunder the ground on the top of a high mountain; nobody could see her\neither when she was a bear, or a woman.\n\nA big chief lived in the lava bed country between that mountain and\nLake Klamath.\n\nOne day his son came home without game. The chief was mad and he\nscolded. The young man felt badly. His mind told him to go to the\nmountain and forget his troubles. As soon as he started, a great\nsnow-storm came and the wind blew so terribly, that he could hardly\nwalk. When he got to the foot of the mountain, he sat down under a\ncedar tree and waited.\n\nOnce in a while the clouds went away and it stopped snowing; he could\nsee everywhere. Then it snowed again.\n\nOnce, when it was bright, the young man looked up and saw, on the\nmountain, something hanging on a pole. Lok Snew\u00e9djas made him see it.\nShe had seen him when he was hunting and had heard him talk to himself\nand say he had no friends and no place to go. That made her feel sorry\nfor him. She liked him; she wanted him to come to her.\n\nWhen the young man saw the pole, he said: \u201cI didn\u2019t know that people\nlived up there. I have been on this mountain many times, but I have\nnever met anybody or seen any house. I will go and find out who lives\nthere.\u201d As he started, it stopped snowing; he could see everywhere.\n\nWhen he got to the pole, he found a deer hide on it, and right there by\nthe pole was something that looked like the smoke hole of a house. He\nstood around a while, then he went in. He found a beautiful house with\nnice things everywhere. On the north side of the house sat Lok\nSnew\u00e9djas. She was a good-looking woman; she had long black hair and\nbright eyes. The young man sat down on the south side of the house.\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas got up, took a pinch of y\u0115lalwek, a sweet seed that\nnobody else in the world had, put it in the center of a straw plate,\nand set the plate down by the young man.\n\nHe thought: \u201cI wonder what I am going to do with that little bit of\nseed?\u201d He took up one seed and put it in his mouth. It melted and was\nnice and sweet; he thought it was the best thing he had ever eaten. He\nkept eating, ate fast, but the same amount of seed was always on the\nplate. He was afraid to be in a strange house with such a powerful\nwoman.\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas knew his thoughts; she could hear them as well as if he\nspoke. She gave him pounded deer meat, and he thought: \u201cWhere does she\nget this meat?\u201d She laughed, for she heard him think.\n\nWhen the young man couldn\u2019t eat any more, he rested his elbow on the\nground and put his head on his hand. Right away he was asleep. Lok\nSnew\u00e9djas thought: \u201cI wonder why he is sorry that he came here;\u201d she\nwaited to see if he would wake up and go home. When he woke up, he\nreached to get a deerskin to put under his head for a pillow. Lok\nSnew\u00e9djas said: \u201cI have made a bed for you, you must lie on it.\u201d He was\nscared, but he lay where she told him to; then she made him go to\nsleep. She was afraid if she went to sleep first, he would see her when\nshe was a bear.\n\nIn the night the young man woke up. The fire was burning. He looked\nover to where the woman was sleeping and saw a big black bear; its\nmouth was open and its long teeth were sticking out. He was terribly\nfrightened; he wanted to run away but he couldn\u2019t move.\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas woke up; she knew what the young man thought and she felt\nsorry. She said: \u201cI am this kind; I am a woman in the daytime and a\nbear at night. I belong to the mountain. The earth is my mother, the\nmountain is my father. They give me my food and keep me alive. I have\nalways seen you traveling around on the mountain. I saw your heart; I\nwas sorry for you. You felt lonesome; you said you had no kin who cared\nfor you. I liked you and wanted you to come and live with me.\u201d\n\nThe young man didn\u2019t speak, but he wasn\u2019t afraid any longer. Just at\ndaylight Lok Snew\u00e9djas became a young woman; she was bright and nice to\nlook at. She gave him water to wash his face; she stirred the water\nwith her finger and it rose up like foam. She had everything ready to\neat. She never cooked; the mountain and the earth gave her food.\n\nWhen the young man wanted to track deer, Lok Snew\u00e9djas said: \u201cDon\u2019t go\nfar; stay near the house.\u201d Right away he saw a big deer. He killed it\nand carried it to Lok Snew\u00e9djas. After that she only let him hunt once\nin a long time. She was afraid he would go off and leave her.\n\n\u201cI never stayed at home; I hunted every day,\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cI know that,\u201d said Snew\u00e9djas; \u201cI saw you. You had to kill deer then,\nbut when we have plenty to eat, it\u2019s not right to hunt. The mountain\nand the earth feed us.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas, Kaiutois, Tskel, Kai, K\u00edskina, K\u00e9kina, and all the people who\nlived in the young man\u2019s village, were out looking for him. They went\neverywhere on the mountain, but they couldn\u2019t find him. Sometimes they\nwere walking on top of Lok Snew\u00e9djas\u2019 house, but they didn\u2019t see it.\n\nOne day the woman said: \u201cI hear people crying. Your mother and sisters\nare mourning for you. Do you want to go and see them?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the young man, \u201cmy father abused me. I don\u2019t care for him\nany longer. I want to stay here with you.\u201d\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas was glad. She said: \u201cIf you are going to stay here, I\nwill tell you about my father and mother. When you walk on the\nmountain, you are walking on my mother. Don\u2019t harm a tree, or a bush,\nor a leaf, or anything. Put your mind on the deer you are tracking, and\ndon\u2019t listen to anything. When a deer leads you to the other side of\nthe mountain, you must not touch a plant or even a leaf there. If you\ndo, it will cut your body. On the trail you will see a little animal;\nthen right away you will see a great many of them. If you turn your\nhead to look at them, you will lose your mind; you will wander off on\nthe mountain and get lost. Don\u2019t think of those animals; follow the\ndeer. The animals are there because the mountain doesn\u2019t want you to go\nwhere they are. My father doesn\u2019t know you yet, but he knows that you\nare here with me.\u201d\n\nOnce, when the young man was out hunting, he heard a great noise, then\nhe saw a deer standing on the edge of a high rock. He shot at it. The\ndeer reached out its head. The arrow hit one of its horns and bounded\nback to the bow. The young man said: \u201cLok Snew\u00e9djas forgot to tell me\nabout you.\u201d He didn\u2019t shoot again; he went home. When he got there, he\nsaid: \u201cI didn\u2019t kill a deer to-day. I shot at one, but the arrow came\nback to the bow. The deer stood in the same place, but I didn\u2019t shoot\nagain. I thought I knew the place well, but I never saw that kind of a\ndeer before.\u201d\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas said: \u201cYou saw it because the mountain didn\u2019t want you to\nkill deer where that deer was. The mountain always whoops and makes a\ngreat noise if a stranger goes there. If you had shot a second time,\nthe mountain would have twisted your mouth and body. You must not go\nthere again.\u201d\n\nThe young man was afraid now; he said: \u201cMy mother and sisters are\nlonesome; that is why they cry all the time.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you go and see them?\u201d asked Lok Snew\u00e9djas.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to, but I\u2019m going to stay in the house with you.\u201d He\nstayed in the house a whole year. Lok Snew\u00e9djas had a little boy. As\nsoon as he was born, she rubbed him with red paint; after that she\nrubbed him three times each day; in the morning, in the middle of the\nday and just as the sun went down. It made the child grow fast.\n\nOne night, when the boy was crying, his father said: \u201cI will take him\noff the board and let him sleep on the mat.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe might roll over and kill him,\u201d said the mother.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the father, \u201cI will take care of him.\u201d And he took the baby\noff the board and put it on the mat with its face up against his own\nface. In the night he woke up and looked at the baby. It was a little\nbear. The father was frightened. He thought: \u201cMaybe some time my wife\nor child will kill me, and eat me.\u201d He wondered if his son would be a\nbear when he was grown up. He was sorry that the child was like its\nmother.\n\nThe mother bear knew what he was thinking about; she turned over, and\nsaid: \u201cUh! uh!\u201d in her sleep. The next morning she asked: \u201cWhat did you\nthink about in the night?\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought how nice our boy looked when he was a bear. In the daytime\nhe is like both of us, but in the night he is like you.\u201d\n\nThe child grew fast. Soon he was walking around. One day the woman\nasked: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you go and see your father and mother?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I? The boy is too little to go with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe won\u2019t cry,\u201d said the woman. \u201cWhen you are half-way he will forget\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf we go to-day, will you go with us?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cI will go to-morrow. I am going to look over my beads to-day,\u201d said\nthe woman. \u201cYou can go to-day, but when evening comes don\u2019t let anybody\ntouch our boy, and don\u2019t let him play with the children. At two\ndifferent times he will turn to a bear,\u2014in his sleep, and toward night,\nwhen he plays. There is a Tusas\u00e1s in that place. In the evening he may\nplay with the child and tease him. If he should, the boy would turn to\na bear; then somebody might kill him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will take care of him,\u201d said the father.\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas put a handful of y\u0115lalwek seed in a piece of deerskin,\nand said: \u201cWhen you get home put five deerskins on the ground; then,\nwith three of your fingers, take five pinches of the seed and put on\neach one of the five skins. You will have plenty to feed your father\nand mother and all the people in the village, but don\u2019t let them carry\nany of the seed away. If they do, it will spoil this food; we can never\nuse it again.\u201d\n\nThe man took the little boy on his back and started. As soon as he was\naway from the house, he forgot all that his wife had told him. When he\ngot to the village he stood around a good while; then his youngest\nsister saw him and called out: \u201cMy brother has come!\u201d She cried, she\nwas so glad to see him. He left the little bundle of seed on top of the\nhouse and went in.\n\nWhen Tusas\u00e1s saw the man and child, he said: \u201cThat is just what I\nthought!\u201d\n\nThe women pounded Tusas\u00e1s; told him to keep still, and not make the\nyoung man feel badly.\n\nThe young man said to his sister: \u201cGo out and get what my little boy\nbrought.\u201d\n\nThen he told his mother to put down five white skins. As soon as they\nwere spread out, he put five pinches of seed on each skin, and right\naway the skin was covered with nice, white seed. Tusas\u00e1s put a whole\nhandful in his mouth. It increased and spread, till it came out of his\nears and his eyes and his mouth. It made his stomach so big that he\nthought he was going to die.\n\nThe young man said: \u201cYou thought nothing of me when I was here; now you\nsee what kind of a wife I have. She has all kinds of roots and seeds\nand meat, but she never digs or hunts.\u201d\n\nWhen the sun was going down, the children wanted to play with the\nlittle boy. He was pretty, they liked him and tried to be nice to him,\nbut the boy didn\u2019t want to play.\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cLet the child alone. He is a little fellow; he might get\nhurt, and then he would cry for his mother.\u201d\n\nThe children were playing and shouting, but the child paid no attention\nto them. His aunt carried him around; she liked him, she wanted to keep\nhim in her arms all the time.\n\nThe mother didn\u2019t feel happy. She knew what was happening at her\nfather-in-law\u2019s house. She wanted her husband to take care of the child\nhimself, as she had told him. When she heard the children whooping and\nrunning, she got frightened and started off to save her child.\n\nThe young sister began to play with the children. She put the boy down,\nand he ran around, too, but he began to run the way a bear runs. He\nslapped one child, then another. He pushed them down and drove them\naround. The children screamed, they thought he was a real bear.\n\nWhen the mother was half-way, she began to cry. She knew harm would\ncome to the boy before she could get to him.\n\nThere was a great noise among the children. Tusas\u00e1s screamed. \u201cPeople!\nPeople! A bear is eating your children!\u201d The boy was just playing as a\nlittle bear plays. Tusas\u00e1s got his bow and arrow and shot the child\nunder the arm. That minute he was a little boy again. The father\nthought his sister had the child in her arms. When he heard the noise\nhe knew what had happened. He called to the people: \u201cThat is my child!\nThat is my child!\u201d but he was too late; the boy was dead.\n\nThe mother came with a terrible roar. The earth trembled. When she\nshook herself, it was as if the earth was turning over. She tore up the\nground, pulled up trees; tore big rocks from under the earth and threw\nthem around like little stones. When she got near, she shook herself;\nthe earth moved and the houses fell. A terrible storm of dirt and wind\ncame with her. She was in the middle of the whirlwind. It was dark and\nnobody could see her. [15]\n\nThere were two orphans, a boy and girl, in the village. They were\nlittle people; they didn\u2019t grow any, but the girl was strong and she\nknew things. She always carried a long stick, sharp at both ends. When\nthe people thought they were going to be killed, the girl told her\ngrandmother to paint her stick red. Then she painted red lines across\nher forehead, breast, and stomach, and on the top of her arms, and went\nand sat down in front of where Lok Snew\u00e9djas was coming, twisting and\ntearing up the earth. Lok Snew\u00e9djas turned and passed on the right\nside. Just then the girl punched her stick into the middle of the\nwhirlwind. The storm stopped that minute, and there on the ground lay a\nbeautiful young woman in a dress covered with beads and porcupine\nquills.\n\nThe young man cried. He knew that he had killed his wife and child by\nnot doing as she had told him to. He got G\u00e4k\u2019s medicine basket and put\nit on the boy, then he stepped over him and the child came to life. But\nhe couldn\u2019t bring Lok Snew\u00e9djas to life in that way. Everybody felt\nsorry. They didn\u2019t know who lived in the world that could make the\nwoman alive again.\n\nThe young man said: \u201cIf we can bring her to life, she will never be a\nbear again.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cI will give nice things, deerskins, shells, and\nporcupine quills to anybody who will bring this woman to life.\u201d\n\nThe young man stepped over her five times, then ten times, and twenty\ntimes; she only moved a little.\n\nSome of the people said: \u201cThere is an old woman among the rocks by the\nlake, Skoks is her medicine, maybe she could make the woman alive\nagain.\u201d\n\nThey sent a man after her; when she came, she said: \u201cI want somebody to\nscream for me. This woman\u2019s spirit has got near where the sun goes\ndown; but maybe we can make it hear.\u201d\n\nSkoks went into a man and screamed loud.\n\nThen the old woman said: \u201cHer spirit has turned around. It is coming\nback!\u201d Soon she said: \u201cThe spirit is here! It is going into its body.\u201d\n\nRight away the young woman stood up. She was beautiful and bright and\nwell. When she saw the orphan girl, she said: \u201cYou don\u2019t look strong or\npowerful. If I hadn\u2019t had that storm with me, you couldn\u2019t have killed\nme.\u201d\n\nShe stayed three days at her father-in-law\u2019s house, then she went back\nto the mountain with her husband and child.\n\nBefore they started, the young man said to his mother and his sister:\n\u201cYou will never see me again. I will stay with my wife always. I don\u2019t\nwant to kill her spirit by coming back here where I forget all she\ntells me.\u201d\n\nThey left and nobody ever saw them again.\n\nThe young man\u2019s friends hunted for them and got other people to help,\nbut they could never find their home or see them.\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas took back all her seeds; she didn\u2019t leave one of them, so\nno one has ever tasted of that kind of food.\n\nTo this day people can hear voices on that mountain. They are the\nvoices of Lok Snew\u00e9djas and her children, but nobody ever sees them.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSNAKE TRIES TO MARRY SQUIRREL\u2019S DAUGHTERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Dj\u00e1udjau     Flying Squirrel\n    G\u00e4k          Crow\n    Gapni        Louse\n    Juljulcus    Cricket\n    K\u0101hkaas      Stork\n    Kai          Rabbit\n    K\u00e1whas       Blackbird\n    K\u00e9kina       Lizard\n    K\u00edskina      Beetle\n    Lem\u00e9is       Thunder\n    L\u00f3luk        Fire\n    Tco\u00f3ks       Crane\n    Tusas\u00e1s      Joker (Skunk)\n    W\u00e1lwil\u00e9gas   Butterfly\n    W\u00e1manik      Bull Snake\n    Weketas      Frog (small, green)\n    Wekwek       Magpie\n    W\u00edsk\u00e4k       Cedar-bird\n    Wisnik       Garter Snake\n    W\u00fblk\u00fbtska    Marten (black)\n    Wus          Fox\n\n\n\nW\u00e1manik lived at Wiw\u0115nsi, in a hollow between two mountains. There was\na creek near the place, with lots of fish in it. W\u00e1manik caught fish\nand ate them. That was the way he lived.\n\nEast of Wiw\u0115nsi lived a great hunter who had four children, three\ndaughters and a son. This man and his son each had a song that they\nsang while they were hunting.\n\nW\u00e1manik was a good hunter, too. One day, he went, with two other men,\nto hunt deer. When he was on the south side of a mountain looking for\ntracks, he heard a man singing. He thought: \u201cIt must be a beautiful man\nwho has that nice song. This is the first time I have heard any one\nsing on this mountain. I would like to see that man, but maybe I\u2019d\nscare him.\u201d He went up a little higher; he looked around everywhere,\nthen waited. At last he saw a young man coming along the trail with a\ndeer on his back. He passed near where W\u00e1manik was hidden in the grass,\nbut W\u00e1manik didn\u2019t see his face. He ran ahead to get where he could\nturn and look back at the man, but even then he couldn\u2019t see his face.\n\nThe young man thought: \u201cI feel scared, as if somebody were looking at\nme. I never felt this way before.\u201d\n\nWhen W\u00e1manik got back to his party, each man had killed a deer; and\nthey were roasting meat. They asked: \u201cDidn\u2019t you find a deer?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said W\u00e1manik, \u201cI didn\u2019t see a track.\u201d\n\nJust then the men saw Tusas\u00e1s coming along with a fawn. They said:\n\u201cThere is the young man who always talks smart.\u201d\n\nTusas\u00e1s came up and threw the fawn on the ground. \u201cHere is meat,\u201d said\nhe. \u201cCook it for yourselves.\u201d He felt proud.\n\nW\u00e1manik said: \u201cGo home and get something cooked for us.\u201d (W\u00e1manik was\nchief).\n\nWhen they started for home, W\u00e1manik asked Wisnik, one of his kin, to go\nwith him by another trail; then he asked: \u201cHave you ever seen, on the\nmountain, a young man who sings all the time he is hunting?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have seen him a good many times,\u201d said Wisnik. \u201cIt is strange you\nhave never seen him; you often travel around near where he lives. His\nfather is old man Dj\u00e1udjau. He belongs to this mountain; he has lots of\npower. The young man has three sisters, nice-looking girls.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have never seen him,\u201d said W\u00e1manik, \u201cbut his song is nice; I like\nit. You must go and get those girls for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey wouldn\u2019t like such a big man as you are,\u201d said Wisnik.\n\n\u201cI can turn to a small man, if I want to.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe they have men,\u201d said Wisnik.\n\n\u201cWe will go and find out,\u201d said W\u00e1manik. \u201cI must have those girls.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou stay at home,\u201d said Wisnik, \u201cand I will go. Maybe you would\nfrighten them.\u201d\n\nWisnik always sang as he traveled. On the road to the old man\u2019s house\nhe sang all the time, sang loud.\n\nWhen the second sister went to the spring for water, she heard some one\nsinging, far off; when she got back to the house, she said: \u201cSome one\non the mountain is singing. I like the song: it sounds nice.\u201d The\neldest sister said: \u201cMaybe the chief of the mountain is out hunting.\nW\u00e1manik always sings when he is tracking deer.\u201d\n\nThey looked toward the mountain and listened. Soon they saw Wisnik\ncoming. He had a bow and arrows. He was playing on the bowstring and\nsinging.\n\nThe youngest sister always worked, dug roots and helped her mother. The\ntwo older sisters were lazy; they sat around, they wouldn\u2019t work. Their\nhair touched the ground; they wore bead-covered dresses, and white caps\nmade of deer fat.\n\nWhen old Dj\u00e1udjau saw Wisnik, he asked: \u201cWhere did you come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom home,\u201d said Wisnik.\n\nDj\u00e1udjau could always talk with people\u2019s thoughts without their knowing\nit, and right away he knew why Wisnik had come. Old woman Dj\u00e1udjau got\nthe young man something to eat.\n\nThe eldest sister said: \u201cI am hungry. I am going to get something to\neat.\u201d\n\nThe second sister said: \u201cI am hungry, too,\u201d and they started off.\n\nTheir food was the inside bark of pine trees. Their mother had told\nthem to always begin at the bottom of the tree and work up, for if they\nbegan at the top the bark would fall, and kill them.\n\nWhile the girls were gone, old woman Dj\u00e1udjau said to Wisnik: \u201cYou have\nnever been here before, and I have never seen you traveling around.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am on the mountains all the time,\u201d said Wisnik. \u201cI often see you. I\ncame here because my chief sent me. He wants to know what you think\nabout your daughters; he wants to marry them.\u201d\n\nOld man Dj\u00e1udjau said: \u201cMy son has gone somewhere; he takes care of\nthose girls.\u201d In his heart he was afraid of Wisnik. \u201cMy son wants to\nget good men for his sisters. He doesn\u2019t want them to be abused. You\nmust stay till he comes; then he will tell you what he thinks.\u201d\n\nAt midday the young man came with a large deer on his back. He was\nfrightened when he saw Wisnik. Wisnik looked at him hard; he thought he\nwas nice.\n\nOld Dj\u00e1udjau said to his son\u2019s mind: \u201cWhat do you think about it? That\nchief over in Wiw\u0115nsi wants your sisters.\u201d The young man was so\nfrightened that he didn\u2019t know what to do. The old woman went outside\nand cried. Everybody knew that W\u00e1manik was a bad man when he got mad,\nand that he got mad easily. The young man thought: \u201cI sha\u2019n\u2019t live long\nif W\u00e1manik marries my sisters.\u201d\n\nOld man Dj\u00e1udjau said: \u201cI don\u2019t know how W\u00e1manik found out about us. I\nam sorry he wants my daughters. It is easy for him to get mad. He kills\na great many people. I don\u2019t care for myself, but I am afraid something\nwill happen to my son.\u201d\n\nWhen Dj\u00e1udjau\u2019s daughters came home and saw their mother crying, they\nasked: \u201cWhat are you crying about?\u201d\n\nShe told them, and said: \u201cMy daughters, you must say something. Your\nbrother never harms anybody. All he knows is how to be happy. If you\ndon\u2019t marry W\u00e1manik, trouble will come to us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy doesn\u2019t W\u00e1manik marry a woman of his own people, one that lives in\nthe ground?\u201d asked the eldest sister. \u201cWe are not of his people; we\nwouldn\u2019t be happy in his house.\u201d Then she began to make fun of Wisnik.\n\nWhen Wisnik got home, he said: \u201cThose girls won\u2019t marry you. They say\nthey can\u2019t live with our people. They told me to ask you why you didn\u2019t\nmarry a woman of your own kind. They are afraid of you; you get mad so\neasily.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose girls needn\u2019t be so proud,\u201d said W\u00e1manik. \u201cI was only trying\nthem; I don\u2019t want to marry them.\u201d\n\nThe next day W\u00e1manik and Wisnik went to hunt for deer. They killed one\nand stopped at the foot of the mountain to roast some of the meat.\nWisnik wanted to go home, but W\u00e1manik said: \u201cWe will camp and stay here\nall night.\u201d\n\nThe next morning young man Dj\u00e1udjau went to hunt. He didn\u2019t kill\nanything; he couldn\u2019t even find a track. W\u00e1manik and Wisnik stayed in\ntheir camp for five days. Wisnik was singing all the time, but Dj\u00e1udjau\ndidn\u2019t hear him. After five days W\u00e1manik sent Wisnik home; he said:\n\u201cYou needn\u2019t come again; I am going to stay here for ten days and hunt\ndeer.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you do that?\u201d asked Wisnik. \u201cOld Dj\u00e1udjau said you had no home;\nthat you made it anywhere. You had better come back with me.\u201d W\u00e1manik\nwouldn\u2019t go and he wouldn\u2019t listen to anything Wisnik said.\n\nThe young man hunted deer for five days, but couldn\u2019t find even a\ntrack. Then he said to his father: \u201cI can\u2019t call deer; they don\u2019t come\nwhen I sing. What can I do to get them?\u201d\n\nThe old man heated rocks and had his son steam himself; then he gave\nhim some of the sweet-smelling stuff that comes out of the corners of a\ndeer\u2019s eyes, and said: \u201cSwallow this; if you are going to kill a deer\nthe smell of this stuff will come out of your mouth.\u201d No smell came\nfrom the young man\u2019s mouth, but he went to hunt. He tried to sing, but\nW\u00e1manik drew his song from him; he couldn\u2019t sing any longer. He went\nhome and lay down.\n\nHis mother asked: \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel as if I couldn\u2019t walk any longer. I feel as if I had to fly.\u201d\n\nThey steamed him again, and gave him sweet roots to eat. His mother\nsaid: \u201cIf deer are to come to you, the roots will smell out of your\nnose.\u201d She held her nose to his, but there was no odor. Then she said:\n\u201cMy son, I don\u2019t know how you are to be cured.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will try once more,\u201d said the young man. He went out to hunt, but\ndidn\u2019t see any game. That night he dreamed that he was lying against\nsomething hard, that something heavy lay across his body and crushed\nhim down on stones. When he told his dream, his mother cried. To hide\nhis dream she got an old panther-skin, burned it in the fire, and\nrubbed his face with the ashes.\n\nOld Dj\u00e1udjau\u2019s nephew, a little bit of a man, came from the East to\nvisit his uncle. The girls were glad to see him; their brother was off\ntrying to find a deer. The little man asked: \u201cHow far is it to\nW\u00fblk\u00fbtska\u2019s house?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is very far,\u201d said his uncle; \u201cyou must stay here to-night.\u201d\n\nWhen the young man came, he was glad to see his cousin; they talked a\nlong time. When he went to sleep, he dreamed that the little man choked\nhim to death, and then went far off on the mountain. He thought he saw\nhis mother and sisters crying.\n\nThe next morning, after the little man had gone, the young man asked\nhis father to go and show him where he used to hunt when he was young.\nThey went, but when they got to the place, they didn\u2019t find any deer.\n\nThe young man said: \u201cI feel as if I were dead.\u201d The next morning he\nsaid to his father: \u201cI am going away. I want you to stay at home and\nnot to feel lonesome in the world. I shall die to-day. I feel as if\nsomebody had tied me up and was going to kill me.\u201d\n\nHe went to W\u00e1manik\u2019s mountain. W\u00e1manik was singing to draw him there;\nhe couldn\u2019t help going. When the young man got to the mountain, W\u00e1manik\nbegan to stretch. He stretched out far from the foot of the mountain.\nThen he stretched around the mountain and began to crush it. The young\nman heard a terrible roar. Trees were breaking, and stones and rocks\nwere cracking. A great storm of wind and stones came. The young man lay\ndown and tried to hold to the earth. But W\u00e1manik pressed the mountain\nstill harder. His body looked like the sun. He kept stretching till his\nhead was right there by the young man; then he asked: \u201cAre you afraid?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI am not afraid of you. I have never done\nyou any harm. I feel like a little child.\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel badly for you,\u201d said W\u00e1manik, \u201cbut I want to punish your\nsisters. I want to show them what I can do when I am mad. I caught you\nin this way, so I could talk to you.\u201d\n\nThat night Wisnik dreamed that he saw the young man\u2019s head and\nW\u00e1manik\u2019s head. He was scared. The next morning he started early and\nwalked till he got to where W\u00e1manik was pressing the mountain, then he\nsaid: \u201cNow I know why you wanted to stay here. You wanted to kill this\nman. He is not to blame for what his sisters did.\u201d He felt sorry for\nthe young man.\n\n\u201cGo home,\u201d said W\u00e1manik. \u201cI don\u2019t want you around here.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne of those girls said that if you married them you would kill all of\ntheir family. You are making those words true!\u201d said Wisnik. He was mad\nat W\u00e1manik. He pretended to go home, but he went to old man Dj\u00e1udjau\u2019s\nhouse. The youngest sister was crying. \u201cWhen did your brother go away?\u201d\nasked Wisnik.\n\n\u201cMore than two days ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cW\u00e1manik has caught him,\u201d said Wisnik. \u201cHe has him on the mountain and\nis crushing him. You must make up with that man, or he will kill you\nall. He has lots of power.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe won\u2019t talk to him or see him,\u201d said the eldest sister.\n\n\u201cThen your brother will die soon. W\u00e1manik has pressed him to the\nmountain for two days. He feeds him. He wishes food and drink to be in\nhis mouth, and right away it is there. He keeps him alive to torment\nhim as long as he can.\u201d\n\nWhen the little sister heard this, she ran off to the mountain to find\nher brother; she was crying. When she came where he was, she said: \u201cI\nwant you to tell W\u00e1manik that I will be his wife as soon as I am old\nenough.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said her brother, \u201cI don\u2019t want you to pay for me; I shall die\nsoon.\u201d\n\nW\u00e1manik heard what they said and he didn\u2019t like it. \u201cI won\u2019t have her,\u201d\nsaid he; \u201cshe is too young. I want your other sisters.\u201d\n\nWisnik listened to what W\u00e1manik said; then he told old Dj\u00e1udjau: \u201cYour\nson is alive yet, but his heart is almost dead; it feels flat. W\u00e1manik\nwants your daughters.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe won\u2019t go,\u201d said the girls. \u201cHe has our brother; let him keep him.\nWe won\u2019t change our minds.\u201d They laughed at their mother because she\ncried all the time.\n\nWisnik went back to W\u00e1manik, and said: \u201cNo matter what you do, those\ngirls won\u2019t have you; they hate you worse than ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo home and stay there,\u201d said W\u00e1manik. \u201cI know what I will do.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will kill that man for nothing,\u201d thought Wisnik, but he didn\u2019t say\nanything, he went home.\n\nW\u00e1manik said to the young man, \u201cI won\u2019t take your little sister. I\ndon\u2019t want her; I want your two older sisters, but I will let you get\nup and go home.\u201d\n\nW\u00e1manik drew himself in, loosened the young man, and let him go home;\nthen he went home himself. The girls laughed and were glad. They\nthought that W\u00e1manik hadn\u2019t much power. They didn\u2019t feel afraid of him;\nthey talked about him and made fun of him.\n\nW\u00e1manik stayed at home and laughed and sang. He didn\u2019t talk about the\ngirls, but he had made up his mind that when seed time came he would\nget them.\n\nWhen seeds were ripe, the sisters went, each day, off toward the lake,\nto gather them. Then W\u00e1manik sent Wisnik to tell Wus he wanted to see\nhim. When the old man came, W\u00e1manik said: \u201cI want you to go to\nDj\u00e1udjau\u2019s house and get his two oldest girls for me. I don\u2019t want the\nlittle one. Tell the old man I shan\u2019t ask for those girls again.\u201d\n\nIn the evening Wus got to Dj\u00e1udjau\u2019s house. The old man asked: \u201cWhat do\nyou want? Why do you come here?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe chief sent me to say that he must have your two daughters. If you\ndon\u2019t send them to him, he will get mad and kill all of your children.\u201d\n\n\u201cI like W\u00e1manik,\u201d said the old man. \u201cHe let my son live. I am glad, for\nhe is all the boy I have.\u201d Then he shook the girls, and woke them up.\n\n\u201cCome and talk to this man,\u201d said he. \u201cW\u00e1manik is mad. He let your\nbrother live, but if you don\u2019t go to him he will kill us all. You must\nsay right away what you will do. This man won\u2019t wait long; he wants to\ngo back. You were not made to live single, you didn\u2019t come up from the\nearth.\u201d\n\nThe eldest sister pushed her father away, and said: \u201cGo off and leave\nus alone; we want to sleep.\u201d\n\nThe brother said: \u201cDon\u2019t talk to them. Don\u2019t try to make them go to\nW\u00e1manik, if they hate him. He is just as good as any man. He has a\nclean skin, and it is bright and beautiful; I like him.\u201d Then he said\nto Wus: \u201cTell W\u00e1manik that I have done what I could for him. If he\nwants to kill me, he can. I am not afraid to die, but I can\u2019t make\nthese girls go to him. If he wants them, he must come and talk to them\nhimself.\u201d\n\nWus said to the girls: \u201cYou must do as I tell you; I love everybody in\nthis world. I love you, but no one can save you from that man if you\nmake him mad.\u201d Wus talked all night, talked nice, but the girls didn\u2019t\nlisten to him. At daylight he went back to W\u00e1manik.\n\nWhile Wus was gone, W\u00e1manik made two flutes with many holes in them.\nWhen he saw Wus coming, he went to meet him. He asked: \u201cWhat did they\nsay? Are they coming?\u201d\n\n\u201cI wouldn\u2019t walk so slowly,\u201d said Wus, \u201cif they had said they would\ncome. The father and brother are willing, but those girls hate you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wonder why they hate me. I can be a man. See.\u201d\n\nHe pulled off two blankets and became a nice-looking man.\n\n\u201cI am a man. I shall never stay old; each year I shall be young again.\nThey will grow old and die, but I shall always be young.\u201d He stuck his\nflutes up in the ground and hung on them the blankets he had taken off.\n\nWus said in his heart: \u201cHe is awful mad. It is too bad to kill such\nnice-looking girls. I am sorry for them.\u201d\n\nThe girls grew sleepy; they wanted to sleep all the time. Old Dj\u00e1udjau\nsaid to them: \u201cYou haven\u2019t done as your brother asked you to. Now\ntrouble is coming to us. Go off and sleep in the bushes. Stay by\nyourselves.\u201d\n\nWhen the girls were asleep, Wus made lots of W\u00e1manik\u2019s kin and hung\nthem on the bushes where the girls were sleeping. He had power and he\ndid this by wishing hard. The eldest sister dreamed of snakes; when she\nwoke up and saw them, she screamed.\n\nHer brother called out: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you keep still? What do you make\nsuch a noise for? You don\u2019t let us sleep. If dreams frighten you, go\noff into the woods and jump around and scream. You have had your own\nway; now when trouble comes you must show us what you can do.\u201d\n\nEvery time the sisters fell asleep, they dreamed of snakes, and when\nthey woke up there were snakes all around them. They were terribly\nscared.\n\nThe next morning the young man said to his father: \u201cI want to go and\nsee my cousin, W\u00fblk\u00fbtska. I don\u2019t want to stay where my sisters are. I\ndon\u2019t like them any longer.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go, too,\u201d said the old man. And they started.\n\nThe younger of the two sisters asked: \u201cWhere have my father and brother\ngone?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey have gone far off,\u201d said the mother. \u201cThey don\u2019t like to be here.\nYou scream and keep them awake nights, and you won\u2019t do as they say.\nThey know that trouble is coming.\u201d\n\nNow from the different villages, people were moving toward the lava bed\ncountry. There was to be a great council. Word had gone out that a new\npeople was coming, that the present people were to be turned to other\nthings. The council was called to give the present people a chance to\ndecide what they would be, where they would live, and which would be\nthe nicest-looking.\n\nOld Dj\u00e1udjau and his son went to the council. W\u00e1manik was there, and\nWisnik, and Wus, and W\u00e1lwil\u00e9gas and Wekwek, and Weketas, and W\u00edsk\u00e4k and\nGapni, and G\u00e4k, and K\u00edskina and K\u00e1whas, and Tco\u00f3ks, and K\u0101hkaas and\nKai, and K\u00e9kina, and L\u00f3luk, and Lem\u00e9is, and Juljulcus. All the people\nin the world were at that council.\n\nThe two Dj\u00e1udjau girls were there. Their brother wouldn\u2019t let the\nlittle sister be with them, so they wandered around alone.\n\nThe people talked about how every one would be, about who should be\nchosen to be the nicest-looking, and if there was any one among them\npowerful enough to turn to something that would never get old, that\nwould live after they were all dead. As they looked around, they said:\n\u201cThose Dj\u00e1udjau sisters are nice-looking, but they are pale; they look\nsick.\u201d\n\nW\u00fblk\u00fbtska\u2019s daughter said: \u201cIt is that man over there, the man with\nsuch a bright blanket, that makes them look that way. He is mad because\nthey won\u2019t marry him.\u201d The different people told what they wanted to\ndo. Lok said: \u201cI will live in the mountains. I will raise children and\nhave many kin.\u201d\n\nW\u00edsk\u00e4k said: \u201cI and my kin will be birds; we will stay a little while\nin one place and then go to another. We will never harm anybody.\u201d\n\nSome said: \u201cWhen we change, we will go east to where the sun comes up.\u201d\nOthers said: \u201cThis is our country; we will stay around here.\u201d When the\ncouncil was over all the people went home.\n\nDj\u00e1udjau\u2019s daughters were scared. They felt sick, felt that W\u00e1manik was\nkilling them. They told their father to send word to the chief that\nthey would go to him. The old man sent K\u00e9kina to tell W\u00e1manik.\n\nW\u00e1manik laughed, and said: \u201cDidn\u2019t I tell you that I wouldn\u2019t let them\ngo a second time? I don\u2019t want those girls. I am going to kill them;\nthey won\u2019t be persons much longer.\u201d\n\nMidikdak\u2019s daughter was sorry for the sisters. She cried and said to\nthem: \u201cI am afraid W\u00e1manik will kill you. He has killed people in this\nway before. It\u2019s his way.\u201d\n\nWhen K\u00e9kina came back, he said: \u201cW\u00e1manik doesn\u2019t want your daughters.\nHe says that he is going to change them; that they will be people no\nlonger.\u201d\n\nThe girls said: \u201cWe haven\u2019t much longer to live, anyway. We don\u2019t care\nto stay in this world. Even W\u00e1manik won\u2019t live always. He won\u2019t care so\nmuch for his bright skin when he comes to die. He may change his skin\nand look young, but he will have to die.\u201d Then they said to their\nfather: \u201cWe are going away. We will live in the woods and have good\nthings to eat. W\u00e1manik will no longer be a person; he will not have\ngood things to eat. People will abuse him, and he will live under rocks\nand in little stony hills.\u201d\n\nThe girls changed to flying squirrels and went toward the east. As they\nflew, snakes dropped from their mouths and hearts,\u2014the snakes that\nW\u00e1manik had put there. As the snakes fell out, they ran off in every\ndirection, and that is why there are so many snakes now.\n\nWhen the little girl saw her sisters turn into common dj\u00e1udjaus and\nheard their call, she felt sorry for them. She cried, and said: \u201cLet us\ngo with my sisters.\u201d\n\nThe whole family turned to dj\u00e1udjaus and flew away to the woods.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nW\u014eN AND D\u00dbNWA\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    D\u00fbnwa    Stone Woman\n    Tco\u00f3ks   Crane\n    W\u014fn      Elk\n\n\n\nAn old woman and her granddaughter lived together. When the girl was\ngrown, the grandmother urged her to get a husband, but she didn\u2019t want\none. The old woman teased till the girl got mad, struck her with a\nclub, killed her, and said: \u201cNow the crows can eat you!\u201d\n\nThe girl took a basket on her back and started off. The body of the old\nwoman called out: \u201cYou won\u2019t get there!\u201d\n\nThe girl saw a crow carrying off a piece of her grandmother. She felt\nsorry; she thought: \u201cShe used to be my grandmother; now black crows are\neating her.\u201d\n\nWhen the girl got near the place she wanted to go to, the ground grew\nsoft and she sank in it; the old woman made it so.\n\nW\u014fn, the husband of D\u00fbnwa, was on the top of a high mountain. He saw\nthe girl, and said: \u201cShe was coming fast; now she is standing still. I\nwill go and see what the trouble is.\u201d He found that the ground had\ndried up and fastened the girl\u2019s legs down. He thought, \u201cWhat shall I\ndo to help her?\u201d That minute there was a noise like a heavy clap of\nthunder. W\u014fn said to the girl: \u201cThat is my wife. She is mad, but I am\ngoing to get you out of the ground.\u201d\n\nHe ran to a pile of bones that he had on the mountain, took a leg bone\nout of the pile, went back and rubbed the girl\u2019s legs with the bone;\nright away the dirt loosened, and she pulled her legs out.\n\nW\u014fn said: \u201cNow you are my wife. I will have two wives. D\u00fbnwa won\u2019t\ncare. You must be careful what you think. If you talk right out D\u00fbnwa\nwon\u2019t know what you say, but what you think she will know. She is a\ngreat eater; she eats three deer at a time. I am afraid of her. In the\ndaytime she is like a rock with big eyes, but at night she is a\nnice-looking woman.\u201d\n\nD\u00fbnwa knew that her husband and the girl were coming; she kept striking\nrocks and making a terrible noise. When they went into the house, the\nman thought: \u201cThis girl is my wife.\u201d\n\nThe rock woman knew what he thought. She was like a pounding stone, but\nshe could move around and work. She cooked a whole deer for W\u014fn and the\ngirl.\n\nW\u014fn said aloud to the girl: \u201cYou must eat this meat or she will get\nmad.\u201d\n\nThe girl thought: \u201cI can\u2019t eat so much.\u201d\n\nD\u00fbnwa jumped up and down and raised a terrible dust.\n\nThe man said: \u201cI told you not to think anything about this woman.\u201d They\nwere both frightened.\n\nWhen night came, D\u00fbnwa was a woman. The three slept in the house. Just\nat daylight D\u00fbnwa was a rock again. She said to W\u014fn: \u201cTo-night your new\nwife must sleep in the bushes; I will sleep in the house.\u201d\n\nThat night W\u014fn said aloud to the girl: \u201cWill you stay around here, or\nshall we go off to a new place?\u201d\n\nThe girl said: \u201cGet ready; we will go away from here. I am afraid of\nD\u00fbnwa.\u201d\n\nThe next day D\u00fbnwa was busy eating; she didn\u2019t miss W\u014fn till almost\nnight. Then she began to track him. W\u014fn and the girl had got to a big\nriver when they heard her coming a long way off. She was mad; she made\na noise like heavy thunder.\n\nW\u014fn was scared. He asked: \u201cWhat can we do? If she overtakes us she will\nkill us. If we could cross the river, maybe we could get away.\u201d\n\nThere was a house on the other bank of the river, and near it old man\nTco\u00f3ks was fishing.\n\nW\u014fn called out: \u201cUncle, help us across?\u201d\n\nTco\u00f3ks said: \u201cDon\u2019t you see that I have no canoe?\u201d\n\nThe man begged so hard that at last Tco\u00f3ks lay down and stretched one\nof his legs across the river. When W\u014fn and the girl were over, he told\nthem to go into the house; he went back to fish.\n\nD\u00fbnwa came like a great stone ball; she hit rocks and trees. Sometimes\nshe rolled along on the ground, sometimes she flew through the air.\nWhen she got to the river, she called out: \u201cOld man, take me across!\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no canoe. How can I take you across?\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you see my husband?\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t seen any one.\u201d\n\n\u201cHis tracks are here; you put him across. How did you do it?\u201d\n\nD\u00fbnwa scolded and threatened till Tco\u00f3ks stretched his leg across the\nriver. When she came down hard on it, Tco\u00f3ks said: \u201cBe careful, I am\nnot a canoe.\u201d He was mad; he turned his leg and shook her off. She\nsprang on again. He turned his leg a second time, and a second time she\nsprang on. The third time he shook her off she fell where the water was\ndeep. Tco\u00f3ks drew away his leg and she was drowned.\n\nW\u014fn didn\u2019t go back to his old home; he and the girl stayed with Tco\u00f3ks.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWUS AND TSMUK\u2019S DAUGHTER\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas    Eagle\n    I\u00fanika     Dusk or Twilight\n    Kaiutois   Wolf\n    Lok        Bear\n    Pap        Gray Fox (a short name for fox)\n    Tsmuk      Darkness\n    Wus        Fox\n\n\n\nLok and other people lived on a flat where there were wild cherry trees\nand plum trees. Wus was in love with Lok\u2019s daughter. When she went with\nthe other women to get cherries, he turned into a nice-looking young\nman and tried to get near her. Sometimes he braided his hair and put a\nbig feather in it, but Lok\u2019s daughter always knew him, for she could\nsee hair between his toes, no matter how he was dressed. (Wus had toes\nlike a man\u2019s toes, but between the toes were long hairs. He could never\nhide his feet.)\n\nOne day, when Wus had on a blanket and leggings covered with beads and\nporcupine quills, and looked like a rich young man, he tried to talk\nwith Blaiwas\u2019 sister, but she saw his feet and knew he was Wus. When he\ncaught hold of her, she pulled away, and said: \u201cI know you. You are\nWus.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you know that I am Wus?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can see the hair between your toes.\u201d\n\nWus was mad; he left her and went back to the mountain, to Pi\u00e9amtcir,\nwhere he and his mother lived.\n\nWus never bothered Kaiutois\u2019 daughter, for he called Kaiutois brother.\nOne day she said to him: \u201cYou should go away from here. The girls don\u2019t\nlike you; they always see the hair between your toes.\u201d\n\nThat night Wus\u2019 mother said: \u201cIf you don\u2019t stay at home, you will get\ninto trouble with the chief. He doesn\u2019t want you to bother those\ngirls.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want Blaiwas\u2019 sister for a wife,\u201d said Wus.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t think about her,\u201d said his mother. \u201cBlaiwas has given her to a\nman who lives in the lake.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care if he has; I will have her.\u201d\n\nHis mother told him to let the girl alone, but he was so mad he\nwouldn\u2019t listen to her. The next morning he said: \u201cI am going to catch\nBlaiwas\u2019 sister to-day. After I have caught her, I will go to Blaiwas\u2019\nhouse. If he don\u2019t like me, he can throw me out.\u201d\n\nHis mother said: \u201cThat young man has taken her away.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf he hasn\u2019t more power than I have, I will get her,\u201d said Wus.\n\nWhen he came to the flat where the girls were picking cherries, he\nasked: \u201cWhere is Blaiwas\u2019 sister?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe has a man now,\u201d said Kaiutois\u2019 daughter. \u201cShe has gone away with\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is he?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is the youngest of the five K\u00fblta brothers. He lives in the East,\nfar from here.\u201d\n\nThe next day Wus told his mother he was going to travel around to see\npeople, and he started off.\n\nAs Wus traveled, he sang his love song. One day a K\u00fblta girl heard him\nand told her father that some man was coming. \u201cYou must stay in the\nhouse,\u201d said the father. \u201cThat is Wus. He feels badly because my nephew\nhas taken Blaiwas\u2019 sister.\u201d\n\nOld K\u00fblta was fishing. He called to the fish, and said: \u201cI want to feed\nthat young man.\u201d Then he put his basket at the edge of the water, and\nsaid: \u201cCome now, come into my basket!\u201d Right away his basket was full\nof fish. When Wus came to the river, K\u00fblta said: \u201cThis is the first\ntime you have visited me. You feel badly because my nephew has taken\nBlaiwas\u2019 sister away from you.\u201d\n\nWus was mad, but he didn\u2019t say a word.\n\nK\u00fblta said: \u201cWomen have sharp eyes; they can tell if a man is smart.\nThey don\u2019t want to marry a common man.\u201d\n\nWus didn\u2019t speak. He ate a few fish, washed his hands, and started off.\n\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he say good-by?\u201d asked K\u00fblta.\n\n\u201cYou made him mad,\u201d said his daughter. \u201cHe never eats much; he travels\nall the time.\u201d\n\nOn the way home, Wus met Kaiutois\u2019 daughter, and she told him that\nBlaiwas\u2019 daughter had come back to see her father, and K\u00fblta was with\nher.\n\n\u201cWill they go home soon?\u201d asked Wus.\n\n\u201cYes, but you mustn\u2019t harm them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never harm people,\u201d said Wus. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t think that way of me.\u201d\n\nWhen he got home, his mother asked: \u201cWhere have you been?\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cI don\u2019t want you to ask me things all the time. If you\nbother me, I will go off and not come back.\u201d\n\nThe next day Blaiwas\u2019 sister and K\u00fblta started for home. The woman\nwalked, but the man traveled in the lake. Wus watched him. Once, when\nK\u00fblta put his head up out of the water, Wus was right there.\n\n\u201cOh, you scared me!\u201d said K\u00fblta.\n\n\u201cWhy should I scare you?\u201d asked Wus. \u201cI am a living person like\nyourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are in my way,\u201d said K\u00fblta.\n\n\u201cHow can I be in your way? I came here to get a drink.\u201d\n\nK\u00fblta went off under the water; he felt badly, felt lonesome. When the\nwoman came to the bank, he got out of the water and walked along on dry\nland.\n\nK\u00fblta said: \u201cSomebody is coming.\u201d He stubbed his toe and fell; Wus made\nhim. That minute Wus was there. His clothes were covered with beads,\nand he looked nice.\n\nK\u00fblta was afraid; he asked: \u201cWhy do you bother me? I didn\u2019t know that\nyou wanted this woman. I know you; you are Wus.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cI don\u2019t want her. I never saw her before. I am not Wus. Does\nWus look like me? Does he dress in beads? I never saw Wus. My house is\nover there where you have been.\u201d\n\nK\u00fblta didn\u2019t want to talk. He started on, but Wus got ahead and walked\nin front of him.\n\nK\u00fblta said: \u201cYou can have this woman.\u201d\n\nWhen she wasn\u2019t willing to go with Wus, he said to her, \u201cI don\u2019t want\nto give my life for you. You must go with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe will never pay for me; why should I go with him?\u201d asked the woman.\n\nK\u00fblta had a piece of soft, white stone that he could paint with. Wus\nasked for half of it.\n\nK\u00fblta said: \u201cNo, I can\u2019t give it to you; my father told me never to\npart with it. I had rather give you the woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan the paint do anything? Has your father any power? I have power, I\ncan do anything. See, off there is where Blaiwas lives.\u201d\n\nThe woman looked, and right away she turned to a common eagle. As she\nflew off, Wus said: \u201cYou will no longer be a person. You will be a\nbird. The people to come will use your tail feathers to doctor with and\nto wear for an ornament.\u201d Then he said to K\u00fblta: \u201cYou will no longer be\na person. You will be an animal that even a woman can kill. I am Wus; I\ncan do anything.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus got home, he said to his mother: \u201cWhen I travel around, I hear\nTsmuk\u2019s daughter singing. I am going to find out why she always sings\nabout me. She lives off by the great water. Those people always live by\nthe great water. I shall be gone a long time.\u201d\n\nIt took Wus a good many days to make the journey. At last he came to\nthe top of a high mountain, and looking down, he saw Tsmuk\u2019s house.\nTsmuk\u2019s daughter saw him, though she was in the house. She said:\n\u201cMom\u00e1ltciks (Big Eyes) is coming,\u2014the man who is always after some\ngirl.\u201d\n\nDaytime was night for those people. There were people living near\nTsmuk\u2019s house, and when it was growing dark, Wus saw that they were\ngetting ready to dance. He fixed himself up, put blue shells in his\nhair, and put on a blanket covered with nice beads, then he went down\nto the flat.\n\nWhen the people saw him coming, they stopped dancing and asked one\nanother: \u201cWhat strange man is that?\u201d\n\nPap was there. He knew Wus; he was his cousin. Pap asked: \u201cWhy did you\ncome here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI wanted to look around; I got tired of staying at home,\u201d said Wus.\n\nPap said: \u201cThese people will give you one of their young women.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want one. Where is Tsmuk\u2019s house? I came to get his daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat could you do with I\u00fanika?\u201d asked Pap. \u201cYou can see her only a\nlittle while just before dark. No one can see her in the night or in\nthe daytime. That is why she doesn\u2019t get a man. I don\u2019t think you can\ngo into Tsmuk\u2019s house. You must dance with us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat kind of a dance is this?\u201d asked Wus. \u201cWhere is the hair you are\ndancing over?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t that kind of a dance. We dance to stay at home and be\nglad.\u201d (When they had a war dance they danced over a hair out of an\nenemy\u2019s scalp.)\n\nWus danced better than Pap or any of the other men. The people liked\nhim and wanted to give him one of their young women.\n\nPap said: \u201cI\u00fanika won\u2019t have anything to say to you. I have listened to\nher, and she always sings against you. When she gets angry, she can do\nalmost anything. She knows a great many things that we don\u2019t know.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know as much as she does,\u201d said Wus. \u201cMaybe I can\u2019t take her home,\nbut I will try. You must go with me. If we can\u2019t get into the house, we\nwill come back.\u201d\n\nThat night Wus danced better than he had before. Pap\u2019s wife asked:\n\u201cWhat does that young man live on? He hasn\u2019t eaten since he came here.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said Pap; \u201che travels around all the time. No matter\nhow far away a place is, he goes there.\u201d\n\nToward night Wus went off to a green spot, and, looking toward the sun,\nhe saw lots of black spiders in the air. He caught the spiders in his\nmouth and ate them. After he had eaten a great many, he went back to\nPap\u2019s house and said to his cousin: \u201cYou promised to go with me to\nTsmuk\u2019s house.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid to go,\u201d said Pap. \u201cThey may make our eyes dark, so we\ncan\u2019t see in the daytime. I\u00fanika will know you.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you are afraid, I will go alone,\u201d said Wus.\n\n\u201cNo, if you go I will go, too.\u201d\n\nIt was just dark when they got to Tsmuk\u2019s house. Wus made his eyes\nbright and told Pap not to look at him.\n\n\u201cWhat can you do?\u201d asked Pap.\n\nWus turned his body dark blue, and Pap couldn\u2019t see him. \u201cWhere are\nyou?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cI am right here,\u201d said Wus. \u201cNow do you think I can do things? You can\ngo home. I will go into the house. If I get into trouble, I will come\nback to you.\u201d\n\nWus went into Tsmuk\u2019s house and sat down by I\u00fanika. He was as dark as\nshe was. When he touched her she screamed; she knew Wus was there.\n\nWus was scared; he ran out of the house and back to Pap\u2019s.\n\nPap was afraid that old man Tsmuk would blame him, so he left his wife\nand went home with Wus (that is why there are Paps in Oregon; there\nwere none there till that man went home with Wus).\n\nThey didn\u2019t camp on the road; they traveled day and night.\n\nOld woman Wus was glad to see her son. She said: \u201cBlaiwas is angry\nabout his sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy does he blame me?\u201d asked Wus. \u201cI have traveled over a great many\nmountains. I have not been around here. I started long ago. What does\nhe say?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe says that you killed K\u00fblta and his wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not going to stay here,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI am going to travel around.\u201d\n\nAfter that he and Pap wandered from place to place. The old woman\nstayed at home.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFROG STEALS DEER\u2019S BABY\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas      Eagle\n    K\u0101hkaas      Stork\n    K\u00f3we         Frog\n    Lok          Bear\n    Swai\u00e4        Deer\n    Tc\u00edkas       Wren\n    Tc\u00fbskai      Weasel\n    Tokwa        Mole\n    Tsiwididik   Road Runner\n    Tskel        Mink\n    Tusas\u00e1s      Joker (Skunk)\n    W\u00e1manik      Bull Snake\n    Wekwek       Magpie\n\n\n\nSwai\u00e4 and her husband lived at the head of Sprague River, near a flat\nwhere there were many roots. Swai\u00e4 had a baby, which she carried around\nstrapped on a board. One day when she was digging roots, K\u00f3we came\nalong, and said: \u201cLet me take care of your baby; then you can dig\nfaster.\u201d\n\nSwai\u00e4\u2019s husband had told her not to let K\u00f3we touch the baby, but Swai\u00e4\nthought: \u201cI will not go far; I can watch K\u00f3we all the time.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3we took the baby on her back and sat in a spring that was right there\nwhere the mother was digging. After a while Swai\u00e4 said: \u201cYou needn\u2019t\nsit so long in one place; you can walk around a little.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never dig roots. I will stay right here. I am afraid if I move\naround, the baby will cry.\u201d She held the baby all day, and Swai\u00e4 dug a\ngreat many roots.\n\nThat night Swai\u00e4\u2019s husband told her to always keep her eyes on K\u00f3we; if\nshe didn\u2019t they might lose their baby. K\u00f3we might steal it.\n\nThe next day K\u00f3we said: \u201cYou can go as far as you like. You needn\u2019t\nwatch. If the baby cries, I will take him to you.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3we took such good care of the child that Swai\u00e4 began to feel easy, so\nshe went farther and farther. Once in a while she called: \u201cIs the baby\ncrying?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said K\u00f3we, \u201cthe baby is good,\u201d and she began to carry it around.\n\nSwai\u00e4 said: \u201cDon\u2019t go near the spring again. If the baby drank water,\nit might make him sick.\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t go there,\u201d said K\u00f3we. \u201cI will just carry him around till he\ngoes to sleep.\u201d\n\nSwai\u00e4 was off near the hill. K\u00f3we kept going nearer the spring; she was\nwaiting for a chance to steal the baby. At last Swai\u00e4 got so busy\ndigging that she forgot to watch K\u00f3we. Then K\u00f3we ran to the spring,\njumped in, went down under the water, and out of sight.\n\nJust then Swai\u00e4 called, \u201cBring the baby here!\u201d K\u00f3we didn\u2019t answer, and\nSwai\u00e4 ran around calling: \u201cK\u00f3we! K\u00f3we!\u201d She nearly lost her mind; she\ndidn\u2019t know which way she was going.\n\nWhen her husband came, he said: \u201cYou must go one way, and I will go\nanother. We will look everywhere. We will turn to common deer, so that\nwe can look in the brush and among the rocks.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3we traveled a long way, going underground from one spring to another.\nAt last she came to her own place. There were lots of people there.\nK\u00f3we had three babies, but she didn\u2019t care for them; she spent all of\nher time taking care of the baby she had stolen. She hid the child and\nnobody knew that she had it till it began to walk. Then people asked\none another: \u201cWhose child is that?\u201d When they asked K\u00f3we, she said: \u201cIt\nis mine.\u201d They didn\u2019t believe her; some said: \u201cNo, that isn\u2019t your\nchild. Look at your children. They are different; they are not like\nthis boy. Whose child is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is mine,\u201d said K\u00f3we.\n\n\u201cNo, it isn\u2019t,\u201d said one old woman. \u201cYour children look just like you;\nthis one is nice-looking.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is nice-looking because I carry him around all the time,\u201d said\nK\u00f3we.\n\n\u201cTake up one of your own babies and carry it. Let us see if it will\nlook like this one.\u201d\n\nThey talked till K\u00f3we took up one of her children and carried it around\non her back. When she put it down, they said: \u201cIt hasn\u2019t changed a bit.\nWe knew that it wouldn\u2019t. This nice-looking boy is not yours; you stole\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t carry my baby far enough; that is why it didn\u2019t change.\u201d\n\nThey made her carry it again, but it didn\u2019t change. Then they said: \u201cWe\nknow that this boy isn\u2019t yours. If we can find his mother, we will give\nhim back to her.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3we was scared, and she kept the boy out of sight as much as she\ncould. When he began to run about and play, she said to him: \u201cYou must\nnever play with any of the children around here. You must play with\nyour sisters.\u201d\n\nHe thought K\u00f3we\u2019s girls were his sisters. The girls didn\u2019t like him,\nfor their mother was kind to him and she scolded them. When he cried\nshe whipped them; she said that they abused him. Once, when one of the\ngirls was angry at him, she said: \u201cYou are not our brother. Our mother\nisn\u2019t your mother. What makes you call her mother?\u201d\n\nWhen the boy told K\u00f3we what his sister said, she whipped the girl and\nwouldn\u2019t let her play with him again.\n\nOne day, when the boy was playing near the river, he found a mud-hole\nand sat down by it and made balls to throw at birds. That night he said\nto K\u00f3we: \u201cIf I had a bow and arrow, I could shoot birds.\u201d She gave them\nto him, and the next morning he went to the mud-hole and watched for\nbirds. After a while he saw one with long legs,\u2014a Tsiwididik; he shot\nat it and hit it in the leg.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t shoot again!\u201d called out Tsiwididik. \u201cIf you will take the arrow\nout of my leg. I will tell you a story.\u201d\n\nSwai\u00e4 took the arrow out, then Tsiwididik said: \u201cYou think that K\u00f3we is\nyour mother, but she isn\u2019t; she stole you when you were a little baby.\nYour father and mother mourned for you and hunted everywhere for you.\u201d\n\nThe boy began to cry.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t cry,\u201d said Tsiwididik. \u201cGrow fast and get strong. You must stay\nwith K\u00f3we till you are a big boy. If you ever see two deer together,\nyou mustn\u2019t kill them or shoot at them. Maybe they are your father and\nmother. This is all I have to tell you.\u201d\n\nTsiwididik flew away and the boy went home. He could hardly see, his\neyes were so swollen from crying.\n\n\u201cWhat have you been crying about?\u201d asked K\u00f3we.\n\n\u201cI have lost my arrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t cry about that. I can make you all the arrows you want.\u201d\n\nThe next morning, when the boy was going off to play, K\u00f3we said: \u201cYou\nmust not go far, or stay long; I am lonesome when you are gone.\u201d\n\nThe boy didn\u2019t like K\u00f3we now. He felt sorry for his father and mother;\nhe didn\u2019t want to play. He went where the K\u00f3we people were gambling\nwith sticks and watched them. He grew fast. After a while men taught\nhim to gamble; then he wanted to gamble all the time.\n\nK\u00f3we said: \u201cYou should stay at home. It isn\u2019t right to gamble every\nday.\u201d\n\nBut the boy wouldn\u2019t listen to her; he was thinking: \u201cWhen I win\nenough, I will go away from here.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3we sat by and boasted: \u201cYou can\u2019t beat my son; you can\u2019t beat my son!\nHe is the best gambler in the world!\u201d\n\nSoon Swai\u00e4 won all the beads and shells the people had; then he stole\naway in the night, left the K\u00f3we people. While he was going along the\nriver, he saw Tco\u00f3ks. The old man sat by the water trying to catch fish\nwith a flint-pointed spear. Swai\u00e4 shouted to him; called him \u201cUncle.\u201d\nJust as he shouted, a big fish got away from the spear.\n\n\u201cYou are not my nephew,\u201d said Tco\u00f3ks. He was cross, for he had lost the\nfish. He wouldn\u2019t talk with Swai\u00e4; he got up and went off toward the\nhill.\n\nSwai\u00e4 traveled on till he came to the edge of a village, then he turned\nhimself into an old man, and his shells and beads into dirty old\ntrinkets, and sat down by the trail.\n\nNdukis\u2019 daughter saw the old man and right away she knew he was young.\nShe took him home and pounded seeds for him. Her sisters were angry at\nher for bringing such a dirty old man into the house.\n\nHe made a pillow of his pack and lay down. He looked old and wretched.\nThe Ndukis people were nice-looking, and each one of them had a\nduckskin blanket.\n\nAs soon as it was dark in Ndukis\u2019 house, the old man became young and\nbright and beautiful, and his bundle began to shine. The house was full\nof light from Swai\u00e4 and his bundle.\n\nWhen the people heard that the old man had changed, that he was young\nand fine-looking, they came to see him. They asked him to run a race\nwith them. Blaiwas, Tc\u00fbskai, Tskel, Lok, Wekwek, Tokwa, W\u00e1manik,\nTc\u00edkas, K\u0101hkaas, Tusas\u00e1s, were at the race; everybody was there.\n\nWhen Swai\u00e4 began to run, he made himself old. As the runners passed\nhim, they laughed, and called out: \u201cWe can beat you easily! We can beat\nyou easily!\u201d They ran around a hill. The first time around the old man\nwas behind. Then he became a young, fine-looking man and won the race\neach time. He beat Tskel, a great runner, and Lok (whose name was\nK\u012dc\u2014to look far off), for Swai\u00e4 could run faster than eyes could look.\n\nSwai\u00e4 liked the Ndukis people. He stayed with them always.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHOW KALASL\u00c1KKAS WON HIS WIFE\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas                Eagle\n    Kalasl\u00e1kkas\n    Kletcowas              \u201cHe Goes Fast\u201d\n    Kom\u00fachass              Old Age\n    K\u00f3we                   Frog\n    Kts\u00edtco or N\u00e4n\u2019ihlas   Bat\n    Kumal                  Pelican\n    Lem\u00e9is                 Thunder\n    Lok                    Bear\n    Ndukis                 Duck-hawk\n    Peltoquas\n    S\u00fabbas                 Sun\n    Tusas\u00e1s                Joker (Skunk)\n\n\n\nKletcowas and his wife had a daughter and two sons. The mother loved\nher sons but didn\u2019t love her daughter; she abused the girl till at last\nshe made up her mind to go and ask Blaiwas to take care of her. Blaiwas\nwas chief of the village where Kletcowas lived. The girl was so\nbeautiful that Blaiwas put her in a basket and put the basket under the\nground.\n\nAn old woman and her grandson lived in a hut at the edge of the\nvillage. The boy\u2019s name was Kalasl\u00e1kkas. He was a little fellow whose\nfather and mother had been killed.\n\nBlaiwas had a big house and many people lived in it; among them was\nTusas\u00e1s. Tusas\u00e1s went often to see Kalasl\u00e1kkas\u2019 grandmother, for he\nliked to tease the boy. One day he said to him: \u201cIf you will do as I\ntell you, maybe you can get that nice-looking girl that Blaiwas keeps\nin a basket under the ground.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like that,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t say such things\nto my grandson.\u201d Other people scolded him for talking that way to a\nlittle boy.\n\nTusas\u00e1s said: \u201cThe old woman needn\u2019t be so proud of her grandson; he\nisn\u2019t of much account.\u201d\n\nWhen the grandmother told Kts\u00edtco what Tusas\u00e1s had done, he said:\n\u201cDon\u2019t feel badly. If my nephew will do as I tell him, he will get\npower. On a mountain in the East there is an underground swimming\nplace. If Kalasl\u00e1kkas goes there and piles up stones and swims, he will\nget wisdom. He will grow quickly and will get that girl for a wife.\u201d\n\nThe grandmother cried; she didn\u2019t want the boy to go, but old Kts\u00edtco\nsaid to him: \u201cIf you do as I tell you, you will be a young man right\naway. Rub your body with ashes and go.\u201d\n\nThe grandmother felt badly; she thought the boy was too small to go off\nalone, but she rubbed his body with ashes and gave him a rabbit-skin\nblanket. And he started.\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas got to the top of the mountain, he piled up stones;\nthen he went down in a hole where there was water and came out in a\npond that the hole led to. He swam around for a long time; then he lay\non the stones. He went to sleep and dreamed that somebody said: \u201cLook\nat that beautiful woman in the South; would you like her for a wife?\u201d\nWhen he woke up, he was tall and had beautiful long hair.\n\nAs soon as he got home, his grandmother said: \u201cIf you had a dream, you\nmustn\u2019t tell it; keep it in your head. If it was a good dream, you must\nstay out of doors and not talk to any one.\u201d\n\nThe next morning his grandmother said: \u201cNow you must go to Yomaka, a\nswimming pond that is always covered with thick ice. If the pond likes\nthe person who comes to it, it will open a place for him to swim.\u201d\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas took his rabbit-skin blanket and started. When he was\nclimbing the mountain, he heard men singing and gambling. He followed\nthe sound till he came to the swimming place; then he listened and\nheard the singing down under the water and under the ground. That was\nbecause the pond was glad to see him. The ice melted, and there was\nwater for swimming. When the boy went into the water, he heard a great\nnoise, like many men shouting. That was because the pond was glad he\nhad come. He looked down in the water, but he saw only stones.\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas was through swimming, he got out of the water and lay\ndown on the rocks. After a while he fell asleep and he dreamed that he\nsaw a man with a long white feather standing up in his hair and heard\nhim say: \u201cI am the chief of gamblers!\u201d\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas told his grandmother what he had dreamed, she said:\n\u201cThe earth and mountains have taught you many things. You will be a\nstrong man and a great gambler.\u201d Then she told him of another swimming\nplace and said: \u201cWhen you start from here, don\u2019t look back or look\naround; look straight at the mountain. If you don\u2019t feel lazy, you will\nget to the swimming place about dark. When you get there, sit down by\nthe pond and listen; listen till words come to you out of the water.\nSomebody lives there.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy got to the pond, he piled up stones and then sat down to\nlisten. Soon he heard some one in the water say: \u201cWhy do you feel\nlonesome? What do you want me to give you? Don\u2019t wait for somebody to\nput you in; come and swim.\u201d\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas went into the water and began to swim around. Right away he\nfelt something drawing him under. He went down till he came to a\nbeautiful bright house; then he saw that a man was with him. The house\nwas full of all kinds of bright shells. The man opened a skin door, and\nasked: \u201cDo you want to see a beautiful woman?\u201d\n\nAs Kalasl\u00e1kkas looked at the woman, he felt himself going up to the top\nof the water again.\n\nThe man said: \u201cWhen you get to the top, dive five times and then go\nhome.\u201d\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas was near his grandmother\u2019s house, he sat down to rest.\nShe washed herself and went to meet him. She asked: \u201cWas the earth glad\nto see you, and to have you walk on her? Do you think the earth is\nsatisfied with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think the earth is good to me,\u201d said Kalasl\u00e1kkas.\n\n\u201cDo you want to go to another swimming place?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it is right to go around more, I will go,\u201d said the boy.\n\n\u201cThere are more places and you will get strength from them,\u201d said the\nold woman.\n\n\u201cHow shall I do at the next swimming place? One day I wanted to drink\nsome water.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must dive in the pond, and when you are down deep, take five big\nswallows of water. If you see water in any other place, you mustn\u2019t\ntouch it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat if I should choke?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou won\u2019t choke. You must do what I tell you. This earth is my mother;\nshe has given everything for us to eat and drink. She is your\ngrandmother and the sun is your grandfather. You won\u2019t die if you do\nright. If you listen to the earth, the mountains, and the swimming\nplaces, they will teach you what to do when you are a man. They will\nmake you strong, and you will live to be old.\u201d\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas went into the pond, he felt something under him. It\nwas a bear that lived in the water. As soon as he felt it, it was gone.\nHe swam around for a long time, then got out of the water and lay on\nthe rocks. Soon he heard a bird call; the bird belonged to that\nswimming place. It was the strongest bird in the world. Kalasl\u00e1kkas\nfell asleep and dreamed that he heard a bear roar. The roar was like\nheavy thunder, and Kalasl\u00e1kkas was scared. He jumped up and ran home.\n\nHis grandmother pounded seeds and white roots for him to eat; then she\nsaid: \u201cNow you will climb that mountain in the south, and as you go\ndown on the other side, you must pile stones till you come to a lake.\nIf the lake doesn\u2019t like a person to swim in it, great bumps of water\nwill come up on top, as if somebody under the water was angry. If the\nwind blows from the south, it is a sign that you must go in and swim.\u201d\nThe old woman made holes in her grandson\u2019s ears and put little black\nsticks through them and through his nose. When he started off, she put\nher hand over her eyes, looked after him, and talked to the earth.\n\nAs Kalasl\u00e1kkas went toward the mountain, he heard a girl singing and\ndancing, and he said to himself: \u201cI didn\u2019t know that there were people\non this mountain. Some one must be camping here, and that girl is\ndancing her maturity dance.\u201d He was afraid to go along the trail, for\nif she saw him it would spoil all he had done. He turned and followed\nanother trail.\n\nWhen he got to the pond, he went into the water. While he was swimming,\nhe heard a noise like the dragging along of a dry elk-skin. It was made\nby the water against a rock that looked like a man wearing an elk-skin\ncoat. While Kalasl\u00e1kkas listened, the water began to roar and roll, and\nthere was a great noise. He was afraid, but he said: \u201cI must do as my\ngrandmother told me. I mustn\u2019t give up.\u201d\n\nThen he saw a mass of long black hair floating toward him. He followed\nthe hair till he came to a second rock standing up in the lake like a\nbig man wearing an elk-skin coat. Then he came to a third and a fourth.\nThe fifth was lying down in the water near the bank, and his coat was\njust behind him. Those were the five Peltoquas brothers who had been\nturned to stone by Kom\u00fachass. The fifth and youngest brother had just\nthrown off his coat when Kom\u00fachass overtook him.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas came out of the water and lay down on a rock. He fell\nasleep and dreamed that a man with long black hair came to him, and\nsaid: \u201cI was a man once; I was a strong man, nobody ever beat me at\ngambling.\u201d When Kalasl\u00e1kkas woke up, the waves were washing over him.\n\nThe old woman steamed and bathed herself, and watched for her grandson\nto come. When he came, he was a young man; she hardly knew him. She\ngave him pounded seeds to eat and went with him to a place where she\nhad a fire and hot stones. After he had steamed and sweated, she put\nred sticks in his ears and nose, and said: \u201cThis is the last time you\nwill go to the mountains. You are working for yourself and for the\nearth; you must be glad to do the work,\u201d and she told him where to go.\n\nWhen he started she spoke to the earth, screamed out, as if calling to\nsomebody, said: \u201cYou know my grandchild. He walks on you every day. He\nwants to be strong. I am not selfish, I give my grandson to you; you\nmust teach him.\u201d She talked to the mountains, to the trees, to the\nrocks, and to everything, said: \u201cYou know my grandson. He wants to\nlearn from you.\u201d\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas got to the mountain, he piled up stones till they\nstood around the swimming place like people. He went back and forth at\nwork till after dark; then he sat down by the pond. He saw stars way\ndown in the water and he thought: \u201cPeople are under there with\ntorches.\u201d\n\nIn that pond were five Kai brothers turned to rock; each rock was like\na tall man. When those brothers lived they were great gamblers.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas went into the water and rubbed against each one of the five\nrocks; then he came out and lay down to sleep. In his dream he saw the\nbrothers; they were dressed in buckskin. Each one had a long feather in\nhis hair and a gambling plate in his hands. The eldest said to him: \u201cIf\nyou want to be our brother, and be like us, we will give you what we\nhave.\u201d He thought they threw him a long feather and a gambling plate.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas woke up and went home. His grandmother made a sweat-house\nand heated rocks, and he bathed and sweated, then she dressed him. He\nwas tall and beautiful; she told him he must not touch food for five\ndays. \u201cYou must give yourself to the earth,\u201d said she. \u201cIf you do, you\nwill live long in this world; but if you eat meat or fish now, you will\ndie soon. You must remember Tusas\u00e1s and try to be strong.\u201d\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas had forgotten Tusas\u00e1s.\n\nTusas\u00e1s came again to the grandmother\u2019s house, which was dirty and old\nin the daytime, but beautiful at night. When he saw Kalasl\u00e1kkas, he\nsaid: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t travel over the mountains and try to grow up just to\nget a woman!\u201d and he laughed.\n\nThe grandmother said: \u201cYou think you can do what my grandson has done.\nYou never can. You think you can do everything. You can do nothing but\ntalk and boast, you will always be called Tusas\u00e1s.\u201d\n\nOld man Kletcowas and his sons used to gamble with the chief and his\npeople. Sometimes, when gambling, Blaiwas would have the basket taken\nout of the ground and Kletcowas\u2019 daughter put on a gambling plate where\nhe could see her.\n\nBlaiwas and his people gambled with Kletcowas and his sons and old\nKumal till they had nothing left, were naked. All their blankets and\nskins were gone, and they had only grass to wrap around themselves at\nnight. Then Blaiwas told Ndukis to go and ask the old woman\u2019s grandson\nto come and gamble for him.\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas\u2019 grandmother told him that his kinfolks wanted him to\nplay for them, she said: \u201cYour uncle is naked. He has lost everything.\u201d\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas thought in his heart: \u201cWhy does Blaiwas send for me now? He\nhas never taken any notice of me. I didn\u2019t know he was my uncle.\u201d\n\nHis grandmother asked: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you speak out, not think all the\ntime? You must tell me if you will go.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is Tusas\u00e1s?\u201d asked the young man. \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t he play for\nBlaiwas\u2019 people? I won\u2019t go there.\u201d\n\nThe next day Blaiwas\u2019 people and old Kumal and his friends began to\nquarrel. The old woman fixed up her house tight, with her grandson\ninside; she didn\u2019t want him to see the fight. After a while they made\nup, stopped fighting, and began to gamble. Ndukis came to the old\nwoman\u2019s, and said to the young man: \u201cYour uncle has a bead shirt, made\nwhen he was a young man; he will give it to you if you will come and\ngamble for him.\u201d\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas didn\u2019t speak. His grandmother said: \u201cYou must say whether\nyou will go or not. How do you feel?\u201d\n\nHe didn\u2019t speak. Ndukis went back and told Blaiwas that the young man\nwouldn\u2019t come.\n\n\u201cWhat ails him?\u201d asked Tusas\u00e1s. \u201cIs he proud? Does he think that he is\nchief? I will go and bring him here by the hair.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas scolded Tusas\u00e1s, told him to stop talking.\n\nNdukis said: \u201cWhat is the use in sending me all the time? Kalasl\u00e1kkas\nwon\u2019t come and he won\u2019t speak to me. You chiefs speak right out and\ntalk, but he won\u2019t. He isn\u2019t willing to talk to everybody. You must go\nto him.\u201d\n\nThe next day Blaiwas went to the young man and said: \u201cMy nephew, I have\nlost everything; will you come and play for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen I was small,\u201d said Kalasl\u00e1kkas, \u201cyou never looked after me or\nwere sorry for me. You didn\u2019t call me nephew. It is no use for you to\ntry and hire me now; but I will go and play.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas said to the grandmother: \u201cKalasl\u00e1kkas is going to play for me\nto-morrow. Give him a nice feather and a shirt.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the young man, \u201cmy body will do as well naked as dressed. I\nwill go as I am. But you must make an opening in the ground where the\nmen are sitting; I won\u2019t go in by the smoke hole.\u201d\n\nWhen the people saw Kalasl\u00e1kkas, they began to talk and whisper and to\nask one another where such a beautiful young man came from.\n\nTusas\u00e1s said to the old woman: \u201cYour grandson wouldn\u2019t come in at the\nsmoke hole; he thinks that he is the biggest chief in the world, that\nhe is made out of something nice. He has a body just like mine; he\nneedn\u2019t be so proud.\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep still!\u201d said the old woman, and she told Blaiwas that Tusas\u00e1s was\nabusing her grandson.\n\n\u201cGo and help the women cook meat,\u201d said Blaiwas.\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t do it,\u201d said Tusas\u00e1s; \u201cI wouldn\u2019t do it if Lem\u00e9is or S\u00fabbas\ntold me to.\u201d\n\n\u201cThrow him out!\u201d cried Blaiwas.\n\nMen took hold of Tusas\u00e1s by his thick hair and pulled him out of the\nhouse. His hair was as long as he was himself. It was all of the same\nlength; not one hair was sticking up. It was black and glossy and stood\nout around him.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas won the first game. Kumal was frightened; he said: \u201cSome\ngreat gambler has come; maybe we shall get beaten.\u201d\n\nTusas\u00e1s put his mouth against a crack, and called out: \u201cThat game\nwasn\u2019t hard to win; I could have won it myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo and bring water for the women,\u201d screamed Blaiwas. \u201cKeep away from\nhere!\u201d\n\nThe women pounded Tusas\u00e1s, pulled him away and told him not to make\nKalasl\u00e1kkas mad.\n\nThe young man began to sing the song he had heard the gamblers sing at\nthe swimming place. The song made every one happy. It sounded like many\npersons singing. It was beautiful, but nobody could learn it. Blaiwas\nhad the girl brought on a gambling plate and put down with her face\nturned to the wall. When she looked over her shoulder at the gamblers,\nshe saw Kalasl\u00e1kkas and looked at him so long that her eyes ached.\n\nBefore midday he had won back half of all Blaiwas and his men had lost.\nWhen they stopped to rest, he said: \u201cNo one on either side can eat meat\nor fish till we are through gambling.\u201d\n\nWhile the gamblers were resting, the young man went home. His\ngrandmother said: \u201cTake some good smelling leaves and put in your nose,\nso you won\u2019t smell what the women are cooking, for it isn\u2019t long since\nyou were at the swimming places and traveling on the mountains. Every\nmorning, while you are gambling, you must go, before the sun is up, and\nswim in the lake.\u201d\n\nWhen they began to gamble again, Ndukis said to the chief: \u201cYou should\ndrive Tusas\u00e1s away. If he makes Kalasl\u00e1kkas mad, we shall be naked\nagain. You don\u2019t know what kind of a man he is. He has been to all the\nswimming places on the mountains.\u201d\n\nThey gambled all night. Kalasl\u00e1kkas won every game. The next day he\nsaid to Blaiwas: \u201cMy swimming place said that just before midday you\nmust say to me: \u2018Now be strong. Be like the chief of gamblers\u2019!\u201d\n\nAt midday the chief said: \u201cMy nephew, you must be strong; you must be\nlike the chief of gamblers at the swimming place.\u201d\n\nThose words frightened Kumal\u2019s people. Tusas\u00e1s looked through an\nopening, and called out: \u201cHe can\u2019t do more than I can!\u201d Men ran after\nhim, drove him away, and said: \u201cYou will lose your life if you meddle\nwith that man. His grandmother can do anything.\u201d\n\nAt dark they stopped playing. Kumal\u2019s people were naked; they had lost\neverything they had.\n\nOld Kletcowas and his five sons were ashamed. The eldest said: \u201cI don\u2019t\nwant any one to have our nice things; we will bet our sister. If\nKalasl\u00e1kkas wins her, we will get everything back.\u201d\n\nThe old man said: \u201cThat is what our girls are for;\u201d then he said to\nBlaiwas: \u201cI want that young man to play for my daughter. If he wins her\nhe can have her for a wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you play for the girl?\u201d asked Blaiwas.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas didn\u2019t speak; he hung down his head. He was ashamed.\nBlaiwas asked him a second time. He didn\u2019t answer. Then Blaiwas asked\nfor the last time: \u201cWell, what will you do?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will play for her,\u201d said the young man, \u201cbut if I win I will stop\nplaying; I will never gamble again.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you win her, I shall be glad,\u201d said his grandmother. \u201cMy body is\nworn out; she will take care of me.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow many games must I play to get her?\u201d asked Kalasl\u00e1kkas.\n\n\u201cYou must win ten games from us,\u201d said old Kletcowas.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas played the ten games and won the girl.\n\nTusas\u00e1s said: \u201cI could have won the girl long ago, if they had let me\nplay.\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep still,\u201d said D\u00faduois, \u201cor you will no longer be a living person.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet him say all he wants to,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cThis earth will\npunish him. This earth hears every word he says, and when a man says\nbad things, she throws them back to him.\u201d\n\nThe next day Tusas\u00e1s was sick. He begged of Blaiwas not to let him die.\n\u201cI have no power to save you,\u201d said Blaiwas.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas gave old man Kletcowas and his sons all the things he had\nwon from them, and they went home. He took the girl to his\ngrandmother\u2019s house; she was his wife.\n\nThe next day Kalasl\u00e1kkas went with Blaiwas and his people to hunt deer.\n\u201cCan you call deer to the mountains?\u201d asked Kalasl\u00e1kkas.\n\n\u201cThere is no way to call them,\u201d said Blaiwas.\n\n\u201cI will call them,\u201d said the young man. He tied his hair up in a bunch\non the top of his head, then he whistled like an elk.\n\nDown where the elks were they talked to one another. Kalasl\u00e1kkas heard\nthem ask: \u201cAre any of our people gone? Somebody, our brother or sister,\nis calling us. We must go and see who it is.\u201d\n\nAll the elks went in a crowd toward the place where they heard the\nwhistle; when they saw Kalasl\u00e1kkas they ran off. As the last one was\ngetting out of sight, the young man shot at him and killed the whole\nline; only two were left.\n\nAll night Blaiwas\u2019 people were cutting up meat. In the morning,\nKalasl\u00e1kkas told his wife to carry some deer meat to her father and\nbrothers. When the youngest brother saw his sister coming with\nsomething on her back, he called out: \u201cOur sister is coming!\u201d\n\nThe brothers were glad, and the father said: \u201cThat is what daughters\nand sisters are for, to feed us from whatever family they marry into.\u201d\n\nThey got ready and went back with her. When the old man saw the meat\nand skins, he said: \u201cMy son-in-law is the strongest man in the world,\u201d\nand he began to boast.\n\nBlaiwas\u2019 people made elk-skin coats, then they made sharp arrows to see\nwhich man could send an arrow through the skins. Soon they got mad at\none another and began to fight.\n\nNow Kalasl\u00e1kkas\u2019 wife had a little boy. The father, to keep awake five\ndays and five nights, went off to the mountains to roam around. When\nthe grandmother came, she asked: \u201cIs the baby a boy or a girl?\u201d\n\n\u201cA boy,\u201d said the mother.\n\n\u201cOh, my poor grandson,\u201d cried the old woman, \u201che will lose his life.\nFor a girl, it is right to go to the mountains, but for a boy he should\nhave stayed here. What mountain did he go to?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Sl\u00e1ptcatcak.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, my grandson, my poor grandson,\u201d cried the old woman, \u201che is lost.\u201d\n\nThat night the mother shut her eyes and nodded; she thought some one\nsaid to her: \u201cLook this way.\u201d She looked and saw men in elk-skin coats\nfighting, and the man who talked to her said: \u201cThis will grow and grow.\nHereafter people will always fight.\u201d When she woke up, she cried:\n\u201cGrandmother, I couldn\u2019t keep awake; I nodded and dreamed,\u201d and she\ntold the dream.\n\n\u201cYou have brought great misfortune on your people,\u201d said the old woman.\n\nThe mother couldn\u2019t help closing her eyes again. This time she saw the\nelk-skin coats lying piled up; their wearers were dead.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas walked around the swimming place on the mountain; he piled\nup stones and then sat down to rest. He couldn\u2019t keep his eyes open; he\nfell asleep and dreamed that the great bear of the swimming place was\nangry with him, and said: \u201cIf your child had been a girl, you could\nhave come here, but it is wrong to come here when a boy is born.\u201d The\nbear roared at him terribly, then the young man saw his grandmother\nthere by him. The bear sprang at her and tore her to pieces.\n\nWhen Kalasl\u00e1kkas woke up, he knew that he had done wrong. He sat on the\nmountain all day, afraid to go anywhere. He thought: \u201cMy grandmother\ntold me that whenever I dreamed of my kin it meant me.\u201d Toward dark he\ngot up and started for home; when he got to the house, he found his\nwife and grandmother crying.\n\nThe grandmother said: \u201cI am sorry that I raised you and tried to teach\nyou our laws. It was wrong for you to go to the mountain without asking\nme. I have been long in this world. You will die soon unless the child\ndies. If he dies he will take the dream back. You must build a fire on\ntop of the mountain and talk to the mountain, tell it everything, tell\nit how sorry you are. If you make a big fire in the evening and it\nburns bright and fast, it is a sign that your dream will soon come to\npass. But if you have to work a long time to get the fire lighted, it\nis a sign that the drill delays the dream, and the earth wants you to\nlive a little longer.\u201d\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas took his drill out of his quiver and started. At sundown he\ngot to the top of the mountain and began to build a fire. The drill\nworked hard and the fire was long in kindling. Then he said to the\nmountain: \u201cMy mountain where I traveled when I was a boy, be good to\nme. Fire, you can burn up everything; I want you to burn up my dream\nand my wife\u2019s dream. My earth and wind, I want you to let me live a\nlittle longer.\u201d He talked to everything, talked a long time. Then he\nstarted for home. He had gone to the mountain slowly, for he was sorry\nto die, but he went home quickly, for he felt stronger.\n\nBlaiwas and his people had moved away, scattered to different places.\nKalasl\u00e1kkas camped by a spring. \u201cWho owns this spring?\u201d asked he. \u201cThe\none who made it,\u201d said his grandmother. \u201cOld K\u00f3we lives way down under\nthe water; she is in every spring in the world. She is our grandmother.\nIf she gets mad at anybody, she can dry up the deepest water.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are many roots around here,\u201d said Kalasl\u00e1kkas; \u201cwe had better\nstay and dig them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid here,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cNobody can stop a dream. This\nis a dangerous place.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat can I do?\u201d asked the young man. \u201cWe must have something to eat.\u201d\nHe went to a small lake, not far away, to hunt for duck eggs. He found\nall he could carry.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t go on the south side of the lake,\u201d said his grandmother; \u201cthat\nis the side that Lok always comes on.\u201d\n\nThat day Kalasl\u00e1kkas\u2019 wife broke her digging stick. Kalasl\u00e1kkas said:\n\u201cI will go to the mountain and get you another.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou mustn\u2019t go,\u201d said his grandmother, \u201cI will go.\u201d\n\nBut the young man went. His wife and grandmother cried: they were\nafraid. He went to the top of the mountain, where there were large pine\ntrees. He cut two long sticks, then started for home. There were trees\nand brush on the side of the mountain. As Kalasl\u00e1kkas was coming out of\na clump of brush, he heard something following him. He looked and saw a\ngreat bear right there near him. He ran to a tree, caught hold of a\nlimb, and was pulling himself up, but the bear sprang at him, pulled\nhim down, and tore him to pieces.\n\nWhen he didn\u2019t come home, the grandmother knew that the dream had come\nto pass. As soon as it was daylight, they tracked him to the tree where\nhe cut the digging sticks. Not far away the old woman saw crows and she\nscreamed: \u201cThere is where my grandson is!\u201d They found only bones. The\nold woman said to the bones, \u201cYou see what this earth can do when she\ngets mad with us. She has large eyes, she can always see us. You didn\u2019t\ndo as I told you.\u201d\n\nThey gathered up the bones and put them in their basket. As they went\ndown the mountain, they built fires to let old Kletcowas know that they\nwere in trouble.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas couldn\u2019t be brought to life while his child lived. The\nmother wanted to have the child killed, but Blaiwas said: \u201cHe is too\nold to kill.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy heard people talk about killing him, he laughed, and said:\n\u201cDo you think my father would come to life if I died? No, he will never\ncome to life. I will not die, but I will turn to something else, and I\nwill live on the mountains. I killed my father and I shall kill many\npeople. My life will last always in this world.\u201d\n\nRight away he lost his mind and went off to the mountains. Every\nevening he ran around the place where his grandmother lived and called\nout to her, but he wouldn\u2019t go into the house.\n\nKalasl\u00e1kkas\u2019 son is on the mountains yet, a little person, so small\nthat he can scarcely be seen, but he often appears to doctors. He can\nthrow an arrow into a person\u2019s body. The arrow is so small that a man\ncannot see it, but it hits his life and kills him.\n\nIf Kalasl\u00e1kkas\u2019 son meets a man, he turns him to a bird or a creeping\nthing.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SLO\u00c4 BROTHERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas     Eagle\n    G\u00e4k         Crow\n    K\u00e9is        Rattlesnake\n    Slo\u00e4        Wildcat\n    Tskel       Mink\n    W\u00e1manik     Bull Snake\n    W\u00fblk\u00fbtska   Marten\n\n\n\nFive Slo\u00e4 brothers and their two sisters lived together. All the\nbrothers were married, except the youngest. That one was beautiful; he\nhad long blue hair, and his face was white and bright. His father and\nmother kept him in a basket under the ground. Every night his mother\nbrought him out, washed his face, combed his hair, and gave him nice\nthings to eat; then put him back before his brothers and sisters were\nawake.\n\nThe sisters hadn\u2019t seen him since he was a little baby, but the elder\nsister liked him so well that she wouldn\u2019t marry anybody else. Each\nnight she lay on the ground near the hole where his basket was. The\neldest brother didn\u2019t like that. He said: \u201cOur sister has no sense. She\nacts as if she were no kin of ours.\u201d\n\nThere were many people in the Slo\u00e4 village. One day all those people\nwent off to hunt deer. When they came together to roast meat, W\u00fblk\u00fbtska\nsaid to Blaiwas: \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t your son marry Slo\u00e4\u2019s sister?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy son isn\u2019t old enough yet; he hasn\u2019t much sense. She is a\nnice-looking girl; you should marry her yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will try,\u201d said W\u00fblk\u00fbtska. He told old man Yauk\u00fbl to ask Slo\u00e4\u2019s\nmother if he could have her daughter.\n\nThat evening Yauk\u00fbl said to old woman Slo\u00e4: \u201cYou must be tired of\nkeeping your daughter after she is old enough to marry. The chief\u2019s\nyoungest brother wants her. He will give you nice things for her.\u201d\n\nThe old woman told her daughter that Yauk\u00fbl said W\u00fblk\u00fbtska wanted her.\nHer father said: \u201cYou are growing old; the chief\u2019s son is a\nnice-looking young man; you should marry him.\u201d\n\nThe girl was mad; she said to her mother: \u201cIf you want him in the\nhouse, you can marry him yourself; I don\u2019t want him.\u201d The girl was\ncross. She wanted to make everybody do as she liked.\n\nThe next morning, after the brothers had started off to hunt, and the\nsisters had gone to swim in the river, the father and mother took their\nyoungest son out of the basket to bathe him and give him roots to eat.\n\nHe said: \u201cMy sister uncovers my basket and talks to me. I want you to\nhide me in some other place.\u201d\n\nOut in the ocean there was a little island as big as a house; the\neldest brother made a place there to keep his blue-haired brother.\nWhile he was making the place nice, he pretended to be off hunting;\nwhen it was finished, he carried his brother there and hid him under\nthe ground. One day, when he took roots to the island, his little\nsister went with him to watch that her older sister didn\u2019t follow them.\nThey went home after dark, for they didn\u2019t want their sister to see\nwhich way they came.\n\nThe elder sister spent all of her time out of doors, swimming and\ngathering wood. The third time the brother went to the island, he left\nhis little sister there to take care of her brother and keep the elder\nsister away.\n\nFor five days the sister hunted for her brother. She hunted\neverywhere,\u2014over the mountains, under the rocks, and out on the flats.\nThen she said: \u201cI wonder where my little sister has gone. If I find\nher, maybe I will find my brother, too.\u201d\n\nWhen she asked her mother, the old woman said: \u201cYour sister is in the\nsouth, with your brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy did you stop bathing my brother and why have you carried him\naway?\u201d asked the girl. \u201cSome day I will kill you all.\u201d\n\nWhen she had hunted everywhere else, she went to the island and there\nshe found tracks, then she knew that her brother and sister were\nsomewhere on the island. She pulled up the tula grass and looked under\neach blade of it, but she couldn\u2019t find them.\n\nWhen the little girl saw her sister coming straight toward the island,\nshe took a spear of tula grass and scraped it out with her finger nail,\nmade it like a canoe; then she put her brother in it and they went\nunder the water, went home.\n\nWhen the elder sister couldn\u2019t find them, she knew that they had seen\nher and had gone away. That made her mad. She said: \u201cWe will see who is\nthe most powerful!\u201d When she got back to dry land, she lay down, and\nrolled over and over on the sand, and cried \u201cWah-ha-ha! Wah-ha-ha!\u201d\nThen she sat up on her knees and began to travel fast; all the time\ncalling out \u201cWah-ha-ha.\u201d Right where she had rolled and along the trail\nshe traveled, fire roared and blazed up to the sky. She went around the\nvillage where her father and mother lived and each minute she called:\n\u201cWah-ha-ha! Wah-ha-ha!\u201d\n\nThe whole place began to burn. The people were terribly scared. G\u00e4k\nturned to a crow and flew up to the sky; Blaiwas became an eagle;\nWitk\u00e1tkis turned himself to a hawk and flew away. Tskel and W\u00e1manik and\nK\u00e9is and their kin went deep under the ground and were saved. All the\nother people, and the girl\u2019s own family, except her little sister, were\nburned up.\n\nThe little girl was like her sister; she was powerful, could do\nanything she wanted to, and she got outside the ring of fire.\n\nThe elder sister took her brothers\u2019 hearts, put them on a string and\ntied the string around her neck; then she swam back to the island. She\nwas glad now.\n\nThe little sister wandered around and cried, she felt so lonesome. At\nlast she stopped crying and began to watch her sister when she swam in\nthe lake. The sister would call in different ways, sometimes like a\nduck or a water bird, sometimes like an animal, but she always looked\nlike a woman. Once, when she had been all day swimming and dancing in\nthe water, she went to the island and right away fell asleep. The\nlittle sister made her sleep.\n\nThen the girl took a spear of tula grass, changed it into a canoe, and\nwent to the island; she cut the string of hearts from her sister\u2019s neck\nand put it in her bosom: then she cut her sister\u2019s head off and went\nback to land.\n\nThe head went back to the body, and the young woman was alive again.\nShe made a mournful noise, like an animal crying.\n\nThe little sister heard her, and said: \u201cCry all you want to; you can\u2019t\nkill me!\u201d She took up a handful of ashes, threw them toward the island,\nand said: \u201cYou can never burn people up again. You will always live in\nthe water. When the coming people taste of you, they will say: \u2018This\nmeat doesn\u2019t taste good,\u2019 and they will spit it out.\u201d\n\nThe young woman heard what her sister said. She was mad; she made a\nmotion up and down with her hands; they were turning to wings. Right\naway she became a large, spotted sea bird and swam off on the lake.\n\nThe little sister got dry grass from the mountain and spread it down on\nthe ground where each house had been. In one day there were as many\nhouses as there had been before the fire. She gathered all the bones\nshe could find and put them in a basket of boiling water; then she said\nto herself: \u201cI mustn\u2019t get up when they call me. No matter what they\nsay, I must lie still and not answer.\u201d She rolled herself up tight in a\nmat and lay down.\n\nAt sunset the people began to come out of the basket. Each person went\nto his own house and soon the houses were full again. The five brothers\ncame back to life. Their father was the last one to get out of the\nbasket; he stepped on the little girl\u2019s feet, and then she got up. Her\nbrothers and father and mother were lying by the fire. She saw smoke\ncoming out of all the houses and knew that everybody was alive. Then\nshe was glad, and all the people were glad.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCOLTZ AND WUS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Coltz   Porcupine\n    W\u014fn     Elk\n    Wus     Fox\n\n\n\nColtz started to travel. On his journey he came to a deep river; he\nfollowed it up, and then followed it down, but couldn\u2019t find a crossing\nplace. Then he sat down on the bank, and looking at the water, wondered\nwhat made it so deep. He sat there three days, then some of the W\u014fn\npeople came to the river to cross. One of them, an old man, traveled\nslower than the others. He waited, and when the rest had crossed, he\nsaid to Coltz: \u201cWhy do you sit there looking at the water? Why don\u2019t\nyou cross?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d said Coltz.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you swim, as we do?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe water is deep. I feel scared.\u201d\n\n\u201cGet on my back,\u201d said W\u014fn, \u201cI will take you over.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid that I would get washed off.\u201d\n\n\u201cSit behind my head.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou might turn your head around and drop me off.\u201d\n\n\u201cCreep into my ear.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou might shake your head, and I would fall out.\u201d\n\n\u201cTake hold of my neck and hang on tight.\u201d\n\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t hold on long enough; I should get tired and drop off. Then\nI would get drowned.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to leave you here looking at the water. It makes me feel\nsorry. You must come. Hurry, now, my people have left me; they are far\noff by this time. Creep into my mouth; I won\u2019t chew you.\u201d\n\nColtz crept in, then went down and sat right by W\u014fn\u2019s heart.\n\nWhen W\u014fn got across the river, he felt sharp things sticking into his\nheart; he forgot that he had let Coltz creep into his mouth. The sharp\nthings hurt worse and worse. He lay down on the ground and died.\n\nColtz crept out of W\u014fn\u2019s mouth and went to hunt for a piece of sharp\nrock (obsidian) to cut up the body. As he hunted, he talked to himself,\nsaid: \u201cI wish I could find something to skin W\u014fn with. I\u2019ve nothing to\nscrape my arrows on.\u201d He said different things, so if any one heard\nhim, they wouldn\u2019t know what he was talking about.\n\nWus was near by; he heard Coltz talking and he listened. He thought: \u201cI\nwonder what that old man is saying.\u201d He waited, heard Coltz say the\nsame words again, then he said: \u201cHach! hach! hach!\u201d and ran a little\nnearer. He heard the same words a third time, then he scratched his\nhead and thought hard. \u201cI believe that old man has killed an elk,\u201d said\nhe. Then he called out: \u201cHach! hach! hach!\u201d ran right up in front of\nColtz, and asked: \u201cOld man, what did you say?\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t say anything; I\u2019m hunting for a stone to sharpen my arrows\nwith.\u201d\n\nColtz was terribly scared.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Wus, \u201cyou said you had nothing to skin W\u014fn with. I\u2019ll lend\nyou my knife, if you will tell me where your elk is.\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t any elk. I was just talking to myself, and making believe I\nhad one.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have killed an elk. Tell me where it is, and I\u2019ll help you cut it\nup. You are an old man, but I am young; I will skin the elk for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t any elk. How could I kill a big elk? I have no bow or\narrows.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are wise,\u201d said Wus. \u201cYou have power; you can do anything. You are\na big man.\u201d\n\nColtz began to feel proud. At last he said: \u201cCome and see what a big\nelk I have killed.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus saw the elk, he said: \u201cNow, Coltz, let\u2019s play a game. We\u2019ll\nrun and try to jump over the elk. The one that jumps best and farthest\nwill have him.\u201d Wus had made Coltz think he could do anything.\n\n\u201cHow far shall we jump?\u201d asked Coltz.\n\n\u201cNot far,\u201d said Wus.\n\nColtz said \u201cChi! Chi! Chi!\u201d and ran. He jumped and fell on top of the\nelk. Wus tried; he hit the elk and fell back. (He was fooling Coltz.)\n\nWus said: \u201cWe\u2019ll try again; I\u2019m sure you will beat.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is mine, anyhow,\u201d said Coltz.\n\nWus ran first, hit the elk, and fell back. Coltz landed on top of the\nelk.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll beat,\u201d said Wus.\n\n\u201cWhat will you bet?\u201d asked Coltz.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll bet my knife; then the elk and knife will be yours, and you will\nhave something to skin the elk with.\u201d\n\nColtz was glad. He wanted the knife. \u201cThis is the last time,\u201d said Wus.\n\u201cIf neither of us get over, we will divide.\u201d\n\nWus ran hard this time, jumped, and went over. Coltz came down on the\nelk. \u201cThe elk is mine!\u201d said Wus.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s try again,\u201d said Coltz. Wus jumped over six times, then he said:\n\u201cI am through jumping. The elk is mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t you give me a piece?\u201d asked Coltz. \u201cGive me the heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo away,\u201d said Wus. \u201cIf you make me mad, I\u2019ll kill you. This is my\nelk. I want it all.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive me a little piece of the fat,\u201d begged Coltz.\n\nWus drove him away, but he came back. Wus jumped on him, took a stone\nand pounded him till he thought he was dead. Then he divided the meat,\nsaid: \u201cThis is for my mother; this is for my children; this is for\nmyself.\u201d\n\nColtz began to move. Wus jumped on him and pounded him till he was\ndead. He made a great pack of some of the meat, and when he was ready\nto put it on his back, he took off his cap (it was full of holes, like\na little round sieve), put it down by the elk, and said: \u201cMy cap, if\nColtz moves, shout for me.\u201d He put the load on his back and started.\n\nColtz moved a little. Cap called out: \u201cHe\u2019s alive! He\u2019s alive!\u201d Wus\nwent back, pounded Coltz, smashed him all up. Then he said: \u201cMy cap,\nshout if Coltz moves!\u201d He put the pack on and started again.\n\nCap called: \u201cHe\u2019s moving! He\u2019s alive!\u201d Wus dropped his pack, ran back,\nand smashed Coltz up again. But he hadn\u2019t gone far when Cap called:\n\u201cHe\u2019s alive!\u201d\n\nWus was mad. He said: \u201cI wonder what kind of old man that is. Why can\u2019t\nhe die?\u201d He pounded him a long time, broke him all up, then he threw\nthe pieces away. \u201cHe is dead now!\u201d thought Wus, and he ran off as fast\nas he could, got beyond the mountain. Coltz came to life, but he didn\u2019t\nmove for a long time: he was watching Cap.\n\nAt last he said: \u201cI\u2019ll kill you, old Cap.\u201d He sprang at it, and before\nCap could shout, he tore it to pieces, and said: \u201cI never heard a cap\ntalk before. This kind of person has no mind. You\u2019ll never talk again,\nyou\u2019ll never be alive again!\u201d\n\nWhen Wus got home, he fed his children. They were glad to eat meat;\nthey were almost starved. Then he said to his mother: \u201cYou must get up\nearly in the morning and help me pack all the meat home. We will dry\nit. There will be lots to eat.\u201d\n\nWhen Cap was dead, Coltz carried to the top of a high tree, all the\nmeat Wus had left; he built a fire, and began cooking.\n\nWhen Wus and his mother and children came, the meat was gone. Wus\ntracked Coltz to the tree; he called him \u201cbrother,\u201d and teased him to\ngive him some of the meat. At last he said: \u201cBrother, drop us down just\na little piece. We are hungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cStand in a row and shut your eyes,\u201d said Coltz. \u201cI\u2019ll throw you a\npiece.\u201d When they were in a row, he threw down the backbone of the elk\nand killed Wus and his children and his mother.\n\nThen Coltz said to Wus: \u201cAs long as this world stands, you will live by\nstealing.\u201d Wus\u2019 spirit answered: \u201cHereafter you will not be a person.\nYou will never have an easy time again; you will live on grass and not\nkill game.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BAD BROTHER\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas     Eagle\n    D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts     California Lion\n    Dj\u00e1udjau    Flying Squirrel\n    Kai         Jack Rabbit\n    K\u00e9kina      Lizard\n    K\u00faja        Rat\n    Kujas\u00fbp     Rat\u2019s Mother\n    K\u00f3we        Frog\n    Lok         Bear\n    Pakol       Deer\n    Slo\u00e4        Wildcat\n    Tcakon\u016ds    Duck (gray-headed)\n    Tc\u00fbskai     Weasel\n    Toh\u00f3s       Duck\n    Tskel       Mink\n    W\u00e1manik     Bull Snake\n    Wisnik      Garter Snake\n    W\u00e9wenkee    Whip Snake\n    W\u014fn         Elk\n    W\u00fblk\u00fbtska   Marten\n\n\n\nA woman had two children, a boy and a girl. She lived with them at\nY\u00e1ni.\n\nThe mother gave the boy dry red roots to eat, but she always fed the\nlittle girl fresh white roots; for herself she pounded seeds. The boy\nwas jealous. One day, when his mother was digging roots, he said to his\nsister: \u201cLet us go and play. I am lonesome here.\u201d\n\nWhile they were playing, he kept saying to the little girl: \u201cOur mother\nloves you better than she does me.\u201d\n\nHis sister said: \u201cNo, she doesn\u2019t; but I am little.\u201d The boy wouldn\u2019t\ngive up; he kept saying: \u201cOur mother loves you better than she does\nme.\u201d\n\nAt last the girl said: \u201cI don\u2019t want to play any longer; I want to go\nback to the house.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said the boy, \u201cbut we will stay where we can see mother.\u201d\n\nWhen they got to the house, he told his sister to sit where she could\nlook out, then he began to sing: \u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm!\u201d (Up, up!) After a\nwhile he asked: \u201cWhat is our mother doing?\u201d\n\nThe girl said: \u201cShe is down by the pond digging roots and putting them\nin her basket.\u201d\n\nAgain the boy sang: \u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm!\u201d then he said: \u201cLook again. What is\nour mother doing now?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is putting the basket on her back.\u201d\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm!\u201d sang the boy. \u201cLook now.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is starting for home.\u201d\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm! What is she doing now?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! the pond is coming up!\u201d screamed the girl. \u201cMother\u2019s feet are in\nthe water! Rain is coming down just where she is!\u201d\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm!\u201d sang the boy. \u201cWhat is she doing now?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe water is up to her ankles.\u201d\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm! Look again, sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe water is up to her knees; she can\u2019t walk!\u201d\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm! Look now.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, the water is half-way to her body!\u201d cried the little girl.\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm! Look out again, sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe water is up to her arms.\u201d\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm! Look now.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it is up to her neck!\u201d He kept singing.\n\n\u201cThe water is rising fast now; I can only see mother\u2019s eyes!\u201d cried the\ngirl.\n\n\u201cN\u00e9n\u00fbm, n\u00e9n\u00fbm! How is it now?\u201d\n\n\u201cOur mother has gone down in the water; I can\u2019t see her!\u201d cried the\nlittle girl, and she fell on the ground and screamed. She cried all\nday, cried herself to sleep.\n\nThe boy was singing and fixing his arrows. He was glad that his mother\nwas dead.\n\nThe next morning, while his sister was sleeping, the boy shot an arrow\ninto her leg. When she cried, he said: \u201cGet up! You are a young woman\nnow. You must go and hire somebody to sing for you, so you can dance\nyour maturity dance. You must dance five nights without sleeping.\u201d He\ngave her rattles, and said: \u201cWhen you get to a spring, stand there till\nK\u00f3we comes for water. She will see you and take you home with her. When\nthe five nights are over, you can come back here. I will stay on the\nmountains while you are gone.\u201d\n\nThe girl started; with each step she took she grew a little taller.\nWhen she got to the spring, she was a young woman. She was covered with\nred bark. She drank water from the spring, then stood in the low grass\nand waited.\n\nSoon K\u00f3we came to get water. As she was starting away, she saw a shadow\nin the water and stopped to look at it. \u201cOh,\u201d said she, \u201cI didn\u2019t know\nI was so nice! I\u2019m glad!\u201d She looked a long time, then turned to go\naway, but she came back and looked a second time. She looked a third\ntime, then she saw a beautiful girl dressed in red. She jumped at her,\ncaught hold of her arm, and said: \u201cOh, my grandchild, where did you\ncome from?\u201d\n\nShe wrapped her blanket around the girl, took her under her arm, and\ncarried her home.\n\nThat night she called to Toh\u00f3s and all the K\u00f3we people to come and sing\nfor her grandchild to dance.\u2014She called the girl grandchild, but she\nwas no kin to her.\u2014When they came and began to sing, K\u00f3we danced with\nthe girl to show her how.\n\nNot far from old K\u00f3we\u2019s house there was a village where all kinds of\npeople lived. They heard Toh\u00f3s and the K\u00f3wes singing and came to see\nwhat young girl was dancing. K\u00f3we hid the girl under her dress,\nwouldn\u2019t let them see her. W\u00e1manik tried to peek at her; K\u00f3we scolded\nhim and drove him away. Other men came, but they couldn\u2019t see the girl.\nK\u00f3we hid her under her clothes, and Toh\u00f3s and the K\u00f3wes stopped singing\nas soon as they knew that some one was around.\n\nThe third night the W\u00e1manik people tried hard to see the girl, but K\u00f3we\nhid her in the straw of the house and put the fire out.\n\nK\u00f3we always knew when people were near. She heard Blaiwas as he went up\nhigh in the air and looked down. Right away the singing stopped, and\nthe fire went out.\n\nTskel tried to steal up and look at the girl, but K\u00f3we heard him and\nhid her. G\u00e4k said: \u201cI shall see that girl!\u201d But he talked so loud that\nK\u00f3we heard him as soon as he started from home. When he got to her\nhouse, nobody was singing, and it was dark all around.\n\nThe fourth night Wisnik went to K\u00f3we\u2019s house. He went under the ground\nand stuck out his head near her fireplace. It was early, and the K\u00f3wes\nhadn\u2019t begun to sing. He saw the girl and looked at her till his eyes\ngot dim. He couldn\u2019t look enough. When he went home, he said: \u201cThere is\na beautiful girl in old K\u00f3we\u2019s house; I have spoiled my eyes looking at\nher.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3we knew that somebody had been in her house. The girl said: \u201cI saw a\nman, but I thought that you knew he was here.\u201d\n\nThat morning they held a council in W\u00e1manik\u2019s village, to decide who\nshould go to K\u00f3we\u2019s house and get the girl for a wife.\n\nK\u00f3we knew of the council and she said to the girl: \u201cMany men are coming\nhere to get you for a wife. You mustn\u2019t have anything to say to the men\nfrom that village over there. They are not the kind of people for you.\nThe W\u00e1manik people and the W\u00e9wenkee and Wisnik people live there.\nTc\u00fbskai and Tskel and W\u014fn and Wus live there, too. You don\u2019t want any\nof those men. Far away from here there are five brothers; each one is a\nchief and has great power. If they come, you mustn\u2019t look at them,\nunless you are willing to marry them.\u201d\n\nThat evening all the men in the village went to K\u00f3we\u2019s house. When the\nfirst one came, the house was a little grass hut, but right away it\nbegan to grow big and nice-looking. As the people came, each man had\nplenty of room. The largest and most important men came first: W\u014fn,\nLok, Kaiutois, Blaiwas and W\u00e1manik. The girl made fun of them all; she\nsaid to D\u00e1sl\u00e4ts: \u201cI don\u2019t like you; you are too proud of your spotted\nblanket.\u201d\n\nShe told Tc\u00fbskai his mouth was too sharp! She laughed at Tskel, told\nhim his eyes were jumping out of his head; to Pakol she said: \u201cYou are\nproud of your warm blanket.\u201d She told Lok his hands and feet were too\nbig, and he ate too much. To Tcakon\u016ds she said: \u201cYou are proud of your\nwhite hair.\u201d When W\u00e1manik came, she said: \u201cYou are proud of your\nspotted blanket and your big mouth.\u201d She told Wisnik that his eyes were\nsmall and dim. When she saw K\u00e9kina, she laughed, and asked: \u201cHow could\na woman like your big flat feet and rough skin?\u201d\n\nWhen the five W\u00fblk\u00fbtska brothers came, they stood outside. The youngest\nbrother said: \u201cWhy should we go into this house? There is no woman\nthere that we want.\u201d The eldest brother said: \u201cI will go in and see\nher; you can stay here.\u201d When he went in, the girl looked up, but right\naway she looked down again. She looked at four of the brothers in the\nsame way. The youngest brother stayed outside a good while, and when he\nwent in he sat down near the wall, but the girl looked at him; she was\nglad to see him.\n\nAll the people from the village went away; then the five brothers went.\nThe eldest went first, then the second and the third and the fourth;\nthe youngest was the last one to go.\n\nK\u00f3we loosened the girl\u2019s hair, took off her red bark dress, and put on\none covered with beads, then told her to follow W\u00fblk\u00fbtska. When the\ngirl overtook the young man, he said: \u201cI don\u2019t travel on the ground or\nunder it. You should have taken some other man. We were visiting Wus;\nwe didn\u2019t go there to get a wife. Our home is a long way off; I don\u2019t\nthink you can go there. We travel on the tops of trees; you will have\nto look up all the time. You should have taken Kai or Slo\u00e4 or W\u00e1manik.\u201d\n\nThe girl cried, and said: \u201cI followed you because K\u00f3we told me that I\nbelonged to you.\u201d\n\nThe girl was beautiful. Her hair touched the ground and it was black\nand glossy. The young man was sorry for her.\n\nHe said: \u201cYou can come if you can track us.\u201d Then the brothers sprang\nup and began to travel from one tree to another. The girl had to hurry;\nshe stumbled often, for she had to look up to see which way the\nbrothers went. When they camped, they waited a long time for her to\ncome up. The girl followed them for ten days; she was only skin and\nbones. The brothers never hunted and never ate anything.\n\nThe tenth time they camped, the youngest brother said: \u201cI feel badly. I\nhave a nice wife, and she is starving.\u201d The elder brother said: \u201cYou\nshouldn\u2019t have gone to old K\u00f3we\u2019s. You knew that the girl didn\u2019t live\nas we do.\u201d\n\nThe younger brother cried, but he said to his wife: \u201cYou can\u2019t follow\nus any longer. You are skin and bones; you will die soon. We are only\nhalf-way home. Dj\u00e1udjau is our cousin; he lives near here. You must go\nto him; he is a great hunter, and will get you plenty to eat. He is as\ngood-looking as I am. You will forget me.\u201d\n\nThe young man felt lonesome; he liked the girl and didn\u2019t want to leave\nher.\n\nThe eldest brother said: \u201cDj\u00e1udjau\u2019s mother wears a cap made of deer\nfat. She is digging roots. You will see her a long way off, for her cap\nis white and bright. But the K\u00fajas live around there, and maybe old\nwoman K\u00faja will be out digging roots, too. She is thin, and wears an\nold cap. When she sees you, she will jump and be afraid; she will think\nyou are the ugliest thing she has ever seen. But Dj\u00e1udjau\u2019s mother will\ntake hold of your hand and lead you to her house.\u201d\n\nWhen the brothers started off, the youngest one was crying; he turned\nback and called to his wife: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t care for that man; he eats\nonly horns. But his mother will be good to you and feed you.\u201d\n\nWhen the girl looked far off she saw two houses, one was covered with\ndeer meat, the other was made of sticks and dry grass. The first woman\nshe saw was K\u00faja\u2019s mother; she walked up behind her. When the old woman\nsaw her shadow she jumped and ran away. Then the girl saw Dj\u00e1udjau\u2019s\nmother; she knew her by her white cap. Dj\u00e1udjaus\u00fbp took her by the hand\nand was glad to see her. She took off her cap, turned it inside out,\nand rubbed the girl\u2019s body with it; then she took her to the house and\nfed her deer marrow.\n\nKujas\u00fbp stood a little way off and watched; when she saw the marrow,\nshe said: \u201cThat belongs to me!\u201d\n\nK\u00faja went to the house, and said: \u201cThat girl is for me; she didn\u2019t come\nhere to get your son.\u201d\n\nThe old woman said: \u201cYou are a thief. You come here every night to\nsteal our deer meat,\u201d and she drove him away.\n\nWhen Dj\u00e1udjau came, he lay down in the house. The girl saw that he was\nwhite and nice-looking, and had long black hair; she liked him.\n\nOld Kujas\u00fbp began to quarrel with Dj\u00e1udjau\u2019s mother; she said: \u201cThat\ngirl must go with me; she is my son\u2019s wife.\u201d\n\nDj\u00e1udjaus\u00fbp said: \u201cYou have lived here always. Nobody ever came to see\nyou or your son. My nephews sent this girl to us. She followed them,\nbut they travel on the tops of trees. She couldn\u2019t live as they do, and\nthey sent her to my son.\u201d The K\u00fajas called the old woman names, said\nshe didn\u2019t tell the truth, said the girl belonged to them.\n\nDj\u00e1udjaus\u00fbp got so mad she called her son and told him to kill K\u00faja.\nThe young man shot K\u00faja in the breast, and said: \u201cYou will no longer be\na person; you will be a rat, and you will be a thief, as you have\nalways been. You will make little houses of sticks, and people will\ncall them Stc\u00e4kaltis (stick houses).\u201d\n\nK\u00faja and his mother and all their kin became common rats and ran off to\nthe mountains.\n\nNot long after that, the young woman had a baby. Her husband asked her\nif she had a father or a mother. She told him how her brother got\njealous and killed her mother. Dj\u00e1udjau said: \u201cI want to see my\nbrother-in-law.\u201d\n\nHis mother gave them a bundle of dried deer meat and they started. When\nthey came to the pond where her mother was drowned, the young woman\ncried; she felt badly. Her brother was living in the house where they\nhad lived with their mother. He was married and had two children. When\nthey got to the house, he was off on the mountain hunting deer.\n\nThe woman said: \u201cHe hunts all the time, but he never kills a deer;\nsometimes he gets a rabbit or a squirrel.\u201d\n\nThe sister put her bundle of dried meat on the ground. It got big;\nthere was a great pile, plenty for everybody to eat. Soon the brother\ncame; he was old and thin. He didn\u2019t say much to his sister or his\nbrother-in-law.\n\nThe next morning Dj\u00e1udjau went to hunt deer. The brother asked: \u201cWhy\ndoes he go? He won\u2019t kill a deer. I am a good hunter, but I never find\na deer.\u201d\n\nThat evening Dj\u00e1udjau came home with ten deer in his belt. He carried\nthem as other men carried rabbits. The brother looked mad. He didn\u2019t\nlike his brother in-law.\n\nThe sister said to Dj\u00e1udjau: \u201cWe must go home. I want to start now. My\nbrother doesn\u2019t like you: I am afraid to stay here.\u201d\n\nThey started in the night, and early the next morning they came to a\nswimming place on top of a high mountain. Dj\u00e1udjau got some green\ntwigs, rubbed himself all over with them, then he rubbed the twigs on\nthe ground, and said: \u201cI have been to see my bad brother-in-law; I have\nbrought away some of his bad thoughts. Now, earth, take them all.\u201d Then\nhe swam in the pond and talked to the mountain. The mountain talked to\nhim like a living person, and he forgot his brother-in-law.\n\nWhen they got home, the five W\u00fblk\u00fbtska brothers were there. They all\nclaimed the child.\n\nOld woman Dj\u00e1udjau said: \u201cIt isn\u2019t right for you to take my\ndaughter-in-law\u2019s child away from her.\u201d\n\nThe young woman said: \u201cYou didn\u2019t care for me. You thought you were\nbetter than I was, because you could travel on trees and I had to\ntravel on the ground. Now you want my baby. Hereafter you will travel\nslow, and it will make you sweat; you will no longer be persons.\u201d\n\nThe brothers said: \u201cHereafter you and your husband and his kin will be\nDj\u00e1udjaus and roam around in the mountains.\u201d\n\nAnd so it was.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nK\u00d3WAM AND G\u00c1HGA\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00e1hga   Heron\n    K\u00f3wam   Red-billed Duck\n    Lok     Bear\n\n\n\nK\u00f3wam and his little brother lived on the south side of Klamath Lake.\nThe little boy\u2019s name was G\u00e1hga.\n\nK\u00f3wam had a nice-looking wife, and when he went to fish in the lake, he\nalways told her that if any one came to bother her she must send G\u00e1hga\nto tell him.\n\nOne morning, when K\u00f3wam had gone to the lake, and his old mother-in-law\nwas out gathering wood, K\u00f3wam\u2019s wife sat down by the fire and began to\nmake a reed basket for K\u00f3wam to put fish in. After a while the old\nwoman ran in and cried: \u201cThe big-footed people are coming!\u201d\n\nSoon the five Lok brothers came in and sat down by the fire. The eldest\nbrother put his head on the young woman\u2019s lap.\n\nG\u00e1gha began to cry, and Lok said: \u201cWhy do you cry, little boy? Are you\nsorry for me because I haven\u2019t a wife? This woman is my wife.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1gha kept crying. At midday his eyes were so swollen that he could\nhardly open them. \u201cStop crying,\u201d said his sister-in-law. \u201cGo and find\nyour brother and tell him that the big-footed men are here. Maybe\nnothing has happened, and he doesn\u2019t know there is trouble at home.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1gha cried all the time he was going to the lake. When he found his\nbrother K\u00f3wam asked: \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter? What makes you cry? Did you\nhurt yourself?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said G\u00e1gha, \u201cfive of the big-footed people from the north side of\nthe lake are in our house, and one of them has his head on my\nsister-in-law\u2019s knees.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs she crying?\u201d asked K\u00f3wam.\n\n\u201cNo, but I\u2019ve cried all the time, I\u2019m so sorry they have taken my\nsister-in-law away from me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf she isn\u2019t crying, she doesn\u2019t care for us, and there is no use in\ncrying. If they had made her cry, I should kill those men.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3wam sat still a long time; he was thinking what he could do. Then he\nsaid to G\u00e1gha: \u201cStop crying and get some wood; we will cook fish to\neat. You must hurry, so we can go home before it\u2019s dark.\u201d\n\nLittle G\u00e1gha could hardly stand; he had cried so long that he was\ndizzy.\n\nK\u00f3wam said: \u201cDon\u2019t cry any longer. I know what I will do to those\nbig-footed people.\u201d\n\nThey built a fire and cooked fish. G\u00e1gha\u2019s tears were dropping all the\ntime he was eating.\n\n\u201cStop crying and finish eating!\u201d said his brother. \u201cWhenever a man has\na nice wife he is bothered. It will always be that way.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3wam filled an old basket with fish, picked it up, put it on his back,\nand said: \u201cNow we will go home.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can we go home while those big-footed people are there?\u201d asked\nG\u00e1gha. He was crying again.\n\n\u201cI am not afraid of those men,\u201d said K\u00f3wam. \u201cThat is my house; I will\ndrive them out of it or I will kill them.\u201d\n\nWhen they were part of the way home, K\u00f3wam said: \u201cLittle brother, take\nmy bow and arrow and shoot me in the heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I do that? You are my brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt won\u2019t hurt me. I want you to practise shooting.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are my own brother, all the one I have. I won\u2019t do it,\u201d said\nG\u00e1gha.\n\n\u201cYou must,\u201d said K\u00f3wam. \u201cIt won\u2019t hurt me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will kill you; then I shall be all alone,\u201d said G\u00e1gha.\n\nK\u00f3wam talked a long time, asked in every way, but G\u00e1gha always said:\n\u201cYou are my brother; I won\u2019t kill you.\u201d At last K\u00f3wam said: \u201cIf you\ndon\u2019t shoot me and make me strong, I will let the big-footed people\nhave your sister-in-law; I won\u2019t try to kill them. You can\u2019t kill me.\nNobody can kill me; I shall live always.\u201d\n\nAt last G\u00e1hga took the bow and arrow and shot K\u00f3wam in the heart,\nkilled him; then he ran, for he felt scared. Right away K\u00f3wam overtook\nhim, and said: \u201cNow shoot me in the heart and tear my body to pieces.\u201d\nG\u00e1hga did as K\u00f3wam told him to and then ran away. Again K\u00f3wam overtook\nhim. That time he said: \u201cKill me and pound my body to pieces; then mix\nthe pieces with dirt and stones.\u201d G\u00e1hga did as he was told. Soon his\nbrother caught up with him, and said: \u201cKill me, then pound my body up\nand throw the pieces away.\u201d G\u00e1gha did that, and went on; he didn\u2019t run\nthat time, he just walked; he didn\u2019t feel scared any longer. K\u00f3wam came\nup behind him, and said: \u201cNow, little brother, try again. Kill me, then\nbuild a big fire and burn up my body and let the wind carry the ashes\naway.\u201d G\u00e1hga did that. His brother overtook him again.\n\n\u201cWhat kind of a man are you?\u201d asked G\u00e1hga. \u201cIs there any way to kill\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t made to die,\u201d said K\u00f3wam, \u201cI shall live always. Now kill me\nand cut off my feet and hands and carry them away. Hold them tight.\u201d\n\nG\u00e1hga shot K\u00f3wam in the heart, cut off his hands and feet, held them\ntight in his own hands, and traveled on, went fast. Right away his\nbrother called to him. G\u00e1hga\u2019s hands were shut, but the feet and hands\nthat he had been carrying were gone, and K\u00f3wam was by his side. Then he\ncut K\u00f3wam\u2019s head off and threw it away. At once the head and body came\ntogether.\n\nThe brothers were almost home now and K\u00f3wam said: \u201cYou must take my bow\nand quiver and wait on top of the house; I will go in alone. Don\u2019t be\nscared when they throw me out; they can\u2019t hurt me.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3wam went in, pulled Lok\u2019s head off from the woman\u2019s knees, and threw\nhim out of the house. Lok came in, caught K\u00f3wam, killed him, and threw\nthe pieces on the fire.\n\nRight away K\u00f3wam had Lok by the throat. He choked him and threw him\nout.\n\nWhen K\u00f3wam was killed and thrown out, his mother-in-law screamed: \u201cI am\nglad you are dead, old Black Legs!\u201d When Lok was thrown out, she\nscreamed, \u201cNow you are killed, old Big Feet, my son-in-law is a great\nman!\u201d\n\nThe fight lasted all night. Just as daylight came, Lok tore K\u00f3wam\u2019s\nhead off; he kicked the body out and held tight to the head. That\nmoment K\u00f3wam said to his brother: \u201cNow I am ready to fight. I was just\nwaiting for another sun to come up.\u201d\n\nHe took his bow and arrows and shot at the Loks through the smoke hole,\nand killed them all. Then he covered the house with dry grass, piled up\nwood around it, and set it on fire.\n\nG\u00e1hga screamed and cried; he wanted his sister-in-law saved. K\u00f3wam\nwouldn\u2019t listen to him and wouldn\u2019t let his wife out. Then G\u00e1hga got\nmad at his brother, and said: \u201cHereafter you won\u2019t have a person for a\nwife. You will be an animal. People will call you by different names,\nand you will always live in the woods and make a great noise talking.\u201d\n\nK\u00f3wam said: \u201cPunch a stick in where your sister-in-law was sitting.\u201d\nShe was dead, but a voice spoke out of the fire and said to K\u00f3wam: \u201cYou\nwill always stick your bill up in the sun and look off on the water.\nAnd you, my little boy, will be like your brother.\u201d\u2014Ning\u00e1daniak.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMINK AND WEASEL\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas    Eagle\n    G\u00e4k        Crow\n    Gapni      Louse\n    K\u0101hkaas    Stork\n    Kaiutois   Wolf\n    Kaltsik    Spider\n    K\u00e9is       Rattlesnake\n    K\u00e9kina     Lizard\n    K\u00f3we       Frog\n    K\u00fblta      Otter\n    Lem\u00e9is     Thunder\n    Lok        Bear\n    Moi        Squirrel\n    N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s   Bat\n    Sk\u00f3\u016dks     Woodtick\n    S\u00fabbas     Sun\n    Sukas\n    Tc\u00fbskai    Weasel\n    Tskel      Mink\n    Tusas\u00e1s    Skunk\n    W\u014fn        Elk\n\n\n\nTwo brothers, Tskel and Tc\u00fbskai, lived together not far from Klamath\nLake. Tskel\u2019s wife was Sk\u00f3\u016dks. Tc\u00fbskai was a little fellow. One day\nwhen Sk\u00f3\u016dks was outside cooking deer meat and was blowing the fire to\nmake it burn, she saw Tc\u00fbskai watching her; that made her mad and she\nthrew the meat into the fire. Tskel hit Tc\u00fbskai and told him to stay in\nthe house when Sk\u00f3\u016dks was cooking; then he said to Sk\u00f3\u016dks: \u201cCook more\nmeat; Tc\u00fbskai and I are going to the mountain to hunt for deer. If I\nkill a big deer, we will camp and stay all night.\u201d Tskel never killed a\ndeer; no matter how many he saw, he always let them get away.\n\nWhen they got to the mountain, they saw a large deer; Tc\u00fbskai killed\nit, and they camped in sight of a big hole between the rocks. Tskel\nwouldn\u2019t camp very near the hole, for he was afraid his brother would\ngo into it and get hurt. Tc\u00fbskai would go anywhere, he wasn\u2019t afraid of\nanything.\n\nTskel cut up the deer; then he and Tc\u00fbskai lay down, one on each side\nof the fire. As soon as Tc\u00fbskai was asleep, Gopher came and ran across\nhim, just to tease him. Tc\u00fbskai woke up and called his brother: \u201cCome\nhere! Come and see this little fellow! I will give him a piece of our\nmeat, and we will catch him.\u201d\n\nTskel didn\u2019t move; he was asleep. Tc\u00fbskai gave Gopher a small piece of\nmeat. He took it and ran off to the rocks, then came back for more,\ncarried that off and came back again. Each time he came Tc\u00fbskai gave\nhim a larger piece. At last all the deer meat was gone; then Tc\u00fbskai\nwent to Tskel, shook him, and said: \u201cGet up! Get up! This little fellow\nhas carried off all of our meat.\u201d\n\nTskel didn\u2019t move or say a word. Tc\u00fbskai gave Gopher all the roots\nTskel had brought from home; then he took off Tskel\u2019s belt and gave it\nto him. Gopher carried it under the rocks. He gave him Tskel\u2019s deerskin\ncap and his rabbit-skin blanket.\n\nIn the morning when Tskel woke up, the north wind was blowing and he\nwas almost frozen. He asked Tc\u00fbskai where the blanket was. Tc\u00fbskai\nsaid: \u201cGopher took it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you gave it to him,\u201d said Tskel; \u201cGopher couldn\u2019t unwrap me.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai began to feel cold; he wanted to get into Tskel\u2019s ear, but\nTskel was mad, and threw him out. Then he tried to get under Tskel\u2019s\narm, but Tskel pushed him away and sat with his arms folded across his\nbreast, for he had no blanket and he was cold.\n\n\u201cWhy are you so mad?\u201d asked Tc\u00fbskai. \u201cI will get those things back;\nthey are over there under the rocks.\u201d\n\nIt was near daylight; Tc\u00fbskai was freezing to death. Tskel made a fire\nand told him to lie down near it and get warm. Then he made himself a\nbark blanket. When Tc\u00fbskai was warm, his brother said: \u201cNow you must\nget back the things you gave to Gopher.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai ran to the rock and looked into the hole; he thought it was\nawful deep, but he ran back, and said: \u201cThe hole isn\u2019t deep; we can\nbuild a fire and drive Gopher out.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want my blanket,\u201d said Tskel; \u201cmaybe you can crawl in and get it.\u201d\n\nThe mountain was Gopher\u2019s house. The rocks were only the roof of it.\nTc\u00fbskai saw his brother\u2019s belt, but he was afraid to go and get it.\nTskel said: \u201cMake a fire and blow the smoke into the hole. How long can\nyou fan the fire without getting tired?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can fan it till Gopher comes out,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai.\n\n\u201cBut there are many holes,\u201d said his brother. \u201cYou will have lots of\ntrouble. Do you think you can fill the holes with stones?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can fill them quickly,\u201d said Tskel. He ran around, threw stones into\nthe holes, then came back and blew the fire. But the smoke came out\nthrough other holes, and Tskel said: \u201cGo and stop up every hole you can\nfind.\u201d\n\nTskel, to make Tc\u00fbskai sorry for what he had done, hid all the water in\na hole where he couldn\u2019t find it. Little Tc\u00fbskai got very thirsty. He\nran from one spring to another but couldn\u2019t find water; then he knew\nthat his brother had hidden it and he said: \u201cI want some water.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t have any until you have killed Gopher,\u201d said Tskel. \u201cWhen he\nis dead, I will give you some.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai filled all the little holes and fanned smoke into the big hole.\nAt midday he said to his brother: \u201cI am stronger than you are; you\nnever could have filled all these holes.\u201d He went again to hunt for\nwater. At last he found the place where Tskel had hidden it; then he\ndrank and drank, drank nearly all the water there was in the hole.\n\nTskel wondered why Tc\u00fbskai didn\u2019t come back. At last he thought: \u201cMaybe\nhe has found the water; I will go and see.\u201d Tc\u00fbskai was still drinking,\nand only a little water was left. If Tskel hadn\u2019t thought of the water\nand gone to look for his brother, he would have drunk it all and there\nwould have been no water in the world.\n\nTskel caught hold of Tc\u00fbskai and threw him against the rocks so hard\nthat he killed him; then he scattered the water. There was only a\nlittle left, but it spread fast, spread until there were rivers and\nlakes. Then Tskel went to his brother, took off the string of rattles\nhe wore around his neck, and struck him five times with it. Tc\u00fbskai\ncame to life. Tskel said: \u201cThe holes are stopped up; now I will help\nyou kill Gopher. He is terrible to look at when he is mad. You must\nkeep your eyes closed; if you see him, you will die.\u201d\n\nTskel had two stone knives. He gave one to Tc\u00fbskai, then he built a\nfire and blew the smoke into the big hole. Tc\u00fbskai listened; there was\na noise of some one moving around in the hole. He was so scared that he\ndied. Tskel brought him to life, and said: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t get scared.\nThat was only a young Gopher; old Gopher hasn\u2019t moved yet.\u201d\n\nTskel blew more smoke into the hole. There was a roar as though the\nmountain was going to burst open. Tc\u00fbskai died again. Tskel brought him\nto life, and said: \u201cYou have played with these people and made all this\ntrouble; now you must stay here till it is over. Don\u2019t get scared every\ntime you hear a noise.\u201d\n\nJust then old Gopher moved and the earth shook. Tc\u00fbskai was dreadfully\nfrightened. (He was on one side of the hole and Tskel was on the\nother.) There was a shaking and roar, then a great, red, fiery head\ncame out of the hole. Tskel cut the head off with his long knife,\nskinned it, and made a cap of the skin; then he buried the head under\ngreat flat rocks. Right away the rocks were as red as blood. (They are\nred to this day.)\n\nTskel said to Gopher: \u201cHereafter you will be of no account. You will\ndig in the ground and people will make fun of you.\u201d\n\nIf Tskel hadn\u2019t killed Gopher, there would be no one living in the\nworld now.\n\nIn the hole where Gopher was it is always hot, no matter how cold it is\noutside. Gopher\u2019s body, turned to stone, is still in the hole.\n\nAfter Tskel killed Gopher, he and Tc\u00fbskai went home, but Tskel didn\u2019t\nwant to stay there. He thought about his cousin, Kaiutois. One day he\nsaid to Sk\u00f3\u016dks: \u201cI am going to see my cousin,\u201d and he sent Tc\u00fbskai to\nask G\u00e4k if he would go with them. G\u00e4k was willing and the three started\noff. As they traveled, people told them they mustn\u2019t go near the Lem\u00e9is\nfamily, that they were killing everybody, that each day they carried\noff men to eat. Tskel said: \u201cI am traveling around the world to see\npeople; I\u2019m not afraid of Lem\u00e9is.\u201d\n\nWhen they got near Lem\u00e9is\u2019 house, Tskel put on his gopher-skin cap and\nput little Tc\u00fbskai under his arm, where he couldn\u2019t do any mischief.\nThen he gave G\u00e4k a sharp bone, and said: \u201cWhen they give you dead men\u2019s\nmeat to eat, make a hole in your throat and let it out; don\u2019t swallow\nit.\u201d\n\nThe five Kaiutois brothers and old man Lem\u00e9is with his wife and five\nboys lived in one house. The five Kaiutois lived on one side of the\nhouse and old Lem\u00e9is on the other. When Tskel went to the house, the\nKaiutois brothers and Lem\u00e9is boys were off hunting for deer.\n\nOld Lem\u00e9is and his wife saw Tskel\u2019s gopher-skin cap and they were so\nscared that they ran out of the house. They built a fire and began\ncooking; they were afraid to go inside. The wives and children of the\nKaiutois brothers were frightened, too.\n\nTskel sat in the house with his head down. Tc\u00fbskai teased him to let\nhim put the cap on and run out and scare the old man, but Tskel pinched\nhim and told him to keep still where he was, under his arm. G\u00e4k was\nlying on the ground and looking at Tskel.\n\nSoon old Lem\u00e9is\u2019 eldest son came home. When he saw his father and\nmother outside, he asked: \u201cWhat are you doing out here?\u201d\n\nThe old man said: \u201cThere is something strange in our house. We can\u2019t\nstay there. We have never seen anything like it before. It is\nterrible!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is there stronger than I am?\u201d asked the son. \u201cI have been off\nkilling men. I am not afraid of this thing.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou haven\u2019t seen it,\u201d said old Lem\u00e9is. \u201cYou can\u2019t go into the house.\u201d\n\nThe young man went to the house. He took one step down the ladder, saw\nTskel\u2019s cap, and turned back, screaming so loud that the ground shook.\nHe said to his father, \u201cThere is something there stronger than I am; I\ncan\u2019t go in.\u201d\n\nThe second brother came home. He saw his father outside and asked: \u201cWhy\nare you out here?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is something in our house stronger than we are. We can\u2019t go in,\u201d\nsaid the father.\n\nThe young man laughed, and asked: \u201cWhat is there stronger than I am?\nThere is nothing I can\u2019t kill.\u201d He was down two steps of the ladder\nwhen he saw the cap; he screamed and ran out.\n\nOne after another the five brothers came home. Each brother got one\nstep farther into the house; each one screamed and ran out. The fourth\nbrother said: \u201cI am stronger than anybody. If this man had ever heard\nof me, he wouldn\u2019t have come here.\u201d He took four steps into the house,\nroared with fright, and ran away. The fifth brother was the strongest\nof all the brothers. There were five steps down into the house; he was\non the last step when he saw Tskel\u2019s cap. He roared and with one step\nwas out.\n\nThe five Kaiutois brothers came home just at sundown. When Tskel saw\nthem, he looked up and they knew him. He took off his cap, put it\nbehind him, and they all went in. Then they called their wives, and\nasked: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you cook for this man? He is hungry. Come in and\ncook deer meat for him.\u201d\n\nTskel said: \u201cTell Lem\u00e9is and his sons to come in. It is cold outside.\u201d\nThey were glad; they went in, and right away they began to cook dead\nmen.\n\nKaiutois\u2019 meat was done first, and G\u00e4k and Tskel ate deer meat. Little\nTc\u00fbskai said: \u201cLet me down, brother; I want to eat. I am hungry.\u201d\nTc\u00fbskai pinched him and told him to keep still, but Tc\u00fbskai said: \u201cI\ncan\u2019t, you don\u2019t give me enough to eat.\u201d\n\nWhen Lem\u00e9is\u2019 meat was done, the eldest son gave some of it to G\u00e4k. G\u00e4k\nput it in his mouth, but it came out of the hole in his throat and\ndropped on the ground.\n\nTskel put some strong sticks in G\u00e4k\u2019s arms, for he knew that the Lem\u00e9is\nbrothers would try to kill him. They sat down by the fire and asked G\u00e4k\nto come and sit near them. Then they said to one another: \u201cLet\u2019s twist\narms,\u201d and the eldest brother said: \u201cCome and play with us, G\u00e4k.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k said: \u201cI never play that way.\u201d After they had teased him a long\ntime, Tskel said: \u201cPlay with them; I won\u2019t let them hurt you.\u201d\n\nThe eldest brother took hold of G\u00e4k, twisted his arm hard, but couldn\u2019t\nbreak it; it was soft. \u201cStiffen your arm,\u201d said Lem\u00e9is. G\u00e4k stiffened\nhis arm, but Lem\u00e9is couldn\u2019t break it. Then G\u00e4k took hold of Lem\u00e9is\u2019\narm, twisted it hard, and broke it. Lem\u00e9is ran out of the house and\ndied.\n\nThe second brother was ashamed. He said: \u201cThat is the way my brother\nalways does. If he gets beaten, he runs away. Try me.\u201d He twisted G\u00e4k\u2019s\narm, but no matter how he twisted he couldn\u2019t break it. Then G\u00e4k\ntwisted his arm and broke it, and he ran outside and died.\n\nG\u00e4k killed four of the brothers; then the youngest and strongest wanted\nto try. G\u00e4k didn\u2019t want to twist arms with him, but Tskel said: \u201cDon\u2019t\nbe afraid, he can\u2019t kill you.\u201d G\u00e4k held out his arm and Lem\u00e9is twisted\nit terribly. G\u00e4k screamed; he couldn\u2019t help it, it hurt so.\n\nThen Tskel said to Lem\u00e9is: \u201cLet me twist your arm.\u201d He took hold of\nLem\u00e9is\u2019 hand with a tight grip and broke every bone in it; then he\ntwisted his arm and broke it.\n\nWhen all five of the old man\u2019s sons were dead, Tskel said: \u201cHereafter\nyou will be of no use in this world. You will be persons no longer. You\nwill go up to the sky and all you will do there will be to frighten\npeople by making a big noise.\u201d\n\nHe told the five Kaiutois brothers not to live in the house with old\nLem\u00e9is and his wife. \u201cTheir house is dirty,\u201d said he. \u201cIt smells of\ndead people. The juice of dead people runs on to your meat; you have\nthe taste of it now, and in after times you will try to kill people.\u201d\n\nThe Kaiutois brothers moved away. Old Lem\u00e9is and his wife felt badly;\nthey were lonesome for their children. Tskel said: \u201cYou can go to your\nsons; you are of no use in this world,\u201d and he sent them to the sky.\n\nNow Tskel and Tc\u00fbskai went home. Sk\u00f3\u016dks was mourning; she thought they\nwere dead.\n\nThe next day Tskel went to hunt. He killed five deer and was home at\nmidday. He was dry and he sent his brother to bring him some water.\nTc\u00fbskai ran to the spring, and there, sitting in the spring, was an\nold, white-haired man.\n\n\u201cWhat are you here for?\u201d asked Tc\u00fbskai. \u201cWe don\u2019t want old men in our\nspring. My brother is dry. I am after water for him. Get out of our\nspring!\u201d He told him two or three times to get out. The old man didn\u2019t\nmove, but at last he said: \u201cGo and tell your brother to come and\nwrestle with me.\u201d Tc\u00fbskai ran back to the house.\n\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you bring me some water?\u201d asked Tskel.\n\n\u201cThere is an old man sitting in the spring,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai. \u201cHe won\u2019t\nlet me get a drop of water.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo back and get me some water!\u201d said Tskel.\n\nTc\u00fbskai went back and screamed: \u201cGet out of there, old man! You are all\ndirt; you\u2019ll spoil our water!\u201d\n\nThe old man didn\u2019t move, but he said: \u201cTell your brother to come and\nwrestle with me. I hear that he has killed all the Lem\u00e9is people. I am\ntheir kin. I have come to wrestle with him.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai said: \u201cLet my brother have some water to drink; then he will\ncome.\u201d\n\nThe old man turned around and let Tc\u00fbskai take a little water out of\nthe spring. Tc\u00fbskai carried it to his brother, and said: \u201cThat old man\nhas come to fight you for killing the Lem\u00e9is people. He wants you to\ncome to the spring and wrestle with him.\u201d\n\nTskel drank the water and ate pounded seed. Then he went to the spring\nand wrestled with the old man. They wrestled till dark, then the old\nman threw Tskel, rolled him up in a skin blanket, took his own form,\u2014an\nanimal with great horns,\u2014put Tskel on his horns, and carried him down\nin the water and off under the ground. He carried him a long distance,\nthen came out near a large lake. He took Tskel off his horns, unrolled\nhim, and said: \u201cLook around, before I kill you.\u201d\n\nTskel saw that they were on a narrow ridge of rock that ran, like a\nlittle trail, to the middle of the lake.\n\nThe old man said: \u201cWhen I get to the end of this trail, I will cut you\ninto small pieces and throw you to my children. They are hungry for\nyour flesh. As I throw the pieces, I will say: \u2018Here is a piece of\nTskel. Eat it.\u2019 They will be glad, and all my kin will be glad that you\nare dead.\u201d\n\nWhen he was through talking, he rolled Tskel up again, put him on his\nhorns, and started. Tskel moved a little.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d asked the old man.\n\n\u201cI am scratching myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou needn\u2019t scratch; you will die soon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI itch; I can scratch while I live,\u201d said Tskel. He moved again.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing now?\u201d asked the old man.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t lie easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy bother about that? you will die soon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to suffer while I live,\u201d said Tskel. He was getting his\nstone knife out. It was tied up in his hair and the old man hadn\u2019t seen\nit. With the knife Tskel cut holes in the skin blanket for his eyes and\nhis hands, and just as he got to the end of the trail, he stuck the\nknife into the old man and killed him. Then he cut the body up and\nthrew it piece by piece into the lake. As he threw the pieces, he\ncalled out: \u201cHere is Tskel\u2019s shoulder! Here are Tskel\u2019s ribs! Here are\nhis legs! Here are his arms!\u201d As fast as he threw the pieces, the old\nman\u2019s children caught and ate them. At last he threw the head. It was\nan awful-looking thing, enough to scare any one.\n\nWhen the children saw it and knew that they had eaten their father,\nthey were so mad that they sent everything they had to find Tskel and\nkill him. They sent what they thought he would like,\u2014knives, hatchets,\nbeads, shells, blankets\u2014to lie in his path. If he took up any one of\nthem, he would die.\n\nTskel passed them all till he came to the last, a stone knife sharp on\nboth edges, that looked so nice that he picked it up. Right away the\nends of his fingers were burned off. He dropped the knife, rubbed his\nfingers with his own stone knife, and they were well again. Then he\nwent on till he reached home. Sk\u00f3\u016dks and little Tc\u00fbskai had covered\ntheir hair with deer fat and pounded coal; they were mourning for him.\n\nWhen Tskel saw Tc\u00fbskai, he asked: \u201cWhat are you doing? Why are you so\ndirty?\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai said: \u201cI was just going to look for you.\u201d\n\nSk\u00f3\u016dks said: \u201cHe should be whipped for telling lies. He has been\neverywhere in the world hunting for you. Just now he came home and put\ncoal on his head, for when he couldn\u2019t find you he thought you were\ndead.\u201d\n\nTskel was chief in the Klamath country. He was the strongest person\nliving. No other man could have killed the old man of the lake.\n\nNow Tskel stayed at home for a long time. He killed deer and dried the\nmeat and told his brother many things about the people in the world.\n\nOne day when he was out hunting, he heard somebody singing a beautiful\nsong; he listened and wondered who it was. Then he followed the sound.\nIt drew him along till he came to a big cedar tree. A woman was sitting\non a bough of the tree and throwing cedar berries on to a blanket\nspread under the tree. When she saw Tskel, she called out: \u201cCome and\nsit on the blanket!\u201d He knew she was the old man\u2019s daughter, and he\nwouldn\u2019t go near her; he went home.\n\nThe next day he heard the song again, but he didn\u2019t follow it. He went\nhome and told Sk\u00f3\u016dks that the old man\u2019s daughter had come to kill him.\nHe didn\u2019t hunt again. One day the woman came and sat in a clump of\nbushes near Tskel\u2019s house and told the crows to fly over her. Little\nTc\u00fbskai saw the crows and said to his brother: \u201cThe crows are eating\nsomething. You had better go and see what it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t go near that place,\u201d said Tskel.\n\nTc\u00fbskai thought: \u201cWhy does my brother tell me not to go to those\nbushes? I am going.\u201d He went around the house, out of Tskel\u2019s sight,\nand crept toward the bushes. He found a woman sitting on a low stump;\nas he went up to her she spat out beautiful beads. The second time she\nspat, Tc\u00fbskai picked up some of the beads. Each time she spat the beads\nwere more beautiful than before.\n\n\u201cWhat kind of a woman are you?\u201d asked Tc\u00fbskai. She didn\u2019t answer.\n\nTc\u00fbskai went home, and said: \u201cOh, brother, there is a beautiful woman\nover there in the bushes. You must have her for a wife. Send Sk\u00f3\u016dks off\nand take her.\u201d Tskel said: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you get her for a wife; she must\nhave come for you.\u201d He was sleepy. He had been in a half dream since\nthe first day he heard the woman\u2019s song.\n\nTc\u00fbskai went three or four times to see the woman and each time she\nspat beads. When she found that Tskel wouldn\u2019t come to her, she went to\nthe house. Sk\u00f3\u016dks saw her coming and she fixed herself up. She had\npower and could do things. Tskel was lying on the ground. When the\nwoman came in, she sat down by him and began spitting beads. Then\nSk\u00f3\u016dks spat, and her beads were nice. The woman was frightened a\nlittle; she spat long white beads; Sk\u00f3\u016dks spat more beautiful beads.\nThey kept spitting beads till, just as the sun went down, the woman by\nher power made sleep come over Tskel and Tc\u00fbskai, and made Sk\u00f3\u016dks grow\nso sleepy she could scarcely see. When darkness came the woman began to\nwrap Tskel in a skin blanket to carry him off.\n\nRight away Sk\u00f3\u016dks was wide awake. She jumped on the woman and fought\nwith her. They fought all night. First one would have Tskel and then\nthe other. He was sound asleep all the time. There was such a dust from\ntheir fighting that Tc\u00fbskai was covered with it. Just at daylight\nSk\u00f3\u016dks gave out; she couldn\u2019t fight any longer.\n\nThe woman snatched up Tskel and carried him off. She went under the\nground, and as she went she made a furrow on the surface. Sk\u00f3\u016dks\nfollowed for a long time, but she couldn\u2019t get at the woman, for she\ncouldn\u2019t travel underground. At last she went home, struck Tc\u00fbskai with\nhis neck rattles, and said: \u201cYou had better get up and follow your\nbrother. You found him a nice wife, nicer than I am. Now you can go and\nlive with them!\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai woke up and went off to look for his brother. The trail had\ndisappeared; he couldn\u2019t find even one track.\n\nWhen the woman went into the ground, she was just such an animal as her\nfather had been. She carried Tskel on her horns till she came out at\nthe lake, then she put him down and said: \u201cI will let you rest twice\nbefore I kill you. How do you like this place?\u201d\n\n\u201cI like it. I have been here before,\u201d said Tskel.\n\nShe carried him to the middle of the trail in the lake, then she put\nhim down, and asked: \u201cWhat did you do when you were here before?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you think you will ever go home?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you think you will do when you die? Will you come to life, or\nwill you stay dead?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said Tskel.\n\nShe took him up to carry him to the end of the trail where she could\nthrow him into the lake. He got his knife out, a little at a time, and\njust as she was going to put him down again, he cut her head off. From\neach side of the ridge the water rushed up; the ridge shook and made a\nterrible noise. Tskel cut the woman\u2019s body up, and threw the pieces\ninto the water. As he threw them, he called out, \u201cHere are Tskel\u2019s\nribs! Here is Tskel\u2019s arm!\u201d He threw the head; then ran with all his\nmight. When the old man\u2019s sons saw the head and knew that they had\neaten their sister, they were so mad that they sent stone knives,\nbeaded blankets and skins of all kinds to lie on the trail in front of\nTskel. He had hard work to jump over them without getting burned, but\nhe didn\u2019t touch or hit even one. When he got home Sk\u00f3\u016dks and little\nTc\u00fbskai were mourning. Their hair was cut and pitch was running over\ntheir faces. They sat with their heads down and didn\u2019t look up.\n\nTskel sat down by Tc\u00fbskai, and asked: \u201cWhy are you so dirty?\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai jumped up, and cried out: \u201cAre you here? I was just going to\nlook for you.\u201d\n\nTskel said: \u201cHeat some water. I am going to wash Sk\u00f3\u016dks\u2019 head, and\nyours, too.\u201d\n\nAfter he had washed their heads, he wrapped a skin blanket around them,\nand the next morning Sk\u00f3\u016dks and Tc\u00fbskai had nice long hair.\n\nNow Tskel moved off a little way from his old home. He made arrow\npoints and killed deer.\n\nK\u0101hkaas was kin of Tskel and one day she came to visit him. Soon\nTc\u00fbskai ran in, and said: \u201cI see lots of little tracks around here.\nTwist me some strings, K\u0101hkaas, so I can trap the things that make the\ntracks.\u201d\n\nTskel said to K\u0101hkaas: \u201cMaybe they are the tracks of your children.\nWhere did you leave them?\u201d\n\n\u201cI left them high on a tree off in the middle of the great water. My\nchildren are safe.\u201d\n\nK\u0101hkaas twisted strings for Tc\u00fbskai and he set his trap. Soon he came\nback bringing the five K\u0101hkaas boys in his trap. K\u0101hkaas was terribly\nangry and sorry; she said: \u201cGive them to me; I will go off in the woods\nand roast and eat them.\u201d (She went to bury them.) Tc\u00fbskai watched\nK\u0101hkaas. Tskel knew that trouble would come, that K\u0101hkaas would try and\nkill them. He lay down, he felt sorry.\n\nSoon Tc\u00fbskai cried: \u201cGet up, brother! A great elk is coming. I\u2019ll go\nand kill it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t go in front of it,\u201d said Tskel. \u201cShoot it from behind!\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai shot three times at the elk; each time he hit its horns. Then\nthe elk turned, caught him on her horns, and ran off to the mountains.\nShe ran a long way, then changed into K\u0101hkaas and flew, with Tc\u00fbskai,\nto the tree on the island in the middle of the ocean.\n\nWhen the elk ran off with Tc\u00fbskai, Tskel fell on the ground and cried.\nThen he jumped up and started off to find him. He went everywhere,\nstopped at every house, and asked every person he met if they had seen\nlittle Tc\u00fbskai. But nobody had seen him. At last he came to a house\nwhere a sick woman lived; she was covered with sores. When she saw\nTskel, she called out, \u201cDon\u2019t come in here!\u201d Tskel asked: \u201cHave you\nseen my brother?\u201d \u201cI haven\u2019t seen anybody, I never go anywhere, and\nnobody ever comes here. You can ask at the next house.\u201d\n\nTskel went on till he came to a rock house right on the trail. He\ncouldn\u2019t see a door. He walked around the house, but couldn\u2019t find an\nopening. Then he called out: \u201cWho lives here?\u201d The rock answered, \u201cI\nlive here!\u201d\u2014The house was a person.\u2014Tskel asked: \u201cHave you seen my\nbrother? K\u0101hkaas has carried him off.\u201d \u201cI go nowhere, and nobody comes\nhere. I have no eyes, I can\u2019t see. You can ask at the next house. The\npeople there see a great deal; maybe they can tell you where your\nbrother is.\u201d\n\nWhen Tskel got to the house, there were five persons inside and one\nsaid to another: \u201cMake room for that man to come in and sit down.\u201d \u201cI\ncan\u2019t,\u201d said that one. \u201cI\u2019m just finishing my work. You can make room\nfor him.\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t, I\u2019m just beginning my work.\u201d\u2014Some of the men were\nbraiding threads and others were twisting them.\u2014When each man had\nrefused to make room for Tskel, it was just sunset. He went into the\nhouse, gave the fire a kick, and sent it everywhere. It burned up all\nthe threads and ropes the men were making.\n\n\u201cI feel lonesome,\u201d said he. \u201cI can\u2019t listen to your words; they make me\nmad. I have lost my little brother; K\u0101hkaas has carried him off. Do you\nknow anything about him?\u2014Sprinkle your threads with water and roll them\nup; they will be whole again.\u2014I have been everywhere in the world, but\nI can\u2019t find Tc\u00fbskai. I want to ask S\u00fabbas if he can tell me where he\nis. I can do everything, but I can\u2019t find my brother. I want you to go\nup to S\u00fabbas\u2019 house and ask him if he has seen Tc\u00fbskai.\u201d\n\nOld man Kaltsik said: \u201cWe never go to S\u00fabbas\u2019 house. No one ever goes\nthere.\u201d\n\nTskel said: \u201cI will give you anything you want if you will go.\u201d Tskel\nteased a long time, and at last Kaltsik said: \u201cI will go.\u201d\n\nHe started just at daybreak. He traveled fast, going up all the time.\nHe reached S\u00fabbas\u2019 house in the middle of the sky before S\u00fabbas got\nthere. He turned himself into a little clump of bushes, right on\nS\u00fabbas\u2019 trail. When S\u00fabbas came hurrying along, he stumbled against the\nbushes, and said: \u201cWhat is here? I never saw anything on this trail\nbefore.\u201d\n\nKaltsik took his own form, jumped up, and said, \u201cI am here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you here for?\u201d asked S\u00fabbas.\n\n\u201cTskel has lost his brother, little Tc\u00fbskai, and he wants you to tell\nhim where he is.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t wait to talk,\u201d said S\u00fabbas. \u201cI am always hurrying along; I\nonly stop here at midday. I\u2019m afraid Lok will catch me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Kaltsik, \u201cyou should tell Tskel where his brother is. I\u2019m\nsorry for him; he feels lonesome.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome to-morrow,\u201d said S\u00fabbas, and he hurried along. It was night when\nKaltsik got down to the ground. The next morning he started and before\nmidday he turned himself into weeds and lay on S\u00fabbas\u2019 path. When\nS\u00fabbas came rushing along, he said: \u201cWhat is this? I never saw anything\non my trail before.\u201d Kaltsik sprang up. \u201cWhy have you come here?\u201d asked\nS\u00fabbas. \u201cI have no time to spend talking.\u201d\n\nKaltsik said: \u201cTskel will give you anything you want if you will tell\nhim where Tc\u00fbskai is. He has all kinds of things; beautiful beads\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cI am brighter than beads. I don\u2019t want beads!\u201d said S\u00fabbas, \u201cbut I\nwant a ring and a string of green shells to hang on my ears, and a\nwhite blanket to cover me on bright days. Tell Tskel to send you up\nto-morrow, if he has those things to give me.\u201d\n\nS\u00fabbas went on and Kaltsik got back to earth just before dark. He told\nTskel what S\u00fabbas wanted, and Tskel began to make the things. He worked\nall night; in the morning they were ready, and Kaltsik took them up to\nS\u00fabbas. S\u00fabbas was glad.\u2014He still wears the ring. People can see it\njust before a storm. (Circle around the sun. It is called\nW\u00e4n\u00e4ms\u00e4k\u00e4t\u00adsaliyis.) They can see his green shells and his white\nblanket, too.\u2014When he had them all, he said: \u201cThis morning when I was\nover that mountain in the east, I heard a man chopping wood and off on\nan island I caught the smell of burning flesh. That old man on the\nmountains has Tc\u00fbskai.\u201d\n\nWhen Tskel found out where his brother was, he turned himself into an\nold woman, with a hump on her back, and went to the mountain.\n\nWhen the man saw him, he said: \u201cI think you are Tskel.\u201d\n\nTskel said: \u201cI\u2019m not a man, I\u2019m an old woman. I heard that you had\ncaught Tskel\u2019s brother and were going to kill him; I want to see him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have him on an island; he\u2019ll die soon. He killed all of my sons. Now\nI am going to kill him. Help me with this wood.\u201d\n\nTskel helped pack up a load of wood, then the old man bent over and\nTskel put the load on his back and gave him a cane to help himself up\nby. \u201cBend,\u201d said he to the cane. \u201cBreak and go into the old man\u2019s\nheart.\u201d\n\nThe cane broke and one half of it struck the old man in the heart and\nkilled him. Tskel put the pieces together and the cane was whole again.\n\nThe old man had told Tskel that he was so glad to have Tc\u00fbskai that he\ndanced all the time he was carrying wood to smoke him. Tskel strapped\nthe pack of wood on his own back and danced along with it till he came\nto the canoe; then he danced in the canoe.\n\nOld K\u0101hkaas had two servants, K\u00e9is and Lok. K\u00e9is guarded the landing.\nWhen Tskel got out of the canoe, K\u00e9is wanted to spring at him, but\nTskel said: \u201cDon\u2019t touch me. I am your master!\u201d He said the same to\nLok, who was sitting by the smoke hole on top of the house, and Lok let\nhim go down the ladder into the house. As soon as he was at the foot of\nthe ladder, he saw Tc\u00fbskai hanging over the fire. Old woman K\u0101hkaas was\nsmoking him. He cut Tc\u00fbskai down and put him under his arm. Then he\ncaught K\u0101hkaas and tore her to pieces. He threw the pieces off in\ndifferent directions, and they became hills and mountains. He took\nTc\u00fbskai home and cured him.\n\nAfter a time Tskel said to his brother: \u201cWe will go and hunt for\nW\u014fn.\u201d\u2014W\u014fn was so large that he had to bend down to cut off the branches\nof trees.\u2014When Sk\u00f3\u016dks gave them seeds to eat, Tskel said: \u201cIf we don\u2019t\ncome back soon, you will know that we have killed W\u014fn.\u201d\n\nThey hadn\u2019t gone far when Tc\u00fbskai cried out: \u201cI see a big deer!\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep still,\u201d said Tskel, \u201cand go on till we see W\u014fn.\u201d In a little\nwhile Tskel saw W\u014fn, and, not far from him, a deer. He called to\nTc\u00fbskai: \u201cKeep still! You mustn\u2019t eat seed; if you do W\u014fn will get\naway.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai thought: \u201cI wonder what Tskel is doing. I hope he will kill the\ndeer, too.\u201d Tskel went between the two. Just as he was ready to shoot\nTc\u00fbskai thought: \u201cI\u2019m hungry, I\u2019m going to eat a few of our seeds.\nTskel won\u2019t miss them.\u201d\n\nThat moment Tskel\u2019s bow and bowstring broke. He knew that Tc\u00fbskai had\neaten seeds. Tc\u00fbskai was scared; he ran to a spring and washed out his\nmouth, then came back to his brother. Tskel scolded. Tc\u00fbskai said:\n\u201cWhat makes you so mad? I didn\u2019t eat any seed. Look in my mouth,\u201d and\nhe opened it.\n\nTskel struck his brother. He had a deer\u2019s head on; he took it off, put\nit on Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s head, and said: \u201cNow go and hunt for W\u014fn.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can kill him easily,\u201d said Tc\u00fbskai.\n\nTskel said: \u201cYou think that W\u014fn runs on the ground. So he does, but he\nruns in the air, too. He goes on all kinds of trees and he goes back\nand forth in the sky. You will have to follow him around the world\nbefore he will stop running.\u201d When Tc\u00fbskai was ready to go, Tskel said:\n\u201cTake some seeds,\u201d but it was too late. Tc\u00fbskai had started.\n\nBefore Tc\u00fbskai had gone very far, he saw W\u014fn and began to follow him.\nHe ran across rocky places, ran five times over the tops of pine trees,\nand five times over the top of high grass, five times across\nmole-hills, five times across the sky, and five times around the world,\nthen he ran east on the sky till he came near a village where Blaiwas\nwas chief.\n\nK\u00e9kina and Gapni were Blaiwas\u2019 servants; they were on top of the house\nsunning themselves. K\u00e9kina said: \u201cIt sounds as if my cousin were\ncoming;\u201d again he said: \u201cIt sounds like my brother, blowing on his\nmedicine stick. Tell the people to come out and look.\u201d\n\nWhen Gapni told them, G\u00e4k said: \u201cYou can\u2019t see much with your little\neyes; you are not like me. I can see all over the world.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cLittle K\u00e9kina never tells a lie; somebody must be\ncoming. Go and see who it is. Tell old man Moi to look; he can see\neverything under the sky and in the whole world.\u201d\n\nMoi said: \u201cSomebody is coming. Tell the people to be ready to shoot\nwhen I call out.\u201d\n\nThe people made a ring, and when W\u014fn came, he rushed inside of it. Then\nevery one shot at him; K\u00e9is hit him in the foot, N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s hit him on\nthe horns, Blaiwas hit him in the shoulder. At last they killed him.\nWhen W\u014fn was on the ground, K\u00e9is jumped on one of his legs; he wanted\nto get meat from the middle of it. (Tc\u00fbskai hadn\u2019t come yet.) People\nsaid to K\u00e9is: \u201cGet off; don\u2019t make Tc\u00fbskai mad. He has been following\nW\u014fn for a long time.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai came slowly, for he was tired. When he got to the place, he\ntold K\u00e9is to get off W\u014fn and help to skin him. K\u00e9is wouldn\u2019t move.\nTc\u00fbskai pushed him away, but he jumped back; then Tc\u00fbskai threw him off\nand told him he was in a hurry, for he had far to go. The third time\nK\u00e9is got on to W\u014fn, Tc\u00fbskai threw him over a mountain, but he was back\nin a minute. Tc\u00fbskai was so mad that he pounded K\u00e9is\u2019 head till he made\nit flat. That is why rattlesnakes have flat heads. He cut off W\u014fn\u2019s\nfoot that K\u00e9is had hit with an arrow and threw it after K\u00e9is.\n\nG\u00e4k had shot W\u014fn in the leg, and Tc\u00fbskai gave that leg to G\u00e4k. And so\nhe divided W\u014fn\u2019s body among the people; then he took a large piece on\nhis back and started for home. When it was dark, he camped in a\nwoodpecker\u2019s hole, in a tall tree.\n\nK\u00e9is was a great doctor. He was mad and he made it snow all night; he\nthought he could kill Tc\u00fbskai in that way. But Tc\u00fbskai made a fire in\nthe woodpecker\u2019s hole, and kept himself warm. He put a round stone in\nthe fire and heated it, and in the morning, when he started for home,\nhe rolled the hot stone along on the ground in front of him. Where the\nstone went, the trail was dry. Everywhere else the snow was so deep\nthat only the tops of trees could be seen.\n\nWhen Tc\u00fbskai got to the house, he went in quietly, didn\u2019t make any\nnoise. Tskel and Sk\u00f3\u016dks were mourning for him; they didn\u2019t see him, or\nhear him. He asked: \u201cWhy are you mourning? Did you think that I was\nlost? Your heads don\u2019t look nice; they don\u2019t smell nice. Go and wash\nthem.\u201d\n\nThey were glad now. Sk\u00f3\u016dks went out to get the meat Tc\u00fbskai had\nbrought; she couldn\u2019t move it. Then Tskel went; he couldn\u2019t raise it\nfrom the ground.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Tc\u00fbskai. \u201cI didn\u2019t bring that meat with the\nhead strap; I used the chest strap.\u201d He carried it into the house with\none hand; then he blew on it and made it small, but there was meat\nenough to last all winter.\n\nTskel cut the meat in strips to dry; he worked all night, and finished\njust as the sun came up. Then he took a piece of the fat, fastened it\non the top of Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s head, and said, \u201cThis will always stay as it is\nnow; it is small, but all the people in the world could feed on it.\u201d\nThen he said: \u201cYou have lived long enough without a wife; you must look\nfor one.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere can I find a wife?\u201d asked Tc\u00fbskai.\n\n\u201cIf you go to the place where they killed W\u014fn, you will find a clearing\nwhere women are digging roots. When you get to the edge of the\nclearing, shoot an arrow. It will come down near a spring. You must be\nat the spring by midday.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai walked and walked. After a while he came to the clearing and\nsaw women digging roots. Then he shot an arrow. When he got to the\nspring his arrow was sticking up in the ground there. He sat down, put\nhis elbows on his knees, and his head on his hands. The women went\ntowards the spring, digging as they went.\n\nK\u00f3we saw Tc\u00fbskai first; she took off her cap and wanted to give him\nwater. He didn\u2019t look up or move. She ran to the other women, and said:\n\u201cThere is a nice-looking young man sitting by the spring. I gave him\nsome water, but he wouldn\u2019t take it; maybe he will take it from you.\u201d\nThe women crowded around Tc\u00fbskai; each offered him water, but he\nwouldn\u2019t take it. The chief\u2019s daughter offered it but he didn\u2019t take\nit. Kaiutois\u2019 daughter tried, but he wouldn\u2019t look at her. Blaiwas\u2019\ndaughter said to a woman: \u201cGo and tell those M\u00e1idikdak girls to come\nand try.\u201d When the woman got to the girls, she said: \u201cA nice-looking\nyoung man is there by the spring. We have all offered him water, but he\nwon\u2019t take it. Maybe he will take it from you.\u201d\n\nThey went to the spring. The elder sister took off her cap, filled it\nwith water, and gave it to Tc\u00fbskai; he drank half of the water. The\nyounger sister offered him the cap; he drank the other half of the\nwater. Blaiwas\u2019 daughter saw the arrow; she tried to pull it up, but\ncouldn\u2019t. Then each woman tried in turn. Some watered the ground to\nsoften it, but nobody could pull the arrow out. Then Blaiwas\u2019 daughter\nsaid: \u201cLet M\u00e1idikdak\u2019s daughters try.\u201d\n\nThe elder sister pulled the arrow half-way out; the younger pulled it\nall the way out and put it in her basket. Then she went to dig roots.\n\nK\u00f3we saw the fat on Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s head and wanted to loosen it, but she\ncouldn\u2019t. She bit at the knots, but the women drove her away. Blaiwas\u2019\ndaughter said: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t use your teeth. Whoever loosens fat with\ntheir teeth will be Tusas\u00e1s\u2019 wife.\u201d All the women tried to take the fat\noff from Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s head, but no one could do it. They sent for\nM\u00e1idikdak\u2019s daughters again. The elder one loosened it; the younger\ntook it off.\n\nThe women went home and Tc\u00fbskai was left alone. K\u00f3we ran with all her\nmight, jumped, fell, puffed, at last got home. Then she said to her\nmother: \u201cTc\u00fbskai drank from my cap; make a good place for him!\u201d Old\nK\u00f3we was glad. She made ready a nice place for her son-in-law.\n\nEach young woman told her mother the same thing, except M\u00e1idikdak\u2019s\ndaughters; they didn\u2019t say anything. Tusas\u00e1s made ready a place for his\nson-in-law.\n\nHe was so glad that he ran around and boasted, said: \u201cTc\u00fbskai drank\nfrom my daughter\u2019s cap; he is my son-in-law.\u201d\n\nWhen Tc\u00fbskai got to the village he stood in the middle of the road.\nBlaiwas wanted to lead him into his house; so did all the other chiefs;\nbut he wouldn\u2019t go. At last old M\u00e1idikdak asked him to come to her\nhouse, and he went.\n\nThe next morning Blaiwas asked Tc\u00fbskai to run a foot race. All the men\nwere mad at Tc\u00fbskai and wanted to kill him. Every man in the village\nran against him. When Tc\u00fbskai started, he went under the ground. He ran\nfaster than anybody and got to the goal first. One after another the\nrunners came till all were there; then they turned and looked back to\nsee where Tc\u00fbskai was. Tusas\u00e1s said: \u201cI wonder when he will get here?\u201d\nand he made fun of him. Then they saw that Tc\u00fbskai was ahead of them.\n\nWhen they were ready for the race back, Tc\u00fbskai said: \u201cGo on! You\nneedn\u2019t wait for me.\u201d He ran under the ground. He came to the goal\nfirst and won the race. The second man to come was Blaiwas, the third\nwas Wus. When K\u00fblta overtook Tusas\u00e1s, he said: \u201cLittle brother, stop\nand pull this sliver out of my foot with your teeth.\u201d Tusas\u00e1s stopped,\nbut he couldn\u2019t get the sliver out; men had to come and carry K\u00fblta\nhome.\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cNow we will hunt deer.\u201d They drove the deer to the\nmountain and left Tc\u00fbskai alone there. He sent one arrow and killed all\nthe deer on the mountain.\n\nThe next morning M\u00e1idikdak\u2019s daughter had a little boy; he grew fast\nand soon was running around.\n\nAfter a time Tc\u00fbskai wanted to see his brother. When he got to Tskel\u2019s\nhouse he found that Tskel had a boy larger than his own. The two little\nboys were like brothers. Tskel asked Tc\u00fbskai to go to the lake and get\nhim reeds for arrows. \u201cGet the kind of reeds that have tear-drops on\nthem,\u201d said he. \u201cThose are the best to make arrows.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai went, and looked in every place; when he couldn\u2019t find reeds\nwith tear-drops on them, he put his fingers in his eyes and made tears\ncome; then he dropped them on the reeds. He shed so many tears that his\neyelids got swollen; he could hardly see.\n\nWhen Tc\u00fbskai went to the lake, he went along the south side, for old\nSukas, a man-eater, who drew people in with his breath and swallowed\nthem, lived on the west side. Going home he made a mistake; he thought\nthe west was the south side,\u2014he couldn\u2019t see well. Soon he met old\nSukas.\n\nSukas said: \u201cCome and wrestle with me, then you can go home.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai had to wrestle. About the middle of the afternoon he threw the\nold man, but as he went down Tc\u00fbskai slipped and fell on him. Sukas\u2019\nstomach was so big and flabby that it covered Tc\u00fbskai up; he couldn\u2019t\nget out and he could scarcely breathe. He didn\u2019t know what to do. Then\nhe heard Sk\u00f3la say: \u201cSomebody must scratch and kick hard; that will\nkill the old man.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai began to kick and scratch, and in a little while he broke the\nskin; the old man\u2019s stomach shrank up. Tc\u00fbskai got up and ran home.\n\nTskel asked: \u201cWhere are the reeds? Why were you gone so long?\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai said: \u201cI met old Sukas and wrestled with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI told you not to go that way,\u201d said Tskel. He was cross and scolded.\nThat made Tc\u00fbskai mad.\n\nThe next morning Tc\u00fbskai made arrows for his boy and told him to shoot\nTskel\u2019s boy while they were playing. He did, and Tskel\u2019s boy was two\ndays getting well. Then Tc\u00fbskai put poison in an arrow and told his son\nto shoot Tskel\u2019s boy again. Tskel knew what his brother was doing; he\nput poison in his son\u2019s arrow and told him even if he were dying, to\nkill Tc\u00fbskai\u2019s boy.\n\nThe next day both boys were dead. Tc\u00fbskai and Tskel felt lonesome.\nTskel said: \u201cI will go to Lamsewe and swim.\u201d\u2014When people lose their\nfriends and feel badly about it, they go and swim till they feel\nbetter.\u2014He told Tc\u00fbskai to go to another mountain, but he didn\u2019t go; he\nfollowed his brother.\n\nWhen Tskel saw him, he was mad and he said: \u201cYou will be a person no\nlonger. You will look funny to people and they will laugh at you when\nyou run in and out of holes. They will think there are five or six of\nyou, but there will be only one.\u201d\n\nTc\u00fbskai said: \u201cYou will no longer be a person, you will have no power.\nIn winter, when the water freezes, people will hunt for you in the tula\ngrass and will kill you.\u201d\n\nAll this took place. Those two great powers turned into common little\nminks and weasels, such as live now and are killed by hunters.\n\nTc\u00fbskai was always full of tricks. He taught his son to kill his\ncousin; and that is why people of kin sometimes kill one another now.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nG\u00c4K KILLS PAKOL\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    G\u00e4k      Crow\n    Ki\u00faks    An Indian Doctor\n    Kumal    Pelican\n    Moi      Squirrel\n    Ndukis   Hawk\n    Pakol    Deer\n    W\u00edle     A Fawn\n    Wus      Fox\n\n\n\nG\u00e4k was an old man and he was a doctor; his wife was young.\n\nOff in the mountains there was a platform of rocks. G\u00e4k lay on the\nplatform; he was sick. His medicines were the earth and the wind, and\nhe sang to them all the time, trying to get well.\n\nOne morning G\u00e4k told his wife (W\u00edle) that he was going to die, and\nasked her to call to her mother and father and aunts and uncles and\ncousins, and tell them to come and see him for the last time.\n\nW\u00edle stood on the rocks and called: \u201cMy mother, my father, my aunts and\nuncles and cousins, come and see G\u00e4k; he is going to die.\u201d\n\nHer father was away on the mountain, but he heard her and said: \u201cThat\nsounds like my child\u2019s voice.\u201d\n\nRight off W\u00edle saw hundreds of her people gathering and she called to\nG\u00e4k: \u201cThey are coming! They are coming!\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k got up, turned around, and lay down so there was just room enough\nfor one person to sit on the edge of the rock. Then he said to W\u00edle:\n\u201cWhen they get here, have the fattest one, the one with the black spot\non his forehead, sit here by me. I am going to leave him everything I\nhave.\u201d\n\nWhen they were all standing around G\u00e4k, he said to the one with the\nspot on his forehead: \u201cI want you to be the last man to bid me\ngood-by.\u201d Then he covered up his head and made a sound like groaning.\nThe Pakols waited a long time to see him die. At last they began to say\ngood-by. There was such a crowd that it was sundown when they were\nthrough. Then G\u00e4k told the fat Pakol, the one with the spot on his\nforehead, to say good-by.\n\nJust as Pakol was getting up to go, G\u00e4k kicked him off the rock; he\nfell over the precipice and was killed. W\u00edle and all the Pakols were so\nscared that they ran away. G\u00e4k went down among the rocks and began to\neat Pakol\u2019s body.\n\nThe Pakols said: \u201cThe greatest one of us has been killed,\u201d and they\nmourned for him. (The G\u00e4k people can never get enough to eat; they feed\nthemselves with both hands.)\n\nWus was no longer a person, but he could still talk. He came to the\nledge of rocks, looking for something to eat. He saw G\u00e4k eating and\ncalled out to him: \u201cMy brother, how did you get so much meat? How did\nyou get down there among the rocks?\u201d\n\n\u201cI shut my eyes and jumped. Come down and eat with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am afraid.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo back a little way, shut your eyes, run to the edge, and jump.\u201d\n\nWus said, \u201cEg! Eg!\u201d and ran, but just as he got to the edge of the\nrocks he opened his eyes and stopped. He did that three times.\n\nG\u00e4k scolded, and said: \u201cYou must do as I tell you. If you open your\neyes when you jump, you will get killed.\u201d\n\nWus tried again, then he said: \u201cOh, my brother, throw me a piece of\nmeat.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k said: \u201cIf you want to eat, you must come down here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, this time I will come!\u201d\n\nWus jumped, but he caught on the bushes, and climbed back.\n\nG\u00e4k said: \u201cIt is getting dark. If you don\u2019t come, you will have nothing\nto eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will come this time.\u201d\n\nWus went over the rock like a feather, but when he was half-way down,\nhe opened his eyes; then he fell and was torn to pieces. His head,\nalive and with open eyes, was far away from the body.\n\nG\u00e4k felt badly; he and Wus had always been good friends. He said to the\nhead: \u201cWus, I thought you were the strongest person in the world; now\nyou are torn to pieces. You didn\u2019t do as I told you to; you opened your\neyes.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k talked to his medicines, the earth and the wind, then he got his\nred medicine basket, [16] picked up the pieces of Wus, joined them\ntogether and stepped over the body three times. He covered the body\nwith the basket and told Wus to lie still, that the basket would cure\nhim, but he mustn\u2019t get up till he came and took it off. G\u00e4k went back\nto eating.\n\nAt sundown Wus began to kick and to call: \u201cI am well; come and take the\nbasket off!\u201d He called many times. Each time G\u00e4k said: \u201cLie still a\nwhile longer; you needn\u2019t be afraid. There is plenty of meat; we can\u2019t\neat it in all night.\u201d At last G\u00e4k took the basket off.\n\nAfter that Wus and G\u00e4k lived together. The Pakols wanted to kill G\u00e4k,\nbecause he had killed their best man. All kinds of people hated him,\nand wanted to kill him, but when any one got near him he wasn\u2019t G\u00e4k; he\nturned into something and got away. One morning two small men started\nto hunt for him; when he knew they were coming, he turned himself into\na bird and flew away.\n\nG\u00e4k had a blanket of bright rock (obsidian); he put the blanket around\nhim, turned into a man just like Ndukis, and sat down on a high rock in\nsight of his enemies. He painted his face white, to make them believe\nhe was Ndukis. His enemies came and looked at him,\u2014a long line of\npeople. All the people that walk, or crawl, or fly in the world were\nthere, and all had good eyes. Each man gave his opinion, and each\nthought it was Ndukis.\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cNobody in the world can see plainer than I can; that is\nNdukis.\u201d Old man Moi knew the man was G\u00e4k, but he didn\u2019t want to say\nso. When they asked him what he thought, he said: \u201cYou have a wise old\nman here\u201d (he meant Kumal); \u201cif he doesn\u2019t tell you who that man is, I\nwill.\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k sat perfectly still on the rock. He knew that Kumal was wise, and\nthat he had a blanket made of five kinds of stone. G\u00e4k\u2019s blanket was\nmade of four kinds of stone.\n\nWhen Kumal came up, the people gave him a place where he could stand\nand look at the man on the rock. He looked a long time, then said: \u201cHow\ncould you be fooled? That is G\u00e4k, the man who killed Pakol. He has\npainted his face white and made himself look like Ndukis, but don\u2019t you\nsee his large mouth?\u201d\n\nG\u00e4k came down from the rock, took his own form, and began to fight with\nthe crowd. He killed every one who fought with him; some wouldn\u2019t\nfight, they ran away.\n\nG\u00e4k struck at Kumal\u2019s throat, cut through the old man\u2019s stone blanket,\nand killed him; he tore his body to pieces, threw the pieces in the\nwater, and said: \u201cYou will no longer be a person. You will be a fisher,\nand live in the water.\u201d The other bodies G\u00e4k turned to rocks, then he\nwent off to the mountains. Wus had been eating the bodies of the men\nG\u00e4k killed. When the bodies turned to stone, he followed G\u00e4k to the\nmountains.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE STONE PEOPLE\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    He\u00fbw\u00fbs          The stone that pounders are made of\n    W\u00fbspahl\u00e1kls     Hairless Fox (Lakl is hair)\n    Nkok            Bird (English name unknown)\n    L\u016d\u2032luphlainik   Name of a hill (Lulup is eye)\n\n\n\nA great many of the He\u00fbw\u00fbs people lived near Tula Lake. They were\nsmooth, round people. They had no faces, but they could talk to one\nanother. Every morning and evening a young woman passed their place on\nher way to the lake to catch fish. They knew when she was coming, for\nshe sang as she traveled. They could hear her far off. Her song said:\n\u201cI am a great hunter of fish and of seeds.\u201d\n\nThe young men of the He\u00fbw\u00fbs people listened for the girl\u2019s song and\nwere glad when they heard it; they thought she was nice-looking, and\nthey wanted to marry her. Some said: \u201cWe can\u2019t talk to her;\u201d others\nsaid: \u201cMaybe she isn\u2019t good; she might break us up.\u201d \u201cWhy should we be\nafraid?\u201d asked others. \u201cIf she broke us to pieces, we wouldn\u2019t die; we\nshall never die.\u201d The chief said: \u201cLet that girl alone. I like her;\nevery morning her song wakes me up.\u201d One man said: \u201cI don\u2019t want her to\npass so often; the next time she goes by here I will say something to\nher.\u201d\n\nThat evening when the girl passed, nobody spoke to her; some of the men\nwanted to, but others wouldn\u2019t let them.\n\nEarly the next morning the He\u00fbw\u00fbs people heard the girl\u2019s song and said\nto one another: \u201cShe is coming!\u201d \u201cShe doesn\u2019t hurt us,\u201d said one young\nman. \u201cDon\u2019t bother her.\u201d \u201cWhy does she come here so often?\u201d asked\nanother. \u201cMaybe she belongs to this place.\u201d One big He\u00fbw\u00fbs said: \u201cI am\nstronger than any of you. I will have this good-looking girl for a\nwife.\u201d \u201cMaybe she will break you to pieces,\u201d said one of the young men.\n\u201cI am not afraid; she can\u2019t kill me. If she hurts my body, I will hurt\nher in some way.\u201d\n\nThe girl listened to the He\u00fbw\u00fbs people: when she was a long way off,\nshe could hear them talking.\n\nSome of the young men sent their spirits to the lake to turn to fish\nand jump up in the water and paddle around where the girl was.\n\n\u201cWhy do you come here?\u201d asked the girl. \u201cYou can\u2019t fool me. You may\nturn to anything you like, but I will know you. I have heard you\ntalking about me; I don\u2019t like you. You needn\u2019t be jealous because I go\naround here. This is my place. Maybe I shall live here as long as you\ndo.\u201d\n\nThe young men were ashamed; their spirits went back to their bodies,\nbecame He\u00fbw\u00fbs again.\n\nThat evening, when the girl went home, there was a nice-looking bow\nlying on the path she always traveled. She said: \u201cI wonder what man is\ntrying to fool me now?\u201d\n\nWhen she got near the creek, she met a number of the Nkok people. They\nasked: \u201cDid you see a bow?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is back there on the trail,\u201d said the girl. \u201cWhat are you doing\naround here? Why do you bother me? What kind do you think I am? I\nbelong to this earth. I was made when this earth was made. The place\naround here is mine. I know when anybody is trying to fool me. What\ncould I use you for? Don\u2019t you see that I travel as wind and air\ntravel? I have no use for you. You will no longer be living persons;\nyou will be hunters of fish in lakes and creeks.\u201d Right away the men\nturned to birds and flew off over the water.\n\nThe next morning, when the He\u00fbw\u00fbs people heard the girl\u2019s song, the\nchief said to the young men who had sent their spirits to be fish and\nbother her: \u201cYou have made trouble for us all. You shouldn\u2019t have\nmeddled with that girl. She is powerful; she will be mad now and will\ndo us harm.\u201d\n\nWhen the girl came along the trail, she saw W\u00fbspahl\u00e1kls sitting in\nfront of her. He looked sleepy.\n\nShe said: \u201cWho are you? No living person looks as ugly as you do. Go\naway!\u201d\n\nW\u00fbspahl\u00e1kls lay down on the trail; he didn\u2019t listen to her. She went\naround him on the north side.\n\nWhen she came to the He\u00fbw\u00fbs\u2019 place, she sat down and looked at them.\nShe said: \u201cWhy, you nice little He\u00fbw\u00fbs, you are as smooth as you can\nbe.\u201d\n\nShe picked up one and struck the ground with him; he didn\u2019t break. She\nsaid: \u201cOh it is not easy to break you, is it?\u201d\n\nThe He\u00fbw\u00fbs screamed: \u201cOh! Oh! you hurt me! You think that I am not a\nliving being, but I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are talking to me; I am glad,\u201d said the girl. \u201cThat is what I\nwant. You haven\u2019t spoken to me before, but I have heard you talk about\nme. I don\u2019t hate you. You belong here, and so do I. I thought we should\nbe here always and be friends, but you don\u2019t want it that way.\u201d She put\nthe He\u00fbw\u00fbs down and went on. Soon she saw W\u00fbspahl\u00e1kls again; he sat on\nthe trail in front of her. She called to him: \u201cGet out of my way!\u201d When\nhe didn\u2019t move, she took off a bone scratcher she wore around her neck,\nwent up to him, scratched off all of his flesh, and pounded him to\ndeath. Then she went on.\n\nThe next morning W\u00fbspahl\u00e1kls crossed the trail in front of her and went\ninto the bushes. The girl stopped; she was scared. She went home,\npainted her body and her hair red, and started of in another direction;\nshe traveled around everywhere and asked every one she met: \u201cWho owns\nyou?\u201d She asked the rocks, the trees, the leaves. At last she asked a\nlittle hill: \u201cWho are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am L\u016dl\u2032uphlainik,\u201d said the hill.\n\n\u201cWhose eye are you?\u201d asked the girl.\n\n\u201cI am this earth\u2019s eye.\u201d\n\nThe girl camped by the hill, and said to it: \u201cI want you to tell me\nabout yourself.\u201d\n\nThe hill said: \u201cAll these things around here belong to the earth; they\nwere made at the same time. This is not a good place for you. Over on\nthe lake, where two little air boys live, is a nice place for you.\u201d\n\nThe girl was short and thin, and after she was painted she was red all\nover. She started for the lake. As she was passing a mountain, a voice\nspoke out of it, and asked: \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d Right away she was\ngone; she sank into the earth; only one eye looked out of the ground.\n\n\u201cWhere have you gone now?\u201d asked the voice.\n\n\u201cI am looking at you,\u201d said the girl. \u201cYou are bad. I want you to be\nsomething else.\u201d\n\nShe came out of the ground, rubbed black paint on her hands, and on her\nface, from her chin to the top of her forehead. Then she asked: \u201cWho\nare you who talk so much and make such a noise? I want you to go far\noff on the mountain, where you can\u2019t bother people who are traveling\naround. Go where you won\u2019t be seen often.\u201d\n\nHe couldn\u2019t go unless he looked at her. She knew this, so she said:\n\u201cLook at me; I want to be friends with you.\u201d\n\nHe had to look at her; he couldn\u2019t help it.\n\nThat moment he became as red as she was. She said: \u201cI am a spirit and\nhereafter you will be a spirit. Sometimes we will help each other.\u201d As\nsoon as he looked at her, he went off to the mountain. Each spirit went\nits way and both will live always.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPITO\u00cdOIS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    K\u0101hkaas     Stork\n    K\u00fblta       Otter\n    Pito\u00edois\n    Tskel       Mink\n    W\u00fblk\u00fbtska   Marten\n\n\n\nPito\u00edois and her two brothers lived together; their father and mother\nwere dead.\n\nPito\u00edois was beautiful; she had a long neck, and her hair was black and\nso long that it touched the ground. She was the fastest worker in the\nworld. She was always digging roots. With one dig she could bring up a\nwhole basketful. In a day she dug over a large plain as though it had\nbeen ploughed. She piled up the roots, thought \u201cI want them in my\nbasket,\u201d and they were there.\n\nPito\u00edois\u2019 brothers were great hunters; while she was digging roots,\nthey were hunting for deer, but they never got out of sight of their\nsister, for they thought Wus might come and bother her.\n\nWus was always watching Pito\u00edois, but he didn\u2019t go near her; he was\nafraid of her brothers.\n\nOne day Pito\u00edois\u2019 brothers asked: \u201cAre you through digging roots in the\nplaces we found for you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am ready for another place. Are there many places around here?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are a few more. Are you tired?\u201d asked the elder brother.\n\n\u201cI am not tired, but I\u2019m afraid; I always feel that somebody is looking\nat me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are you afraid of?\u201d asked her brother.\n\n\u201cOf Wus. I know that he is watching me all the time.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough we are off on the mountains we always see you,\u201d said her\nbrother. \u201cNobody has been near you. There are two more plains to dig\nover; then we will go away from here. Sometimes I see a smoke on a\nmountain, but it is far off.\u201d\n\nPito\u00edois dug all the roots and pounded them up. Then the brothers moved\nto a new place. They made a brush house and went to look for a deer.\n\nThe next morning Pito\u00edois began to dig roots in a place where her\nbrothers could watch her. The elder brother had such powerful eyes that\nhe could count all the trees, all the brush, and all the plants; he\ncould count everything. He looked far off in the east and saw somebody\ndodge behind a tree. It was Wus. When he saw him, though the sun wasn\u2019t\nin the middle of the sky, he went to his sister and took her home.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know why I am so afraid,\u201d said Pito\u00edois. \u201cI feel worse every\nday, but I never see anybody.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo-day I saw somebody off on the mountain,\u201d said her brother.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what I thought!\u201d said Pito\u00edois. \u201cEvery day I feel that somebody\nis looking at me; to-day I was frightened.\u201d\n\nWus camped on the top of the mountain. He thought: \u201cI wonder why those\nmen never leave their sister? I can do anything I like; I am Wus. I\nwill make them forget her.\u201d He began singing, sang a beautiful song.\nAll day and all night he sang, to draw their minds out of them, and\nmake them forget Pito\u00edois.\n\nThe girl was uneasy; she wanted to finish her work. In two days all the\nfields were dug up. She packed the roots without waiting to clean them,\nand her brothers moved to a place not far from where the five W\u00fblk\u00fbtska\nbrothers lived. The father of those brothers was a great eater; he\ncould never get enough to satisfy him.\n\nWus followed Pito\u00edois. He said to himself: \u201cThis time they will forget\nher.\u201d The girl went to dig roots and her brothers started off to hunt.\nThe flat was square, but Wus made it long, and he multiplied the roots.\nIt took Pito\u00edois all day to dig them. Wus talked and sang; the brothers\ncouldn\u2019t hear the song, but they felt it and forgot all about their\nsister.\n\n\u201cI am losing my mind,\u201d said the elder brother. \u201cI feel as I did when I\nwas a little child.\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel that way, too,\u201d said the younger brother.\n\nWhen they got to the house, their sister was there; she had her roots\nin the creek, washing off the mud. When they told her how they felt,\nand that they almost forgot her, she said: \u201cI am not afraid now; I\ndon\u2019t feel as I did in those other places.\u201d\n\nThe next day the brothers said to Pito\u00edois: \u201cWe are going to hunt; you\nhad better stay in the house and pound the roots. Don\u2019t lie down; if\nyou do, you will go to sleep and harm will come to you.\u201d\n\nPito\u00edois pounded her roots, worked with her beads, and then\nstraightened out her hair to see how long it had grown; it dragged on\nthe ground.\n\nThe brothers went in different directions to look for deer; when they\nmet, the younger brother said: \u201cOff in the east from where I was I\nheard a man singing a beautiful song.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps it was Wus,\u201d said the elder brother; \u201che is always trying to\ndeceive people.\u201d\n\nWhen they were home and were through eating, the younger brother said:\n\u201cI wish I had something to amuse myself with.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d asked his brother. He thought it was wisdom or nice\nbeads.\n\n\u201cI want a wife.\u201d (Wus had put that thought into his mind.)\n\n\u201cThere are no women near here,\u201d said his brother.\n\n\u201cWe can go far off and hunt for one.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am willing to go,\u201d said the elder brother.\n\nThe next morning they said to Pito\u00edois: \u201cWe are going away; you must\nstay in the house and pound roots.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall get tired of staying here; I shall want to dig roots, but I\nwill stay near the house.\u201d\n\nThe brothers went toward the north. The first house they came to was\nK\u0101hkaas\u2019. \u201cWhat are you traveling around here for?\u201d asked the old man.\n\n\u201cWe travel around to see people, but we have traveled a good many days\nand we haven\u2019t seen anyone.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you looking for a young woman?\u201d asked K\u0101hkaas.\n\n\u201cYes, we want a wife. Do you know where there are any women?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know the daughter of old man K\u00fblta.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want her; she dives under the water. We can\u2019t dive. We want\nsome woman who goes on dry land as we do.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is nobody around here,\u201d said K\u0101hkaas. \u201cAs long as I have lived\nI\u2019ve seen no woman but K\u00fblta\u2019s daughter. You had better go toward the\nwest; you may find people in that direction.\u201d\n\nThe brothers started off. They were gone a long time.\n\nPito\u00edois got tired of staying in the house and she went to dig roots.\n\nGoing east, in lines from north to south, she left the land in furrows.\nWus had made the flat wide and full of roots. When she got to the east\nend of the flat, she turned and started for home.\n\nWus changed himself into a nice-looking young man, with long black\nhair. His clothes were covered with beads and he wore beautiful\nmoccasins. He overtook Pito\u00edois, pulled her down on the ground, and put\nhis head on her lap.\n\nShe cried and begged him to let go of her. Her cry sounded like sad\nsinging; she cried her own name: \u201cPito\u00edois, Pito\u00edois.\u201d\n\nThe five W\u00fblk\u00fbtska brothers were hunting. The youngest brother heard\nPito\u00edois\u2019 cry, but it sounded far off. At first he thought it was a\nbird singing. He heard it again and stopped to listen; then he thought:\n\u201cThat must be the sister of the two hunters.\u201d He heard it five times,\nand the fifth time the cry sounded so sad and pitiful that he went\ntoward it. He traveled till night: still the song was far away, then he\nwent home. He had no game. Each one of his brothers had a large deer.\n\nThose brothers had had many wives, but their father had killed and\neaten them. When the young man told his brothers what he had heard,\nthey said: \u201cIt must be the sister of the hunters,\u201d and they wondered\nwhy she cried. \u201cPerhaps Wus has caught her,\u201d said one of them; \u201che is\nalways tormenting women.\u201d\n\n\u201cHer brothers watch her; nobody can go near her,\u201d said the youngest\nbrother.\n\n\u201cPerhaps they have gone far off,\u201d said the eldest brother.\n\nPito\u00edois was sitting on the ground and crying. Her eyes were so swollen\nthey could scarcely be seen. Wus kept teasing her to go to his house,\nbut she wouldn\u2019t go, no matter what he promised.\n\nThe next morning, when the five brothers went to hunt, they kept near\ntogether. They killed a deer and built a fire and roasted some of the\nmeat. What they didn\u2019t roast, they hung on a tree. All the bones were\nleft on the ground. While they were eating, the youngest brother heard\nsomething and he listened. His brothers noticed that he stopped eating.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked the eldest brother.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve bitten my tongue.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, it\u2019s not that; you hear something.\u201d\n\nThen he told them that he heard the cry that he had heard before. They\ndidn\u2019t hear it, but they said: \u201cWe will find out what it is.\u201d As they\nfollowed the youngest brother, they all heard the cry. When they came\nto the top of the mountain, where Wus was when he was singing, they\nlooked down into the valley and saw a beautiful girl sitting on the\nground, crying. They knew who she was but they were afraid to go to\nher; they were afraid of her brothers. Then they saw that a man was\nlying with his head on her lap, and they knew it was Wus.\n\n\u201cIf we save her,\u201d said one of the brothers, \u201cwhich of us will have\nher?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want a wife,\u201d said the eldest brother; \u201cour youngest brother\ncan have her.\u201d\n\nThe youngest brother shot an arrow. It went under the ground and came\nout near Wus. He jumped. The brothers went down the mountain, the\nyoungest in front. When he got to where the girl was sitting, he\nsnatched her away from Wus. Wus turned into a fox and ran off. Then the\nyoung man took Pito\u00edois by the hand and sprang with her over five\nmountains, a spring for each mountain.\n\nHis brothers said: \u201cWhat shall we do to keep the old man from eating\nthis girl? She is too nice to be eaten up. We must watch him all the\ntime and kill him if he tries to get her.\u201d\n\nTskel was the servant of the old man and his five sons. He stayed at\nhome with the old man and watched for the sons to come. He was on the\ntop of the house looking for them when he saw them coming with\nPito\u00edois. He ran in and said to the old man: \u201cThey are coming with a\nbeautiful woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are they?\u201d asked the old man. He was pounding people\u2019s bones.\n\n\u201cYou needn\u2019t think that you are going to eat her; she is too\nbeautiful,\u201d said Tskel, and he snatched the old man\u2019s mortar and threw\nit away.\n\nThe old man went out and found the mortar. \u201cDon\u2019t you do that again,\u201d\nsaid he. \u201cI can\u2019t do without my cap\u201d (he always called the mortar his\ncap), and he put it under his arm.\n\nWhen the brothers came, they told Tskel to watch their father and not\nlet him hurt Pito\u00edois. The old man didn\u2019t look at the girl while his\nsons were around, but as soon as they went to hunt he got up and began\nto move around.\n\n\u201cWhy do you get up?\u201d asked Tskel. \u201cYou always move around when you have\na daughter-in-law; you want to eat her. Sit down!\u201d When he didn\u2019t sit\ndown, Tskel jumped on him and pushed him down. Tskel liked the old man\nand didn\u2019t want him to do wrong.\n\nWhen Tskel told the brothers how their father acted, they were\nfrightened. They said: \u201cWe had better take the girl back to her\nbrothers. In two days we will start.\u201d\n\nThe next day Pito\u00edois wanted to dig roots. The eldest brother asked his\nfather if he would let her alone if she dug roots for him to eat.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the old man. They told little Tskel to watch him; then they\nwent off to hunt for deer.\n\nPito\u00edois dug a great many roots. As fast as she dug them, the old man\npounded them in his mortar and ate them. He ate till midday, then he\nwas satisfied. He praised Pito\u00edois, called her daughter-in-law, and\ntold her he would never hurt her.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t believe him,\u201d said Tskel; \u201che always talks that way, but he\nnever tells the truth.\u201d\n\nPito\u00edois dug roots till night, then took home a basketful and put them\naround the house, a handful in a place. Each handful became a big pile.\nAt the end of two days she had a great many roots dug. When the\nbrothers got ready to go home with her, the old man pounded dried meat\nfor them to take; there were five large piles of it. As each brother\nreached down to take his load, it became so light and small that he\nfelt that he had nothing to carry.\n\nThe old man began to move around again. \u201cKeep still, old man,\u201d said\nTskel. \u201cAs soon as they get away, you can pound your roots.\u201d When he\nwouldn\u2019t keep still, Tskel snatched his mortar and threw it out. The\nold man went quickly and brought it back.\n\nPito\u00edois and the brothers traveled till midday; then the youngest\nbrother put a small piece of dried meat in a basket. Right away the\nbasket was full of meat. He put the basket on Pito\u00edois\u2019 back and told\nher to go to her brothers\u2019 house; they would be there by night.\n\nWhen Pito\u00edois\u2019 brothers came home and found the arrow sticking up in\nthe ground, and saw Wus\u2019 tracks, they knew that he had been tormenting\ntheir sister, and that the five brothers, the great arrow men, had\ntaken her away. They felt badly; they hung out the clothes she used to\nwear and began to cry.\n\nWhen Pito\u00edois was near home, she heard her brothers crying and it made\nher feel sad. They were glad when they saw her. When they asked where\nshe had been, she said: \u201cThe five W\u00fblk\u00fbtska brothers saved me from Wus;\nI am the wife of the youngest brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are they now?\u201d asked her brothers.\n\n\u201cOn the mountain near here.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must get ready something for them to eat.\u201d\n\nPito\u00edois pounded roots, and her elder brother made a place for the men\nto sit. When they came in, he called the youngest man brother-in-law.\n\nThe W\u00fblk\u00fbtska brothers felt badly; they were afraid that the old man\nwould kill Tskel and then follow them.\n\nOld W\u00fblk\u00fbtska made Tskel sleep; then he tracked his sons. Soon he was\non top of the last mountain. He was the fastest traveler in the world.\nHe peeped over the top of the mountain and looked around in the valley.\n\nWhen the W\u00fblk\u00fbtska brothers and Pito\u00edois were ready to start for home,\nher brother said to the youngest W\u00fblk\u00fbtska: \u201cShe is all the sister we\nhave; you must be good to her. She will work and help you feed your\nfather.\u201d\n\nWhen the brothers looked toward the mountain, they saw their father\nlooking over the top of it. The eldest brother went around the\nmountain, came up behind the old man, and snatched the mortar from\nunder his arm, just as he was taking it out to throw at Pito\u00edois.\n\n\u201cWhy are you here?\u201d asked the son. \u201cWe told you to stay with Tskel. You\nare not safe when you are away from home.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wanted to see the brothers of my daughter-in-law.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t see them. Go home!\u201d said the son, and he was so angry that\nhe threw his father\u2019s mortar over four mountains. It came down in front\nof their house.\n\nOld W\u00fblk\u00fbtska could do nothing without his mortar; he hurried after it.\n\nWhen Tskel woke up and didn\u2019t see the old man, he was terribly scared.\nHe went out to hunt for him just in time to see the mortar coming and\ndodge it. When it fell, he picked it up, took it to the creek, and\nburied it in mud; only the rim of the mortar could be seen. Tskel had\nto hurry, for the old man was coming fast, like a cloud.\n\nWhen he got to the house, he called to Tskel: \u201cWhere is my cap? Where\nis my cap?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know where your cap is.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me quickly. I am almost dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know; you always take it with you. What have you done with\nit?\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall die. I want it now. Hurry and find it! I am sleepy.\u201d That\nminute he dropped on the ground, dead. The mortar was his medicine, his\nlife.\n\nTskel tried to make him get up. He pushed him, and said: \u201cGet up, old\nman, your sons are coming. Don\u2019t sleep so long.\u201d When he didn\u2019t move,\nTskel was frightened and sorry. He ran to the creek, got the mortar and\nput it in the sun to dry. As soon as it was dry, he ran to the old man,\nand said: \u201cGet up, grandfather; I have found your cap!\u201d Tskel was\ncrying.\n\nW\u00fblk\u00fbtska didn\u2019t move; he was cold and stiff. Tskel pushed him ever so\nmany times, but he didn\u2019t stir. Then Tskel took his own medicine, a\nstick that he carried behind his ear, and hit W\u00fblk\u00fbtska with it; he\nmoved a little. Tskel hit him again, kept hitting him, and saying: \u201cGet\nup, grandfather, get up, grandfather! Here is your cap.\u201d\n\nAt last the old man came to life. Then Tskel said: \u201cI hid your cap to\nsee how I could kill you. You must never tease your daughter-in-law,\nfor I know where your life is. If you kill her, I shall hide your cap\nand not get it for you.\u201d\n\nThe old man was frightened, but his mind wasn\u2019t changed. When he saw\nhis sons coming, he went into the house and watched them through the\ncracks. When they were near, Pito\u00edois put down her basket. As soon as\nthey were in the house, the old man went out to see if they had brought\nroots; he hunted everywhere, but couldn\u2019t find the basket.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you stay in the house?\u201d asked his son.\n\n\u201cI am hungry. I am hunting for what you brought. I haven\u2019t eaten\nanything for two days. The first day I ate all you left in the house.\u201d\n\nPito\u00edois told him where the basket was. He was going to jump at it and\nswallow all the roots at once, but she called to him: \u201cPut down a large\nskin and pour the roots on to it, then take up a pinch of them with the\nends of your fingers; that pinch will be so big that you can\u2019t eat all\nof it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere isn\u2019t a mouthful in the whole basket,\u201d said the old man, and he\nwas going to swallow all of them. When his son ran toward him, he\nsnatched a handful of the roots and ate them. That moment he was so\nfull that roots ran out of his mouth, and on to the ground; he fell\ndown, rolled over, and choked to death.\n\nPito\u00edois gathered up the roots that were on the ground, made them\nsmall, put them in the basket, and covered the basket up. The son\u2019s\nwere glad that their father was dead, but Pito\u00edois felt badly; she\nliked her father-in-law, and didn\u2019t want to kill him. She hit the old\nman two blows on the back and two on the head. The roots came out of\nhim, only enough were left to satisfy his appetite, and he was alive\nagain.\n\nTskel said: \u201cSee what you got by doing what your daughter-in-law told\nyou not to do. Don\u2019t do that way again. Next time no one will save you;\nyou will die and stay dead.\u201d\n\nThe old man didn\u2019t listen to Tskel\u2019s words; his mind wasn\u2019t changed.\nThe next morning, when the brothers were starting off to hunt deer,\nthey said to Tskel: \u201cWatch the old man; don\u2019t let him torment Pito\u00edois.\nShe has power and knows what she can do to him if he makes her angry.\u201d\n\nOld W\u00fblk\u00fbtska slept till afternoon; when he woke up, Pito\u00edois had gone\nfor water. He looked through the cracks and watched for her to come; he\nmeant to kill her. When Pito\u00edois was near the house, he raised his\nmortar ready to throw it.\n\nTskel was watching him; he crept up, snatched the mortar, and said:\n\u201cOld man, what are you doing? What did your sons tell you? They will\nkill you if you harm your daughter-in-law. They didn\u2019t care for their\nother wives,\u2014they were common women and could do nothing; but this\nwoman has power.\u201d\n\nThe old man was helpless, for Tskel had his mortar. He promised not to\nharm Pito\u00edois.\n\nWhen the brothers came home, Tskel didn\u2019t tell them what W\u00fblk\u00fbtska had\ntried to do, but when Pito\u00edois wouldn\u2019t eat they asked her what the\ntrouble was, and she said: \u201cYour father came near killing me.\u201d The\nyoungest son was so mad that he snatched his father\u2019s mortar and broke\nit into bits.\n\nThat minute the old man turned as red as fire and every little bit of\nthe mortar was as red as fire. He ran and gathered up the bits, held\nthem tight up to himself; and right away the mortar was there.\n\nThe brothers were scared; they thought: \u201cHe can\u2019t be killed, but he has\nthe power to kill us.\u201d Tskel said: \u201cDon\u2019t feel badly, there is one way\nto kill him. If you bury his mortar in the ground under water, he will\ndie. I tried it one day.\u201d\n\nNow the five brothers started off for a long hunt and Pito\u00edois went\nwith them. They said to Tskel: \u201cIf the old man gets hungry, you can\ncome for deer\u2019s meat; we will leave some hanging on trees around our\ncamping places.\u201d\n\nThe first day they killed a deer they hung the meat on trees and left\nthe bones on the ground.\n\nIn one day old W\u00fblk\u00fbtska ate all that had been left in the house; then\nhe made Tskel sleep and started to track his sons. He found the bones\nand he pounded and ate them. That night, when the brothers were making\na camp in the bushes, they came upon a cave. In the morning they told\nPito\u00edois to stay in the cave while they were hunting, and not to go\nout; that there were snakes around, and she mustn\u2019t go to sleep, for if\nshe did they would bite her.\n\nWhen Tskel woke up and found that the old man was not in the house, he\nwas frightened, and he ran out to find him. He followed his tracks till\nhe came to where he was pounding and eating bones.\n\n\u201cWhy did you come here?\u201d asked Tskel. \u201cDidn\u2019t your sons tell you to\nstay at home?\u201d\n\nThe old man didn\u2019t listen to Tskel\u2019s words; he kept on pounding. Tskel\nhurried along to overtake the brothers. When he came to their camp, he\nasked: \u201cWhere do you leave your wife while you are hunting?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe hide her.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must be careful. Your father is tracking you; he means to kill\nher. I left him eating bones, but he will be here soon.\u201d\n\nJust then Tskel screamed out: \u201cI see him now! There he is, peeping over\nthat mountain.\u201d\n\nOld W\u00fblk\u00fbtska was on the farther side of the mountain, looking over. He\nthrew his mortar at Pito\u00edois, but she saw it coming and dodged. That\nminute the old man was there at the camp.\n\n\u201cI am sweating. It\u2019s awful hot!\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYou have been eating bones,\u201d said his sons, and they began to scold\nhim.\n\nPito\u00edois gave him meat and bones, then said to the brothers: \u201cLet us\nleave him and go over two mountains.\u201d At the foot of the second\nmountain there was a large river.\n\n\u201cAre there any fish in this river?\u201d asked Pito\u00edois.\n\n\u201cA great many,\u201d said the eldest brother. When she took off two of her\ndresses to go into the water, the youngest brother said: \u201cPut on your\ndresses; they will get stiff and hard.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can fix them,\u201d said Pito\u00edois, and she began to catch fish with her\nbasket. Soon she saw her father-in-law watching her. Just his forehead\nand eyes were above the top of the mountain.\n\nHe thought: \u201cI will have her now; she hasn\u2019t seen me yet.\u201d That time\nthe old man talked to his mortar, said: \u201cHit her if you can, but if you\ncan\u2019t, fall on the ground. Don\u2019t fall in the water.\u201d He threw the\nmortar, but Pito\u00edois saw it coming and dodged. The mortar fell on the\nground with a terrible noise. The brothers were roasting meat; they\nheard the noise and ran toward the river. Pito\u00edois dropped her basket\nand fish, and ran toward the camp, crying.\n\n\u201cWhat noise was that?\u201d asked the brothers.\n\n\u201cIt was your father\u2019s mortar. It struck near me. He is trying to kill\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is your fault,\u201d said the brothers. \u201cWhen he was dead, you brought\nhim to life.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t hate him, I want him to live,\u201d said Pito\u00edois.\n\nThat minute W\u00fblk\u00fbtska came puffing along. \u201cI am sweating. It\u2019s awful\nhot!\u201d said he.\n\nAll night the brothers watched the old man for fear he would kill\nPito\u00edois.\n\n\u201cYou needn\u2019t bother,\u201d said Pito\u00edois. \u201cI am willing to die, but I want\nto see my brothers again.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will go home,\u201d said the eldest brother.\n\n\u201cIt makes me feel lonesome to go home. It was you who wanted to come,\u201d\nsaid the youngest brother.\n\nThe second brother was mad; he snatched his father\u2019s mortar and threw\nit into the river. The old man chased him and threw the pounder at him;\nit just missed him. The young man picked it up and threw it back. It\nhit the old man and killed him, for his mortar was in the water and he\nwas getting weak. The brothers were glad that he was dead.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t do without the old man,\u201d said little Tskel, and he began to\ncry.\n\nPito\u00edois was sorry for Tskel. When the youngest brother saw how sorry\nPito\u00edois and Tskel were, he asked Pito\u00edois if she could do anything to\nbring the old man to life.\n\nShe said: \u201cI can bring him to life and give him a better mind. If I\nbring him to life now, he won\u2019t use his mortar again, and hereafter\neveryone will be as he will be,\u2014when they grow old they will be like\nchildren.\u201d\n\nShe got the mortar, then she made a plate out of braided grass and\nsprinkled it with water. She spread the plate on the old man and\nstepped over him five times. He grew warm, but didn\u2019t come to life.\nThen she said to Tskel: \u201cStrike him with your medicine stick.\u201d Tskel\nstruck him twice on the head. \u201cStrike him twice across the breast,\u201d\nsaid Pito\u00edois. At the second blow the old man got up; he was well\nagain, and his mind was good.\n\nThe next morning Pito\u00edois had a little boy. Old W\u00fblk\u00fbtska called it\ngrandson and was glad. The youngest brother and Pito\u00edois went to live\nwith her brothers and the old man went with them. The four other\nW\u00fblk\u00fbtska brothers started off to hunt for a wife, and little Tskel\nwent with them.\n\nPito\u00edois\u2019 brothers asked her: \u201cHave you seen any young women where you\nhave been?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are not many women in the world,\u201d said Pito\u00edois.\n\n\u201cWe will go and get the woman K\u0101hkaas told us about.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you live with her?\u201d asked Pito\u00edois. \u201cHer home is under the water.\nYou want a wife who can live on dry land. Don\u2019t go for her; she is not\na good wife for you.\u201d\n\nThey asked their brother-in-law to go with them. Pito\u00edois didn\u2019t want\nhim to go, but they started and he went with them. They traveled toward\nthe southwest. When the brothers got tired and wanted water to drink,\nthe brother-in-law dug a well for them with his hands, and said: \u201cThis\nwell will always be here. The people to come will call it W\u00fblk\u00fbtska\n\u00c1mpo after me.\u201d\n\nOn the south side of Klamath Lake they saw old man K\u00fblta.\n\n\u201cWhy do you come here?\u201d asked he.\n\n\u201cWe have come for your daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy children are on that island over there. I have a place ready for\neach one of them; I make deep holes under the water, where they can\nwatch the fish. My daughter wouldn\u2019t like you. She travels on trails\nunder the water. You are land people; you mustn\u2019t go to my island, for\nmy children would kill you.\u201d\n\nThe brothers climbed a high mountain. Near the top of it they found a\nlake. In the water at the edge of the lake was another old man like the\nfirst one. They saw him come out of the water with his mouth full of\nfish; they had never seen any one fish in that way before. When he saw\nthem coming, he was frightened, and jumped into the water. They called\nto him and he turned around; then he knew they were Pito\u00edois\u2019 brothers.\nHe called them \u201ccousins\u201d and asked: \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are looking for a woman. Do you know where we can find one?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know, for I live in the water. If I travel on land I get dry;\nI should die if I went far from water. Maybe if you go toward the west\nyou will find people.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must go home,\u201d said the brothers; \u201cour sister will be lonesome.\u201d\n\nThey found Pito\u00edois crying; she said: \u201cIt\u2019s useless for you to travel\naround; there are no women, except far away in the north.\u201d\n\nThe elder brother went to the top of a mountain and cried all day. His\nsister was sorry for him; she said: \u201cThere are people in the north.\nMaybe you will find a wife there.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go north,\u201d said he, \u201cand my brother will go with me.\u201d His\nmedicine was the feather of a white eagle. He put a feather on the top\nof his little nephew\u2019s head, twisted his hair around it, and said: \u201cIf\nthis feather comes off while we are gone, you will know that we shall\nnever come back.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must watch for Wus,\u201d said the brother-in-law. \u201cHe is mad at us and\nwill kill you if he can.\u201d\n\nBefore they got to the first mountain, the feather fell out of the\nbaby\u2019s hair and flew away on the wind.\n\nPito\u00edois screamed and said to her husband: \u201cHurry and overtake our\nbrothers and tell them that as soon as they were out of sight their\nmedicine feather fell out of the baby\u2019s hair.\u201d\n\nHe went very fast, but the brothers were over five mountains. He\ncouldn\u2019t overtake them, so he turned back.\n\nThe brothers came to a brook running through a wide meadow; there were\ntrees on each side of the brook. They sat down under a tree and began\nto cry. The younger brother said: \u201cI feel lonesome, as though I were\ngoing to die.\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel so, too,\u201d said the elder brother. \u201cLet us travel fast; maybe we\ncan get there to-day.\u201d\n\nThey started, but hadn\u2019t gone far when they saw Wus coming toward them.\nThe younger brother screamed, and said: \u201cI think this is the person you\nhave been hunting for.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus met them, he asked: \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are just traveling around.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are like me; I have no home, I travel all the time. Who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t tell you who we are, but we are people.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhose brothers are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are brothers to nobody.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know whose brothers you are,\u201d said Wus. \u201cPito\u00edois is your sister;\nshe hates me as if I had no life in me, and I hate her. I know your\nbrother-in-law, the great arrow man.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are there people?\u201d asked the elder brother.\n\n\u201cNear here. Will your brother-in-law come behind you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d said the younger brother.\n\nWus was mad. \u201cYou will no longer be living people,\u201d said he. \u201cYou will\nbe birds and wander around nights.\u201d\n\nWus made night come quickly. The brothers got separated and lost in the\ndarkness. They called to each other, but they couldn\u2019t get together,\nand to this day they wander around alone.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nILY\u00daYU AND K\u00dbLTA\u2019S SISTERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    K\u00fblta    Otter\n    Ily\u00fayu\n\n\n\nK\u00fblta\u2019s wife had one grown-up brother, and a number of little brothers\nand sisters. Her grown-up brother had a pet wolf,\u2014same as people have\npet dogs now.\u2014Its name was Ily\u00fayu Watcag\u00fb, and the young man was called\nby the same name.\n\nWhen K\u00fblta\u2019s wife went to visit her father and mother, and carry them\nthe nice things K\u00fblta had paid for her, her brother wanted to go home\nwith her. She said: \u201cMy brother, it is a bad place there. They eat\nsnake heads and frog heads. If you don\u2019t eat with them, maybe they will\nkill you. There are bad women there, too; they will make fun of you and\ntease you.\u201d But the young man kept asking her to let him go, and at\nlast she said: \u201cGet some tula straws and roll them up in little balls.\nWhen the women give you snake heads to eat, put a ball on the dish;\nthen they can\u2019t hurt you.\u201d\n\nWhen they got to the house, one of K\u00fblta\u2019s sisters brought a dish of\nsnake heads and gave it to Ily\u00fayu. Some of the heads were dry, others\nwere fresh and alive. His sister said: \u201cPut a ball on the plate.\u201d But\nIly\u00fayu was so frightened that he couldn\u2019t move.\n\nThe women made fun of him, and said: \u201cHe doesn\u2019t call our brother\n\u2018brother-in-law.\u2019 We are as good as he is, but he won\u2019t eat with us.\u201d\nThey took the plate away and said to him: \u201cYou came here to peek around\nand see how we lived; you will be sorry for it. Your head may get home,\nbut your body will be destroyed.\u201d\n\nK\u00fblta had two sisters. Ily\u00fayu gave each one of them a nice bone\nscratcher; then he said: \u201cYou needn\u2019t think you won\u2019t be sorry, too.\nThose bones will scratch all the flesh off your body.\u201d\n\nK\u00fblta\u2019s wife was crying; she gathered up a sackful of nice beads and\ngave them to her brother; then she gave him a bow and arrow, and he\nstarted for home. As he went, he called: \u201cCome, Ily\u00fayu! Come, Ily\u00fayu!\u201d\nand the little wolf followed him. He talked to Ily\u00fayu, said: \u201cWe went\nto take our sister back to her husband, but now what trouble we are\nin.\u201d And he began to sing to himself in a crying voice: \u201cWe met trouble\nfrom going home with our sister, we met trouble from going home with\nour sister.\u201d After he had gone a little way, he said: \u201cI wonder what is\nso heavy.\u201d He stopped, took the sack off his back, untied it, and threw\naway some of the nice beads his sister had given him. Then he called:\n\u201cCome on, Ily\u00fayu!\u201d\n\nIly\u00fayu cried; he was sorry to have his master lose such beautiful\nbeads.\n\nThe young man said: \u201cCome on, Ily\u00fayu. Don\u2019t cry for the beads. I have\nplenty of beads at home.\u201d When he had gone a little farther, his pack\ngrew heavy again. He took it off and threw away more of the beads.\nIly\u00fayu picked them up and carried them in his mouth. \u201cCome on, Ily\u00fayu!\u201d\ncalled his master. \u201cDon\u2019t mind those beads; I have plenty of beads at\nhome.\u201d\n\nSoon the young man said: \u201cI wonder what is so heavy.\u201d He threw away his\nbow and arrows. Ily\u00fayu cried. He picked up the bow and carried it in\nhis mouth. \u201cCome on, Ily\u00fayu,\u201d said his master. \u201cDon\u2019t cry, I have\nanother bow at home.\u201d Soon he said: \u201cI wonder what is so heavy.\u201d And he\nthrew away his quiver.\n\nK\u00fblta\u2019s wife knew what the women were doing to her brother. She took a\nbasket and followed him. When he threw away his quiver, she was there\nbehind him; she picked up the quiver and put it in her basket. She felt\nbadly. She cried hard and thought: \u201cPoor brother, they will kill you.\u201d\n\nThe young man said: \u201cThere are too many beads on my moccasins; they are\nso heavy I can hardly step.\u201d He threw away one of the moccasins, and\ncalled: \u201cCome on, Ily\u00fayu!\u201d (He didn\u2019t see his sister, and Ily\u00fayu didn\u2019t\nsee her.) Soon he pulled off the other moccasin and threw it away. He\nthrew away his belt. Ily\u00fayu picked it up and tried to carry it in his\nmouth. He dragged it a while, then dropped it. After a time the young\nman said: \u201cWhat have I got on that is so heavy?\u201d He took off his beaded\nshirt and threw it away. When Ily\u00fayu cried, his master called: \u201cCome\non, Ily\u00fayu, I have another shirt at home.\u201d He threw away his beaded\nleggings; then he was naked. Ily\u00fayu was crying. \u201cCome on, Ily\u00fayu,\u201d said\nhis master. Soon he pulled off one arm and threw it away. Ily\u00fayu tried\nto drag the arm along with his teeth, but his master called: \u201cCome on,\nIly\u00fayu, come on!\u201d and he left it. His sister put it in her basket. Soon\nhe said: \u201cI wonder what is so heavy.\u201d And he threw away the second arm.\nHe pulled off his legs; then he was only a body and head. He went on a\nlittle way, then said: \u201cI wonder what is so heavy.\u201d His body fell off,\nand he was only a head. He became N\u00fasdilausniyas (Rolling Head) and\ncould travel fast. He crossed a mountain at a bound, then rolled along\nin the air. He had big eyes and long hair that waved behind him.\n\nWhen he got to the river near his home, he struck the ground, and said:\n\u201cDum! dum!\u201d Then he called in a loud voice: \u201cMother, come and take me\nacross!\u201d \u201cWhere are you?\u201d asked his mother; she couldn\u2019t see him.\n\n\u201cI am here waiting. Come and get me!\u201d When she didn\u2019t come, he got mad,\nflew across the river and came down in the house: \u201cDum! dum!\u201d Then he\nflew at the people, hit them, and killed them.\n\nIly\u00fayu was crying; the river was swift and he couldn\u2019t cross. Soon the\nsister came. She found a canoe, crossed the river, and went to the\nhouse. She looked in through the smoke hole and saw the Head eating the\nbody of her mother. She was terribly scared. She ran to the village to\ntell the people; she knew that after the Head had eaten her father and\nmother, it would fly to the village and kill everybody there.\n\nThe Head felt dust scatter in at the smoke hole, and knew that somebody\nwas on the top of the house. It went out, saw tracks, and followed the\nwoman. When Ily\u00fayu saw his master, just a great bloody Head, he felt so\nbadly and was so afraid that he ran off to the mountains and wandered\naround, crying all the time.\n\nWhen the sister told the people that her brother had turned to a\nman-eater, the two oldest women in the village said to them: \u201cYou must\npaint your faces with the pitch out of cedar trees, and be strong;\nmaybe we can save you.\u201d\n\nThe two made a basket as tight and firm as they could. They waxed their\nhands so they could hold the Head. Then they rowed to the other side of\nthe river and waited; soon they heard the Head coming, with a terrible\nwhizzing and noise. It struck the bank: \u201cDum! dum!\u201d and called out:\n\u201cCome and take me over!\u201d When it saw the two old women, it asked: \u201cWhy\ndidn\u2019t young people come for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are afraid of you,\u201d said one of the old women.\n\n\u201cThey must come. I won\u2019t cross with you; you will throw me into the\nriver.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, we won\u2019t. We want to put you in our basket and take you over in\nthe right way, so people in later times won\u2019t make fun of you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I look out and see what you are doing?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can look through the cracks in the basket.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you carry me into your house when you get over?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, we will take good care of you.\u201d\n\nAt last the Head said: \u201cI\u2019ll go. Take me up carefully.\u201d When they got\nthe Head into the basket, it screamed and tried to get out, said: \u201cI\ncan\u2019t see. Let me out!\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are almost over,\u201d said the women. \u201cKeep still; you are all right.\nNow we are going to get out of the canoe. We are across the river.\u201d\n\nThey were only in the middle of the river. They took up the basket and\ndropped it into the water. It went up and down many times, for the Head\nwas trying hard to get out. When the basket got near the bank, people\npushed it away with long poles. After a while it got so heavy with\nwater that it sank.\n\nThen the old women said: \u201cThis world wasn\u2019t made for such things as you\nare. Hereafter you will only show yourself to scare doctors; you will\nbe their medicine, and tell them what to do.\u201d\n\nWhen the Head was drowned, the sister went back to K\u00fblta\u2019s house. K\u00fblta\nwas off on the mountains, roaming around; when he saw his wife coming\nhe was glad, and went to meet her. He said: \u201cMy sisters were proud of\ntheir scratching sticks. They scratched their arms, scratched till all\nthe skin and flesh was off, then they scratched their legs and bodies,\nscratched till only bones were left, then they died. I was scared, and\nran away.\u201d\n\nK\u00fblta built a big fire and burned up his sister\u2019s bones, and the sacks\nof dried snake heads and frog heads. When the snakes came to life and\ntried to get out of the fire K\u00fblta and his wife pushed them in, but\nthey couldn\u2019t watch all of them; some got away and ran off among the\nrocks, and that is why there are so many snakes in the world now.\n\nWhen the fire had burned down, and only ashes were left, K\u00fblta said: \u201cI\ncan\u2019t stay here where my sisters died. I will make a house south of\nhere, by the river.\u201d\n\nWhile the woman was poking in the ashes, a big rattlesnake sprang at\nher. K\u00fblta heard the snake rattle. He struck it with a long pole, and\nit ran away. Then the woman began to vomit up all kinds of terrible\nstuff, pieces of snake skin and fish skin, and pieces of snake heads.\nK\u00fblta said: \u201cThis is always the way when women eat snake heads, and\nsuch things, but with men it is different.\u201d\n\nWhen the woman was through vomiting, she found the snake and killed it.\nShe said: \u201cHereafter, you will have no power. You will want to bite\npeople, but you will tell them where you are; you can\u2019t help it. They\nwill kill you with stones but will never eat your head; they will say\nyou are dirty.\u201d\n\nEvery day the woman heard little Ily\u00fayu crying on the mountain. She\nfelt so sorry that K\u00fblta said: \u201cI will find him and bring him home.\u201d\nWhen he got near the place where his brother-in-law\u2019s sack grew heavy\nand he put it down to throw away some of the beads, he saw Ily\u00fayu\nsitting by the trail, but when the little fellow saw K\u00fblta he ran off,\ncrying like a person. K\u00fblta saw him at the place where his\nbrother-in-law had thrown away his quiver. He called: \u201cCome here,\nIly\u00fayu! Don\u2019t be afraid! Come and go home with me.\u201d But Ily\u00fayu ran\naway. K\u00fblta followed him all day but couldn\u2019t catch him. When he went\nhome, he said to his wife: \u201cTo-morrow you must go for Ily\u00fayu. Maybe he\nwill come when you call him.\u201d\n\nThe next morning K\u00fblta heated stones and his wife sweated. Then she\nlistened. She heard Ily\u00fayu\u2019s cry and followed the sound, calling all\nthe time: \u201cIly\u00fayu, Ily\u00fayu!\u201d He would stop and wait for her to come up\nnear him, but when she put out her hands to catch him he ran away. She\nfollowed him a good many days. When she camped he would come and lie\ndown near her, but when she moved he would go away. She followed him\ntill she was only skin and bones, then she said to him: \u201cI am going\nhome now. If you want to be wild you can. You will kill deer, and\npeople will say, \u2018Ily\u00fayu, K\u00fblta\u2019s brother-in-law, did that.\u2019\u201d\n\nIly\u00fayu ran off to the mountains and K\u00fblta\u2019s wife never heard his cry\nagain.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nN\u00c4N\u00cdHL\u00c4S [17]\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas    Eagle\n    Kaiutois   Wolf\n    N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s   Bat\n    Ma\u00fbk       Fly\n    M\u00fakus      Owl\n\n\n\nTwo N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s brothers and their sister lived together. The brothers\nwere small men. They had no way of killing deer, so they tried to trap\nthem. They dug a hole so deep that if a deer fell into it, it couldn\u2019t\nget out.\n\nOne morning when the brothers went to their trap, they found a deer in\nit. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to shoot this deer,\u201d said the elder brother.\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked the younger.\n\n\u201cBecause we want the skin for a dress for our sister. If we make a hole\nin it, her body will show through. We must catch the deer by the throat\nand choke him to death.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think we can kill him in that way,\u201d said the elder brother,\n\u201cbut we can try.\u201d\n\nThey caught hold of the deer\u2019s throat. The deer ran around in the pit\nand tried to get out.\n\n\u201cHold on tight,\u201d said the younger brother. \u201cHe will soon die.\u201d\n\nAfter a while the deer got out of the pit and ran off, but the brothers\nheld on. The deer ran to a mountain where there were trees and tall\nbrush; the blankets and caps of the N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s brothers were torn off and\ntheir bodies were scratched, but the younger brother kept calling:\n\u201cHold on tight; we will kill him.\u201d\n\nAt last the elder brother let go of the deer and dropped to the ground.\nHe went back and picked up his cap and the pieces of his blanket. He\npinned the pieces together with sticks and mended his moccasins with\nsticks.\n\nThe younger brother clung on for a good while, then he hit against a\ntree, and got such a blow that he fell off and lay on the ground for a\nlong time. At last he got up, and started for home; as he went along,\nhe picked up the pieces of his blanket and fastened them together with\nsticks. He was mad at his brother for letting go so soon. When they\nmet, they quarreled a while, then made up and went on. Soon they saw a\nnumber of women coming toward them; each woman was carrying a basketful\nof roots. The brothers sat down and waited.\n\nWhen the women came, they put their baskets on the ground, put some\nroots in a small basket, and gave the basket to the elder brother. He\ncalled to his brother: \u201cCome and eat some of these roots.\u201d The brother\ndidn\u2019t go; he made believe that he was mad; he didn\u2019t say a word. The\nelder brother called him a second time; the third time he called, the\nyounger brother said: \u201cI won\u2019t eat those roots. The women gave them to\nyou; they didn\u2019t give me any.\u201d\n\nThe women were afraid; they knew that those brothers were cross and\npowerful. One of the women asked: \u201cWhat is the matter? Why are you mad?\nWhat are you quarreling about?\u201d\n\nThe two began to fight. Each brother had a piece of burnt fungus; they\nchewed the fungus and rubbed it on their faces and heads to frighten\nthe women. The women were so scared that they left their baskets and\nran off.\n\nThen the brothers stopped fighting and laughed. They took the roots and\nwent home. They had a sister married to a man on the other side of\nKlamath Lake. They started off to visit her. The elder brother asked:\n\u201cWhat will you do when we get there?\u201d\n\nThe younger said: \u201cI don\u2019t know; what will you do?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will make the young men fight; the chief\u2019s son will get shot in the\neye. Everybody will run off to see him, and while they are gone, we\nwill steal all they have in their houses.\u201d\n\nWhen they got to their sister\u2019s house she cried because she had nothing\nto give them to eat. She began to pound fish bones for them. The\nyounger brother asked: \u201cWhy do you cry? I will make those bones good.\u201d\nHe made the fish bones into nice sweet seeds just by thinking hard.\nAfter a while, the young men of the village began to quarrel and then\nto fight, and right away the chief\u2019s son was shot in the eye. Everybody\nran to see what had happened. The two brothers stole all there was in\nthe village,\u2014blankets, beads, everything,\u2014made packs of them; made the\npacks small and put them under their finger nails; then they started\noff in their canoe, taking their sister with them.\n\nWhen the people went back to their houses and found their things gone,\nthey knew that the brothers had stolen them. They followed them in\ntheir canoes, and were catching up when the elder brother asked: \u201cWhat\nshall we do now?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will make ice,\u201d said the younger brother. Right away there was thick\nice.\n\n\u201cWhat will you do with our canoe?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will put it under one of my finger nails.\u201d He did that.\n\nThe men, finding their canoes fast in the ice, got out and ran after\nthe brothers.\n\nThe elder brother asked: \u201cWhat shall we do now?\u201d \u201cI will break up the\nice and those men will drown.\u201d Right away the ice melted. All the men\nwere drowned, but the brothers and their sister got home safe.\n\nBlaiwas and Kaiutois and a good many hunters lived near the N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s\nbrothers. One day the younger brother said: \u201cI am going to drive all\nthe deer in the world into a great pit and keep them for ourselves.\u201d He\nhad only to think hard and the pit was there and the deer were in it;\nnot one deer was left outside. That was the kind of man he was.\n\nThe hunters wondered where the deer had gone. They couldn\u2019t find one,\nand soon they were starving. Ma\u00fbk lived with the hunters; he scented\nthe deer to the house of the N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s brothers and found where they had\nthem shut up. Then the hunters sent M\u00fakus to watch the brothers. He\nwent to their house, sat down by the fire, and pretended to fall\nasleep. The younger brother looked at M\u00fakus\u2019 eyes, ran a stick into his\nnose, and put a coal of fire on the top of his head. M\u00fakus didn\u2019t move\nor wink. They thought he was sound asleep. They wanted to kill a deer.\n\nWhen they opened the pit, the deer were scared and made a great noise.\nThe brothers caught one of them, brought it out of the pit, and\nfastened up the place. They killed the deer and skinned it, hid some of\nthe meat, and roasted the rest.\n\nM\u00fakus saw everything. The brothers thought: \u201cHe sees nothing; he is\nasleep.\u201d\n\nM\u00fakus went home and told the hunters that five great rocks fastened up\nthe pit where the deer were. That the rocks were so big that it would\ntake a great many people to move them, but the brothers rolled them\nover the hole by thinking. The hunters found Tc\u00faititi and hired him to\nbreak the rocks. He broke them by flying up to the sky and falling down\nagainst them. He did that five times, and the five rocks fell to\npieces. The deer came out and scattered over the whole world. The\nhunters were watching, and as the deer passed them, they chose the\nbiggest bucks and killed them. The brothers didn\u2019t try again to hide\nthe deer.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRINGING TO LIFE OF THE WUS BROTHERS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Kaiutois   Gray Wolf\n    Wus        Black Fox\n\n\n\nTen Wus brothers and ten Kaiutois brothers lived together; they were\nkin. Each man had five daughters, except the youngest Wus brother; he\nwasn\u2019t married. The Wus brothers had a sister; she was nice-looking,\nbut she had such a long neck that she couldn\u2019t eat meat; she ate the\nneck bones of deer; ate five at a time. Everybody in the world knew\nabout her.\n\nOne day, when the eldest Wus brother was hunting, he took his drill out\nof his quiver to start a fire. He put the drill on the ground and the\nnext minute it was gone; he couldn\u2019t find it anywhere. That night he\nsaid to his brothers: \u201cI was alone all day, but when I put down my fire\ndrill it went away. I hunted everywhere, but I couldn\u2019t find it. That\nmeans trouble is coming to us; I don\u2019t think we will live long.\u201d\n\nThe next morning when some of the brothers wanted to track deer, the\neldest Wus brother said: \u201cWe must stay at home to-day. I feel scared\nabout my drill; something bad is going to happen.\u201d\n\nOld woman Kaiutois was sick in a little straw house near the big house\nwhere her sons lived. She called to them, and said: \u201cI hear people\naround in the mountains; I think that they are coming to kill us. They\nare people from the north. I don\u2019t know what they say, but they are\ncoming nearer and nearer all the time.\u201d\n\nJust then a crowd of men with bows and arrows came down from the\nmountain. They came to fight the Wus brothers. There were so many that\nthey filled the house, and the brothers couldn\u2019t do anything; they were\nall killed except the youngest Wus brother. He got on the top of the\nhouse, made a long leap, then ran as fast as he could.\n\nThe strangers killed old woman Kaiutois, but they left Wus\u2019 mother\nalive. They said: \u201cShe is old, she won\u2019t have any more children; let\nher stay here.\u201d\n\nThey cut each man open and took out his heart. They put the hearts on\nthe end of a long pole, burned the house, and started off, taking all\nthe women with them except Wus\u2019 mother. When they were out of sight,\nWus came home. He found his mother, and asked: \u201cDid they leave the\nbodies?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, but they cut them open and carried the hearts away.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t feel lonesome,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI have two minds; I can do anything.\nI will pay those people for killing my brothers.\u201d\n\nThe old woman had covered her head with pitch and ashes. Wus told her\nto go to the river and wash it off. While she was gone, he thought hard\nand right away there was a new house where the old one had been. It was\nlarge and nice, and was full of baskets and mats. He told his mother to\nmake him ten pairs of moccasins.\n\n\u201cWhy do you want moccasins?\u201d asked the old woman. \u201cI don\u2019t know where\nto get skin to make them with.\u201d She had a rabbit-skin dress on and he\ntold her to cut ten pieces out of it. Right away the ten pieces were\nten pairs of beautiful, beaded moccasins.\n\nThe old woman said: \u201cYou must be careful. Those men are strong. Maybe\nthey will kill you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not afraid,\u201d said Wus. \u201cI have more power than they have. I am\ngoing to find my sister. Maybe I will be gone a long time. Every day\nyou must put down new mats and throw away the old ones.\u201d Then he said\nto the mats: \u201cThere must be new mats here each day.\u201d\n\nWus started. He traveled fast. Each pair of new moccasins lasted ten\ndays. When there was a hole in the heel of one moccasin, he threw the\npair away. He wore out five pairs; then he was near the house where the\nstrangers lived. He climbed a high mountain and stayed there all day,\nwatching the people in the valley. He saw his sister; she was almost\ndead. Men were throwing captives back and forth across a fire; their\nbodies were burned and black with smoke. At dark the men began to whoop\nand scream, and to dance around the fire.\n\nWus thought hard, and made something long and bright. When he raised it\nup, it blazed like fire. He called it gol\u00f3bis. When he held it and\nlooked far off, he could see everything. He saw the people throwing his\nsister back and forth like a ball, across the fire. The pole his\nbrothers\u2019 hearts were on was stuck in the ground near the fire. He\ncried when he looked at his sister and his kin. He said: \u201cI want to\nhave long hair, and I want it covered with nice beads and bones, and I\nwant a blanket, and leggings covered with porcupine quills.\u201d Right away\nhis hair touched the ground, and he had a blanket and leggings covered\nwith beautiful quills. At midnight he went where the people were and\nstood looking at the fire.\n\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d asked one of the men.\n\n\u201cMaybe that is Wus,\u201d said another.\n\nWus took his bow and arrow and began to whip the bow string with the\narrow. It made nice music. Right away the long-necked girl knew that\nthe man was her brother. When he went nearer to the fire, people called\nout: \u201cWus! Wus! That man is Wus!\u201d and they were frightened.\n\n\u201cWhy do you call me Wus?\u201d asked he.\n\n\u201cI feel as if Wus were looking at me,\u201d said the chief\u2019s son. \u201cWhere did\nyou come from? We have never seen a man dressed as you are. Who are\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou mustn\u2019t ask such questions,\u201d said Wus. \u201cEverybody has heard of me.\nI live near you. My house is among the rocks. I have come to visit you.\nWhere did you get those hearts and those young women?\u201d\n\n\u201cOff in the south, where there are two lakes together. They are the\nhearts of the chiefs of that place. We killed nine of the Wus brothers,\nand all of the Kaiutois brothers, and took their wives and sisters.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am glad those men are dead,\u201d said Wus. \u201cThey made me an orphan, and\nthey almost killed my old grandmother, who lives north of here.\u201d Wus\nbegan to cry.\n\nThe people didn\u2019t quite believe him; they said: \u201cYou are Wus.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you say that?\u201d asked Wus. \u201cYou make me feel badly.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe missed the youngest Wus brother; maybe you are he.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you about that young man,\u201d said Wus. \u201cHe can do anything\nhe wants to. He can change into different things. He can turn people\ninto rocks, or old stumps, or ashes. He wouldn\u2019t come here and talk to\nyou; he would turn you into birds, or trees, or anything else he wanted\nto. He doesn\u2019t talk to people. I wish I could kill him, but I haven\u2019t\npower enough. I am afraid to go near him. I am glad you have killed his\nbrothers.\u201d\n\nPeople said: \u201cDon\u2019t listen to that man; he is Wus.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cWait and see what will become of you when Wus comes. He will\nbe here soon. He will come to kill you and take his sister home. Didn\u2019t\nyou take all the nice clothes those brothers had? When their youngest\nbrother ran away, was he dressed as I am? Can\u2019t I stay and play with\nthose hearts and with the daughters of the men who killed my father and\nmother? I will dance five nights over those hearts; I am glad to see\nthem hanging up there.\u201d\n\nSome of the people said: \u201cLet him stay. We will watch him. He can stay\none day, then if he doesn\u2019t do any harm, we will let him stay longer.\nHe isn\u2019t Wus.\u201d\n\nWus knew their thoughts. He began to dance and to throw the women\nacross the fire. He meant to make them stronger. As he threw them, he\ntalked to them in his heart, and they answered him in their hearts. He\nsaid aloud: \u201cI am glad to throw you over the fire. Your kin killed my\nfather and mother! I want the fire to burn you.\u201d\n\nHe danced all night and threw the women faster than any other man; but\neach time he threw them they were stronger.\n\nIn the morning he said: \u201cYou must let me sleep till the sun goes down;\nthen I will show you how glad I am that those brothers are dead. My\ngrandmother thinks that I am off hunting for deer. You must give me one\nof those hearts to carry home to her; then she will be glad, too.\u201d\n\nAfter Wus had slept a while, one of the men woke him up and said: \u201cYou\nare hungry; here are seeds to eat.\u201d To one another they said: \u201cIf he is\nWus, he won\u2019t eat our water seeds.\u201d He knew what they said. He ate the\nseeds and went to sleep again; slept till it was almost dark. Then he\nhelped the men build a big fire. He loosened his hair and it floated\naround him, it was so long and thick. He had a woman braid it and tie\nit up with strings of beads. Then he called out: \u201cI want everybody to\ncome and see me dance!\u201d The men sat around and looked at him. He danced\nwell and he sang his own songs. He danced for three nights; by the\nmiddle of the third night everybody was tired. Wus said: \u201cYou should\nsleep so you will be strong enough to dance to-morrow.\u201d He was taking\ntheir minds away from them; they thought of nothing; they liked Wus and\ndid as he told them.\n\nThe fourth night everybody was sleepy. Wus said: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you sleep\nnow and dance in the daytime? People used to dance when the sun was\nbright so everybody could see what they were doing.\u201d\n\nThe next morning they danced till midday, then rested. Wus said: \u201cThis\nis the last night I\u2019ll dance. I am going home.\u201d\n\nThey began early. Wus pounded the hearts on the poles. He pulled the\nwomen around, rubbed them against the hearts, and said: \u201cThose are the\nhearts of your fathers and of your kin.\u201d He whooped and screamed and\ndanced till midnight. Then all the men were falling asleep, they were\nso tired.\n\n\u201cWhat makes you so sleepy?\u201d asked Wus. \u201cWhen Wus comes, you\u2019ll not do\nas you are doing now. Wus has power; when he comes, he won\u2019t leave one\nof you alive.\u201d He kicked the men to make them get up and dance; then he\nsaid: \u201cYou didn\u2019t let me know you were going off to kill those men; now\nyou must give me this long-necked woman. Those men didn\u2019t do you any\nharm, but they killed all my people.\u201d He began to sing, and as he sang,\nevery man fell sound asleep.\n\nWus said to the women: \u201cWhen I hold up my gol\u00f3bis, you must start and\nrun toward the east. Run as fast as you can.\u201d He took the string of\nhearts and wound it around his waist. Then he held the gol\u00f3bis\u2014a great\nred ball\u2014in his hand and went around among the sleeping men. The ball\nkilled them all, burned their lives up; when he turned the ball over,\nit went out. The men lay there dead; Wus cut them open and took out\ntheir hearts.\n\nWhen Wus caught up with the women, he gave each woman one moccasin.\nRight away each moccasin became a pair. As he traveled, he picked up\nthe old moccasins he had thrown away when coming. There were no holes\nin them now. They were beautiful and new.\n\nWhen Wus and the women were half-way home, they came to a place where\ntheir brothers and kin used to hunt deer. The women felt lonesome and\nbegan to cry. Wus said: \u201cYou needn\u2019t feel lonesome; I am going to bring\nall of our people to life.\u201d\n\nNow old woman Wus dreamed that she saw a whole string of hearts come in\nat the top of the house, like snakes. When she woke up, she felt\nscared; she rubbed herself in ashes and thought: \u201cAs I have dreamed, it\nwill be. Nobody can change a dream.\u201d\n\nWhen near home, the long-necked girl began to sing; her song was like\nthe song of a fly. The old woman heard it and was glad; she knew that\nher daughter was coming, for nobody that lived in the world could sing\nher song.\n\nWhen they got to the house, the women hurried to get wood and build a\nfire, so that their grandmother could boil the hearts Wus had brought.\nWhen everything was ready, the old woman said: \u201cYou must all stay\noutside while I do my work.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cWhy do you have them stay outside? The spirits of the men\nwill be out there talking. If the women answer, your work will be\nspoiled, and my brothers will never come to life.\u201d\n\nThe old woman put the hearts in a basket of water and put hot stones\naround the basket. Then she tied blankets around the women and made\nthem lie down in one corner of the house. She said: \u201cWhen your brothers\nbegin to come back, they will talk to you; they will ask: \u2018Are you glad\nto see us?\u2019 \u2018Have we been gone long?\u2019 \u2018What are you lying there for?\u2019\n\u2018Get up and give us something to eat; we are hungry;\u2019 but don\u2019t answer,\ndon\u2019t say a word. If you do, there won\u2019t be anything but hearts in the\nbasket.\u201d\n\nWhen the water began to boil, the spirits of the men whose hearts were\nin the basket began to talk in the brush outside the house; then they\nwent into the house and talked to the women. When the women didn\u2019t\nanswer, they pushed them and scolded. But the women didn\u2019t look up,\ndidn\u2019t speak. After a while, there was a great noise, laughing and\ntalking, then each man took his place by the fire.\n\nThe old woman said to them: \u201cYou should keep still; you have made me\nfeel lonesome. You have been dead; I put ashes on my head and mourned\nfor you.\u201d\n\nThe eldest Wus said: \u201cWhy did you feel lonesome? You knew our brother\nhad power, that nobody could kill him and that he could save us.\u201d\n\nThey were glad when they saw their sister. She said: \u201cThose men treated\nme badly; they wouldn\u2019t give me anything to eat, and they threw me back\nand forth across the fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am glad they didn\u2019t make you eat our hearts,\u201d said the eldest\nbrother. \u201cThose people sometimes make their captives eat the hearts of\ntheir own brothers and kin.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLOK AND K\u00c9KINA\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Lok      Bear\n    K\u00e9kina   Lizard\n    Wus      Fox\n\n\n\nFive Lok brothers and their sister lived in a house on a mountain near\nKlamath Lake; not far away lived old woman Wus with her two nephews,\nthe K\u00e9kina brothers. They were orphans; the Lok brothers had killed\ntheir father and their mother. In summer Wus had had the children\ngather roots and store them in a tree for winter. When winter came the\nyounger boy went three times each day to the top of the tree to eat a\nfew of the roots. As he went, he called out: \u201cSpring is coming! Spring\nis coming!\u201d\n\nLok\u2019s sister had a big pile of roots hidden under the ground. She never\ngave any to Wus; she was always watching around to see what Wus taught\nthe boys. Wus didn\u2019t teach them anything. She didn\u2019t dare to; but the\nelder boy knew how to make poison arrows.\n\nOne morning when little K\u00e9kina ran out to the tree, he cried: \u201cSpring\nis coming! Spring is coming!\u201d and brought down a few roots for his\nbrother.\n\nThe Lok woman heard him, and asked: \u201cWhy do you tell such a lie? Spring\nisn\u2019t coming. It is winter. When you see smoke on the mountains, then\nspring will come.\u201d To the elder brother Lok said: \u201cYou are good for\nnothing; you sit all day making arrows, but you can\u2019t kill anything.\u201d\n\nOld woman Wus cried, but the boy told her and his little brother not to\nanswer Lok; if they did, Lok would tell her brothers, and they might\ncome and kill them.\n\nOnce when the little boy was outside, Lok said to him: \u201cLittle boy, I\nfeel mean toward you; you tell lies about spring coming.\u201d That evening\nLok watched him and was mad when he called out: \u201cSpring is coming!\nSpring is coming!\u201d for every time he called, it hurried spring along,\nand she liked winter. She went to the tree where the roots were hidden,\nspat on her hands, took hold of the top of the tree, pulled it down,\nrolled the roots in a ball, and swallowed them.\n\nThe next morning, when little K\u00e9kina called: \u201cSpring is coming! Spring\nis coming!\u201d and ran to the tree, he found that all his roots were gone.\nHe saw Lok\u2019s tracks and knew that she had stolen them. He rolled around\non the ground and cried, he felt so badly. Then he went in and lay down\nby his brother, who was making poison arrows. The brother said: \u201cKeep\nstill, I am going to talk to my arrows and tell them what to do.\u201d He\nheld the arrows over the fire, and said: \u201cArrows, you must go right\nthrough the bodies of the big-handed people; the people that never get\nenough to eat.\u201d\n\nOld woman Lok was listening around; she said: \u201cYou are talking about\nthe people who killed your father and mother, and will kill you.\u201d\n\nWhen her brothers came home, she said: \u201cI hate to hear that K\u00e9kina boy\ntalk about killing you.\u201d\n\nThe eldest brother said: \u201cSomebody makes him mad; maybe you have been\nboasting that we killed his father and mother.\u201d He scolded the woman\ntill she said: \u201cI am going off; I sha\u2019n\u2019t come back till night.\u201d\n\nWhile she was gone, old woman Wus stole half of her roots, dug a hole\nand hid them, and then made mole tracks around, little hills of dirt.\n\nIn Lok\u2019s house the chief slept in the middle, near the fire; two\nbrothers slept on one side of him and two on the other; the sister\nslept by the ladder. That night, when the brothers were asleep, little\nK\u00e9kina crept into their house. He passed his hands over them and they\nall slept soundly, they couldn\u2019t wake up. He cut off the chief\u2019s foot,\nput the end of his leg on the log in the fire, and said to it: \u201cDon\u2019t\nyou waken the chief till you are half burned up.\u201d He took the foot\nhome. Wus roasted it, and she and her nephews ate it. Then she put out\nthe fire, rubbed ashes on her mouth to hide the grease, and began to\ncry as if she were hungry.\n\nWhen the leg was half consumed, the chief woke up and screamed: \u201cMy leg\nis burning! My leg is burning!\u201d His sister said: \u201cThis is K\u00e9kina\u2019s\nwork,\u201d but the chief said: \u201cNo, I went to sleep with my feet on the\nlog.\u201d He died the next day.\n\nWhen his brothers were going to burn the body, old woman Wus said:\n\u201cPeople will make fun of you if you burn your brother. You must put him\nin the ground with his burnt leg sticking out. If you feel badly, you\ncan go away. I will watch, I won\u2019t let anything come to eat him.\u201d\n\nWhen the Lok brothers had put the chief in the ground and gone off, Wus\ndug up the body and cooked it for her nephews to eat; then she stuck a\nchunk of burnt wood where the leg had been.\n\nThe next day old woman Lok said: \u201cI am afraid Wus and those boys will\ndig up our brother\u2019s body and eat it.\u201d And she went to see. She didn\u2019t\ngo far, for she saw the chunk sticking up out of the ground and thought\nit was the leg.\n\nThe elder K\u00e9kina brother said to Wus: \u201cYou must go and find out what\nthe Loks are doing. You can tell them that I have driven you away.\u201d\n\nWhen Wus got where the Loks were camped, she began to cry.\n\nThey asked: \u201cWhat are you crying for?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy nephews have driven me out,\u201d said Wus; \u201cthey won\u2019t let me stay with\nthem.\u201d\n\nThe Loks believed her and let her stay around. When they asked: \u201cWhere\nare you going to live?\u201d she said: \u201cI have other kin, I am going to\nthem. Their house is straight east.\u201d\n\nThat night Lok had a dream. The dream said: \u201cYour brother\u2019s body has\nbeen stolen.\u201d In the morning she started off to find out if it had.\nWhen she got back, she said: \u201cJust as my dream told me, somebody has\ncarried off our brother.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cI know nothing about it.\u201d\n\nLok said: \u201cYes, you do; those boys did it.\u201d\n\nWus said: \u201cNo, they moved away when you did. You can go and kill them\nif you want to. I am going east.\u201d\n\nShe started, but when she was a little way off, she turned and went\nwest. When she got home, she said to her nephews: \u201cThe Loks are coming\nto fight you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not afraid of the Loks,\u201d said the elder brother. \u201cYou must go off\nto the mountain. I will put my brother in a crack of the house, then I\nwill fight the Loks with knives.\u201d He had five knives under one arm; his\nbow and arrows were hanging up.\n\nWhen the four Lok brothers and their sister came, one of the brothers\ncaught K\u00e9kina in his mouth and swallowed him. K\u00e9kina stuck a knife in\nLok\u2019s heart, killed him, and came out. The second brother swallowed\nhim; he killed him and came out; the third swallowed him and was\nkilled. The fourth brother bit K\u00e9kina, then swallowed him. K\u00e9kina was\nhurt; he stayed in Lok\u2019s body a good while before he could get strength\nenough to stick his knife in Lok\u2019s heart and run out. He didn\u2019t cut\nLok\u2019s heart open, and Lok jumped up and swallowed him again. That time\nLok choked, and K\u00e9kina nearly smothered; but he made himself small and\nrolled out of Lok\u2019s throat.\n\nOld woman Lok said: \u201cI told you those boys would kill you. Now all our\nbrothers are dead.\u201d Just then Lok saw K\u00e9kina. He caught him and\nswallowed him again. That time K\u00e9kina cut Lok\u2019s heart open and he died.\n\nOld woman Lok jumped at K\u00e9kina to bite him, but he ran down her throat\nbefore she could bite; he ran out, and she caught him; again she was\ngoing to bite him, but he ran down her throat and came out. The next\ntime he slipped down quickly; he cut her heart open, and she died.\n\nWus came home; they had lots of meat now, and she was glad. When spring\ncame, little K\u00e9kina wanted to dig roots. Wus said: \u201cDon\u2019t go far. The\nLok brothers had a great many kin. You must keep away from them.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9kina said: \u201cWhen I find sweet roots, I want to lie down by them, and\neat them; sometimes I feel like staying all night.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must be careful,\u201d said Wus. \u201cThe Loks like the same things that\nyou do. One might come along and eat the roots and you with them,\nwithout knowing that you were there.\u201d\n\nOne night little K\u00e9kina didn\u2019t come home. The next morning his brother\nbegan to hunt for him. Off on a flat he saw men digging roots; they\nwere Loks. He went up to one of them, and asked: \u201cHave you seen my\nbrother?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Lok, \u201che hasn\u2019t been here.\u201d\n\nHe asked ever so many men, and each one said: \u201cHe hasn\u2019t been here.\u201d\nOne man said: \u201cWe could eat him and not know it; for sometimes we dig\nup great roots with our hands, and he might be with them. There is a\nLok over there; he came ahead of us. Maybe he saw your brother.\u201d\n\nWhen K\u00e9kina asked him, he said: \u201cWhat makes you ask questions? I don\u2019t\nwant to talk,\u201d and he started off.\n\nK\u00e9kina followed him, and said: \u201cOpen your mouth.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should I open my mouth? I am sick. Let me alone.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9kina kept following him. At last Lok opened one side of his mouth;\nthen K\u00e9kina made him open the other side. In Lok\u2019s teeth he had found\none of little K\u00e9kina\u2019s hairs; he got it out and wound it around the\nhead of his arrow. Then he began to fight with the Loks. One after\nanother they swallowed him; he cut each one\u2019s heart open and killed\nhim. He left only one Lok alive,\u2014the poorest and oldest. He said to\nthat one: \u201cI will not kill you, but you will no longer be a person; you\nwill be a common bear and scare people.\u201d\n\nK\u00e9kina took the hair home. Wus told him to sprinkle her medicine basket\nand put it over the hair, then step over the basket five times. He did,\nand his brother came to life. Then the two brothers and Wus lived\ntogether as before.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGRASSHOPPER IN LOVE WITH DEER\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Dj\u00e1hdjai   Grasshopper\n    Djihens    Ant\n    Wi\u0115s       Deer\n\n\n\nA man had two wives, Dj\u00e1hdjai and Djihens. When it came root-digging\ntime, the two women went out every morning to dig roots, but they went\nin different directions; they didn\u2019t dig on the same flat.\n\nAt midday Djihens always went home with a basketful of nice, white\nroots. Dj\u00e1hdjai never went home till it was getting dark, and then she\nhad only a few roots in the bottom of her basket. Each night she took\nDjihens\u2019 basket and picked out all the longest and best roots, and when\nher husband came from hunting deer, she said: \u201cI dug these!\u201d\n\nThe man loved Dj\u00e1hdjai better than he did Djihens, but Dj\u00e1hdjai didn\u2019t\nlove him; she loved Wi\u0115s.\n\nEach morning, as soon as she got to the flat, she began to dance and to\nchirp her love song. Her song said: \u201cCome this way, Big Head! Come this\nway; I want to see you!\u201d\n\nWi\u0115s listened, and as soon as he heard the song, he came up on the\nrocks and looked down on the flat. He looked all around, as if counting\nthe trees and bushes to see that everything was right, that there was\nnobody around, then he went to Dj\u00e1hdjai.\n\nEach evening the husband asked his wives if their moccasins were worn\nout. Djihens always answered: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t kick the ground all the time\nand wear my moccasins out.\u201d\n\nDj\u00e1hdjai always had holes in her moccasins.\n\nHer husband scolded, and asked: \u201cHow do you wear out your moccasins so?\nI haven\u2019t made moccasins for Djihens since we came here.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t stand still when I dig; I have to jump around and stand hard\non the ground. I dig roots among the rocks, where they are long and\nsweet. Djihens digs on the flat, and her roots are not as long as mine,\nor as nice.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the man, \u201cI don\u2019t know how you can wear out a pair of\nmoccasins every day. Your feet eat up moccasins as stones do.\u201d\n\nOne morning, when Dj\u00e1hdjai started off with her basket and digging\nstick, Djihens thought she would watch and see where she went. So she\nfollowed her. Every little while Dj\u00e1hdjai turned around to find out if\nanybody was looking at her. Djihens was hiding in the grass; she\ncouldn\u2019t see her. When Dj\u00e1hdjai got near the mountain, she stopped and\nbegan to sing her love song. The song drew Wi\u0115s to the rocks. Djihens\nhid under the grass, so he couldn\u2019t see her. He looked all around, then\nhe started toward Dj\u00e1hdjai.\n\nThe Wi\u0115s people had two trails up the mountain, one for men, the other\nfor women. Dj\u00e1hdjai always waited for him at the end of the men\u2019s\ntrail.\n\nDjihens thought: \u201cNow I know why she comes home with an empty basket.\nShe comes here to see Wi\u0115s; she draws him to her with her love song.\nHow nice it sounds!\u201d\n\nAfter a while Djihens crept away, went off to the flat to dig roots.\nThe next morning she followed Dj\u00e1hdjai again. She listened to her love\nsong and saw Wi\u0115s come to meet her. That night she said to her husband:\n\u201cDon\u2019t make new moccasins for Dj\u00e1hdjai; she doesn\u2019t care for you.\u201d The\nman didn\u2019t believe her; he thought she was jealous of Dj\u00e1hdjai.\n\nDjihens always knew what he thought. She said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t believe\nme, go and listen to her love song.\u201d Then she told him how Dj\u00e1hdjai\nstole her roots and said she had dug them herself.\n\nThe next day, after Djihens had carried her roots home, she went to\nwatch Dj\u00e1hdjai. The woman spent the whole day with Wi\u0115s, then she dug a\nfew roots and went home.\n\nThe man had been a good hunter, but after Dj\u00e1hdjai fell in love with\nWi\u0115s, he couldn\u2019t find a deer, couldn\u2019t find even a fresh track. One\nday he went home early and asked Djihens: \u201cWhere does Wi\u0115s come from\nwhen he comes to meet Dj\u00e1hdjai?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said Djihens. \u201cI see him first on the rocks. He looks\naround, then he comes straight down the mountain.\u201d\n\nWhen Dj\u00e1hdjai came home and found her husband there, she said to\nDjihens: \u201cWhy did you leave me and come to the house? I hunted a long\ntime for you.\u201d\n\nThe man said nothing. He made believe he loved Dj\u00e1hdjai more than ever.\nBut he said to Djihens: \u201cTo-morrow I will watch her myself.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Dj\u00e1hdjai said: \u201cI am going to dig roots to-morrow;\nto-day I will stay at home and rest.\u201d When she didn\u2019t see her husband,\nshe asked where he had gone.\n\nDjihens said: \u201cHe can\u2019t find any deer on this side of the mountain. He\nis going to the other side. That is why he started so early.\u201d\n\nDj\u00e1hdjai said she was going to stay at home, but as soon as Djihens was\ngone, she started off toward the mountain.\n\nThe man hid by the side of the trail Wi\u0115s came on. He hunted for his\nmost poisonous arrow and was going to shoot him. Then he thought: \u201cNo,\nI will just watch them to-day.\u201d Soon he heard Dj\u00e1hdjai singing. When he\nsaw a big man stand on the rocks and look down at her, he was so\njealous that he cried. After a while he went home.\n\nThat day Dj\u00e1hdjai said to Wi\u0115s: \u201cMy husband hunts all the time. I am\nafraid he will see you.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the man got up early and went to the mountain. As he\nwent, he talked to the mountain and to the earth; said: \u201cDraw him\ntoward me. You, Earth, see everything; you know everything; you know\nwhat Wi\u0115s has done. I want to punish him. Draw him to me.\u201d\n\nThat day Dj\u00e1hdjai wanted to stay at home. She didn\u2019t know why her\nhusband went off so early mornings, but Djihens said: \u201cI am sick. One\nof us must dig roots; you had better go.\u201d\n\nThe man tracked Wi\u0115s, then sat down to watch him and see where his life\nwas. As Wi\u0115s went toward the top of the mountain, the man saw that he\nkept his life in his neck. He shot at him. Wi\u0115s ran off northeast and\nfell among the trees. The man found him, cut up his body, and carried\nhome some of the flesh.\n\nDj\u00e1hdjai looked up at the mountain and sang her love song; she sang a\nlong time, but Wi\u0115s didn\u2019t come. When she got home, she said to her\nhusband: \u201cYou have killed a deer. Why don\u2019t you cook some meat for me?\u201d\n\nHe gave her a plateful. She ate it all; she liked it. Then he said:\n\u201cThat was Wi\u0115s\u2019 flesh. Did you like it?\u201d The woman was scared. When she\ntried to run away, the man shot her through the body. The arrow went in\nunder one arm, and came out under the other. It left a hole in each\nside.\n\nThen he said: \u201cHereafter you will be nothing but a grasshopper, but\nyour name will be what it is now, Dj\u00e1hdjai. I hope that in later times\na man will never have such a wife as you were.\u201d\n\nTo this day grasshoppers have a hole in each side.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKAI AND HIS FATHER-IN-LAW, NATANATAS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Kai         Rabbit (Jack)\n    G\u00f3shgoise   Rabbit (Small)\n    Natanatas\n\n\n\nKai and his little brother, G\u00f3shgoise, went to Natanatas\u2019 house. Kai\nwanted to marry Natanatas\u2019 daughter. He left G\u00f3shgoise outside. Old\nwoman Natanatas gave G\u00f3shgoise seeds and roots, but he wouldn\u2019t eat\nthem.\n\n\u201cWhat does G\u00f3shgoise eat?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cHe likes the tips of grass and of weeds,\u201d said Kai. She gathered some\nand gave them to him; then he ate.\n\nOld man Natanatas thought: \u201cMy sons want something to eat. I don\u2019t like\nthis man Kai; I will kill him, and they can eat him.\u201d He knew that Kai\ndidn\u2019t eat fish and never went to catch them; but he said: \u201cSometimes I\nget so many fish that I can\u2019t make the canoe go; the net is too heavy.\nI want you to come and help me.\u201d\n\nKai went with his father-in-law; he didn\u2019t like to refuse. When they\ngot to the lake, Natanatas said: \u201cGet into the canoe; I fish out in the\nlake.\u201d\n\nWhen they were in the middle of the lake, the old man said: \u201cI feel\ntired. We will sleep a little while; then we will feel better and can\nwork.\u201d\n\nNatanatas lay down in one end of the canoe and Kai in the other. Kai\nslept a long time; when he woke up, he shook the old man, and said:\n\u201cHere, old man, wake up; the wind blows. We are going to get tipped\nover and drowned.\u201d\n\nNatanatas pretended to be asleep, but he was making the wind blow; he\nwanted to tip the canoe over and drown Kai.\n\nKai screamed: \u201cWake up! The canoe is full of water.\u201d\n\nNatanatas didn\u2019t move. Kai pulled him around, shook him and pounded\nhim. The wind blew harder and harder. Kai was scared; he was wet and\nfreezing, but no matter what he did, he couldn\u2019t waken the old man.\nJust then a white eagle feather that was flying along the bank called\nto Kai: \u201cWhy do you stay out there? Old Natanatas is trying to kill\nyou. Pull five strands of seaweed from the bottom of the canoe, tie\nthem together, twist them, and throw them into the water; then jump on\nto them and come ashore.\u201d\n\nKai did that, and got to land. He dried himself and went back to old\nNatanatas\u2019 house.\n\nSome of Natanatas\u2019 sons lived under the water; when their father\ndrowned a man, they caught and ate him.\n\nNatanatas didn\u2019t know which way Kai went. He said to himself: \u201cMaybe he\nfell into the lake, and my sons have eaten him.\u201d He was glad. He made\nthe wind stop blowing. Then he rowed to the bank, pulled his canoe out\nof the water, and went home. When he went into the house, he asked:\n\u201cHas Kai come?\u201d Just then he saw him lying by the fire, asleep.\n\nWhen Kai woke up, the old man said: \u201cI didn\u2019t know where to hunt for\nyou. The wind blew so hard I thought you were drowned. I felt badly. I\nwent all around the lake looking for you. I thought you were dead and I\ncried.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Natanatas went for rocks; he wanted to heat them and\nsweat. When he came home, he said to Kai: \u201cI saw a big deer right here\nnear the house; you could track it, but you haven\u2019t anything to kill it\nwith.\u201d\n\nKai\u2019s wife cried; she said: \u201cFather is trying to kill you. He kills\nevery man who comes here. He doesn\u2019t want a son-in-law.\u201d\n\nSoon the old man said to Kai: \u201cYou must go to the lake and get some\nreeds. I will make you arrows to shoot deer and ducks with; I am tired\nof eating fish.\u201d\n\nKai went to the lake, but he couldn\u2019t see any reeds. He looked all\naround; then he saw some growing on an island out in the middle of the\nlake. He sat down and thought of what he was to do, thought for a long\ntime. Then white eagle feathers called out to him: \u201cWhy do you sit\nthere so long? You should think of us, then you would get the reeds.\u201d\nWhen he thought of the feathers, he rose up in the air and went to the\nisland. He got the reeds and went home.\n\nWhen Kai gave the reeds to Natanatas, the old man made believe he was\nglad. He said: \u201cYou thought it was far; you didn\u2019t want to go, but you\nfound it was easy. Now you must bring me two round stones to straighten\nthe arrows. There is only one place to get them; that is down by the\nriver.\u201d\n\nKai went to the river. It was deep and ran very fast. Under the water\nhe saw the stones his father-in-law wanted. He didn\u2019t know how to get\nthem. He looked for others, but couldn\u2019t find them; then he sat down\nand thought about what he was to do. He felt lonesome; he knew\nNatanatas was trying to kill him.\n\nThen white eagle feathers called out: \u201cWhy do you sit there so long?\nThe old man is waiting. Why don\u2019t you think of us?\u201d\n\nHe thought of white feathers. Right away the river dried up. Kai took\nthe stones and went home.\n\nOld Natanatas made believe he was glad; he said: \u201cThose are like the\nstones I used when I was a young man. Now I must have feathers to put\non the arrows. In a tree near here there is an eagle\u2019s nest; I saw eggs\nin the nest. Maybe the little eagles are big enough to have long\nfeathers. You must go and see.\u201d\n\nWhen Kai got to the tree, he looked up and saw an eagle in the nest. He\ntook off his clothes and began to climb. As he climbed, the tree grew.\nKai didn\u2019t look back; he didn\u2019t know that the tree was getting taller\nand taller. He climbed for a long time. At last he got to the nest.\nWhen he looked down and saw how high up he was, he was scared and began\nto cry.\n\nSoon somebody said right there near him: \u201cWhy do you sit here crying?\nPull feathers out of the young eagles; then think of us and you will go\ndown the way we do.\u201d\n\nKai pulled the feathers, then he floated down as feathers do. When he\ngot home, the old man said he was glad, said: \u201cThere is where I used to\nget my feathers; those eagles always have a nest in that tree.\u201d\n\nNatanatas had the bow and arrows ready. He gave them to Kai, and said:\n\u201cNow you must kill a deer, and we shall have sinew to tie the feathers\non with. I will show you a place where deer always come.\u201d He went with\nKai, showed him deer tracks, and said: \u201cSit down here. I will go\nfarther and scare deer so they will run this way.\u201d\n\nOld Natanatas had a son under the ground, and he went to get him to\nhelp kill Kai. When Kai was alone, he got up and went off; he didn\u2019t\nstay where the old man told him to.\n\nThe old man told his son to take the form of a deer and run at Kai and\nkill him. \u201cPut your heart in your foot,\u201d said he. \u201cKai can\u2019t shoot at\nyour foot.\u201d Then he called out: \u201cA deer is coming! A deer is coming!\u201d\n\nG\u00f3shgoise\u2019s heart was with his brother and it kept calling to him:\n\u201cPets, pets, pets! Pets, pets, pets!\u201d (Foot, foot, foot!) It did that\nto help Kai and tell him that he must shoot the deer in the foot, for\nits life was there.\n\nWhen the deer got near, Kai thought: \u201cMaybe my brother is telling me to\nshoot the deer in the foot.\u201d He shot; the arrow went through the deer\u2019s\nfoot and killed him.\n\nWhen the old man came, he asked: \u201cWhere is the deer?\u201d\n\n\u201cI fell asleep,\u201d said Kai; \u201cthe deer passed me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI told you to sit still, and watch for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shot at it once,\u201d said Kai. \u201cMaybe I hit it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is it?\u201d\n\nKai told him and he went to hunt for the deer. When he found it, he\nfelt badly. He tried to look glad, but he didn\u2019t say much. He only\nsaid: \u201cWe won\u2019t cut up this deer till we kill another one. There are\nfive paths here where deer run. I will show you a good place. This time\nyou must sit still; you mustn\u2019t lie down and go to sleep.\u201d When they\ngot to the place, Natanatas said: \u201cSit here and watch; I will go and\nscare the deer.\u201d\n\nWhen a deer ran toward Kai, he hid. The deer looked for him, and the\nold man called: \u201cDeer is coming! Deer is coming!\u201d Again little\nG\u00f3shgoise said, \u201cPets, pets, pets!\u201d\n\nThe deer couldn\u2019t see Kai. Kai shot it in the foot and killed it.\n\nWhen Natanatas came, Kai said: \u201cA deer ran by. I shot once; maybe I\nkilled it. We will go and see.\u201d\n\nWhen the old man saw the dead deer, he said: \u201cIt\u2019s almost dark; we will\nleave the deer here till morning.\u201d\n\nWhen they got home, Kai\u2019s wife scolded her father; she said: \u201cYou will\nkill all my brothers trying to kill Kai, but you won\u2019t kill him. He has\nmore power than you have.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Natanatas said: \u201cMy son-in-law, you are afraid of a\ndeer. He has horns and you think he will hit you. He won\u2019t hurt you.\nSit right still and shoot when you see him coming.\u201d\n\nKai thought: \u201cThis time I will sit where he puts me.\u201d\n\nThe deer saw Kai, but Kai shot it in the foot and killed it. When the\nold man asked: \u201cWhere is the deer?\u201d Kai said: \u201cIt saw me and ran off. I\nshot once, but maybe I missed him.\u201d\n\nNatanatas thought: \u201cI have only two sons left, but I will try once\nmore.\u201d Tears were running down his face. He said to Kai: \u201cI have been\nrunning; I am sweating.\u201d\n\nKai killed two more of the old man\u2019s sons. Natanatas wouldn\u2019t let Kai\ntouch the deer. He said: \u201cWe will come to-morrow and cut them up.\u201d (He\nwas going to bring them to life.)\n\nLittle G\u00f3shgoise was getting lonesome; he thought: \u201cIf my brother is\ngoing to stay around here, I will go home. He is away every day, and I\nam alone all the time.\u201d\n\nThe next morning old Natanatas said: \u201cThere are big fish in the lake;\nwe will go and spear one.\u201d (He had turned his sons to fish, and they\nwere in the lake.)\n\nThis time Kai took G\u00f3shgoise with him. He knew that his brother was\nlonesome.\n\nThe old man said to his sons: \u201cAs soon as you see Kai\u2019s spear, catch\nhold of it and pull him into the water. Then eat him.\u201d\n\nWhen Kai got to the lake, he was frightened, and thought: \u201cI won\u2019t\nspear fish.\u201d Then he thought: \u201cI must do everything the old man tells\nme to do.\u201d\n\nSoon he saw a big fish coming. It threw up water in great waves. It\ncaught Kai\u2019s spear and pulled, pulled hard, but G\u00f3shgoise took hold of\nthe spear and helped Kai. They pulled the fish out on to the sand, and\nKai sent his brother to tell the old man to come and see it. When\nNatanatas saw the fish, he said: \u201cYou have done enough for to-day; we\nwill go home and play games.\u201d\n\nThe old man said to one of his sons: \u201cI am going to run a race with\nKai. When we run along the bank of the river, you must make a river on\nthe other side of us, and as we go between the rivers, you must push\nKai into the water. Your brothers will catch him and eat him.\u201d\n\nWhen Kai and old Natanatas were between the rivers where the trail was\nnarrow, Natanatas\u2019 son sprang out of the water, ran up behind Kai, and\ngave him a push. Kai was falling into the water when white eagle\nfeathers saw his trouble, and called out: \u201cThink of us!\u201d\n\nKai did, and right away he floated off in the air. Then Kai called to\nhis father-in-law: \u201cYou can\u2019t beat me!\u201d\n\nThe next time they ran the old man said: \u201cYou must run on the left side\nof the trail.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I will go on the right side,\u201d said Kai. He went on the right side,\nand when they came to a deep place and his brother-in-law ran up behind\nhim, he turned and pushed him into the river. The brothers, who were\nwaiting to eat Kai, ate their brother.\n\nThe old man said to Kai: \u201cI will run with you again, but you must run\non the left side.\u201d\n\nKai ran on the left side; his father-in-law pushed him off many times,\nbut he didn\u2019t strike the water. He floated away, a feather, and when\nthe old man looked back, there was Kai. At last he pushed Natanatas\ninto the water.\n\nNatanatas called out: \u201cDon\u2019t eat me! Don\u2019t eat me!\u201d His sons thought he\nwas Kai and they ate him, but his spirit escaped and he was alive\nagain. He scolded his sons, said: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you kill this man? You\nmust run with him and kill him. We have more power than he has.\u201d\n\nKai ran another race, pushed his brother-in-law into the water, and his\nbrothers ate him up.\n\nThen the old man said: \u201cWe won\u2019t run again. My sons feel badly, their\nbrother is dead.\u201d\n\nKai\u2019s wife scolded her father, told him he had killed his sons, that\nshe didn\u2019t like him any longer, and wouldn\u2019t stay where he stayed. Then\nshe and Kai and G\u00f3shgoise crossed a high mountain, and came down to a\nmeadow. They built a house and lived there always.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF THE TULA GRASS\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas   Eagle\n    Ndukis    Hawk\n    Tusas\u00e1s   Joker (Skunk)\n\n\n\nNot far from Knekuks lived a woman and her little grandson, the last\none left of her kin. The boy often wanted to go to the village, but his\ngrandmother said: \u201cYou are too small; you might get lost, or those\npeople might kill you. They killed your father and mother.\u201d\n\nOne day the boy started off without saying anything to his grandmother.\nWhen she found that he had gone, she cried and felt badly. Tusas\u00e1s\nlived in the village; he saw the boy and said: \u201cI will take that little\nfellow for a servant; he can bring water for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep still,\u201d said Blaiwas; \u201cyou talk too much.\u201d\n\nThe man who killed the boy\u2019s father was there; he said: \u201cThat boy has\ncome to see me. Maybe he wants to kill me.\u201d He was making fun of him.\n\nThe boy went into each house to find out what people would say to him.\nSome were sorry for him; others drove him away. When he went home, his\ngrandmother said: \u201cThose people are waiting for you to grow up a\nlittle; then they will kill you.\u201d\n\nAfter the first time, he went away every evening. One evening he saw,\non the trail, an old dry spear of tula grass. He stepped on it and\nbroke it; the spear screamed out, just as a person does when hurt. The\nboy stepped off from it quickly, and said: \u201cWell, well, I never heard\nanything of this kind scream before.\u201d He picked up the pieces of grass.\nThat minute he fell down. The grass made him fall; it was the spirit of\na skoks.\n\nThe boy lost his mind and was almost dead. He thought the spirit said:\n\u201cYou have broken my back; now I want you to fix me and use me for a\ncane. If you meet enemies, use me against them.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy got back his mind, his mouth was bloody. It is always that\nway when a child is going to be a doctor. (Medicines sometimes travel\nevenings to meet young boys.) He got up and went home.\n\nWhen his grandmother saw him, she was scared; she said: \u201cI don\u2019t like\nto see you this way. Doctors are killed as well as men who fight; you\nwon\u2019t live long if you are this kind.\u201d\n\nThat night the boy dreamed that the tula cane told him how to make a\nregular medicine cane. He made the cane, and the next time he went to\nthe village he took it with him. It was stronger than the tula grass\ncane.\n\nTusas\u00e1s said: \u201cLittle boy, I am glad you brought me a cane; I will sing\nfor it.\u201d\n\nBlaiwas said: \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t make fun of that boy; let him alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf we let him alone, he will kill us all,\u201d said Tusas\u00e1s.\n\nThe man who killed the boy\u2019s father tied feathers in the boy\u2019s hair to\nmake fun of him, and said: \u201cI want to eat you, but if I don\u2019t eat you,\nyou will have to carry water for me.\u201d\n\nTusas\u00e1s said: \u201cHe is mine; I will make him work when he is a little\nlarger.\u201d\n\nEverywhere the boy went they made fun of him because he was so small.\nOne night he said: \u201cGrandmother, I want you to fix my head.\u201d She shaved\noff all of his hair but one tuft on the top of his head; that she\nbraided, and it stuck up straight. She painted his head and his face\nred.\n\n\u201cHaven\u2019t I any name?\u201d asked the boy.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said his grandmother. \u201cYou have never given yourself a name.\u201d\n\n\u201cCall me S\u00e1pkokis\u201d (the name of the twist of hair on top of his head).\n\u201cAnd call me by my name every time I come in or go out; it will make me\nstronger each time I hear it.\u201d\n\nThe next night he stuck his medicine cane over the place where he\nslept, took down his tula cane, and said to his grandmother: \u201cI am\ngoing to the place where they make fun of me. If my medicine cane\nfalls, it will be a sign that I am in trouble.\u201d\n\nWhen he got to the place, the man who killed his father asked: \u201cWhy do\nyou come so often? I wish you would keep away from me. I don\u2019t like\nyou; you look just like your father. Give me your cane!\u201d\n\nS\u00e1pkokis wouldn\u2019t give up his cane. He ran off to old woman Ndukis\u2019\nhouse. She said: \u201cWhy do you come to this village so often? That man\nover there will kill you.\u201d When he didn\u2019t start for home, she screamed\nto him to hurry, that the man was following him. She tore a hole in her\nhouse and told the boy to crawl out and run home as quickly as he\ncould.\n\nS\u00e1pkokis crawled out, but he went around on one side and struck the man\nwith his tula cane. The man fell in two pieces.\n\nThe people said to the dead man: \u201cThat comes of your talking so big!\u201d\nThey shot at S\u00e1pkokis, but couldn\u2019t hit him; he darted around and hit\nmen with his tula cane. Each man he hit died right away. One man said:\n\u201cI never killed any of your people; I have always been kind to you.\u201d He\nlet that man live.\n\nS\u00e1pkokis went home whooping and singing; he was glad. The women of the\nvillage told all the people living what the boy had done.\n\nS\u00e1pkokis said to his grandmother: \u201cI am going to a place where there is\nhigh grass; I am not going to stay here and fight people.\u201d\n\nHe went to the mountain and stood in the high grass on one side of the\ntrail. A great many men started out to kill S\u00e1pkokis. When he saw them\ncoming, he met them, and asked: \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d No one answered.\nHe said: \u201cHere is the best place to fight.\u201d They tried to kill him, but\nhis cane never failed; it killed every man.\n\nIn the evening S\u00e1pkokis went home whooping and singing. When his\ngrandmother saw him coming, she said: \u201cHe has killed everybody; that is\nwhy he whoops and runs so fast. It was bad enough to make him an\norphan, not to make him think of his people. That is the way: if they\nknow, they can never forget. Those people should have let him alone.\u201d\n\nS\u00e1pkokis traveled around and everybody knew that he was a great\nfighter. One day he told his grandmother he was going to see K\u00fblta. She\nsaid: \u201cIf you go, don\u2019t harm him; he is your kin.\u201d\n\nK\u00fblta said: \u201cMy grandson, I am glad to see you. I hear women mourning.\nYou must be on the watch; somebody may come here and kill you. You must\ncover your father and mother and relatives enough so you won\u2019t think\nany more about them.\u201d (He meant that he must kill all of his enemies.)\n\nS\u00e1pkokis asked: \u201cDo you feel lonesome for people?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said K\u00fblta, \u201cmy sons never did any harm, but men killed them. I\nam glad to have you kill those men.\u201d\n\nWhen S\u00e1pkokis went home, K\u00fblta carried the old grandmother fish. He was\nglad that his grandson was such a strong man.\n\nS\u00e1pkokis said: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t make any tracks around here. If you do\npeople will think that you taught me all these things.\u201d\n\nAfter this, S\u00e1pkokis and his grandmother lived in peace. There were\nonly women and children left around their place.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA MEDICINE STORY. NUMBER I\n\n\n    CHARACTERS\n\n    Blaiwas        Eagle\n    Ktilis\u00fanak     Ktilis\u2019 Son\n    Skoks          Spirit\n    Skoksun Kalo   The Land of Spirits\n\n\n\nKtilis\u00fanak (Ktilis\u2019 son) was so young that he couldn\u2019t talk plainly. He\nlived with his grandmother. His sister was married and lived on a broad\nflat near the mountains. The grandmother was tired of taking care of\nthe boy, and one evening she threw the little fellow out; then she\nthrew him his bow and arrows, and said:\n\n\u201cGo off now! Maybe you will be a big chief and have many wives!\u201d\n\nThe boy was naked and cold, but he got up and started off to see if he\ncould find his sister\u2019s house. He cried all the way. When he got to the\nflat, he saw a woman coming with a great pack of old ragged mats on her\nback. The boy was scared; he trembled all over. He could see the\nwoman\u2019s head and pack, but he couldn\u2019t see below her waist. He thought:\n\u201cThat isn\u2019t a living person,\u201d and he grew as cold as ice.\n\nWhen he thought: \u201cThat isn\u2019t a living person,\u201d the woman screamed out,\nand right away the boy changed. He could see the woman, and he said: \u201cI\nam not afraid of you now. My grandmother has thrown me out; I will give\nmyself to anybody I meet.\u201d\n\nThe woman was a Skoks, and she came in a whirlwind. As the boy looked,\nshe grew taller and taller. At last her head reached the sky. She\nscreamed a second time. The boy\u2019s eyes were big from looking at her.\nThe third time she screamed, she was there by him. She tried to pass\nhim on the right side, but he pushed hard to the other side. As she\npassed him, he fell on his back; blood came out of his mouth and he\nlost his mind. Skoks had pulled his heart out and carried it off. (If\nshe had passed on the left side she would have taken his spirit and\ncarried it to Skoksun Kalo.)\n\nSkoks went off in the air till she came to where the sun goes down; she\nstopped there just above the earth. Her hand was shut tight, and she\nheld the boy\u2019s heart in it; she talked to the heart, and laughed.\n\nShe said: \u201cHeart, I am trying you to see if you will be like me,\u201d and\nshe laughed again.\n\nThe boy lay on the ground as if dead, but his spirit heard the Skoks\ntalk to his heart, as she sat on the air and held the heart in her\nhand. After a while she opened her hand and let go of the heart. Then\nthe little boy thought he saw a bird coming from the west. It came to\nhim and lighted on his breast. That moment he jumped up and went toward\nhis sister\u2019s house. He had changed; he wasn\u2019t a little boy; he was a\nyoung man.\n\nHis sister didn\u2019t know him. When he called her \u201csister,\u201d she asked:\n\u201cWhat has changed you so?\u201d She was scared. He didn\u2019t answer; he only\nlaughed.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you speak?\u201d she asked.\n\nThen he said: \u201cOut on the flat I saw a tall woman with a big pack of\nold ragged mats on her back.\u201d\n\nRight away the sister knew that he had seen a Skoks; she said: \u201cMy\nbrother, why did you come so far alone?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy grandmother threw me out,\u201d said the boy. \u201cI thought I was going to\ndie.\u201d\n\nThe sister cried; she felt sorry for her brother.\n\nHe began to be sleepy. Skoks made him feel that way; she was coming to\nhim again. She was going to be his medicine and make him a great\ndoctor. He rubbed ashes on the right side of his face; on the left side\nhe made stripes with a black coal, then he asked his sister to sing for\nhim. She didn\u2019t want to sing, for the first person who sings for a\ndoctor must go with him always, and sing for him. When he asked the\nsecond time, she sang. They didn\u2019t see the Skoks, but Ktilis\u00fanak knew\nshe was there.\n\nEvery evening the young man called out as Skoks called, when he met her\non the flat; then he fell to the ground and was senseless till Skoks\ngot through talking to him. Each time his sister asked: \u201cWhat does your\nmedicine want?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see a crowd of medicines around me,\u201d said he. \u201cThey want somebody to\nsing and talk for them. You must go and ask old men to come and talk\nfive days for them.\u201d\n\nThe sister went to Blaiwas\u2019 village, where there were many old men.\nThey came and sang and told the medicine spirits what they must do.\nThey said: \u201cIf you want this young man to work for you, you must be\ngood to him; you mustn\u2019t make him crazy.\u201d Then they asked each medicine\nwhat it wanted. Skoks wanted a cap made of tula grass, and two grass\nplates. Eagle medicine wanted eagle feathers, and fish-hawk medicine\nwanted fish-hawk feathers. Each bird medicine wanted its own kind of\nfeathers.\n\nThe old men got all of those feathers, and tied them on a long pole.\nThere is a dream medicine, and the man who has it can cure himself, but\nhe can\u2019t cure others. That medicine came to Ktilis\u00fanak.\n\nWhen the old men finished singing and talking, they said to the sister:\n\u201cYou mustn\u2019t cook or sweep or have any dust around when your brother is\nin the house. In the evening don\u2019t stir the ashes or let them fly up\nwhen you put wood on the fire; if you do, he will die; he is afraid of\nhis medicines. Don\u2019t tease him to eat; let him eat when he wants to. If\nhis medicines trouble him, we will come and talk to them.\u201d\n\nThe young man lay in the house day after day.\u2014Doctors don\u2019t go out\noften; they go only when sick people send for them.\n\nNear the sister\u2019s house there was a sick man who was only skin and\nbones. He sent for Ktilis\u00fanak. The young man told his sister to sing\nfor Skoks. Skoks came, but nobody could see her. When the three got to\nthe house, the man was dying. Ktilis\u00fanak put a hand each side of him,\nfront and back, and caught his life, didn\u2019t let it get out of his body.\nIn half a day the man was well.\n\nWhen the sister got home, the medicines heard her say: \u201cOh, I am\ntired!\u201d In the night they said to the young man: \u201cWe didn\u2019t think she\nwould get tired of us so soon.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Ktilis\u00fanak asked his sister if she was tired of his\nmedicines. She said: \u201cI am tired of singing so much.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am tired, too,\u201d said the young man, \u201cbut I wouldn\u2019t live long if I\ndidn\u2019t work for my medicines.\u201d\n\nThe next night Ktilis\u00fanak sang for himself. Skoks was angry because the\nbrother and sister were tired. The other medicines said to him: \u201cWe\ndidn\u2019t know you felt so. We thought you would be glad to have us for\nservants. Hereafter you will be a common man; you will have no power to\ncure people.\u201d\n\nThe medicines left him. As soon as they were gone, he began to feel\nsick; he cried and sang for his medicines, but they didn\u2019t hear him,\nthey had gone far away. The old men came, and sang and called to them,\nbut they didn\u2019t come. When Ktilis\u00fanak told the old men how he and his\nsister had got tired of singing, they said: \u201cWe will try once more.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s no use,\u201d said Ktilis\u00fanak. \u201cSkoks has got my life.\u201d He grew thin\nand died. People brought nice beads and mats and burned them with his\nbody.\n\nBlaiwas said to the sister: \u201cIt is as if you had killed your own\nbrother. Haven\u2019t old people told you that medicines listen to what we\nsay and that they can hear, even when they are a long way off?\u201d\n\nThe sister felt badly. She burned up her house and went to another\nplace. As soon as Ktilis\u00fanak died, his old grandmother knew it. She was\nsorry that she had thrown him out, and three times each night she\nwalked around the sister\u2019s house crying. Her voice sounded Like the\nvoice of a spirit. The sister wrapped herself up tight when she heard\nher grandmother around. Once, when she saw her, there were red tears on\none side of the old woman\u2019s face and black tears on the other. At last\nshe called out: \u201cMy granddaughter, I am going to the mountains. I don\u2019t\nwant to be a person any longer, and hereafter you will not be a person;\nyou will be a bird, and appear to doctors.\u201d They both became birds.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA MEDICINE STORY. NUMBER II\n\n\nA man and his wife went off hunting and left their little boy at home.\nThe mother said: \u201cStay here and watch things; don\u2019t go away anywhere.\u201d\n\nThe boy was afraid; he didn\u2019t want to stay alone. The father and mother\nhad not been gone long when the boy heard a noise like a whirlwind in\ntall grass. A Skoks had come for him, but he didn\u2019t know that. He\nlooked out, looked over his left shoulder, and saw a kind of grayish\nwhite fog. In that fog was a woman; one side of her face was painted in\nblack streaks, the other side was the color of ashes. She called out to\nthe boy: \u201cCome here, little fellow!\u201d The child didn\u2019t go; he screamed\nand fell dead.\n\nThe mother heard him scream and she ran home. When she found the boy\ndead and cold as ice, she cried, and called for somebody to come.\n\nOld Ko\u00e9 heard her and came; she took off the child\u2019s clothes and rubbed\nhis body with ashes, then she put black coal on one side of his face\nand white ashes on the other, and called for her Skoks. (Skoks was old\nKo\u00e9\u2019s medicine.)\n\nKo\u00e9 said to the mother: \u201cA Skoks came for your child, but the little\nfellow turned his left shoulder. If he had turned his right shoulder,\nthe Skoks would have taken his spirit away; but she didn\u2019t get hold of\nit; she called and it followed her. My Skoks will go for it.\u201d\n\nThe boy\u2019s spirit hadn\u2019t gone far. Ko\u00e9\u2019s Skoks went right in front of it\nand brought it back, and the child came to life. When the mother asked\nhow the Skoks looked, the boy said: \u201cShe had finger-nails longer than\nher hand. I couldn\u2019t see her plainly, but I heard her call me.\u201d\n\nThe mother wanted to give Ko\u00e9 nice things, beads and porcupine quills,\nbut Ko\u00e9 said: \u201cI don\u2019t want any of those things; I only want to bring\nback as many spirits as I can.\u201d\n\nThe little boy grew fast; he was a great ki\u00faks. When men asked how his\nSkoks looked when she awakened him out of dreams, he said: \u201cShe has red\neyes, like fire in the night, and her nails are longer than her\nfingers. She has hot ashes for her paint. One side of her face is\nwhite; on that side are black tears, on the other side are red tears,\nlike blood.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA SKOKS STORY\n\n\nOn the shore of Tula Lake many chiefs were living,\u2014the first people.\n(They are now turned to fowls and animals.) With them lived an old\nwoman and her grandson. The boy was called \u201cBig Belly;\u201d Tusas\u00e1s rubbed\ndirt on him and laughed at him because he was small and fat.\n\nA Skoks traveled every evening along the eastern side of the lake. The\nSkoks wore a straw blanket, and made a great noise, crying as he went\nalong. The minute anybody saw him, he vanished. If he passed a man\nwhose right shoulder was toward him, that man died at once, for the\nspirit stole his life, but if the spirit passed on the other side, the\nperson was senseless a while and then came to life.\n\nOne evening people heard the Skoks coming. It made such a noise that\nthey heard it when it was a long way off. They were scared; they\ncrowded together and each person wanted to be inside. Tusas\u00e1s wanted to\nbe under all the rest; they pulled him up and threw him out, but he\ncrawled under again. The people shivered; it was so cold they were\nnearly frozen. It was always cold when that Skoks screamed; he made it\nso. Fires went out and grass wouldn\u2019t burn.\n\nThe old woman took the hull of seeds and made a fire for the little\nboy. She cried while she was making it, and said: \u201cMy grandson, all the\npeople here are going to die.\u201d The little boy didn\u2019t seem to know what\nshe meant; he got up and stood by the fire. She said: \u201cSit down, my\ngrandson, you mustn\u2019t stand up or go out; if you meet this Skoks, you\nare sure to die.\u201d The old woman threw ashes toward the voice of the\nSkoks.\n\nThe little boy told his grandmother to tie a skin around him and roll\nhim up so he could go and meet the Skoks.\n\n\u201cMy grandson,\u201d said the old woman, \u201cwhat can you do? You have no\npower.\u201d But she got a buckskin blanket, tied it around him, and said:\n\u201cDon\u2019t let the Skoks pass on the right side; be sure that your left\nshoulder is toward him. He will try to make you go on the other side,\nbut don\u2019t you go.\u201d\n\nEvery time the Skoks shouted, it was like throwing ice into the house,\nand Tusas\u00e1s cried out: \u201cOh, let me go under; I am cold.\u201d\n\nWhen the boy started, his grandmother said: \u201cYou must take some ordure\nin your hand, and if the Skoks tries to make you go on the wrong side,\nthrow it at him.\u201d\n\nSoon the boy saw the Skoks. His head reached the sky and he looked as\nif he were carrying a load of clouds. One side was painted white, the\nother black. He came very fast. The boy had hard work to get by. When\nhe pushed into Skoks, Skoks darted forward. At last both fell, and\ntheir bodies turned to rock, but their spirits came out of the rocks.\nThe boy was holding up the ordure, and that turned to rock, too.\n\nWhen the sun rose the next morning, the boy\u2019s spirit went home. He was\na young man now and wore a panther-skin blanket that came to his feet.\n(After a person meets a Skoks, he looks strange; he loses his old\nbody.) As soon as the young man got home, it was warm; fires burned,\nand right away it was summer. The people made him chief and he had\ncontrol of the place.\n\nAfter that two men went north to visit their kin; one of the men was\nkilled. When the people heard about it, they asked the chief if they\nshould demand pay for the man\u2019s life. He said: \u201cYes, and if they don\u2019t\npay, I will punish them.\u201d The men refused to pay, and messengers were\nsent to the chief.\n\nHe took a long obsidian knife and started. When nearly there, he said\nto his men: \u201cDon\u2019t be frightened; the Skoks is getting mad and ready to\nmove.\u201d (The Skoks was the chief\u2019s medicine.)\n\nWhen the chief came to the enemy, they said: \u201cWe are men, not women; we\nare not afraid of you. We won\u2019t pay for the man we killed.\u201d\n\nBoth sides were ready to fight. The chief said to his men: \u201cWhen I\nshout, fall on the ground and don\u2019t move.\u201d He shouted like Skoks and\nall of his people fell. His enemies were terribly frightened. Right\naway they were freezing.\u2014The chief could see the Skoks, but nobody else\ncould see him.\u2014The chief killed a great many men; they were so cold\nthey couldn\u2019t run away; he cut them to pieces with his obsidian knife.\n\nAfter that, there was no trouble with the northern people; they had\nfound that there was a powerful chief in the south, a man who could\nkill them easily.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA DOCTOR STORY\n\n\n    CHARACTER\n\n    Ki\u00faks   Doctor\n\n\n\nA ki\u00faks and his old mother were living at Dokwa, near Klamath Lake. The\nki\u00faks had a tall pole standing outside the house and on the top of the\npole was a dead eagle. Inside of the house he had a dead fish-hawk and\nall kinds of dead birds.\n\nThe ki\u00faks shouted and sang. The minute he stopped singing, the dead\neagle came to life and screamed; when the eagle stopped screaming, the\nfish-hawk and all the dead birds inside the house came to life and\nscreamed together. As soon as they were through screaming, the ki\u00faks\nfed them. After they were fed, they died and remained dead till he\ncalled them to life again.\n\nThis man was a terrible ki\u00faks; he could kill anybody. Nobody ever went\nto his house; everyone was afraid of him. When he called, and the eagle\nand all the birds answered, the earth began to tremble, and it trembled\nas long as the birds screamed. Everywhere people felt the earth shake,\nand it scared them. At such times they said: \u201cThe ki\u00faks is singing, and\nthe birds are screaming.\u201d\n\nMen began to talk and to try to think of some way to kill the ki\u00faks.\nOne morning he hung up a wooden comb, and said to his mother: \u201cI am\ngoing to Gomb\u00e4t; if this comb falls, you may know that somebody has\nkilled me.\u201d He had a ska (a sharp stone about three feet long); he gave\nit to her and said: \u201cAs soon as the comb falls, take this ska and\nstrike the ground near the fire five times, and strike the fire five\ntimes.\u201d\n\nPeople had been wishing that this ki\u00faks would go somewhere, but he had\nalways stayed at home. There were men watching, and when he came out of\nhis house, they followed him. Before he got to Gomb\u00e4t, they killed him,\nshot arrows into his body, and cut him to pieces with flint knives.\n\nWhen the comb fell, the mother knew that her son was dead. She took the\nska and struck the ground five times, and the fire five times, as he\nhad told her to do. That minute the men who had killed him fell dead,\nand the eagle and all the birds inside the house came to life and\nscreamed.\n\nThe old woman went to Gomb\u00e4t; she found the pieces of her son, carried\nthem home, and burned them; then his spirit went into her. She became\njust such a ki\u00faks as he had been. She had been only a common old woman;\nnow she used the eagle, fish-hawk, and birds just as her son had used\nthem. People were scared, but they said to her: \u201cYou mustn\u2019t do as your\nson did, you mustn\u2019t kill people; if you do, we shall kill you as we\nkilled him.\u201d\n\nHer son gained strength when the birds screamed and the earth trembled,\nbut the people frightened the old woman so she was afraid to sing for\nthe birds; she grew weak and died. As soon as she was dead, the birds\ncame to life and flew off to the woods.\n\nThe people left her body in the house and burned the house and body\ntogether.\n\n\n                            THE END.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\nL\u00c1TKAK\u00c1WAS\n\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was is evidently a sun myth. The young man who wooed L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\ncould run in the air and under the ground (Indians thought that the sun\ntraveled from west to east underground). He was beautiful and bright,\nbrighter than anything else in the world. He was immortal while he had\nthe disk. When Kumush stole the disk L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was\u2019 husband died. The disk\nbecame a part of Kumush and he was immortal. His body was reduced to\nashes, but he rose up anew, for the disk remained.\n\nThere is a condition, however, incident to the resurrection of the sun;\nhe must be called. Some one must rouse him. The morning star has that\nduty, and will never be freed from it. While the sun exists, the\nmorning star must call him. At the summons of the star the disk springs\nfrom the pile of ashes; the sun (represented as Kumush) is renewed\ncompletely and goes forth to run his course till consumed again.\n\nKumush is killed and his body is eaten by crows; only the disk remains.\nThe morning star sees the disk, and calls out: \u201cWhat are you doing, old\nman? Get up!\u201d Kumush springs up, through virtue of the immortal disk\nand the compelling word of the star.\n\nMany Indian tribes have myths in which the morning star figures as the\nLight-bearer.\n\nThe morning star of the Modocs is the same character as the Lucifer of\nthe Latins.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIVE BROTHERS OF L\u00c1TKAK\u00c1WAS\n\nThe five brothers marry and nothing more is known about them. G\u00e1ukos,\nthe orphan boy, becomes the principal character.\n\nAt sunset G\u00e1ukos\u2014the moon\u2014is thrown out of his sister\u2019s house. He is a\nlittle boy, but as soon as he is outside he increases in size. He\nenters a ravine, and when he comes out at the opposite end he is a\nfull-grown man. Later every one sees him; his body is bright and\nbeautiful. When pursued by his sister, he crosses a valley at a step,\nsprings from one mountain to another, and early in the morning reaches\nthe first house, the home of two women, who have the power of making\nthemselves young.\n\nThe Modocs have lost the name of G\u00e1ukos\u2019 elder sister, and they do not\nknow the meaning of the name of the younger sister, L\u012dsgaga. The elder\nsister is, probably, Daylight; she travels as G\u00e1ukos does, a valley at\na step. In a Wintu creation myth, Sanihas (Daylight) is one of the\nprincipal characters. In a Gaelic myth, the son of the King of Light is\nDay or Daylight, the Lady of Green Insh is Night, and her yellow-haired\nson is Dawn.\n\nIn this Modoc myth the power of the word was with G\u00e4k. He said to\nL\u00f3luk: \u201cHereafter, you will be kin to no man, you will burn all alike,\u201d\nand as he spoke L\u00f3luk became common fire.\n\n\n\n\nISIS AND YAULILIK\u2019S DAUGHTERS\n\nIsis, the son of L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was, is the son of Kumush because Kumush has\nthe disk, and the disk is Isis\u2019 father. The Indians do not know the\nmeaning of the word Isis\u2014or \u00c1isis, as pronounced by some of the\nModocs\u2014or of L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was.\u2014These names occur only in the myths connected\nwith the disk.\u2014Isis is the greatest hunter and the greatest runner in\nthe world. He has long, bright red hair. When he builds a fire the\nsmoke from it goes straight up; it does not scatter, or waver. Isis has\nsome of the attributes of his father, the sun.\n\nKumush personates Isis and deceives Yaulilik\u2019s elder daughter. In\nmythology one character frequently personates another.\u2014There is an\nexample of this in Wintu: Klakherrit (Lightning) personates Pitis\n(Quail), deceives Pitis\u2019 family, and kills every member of it.\n\nIn Indian myths, whenever two sisters are sent to some place and warned\nby father or mother against a deceiver, who is likely to meet them on\nthe way, the elder sister is generally ready to become a victim, the\nyounger is the wise one.\n\nCog\u00e1tkis is an interesting character; like Samson, his strength was in\nhis hair. Through the power of his hair, he could see at a great\ndistance, and he could talk to his mother though she was far away.\n\nI have never found a myth in which the method of taking life is similar\nto that described in this myth. Isis had two children; the elder died;\nhe took the younger in his arms, put the top of its head to his mouth\nand drew a long breath, drew the child\u2019s breath, its life, into\nhimself. He said to his wives, \u201cThe children are half mine, and half\nyours. I have taken their breath into myself; you may have their\nbodies.\u201d\n\nIn an Algonkin myth a character similar to L\u00e1tkak\u00e1was is the \u201cEarth\nmaiden.\u201d The Sun looks at her and she brings forth a daughter, who\nbecomes the mother of a great hero.\n\n\n\n\nKUMUSH AND HIS DAUGHTER\n\nMany of the Modocs firmly believe that their tribe originated as\ndescribed in this myth. They call Kumush father, and live by the rules\nhe laid down for them. They believe that he gave the race all gifts\nthat support existence, that it is through him that the Indians live\nand prosper. He has many of the attributes of Zeus.\n\nThis myth and many of the myths in this volume are as sacred for\nIndians as Bible stories are for Christians. When old men are asked\nwhat their ideas are regarding life hereafter they tell of Kumush\u2019s\nvisit to the great house in the underground world; of what he saw\nthere, and of the terrible effort he made to bring spirits to the upper\nworld, and create Indians.\n\nThe underground house of the Modoc dead is in the West.\n\nWhen Kumush had done all that he could for mankind he went to the place\nwhere the sun rises. He traveled on Sun\u2019s road till he came to the\nmiddle of the sky, and there he built his house.\n\n\n\n\nSTEALING FIRE\n\nThis tale belongs to the first cycle of Indian myth-tales, tales which\nrelate the adventures of living creatures, plants, elements, objects\nand phenomena in this world before they became what they are as we see\nthem. Among living creatures man is not reckoned, for man does not\nappear in any of these myths.\n\nIn most cases the tales are simple and transparent; it is easy to\nrecognize the heroes either by their names or their actions or both.\nThe value of Indian myths lies in the fact that they represent the\nmental labor of men who lived ages before those who recorded their\nthoughts on papyrus, baked brick or burnt cylinders.\n\nSickness was a person and owned fire. Sun, whose home was in the West,\nalso owned fire. A council was called and the first people sent Wus to\nsecure fire for \u201cthe people who are to come.\u201d The first people knew\nthat another race was coming and that they themselves were to be\nchanged.\n\nMany mythologies give an account of the stealing of fire.\u2014In Nosa, Au\nMujaupa, the master of fire, lived in the South. Ahalamila went there\nand stole a few coals. The struggle to escape with the coals was as\nstrenuous as that described in the Modoc tale, but the Nosas do not\nknow who Au Mujaupa was.\n\n\n\n\nHOW SICKNESS CAME INTO THE WORLD\n\nThis version of how sickness scattered over the world is noteworthy. It\nis not known who the Gletc\u00f3was brothers were. When asked, the Modocs\nsaid: \u201cGletc\u00f3was is just a name.\u201d The little men possessed great power;\nthey could turn into any conceivable thing. K\u00e9is got angry and made\npoisonous diseases. W\u00e9wenkee reproached him, told him that sickness\nbelonged to N\u00e9b\u0103ks, that it was only loaned to him, that he had no\nright to let it out. K\u00e9is did not listen, and, as a result of his rage,\nsickness spread over the world.\n\n\n\n\nHOW OLD AGE CAME INTO THE WORLD\n\nIt would be interesting to know who the five brothers were, but the\nknowledge is lost. Their first notable encounter was with Storm, a\nperson who could kill any one whom he could catch and draw under water.\n\nThe brothers traveled till they came to a country where they found only\none man and one woman. The man said: \u201cYou cannot destroy us. We shall\nlive always.\u201d When the brothers tried to kill him, and could not, they\nwere frightened and ran away. Kom\u00fachass followed them to their own\ncountry, and killed them. The Indian woman who related this myth\nbelieved that if the brothers had let Kom\u00fachass alone, there would have\nbeen no such thing as old age.\n\n\n\n\nLEM\u00c9IS AND NUL-WE\n\nIn this myth Lem\u00e9is is described as a man-eater. In Indian myths\nlightning, thunder, earthquake, and cyclone are man-eaters. Every\neffort was made to find out who Nul-we and his grandmother were. Old\nKo-a-l\u00e1k-ak-a, who told the story, said that when she was young she\nknew, but she had forgotten. In a Nosa myth, somewhat similar in\nconstruction, but where Lightning is the chief personage, the old\ngrandmother is Pom, the earth.\n\n\n\n\nWIND AND THUNDER\n\nFor ages the reverence and enthusiasm of primitive men have been given\nto elemental heroes, and they are given them yet by every tribe which\npreserves its ancient beliefs and ideas.\n\nFortunately we know all of the characters in this story of the\nelements.\n\nTc\u00fbskai, who represents spring, thought that he could cut off North\nWind\u2019s head. When Wind put his head out Tc\u00fbskai died.\n\nTskel killed South Wind, made a cap of his skin, put it on and went to\nNorth Wind\u2019s house and killed him.\n\nSince the death of North Wind and South Wind the wind that comes from\nthe south is South Wind\u2019s spirit, and the wind that comes from the\nnorth is North Wind\u2019s spirit.\n\nThe Warm Spring Indians of Oregon have a beautiful myth about the\nSouthwest Wind brothers and the Northeast Wind brothers and their\nsister, Tekstye. When Southwest Wind had killed Tekstye\u2019s brothers she\nran away. Southwest Wind overtook her just as she reached a river; he\nstruck her and she fell into the water. Then he said: \u201cYou\u2019ll no longer\nbe a person and freeze people. You can blow once in a while, then I\nwill come and overpower you. Rain will be your enemy, too. You will\nblow and freeze up everything, then he and I will come, we will thaw\nout the ground, warm it up, and make it green and beautiful.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nG\u00c1UKOS AND K\u00dbLTA\n\nG\u00e1ukos, the moon, is afraid of the big-mouthed people, the grizzly\nbears (clouds). He takes Weketas to protect him. He says: \u201cIf only a\nbit of me is left in Lok\u2019s mouth Weketas can bring me to life.\u201d In the\nold time nearly every tribe of Indians on the western continent\nbelieved that an eclipse was caused by an animal\u2019s attempt to swallow\nthe sun, or the moon. Some tribes believe it yet and think that the\nanimal is a grizzly bear. In Guatemala, when there is an eclipse, the\nIndians assemble in their villages, beat on drums, scream and make as\nmuch noise as possible, \u201cto scare the bear away.\u201d\n\nIn \u201cTulchuherris,\u201d a Wintu myth, Olelbis, the creator, warns Sas, the\nSun, against the grizzlies; he says: \u201cWhile coming from the east you\nwill see thick brush along the road. In that brush are grizzly bears.\nBe on your guard against them; they will kill you if they can.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nDJ\u00c1KALIPS\u2014RED CLOUDS\n\nIn this myth it is not told who the two sisters are, but in most myths\nthat describe rope-makers it is stated that when the great change came\nthey turned to spiders. The Kaltsik (spider) people play a prominent\npart in \u201cThe Star Brothers.\u201d In a Wintu Myth Norwanchakus hires the\nspider people to go to Sun\u2019s house and ask where Keriha is. In\nL\u00e1tkak\u00e1was they made a basket and would have fastened it to the sky,\nbut misfortune came from looking back.\n\n\n\n\nMOAS\u00c4M BEPS, THE DAUGHTER OF SOUTH WIND\n\nMoas\u00e4m Beps is a myth in which Winter and Spring are the characters.\nThe fate of Ts\u00e1kiak is pathetic, but we may be sure that if we knew\nwhat he represented, and had all the details of the myth, we should\nfind it consistent, and true to nature.\n\n\n\n\nWEST WIND\u2019S WIVES\n\nIs a beautiful myth. The mind that conceived it was full of poetic\nthought.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAR BROTHERS\n\nKo-a-l\u00e1k-ak-a, the woman who told this myth-tale, thought that Tekewas\nwas a cloud\u2014the red cloud that in morning heralds a storm, for she was\noften seen, a red cloud, lying on the top of a mountain watching the\nvalley below. Her family were afraid of her. Even the sun feared her.\n\nThere are valuable elements in the myth: hastening the course of the\nsun; the destruction caused by looking back; two newly born children\npressed into one (we do not know what phenomena or force the children\nrepresent); the one, by the blow of an arrow, made two.\n\nThe heroes had many adventures. The elder wrestled with Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s,\nkilled him, and condemned his spirit to wander forever on mountains,\nand along rivers and brooks. The moment the victor pronounced the curse\nthe conquered said: \u201cYou will no longer be a person. You and your\nbrother will be stars.\u201d Thereupon they became what their opponent had\nmade them. When the word had been uttered nothing in the universe could\nturn it aside or resist it.\n\nKo-a-l\u00e1k-ak-a thought that Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s personified fog. Captain John said\nthat Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s was lightning, and the people who wrestled with him were\nclouds.\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s appears in a number of myths. He always has the same\ncharacteristics and the same power. His only way of killing an enemy is\nby wrestling with him. His spirit goes to the sky and becomes Lem\u00e9is,\nthunder.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RAINMAKER\n\nThe people who lived in the world before this had all the weaknesses of\nthe people of the twentieth century; they were jealous, unfaithful, and\nrevengeful. But not in the beginning. For untold ages those \u201cfirst\npeople\u201d lived in peace and harmony. \u201cNo man knows, no man can tell, how\nlong they lived in that way.\u201d Then, by degrees, a change came.\n\nG\u00e1hga, old, and blind, and jealous, \u201ccould have destroyed\u201d (drowned)\n\u201call the people in the world had he so willed.\u201d He was Rain. A similar\ncharacter in Gaelic mythology is called \u201cWet Mantle.\u201d His power was in\nhis mantle, which was rain itself.\n\n\n\n\nWUS KUMUSH AND TSMUK\n\nTsmuk is darkness, and his daughter, whose name is given in another\nversion of the story, is I\u00fanika, Twilight.\n\nIn this myth there is a fine description of Wus. He could make people\nold; he could change them to animals or to anything he chose. He was\nthe greatest trickster in the world; he delighted in deceiving people.\nHe made Tsmuk look toward the east; immediately Tsmuk\u2019s body became a\nblack cloud. A west wind came and carried the cloud away; it was\ndaylight. Wus said to Tsmuk, \u201cYou\u2019ll no longer be a person. You\u2019ll be\ndarkness, and people will sleep when you are here. But I shall not\nsleep. I will sleep in the daytime and travel at night.\u201d The last part\nof Wus\u2019 declaration must be an interpolation, for Wus is connected with\nlight. In the mythology of one of the Pacific coast tribes a personage\nwith many of the characteristics of Wus is known to be that warm light\nwhich in fine weather we see waving and dancing above the earth. He\nleads persons astray, and is full of mischief and deceit.\n\n\n\n\nFROST AND THUNDER (YAHY\u00c1HA\u00c4S).\n\nThis is the only myth in the collection in which Frost is a known\ncharacter. Wus steals Goww\u00e1\u2019s wife, Goww\u00e1 gets her back, then the Lok\npeople (clouds) steal her, Goww\u00e1 kills the Loks and rescues his wife\nonly to have her stolen by Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s, who carries her to his home under\nthe rocks. All the strong people in the world assemble to aid Goww\u00e1,\nbut they cannot break the rocks. Then Tckumh\u00fbs, or Tsasgips, as he is\nfamiliarly called,\u2014a little man who looks puny and powerless,\u2014says that\nhe can break the rocks. He blows on them and they fall apart.\n\n\n\n\nYAHY\u00c1HA\u00c4S\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s makes the sun hasten its course. In this myth the misfortune\nwhich results from looking back is clearly stated: \u201cIf you look back\nyou will die.\u201d\u2014Usually the person who looks back is turned to stone, as\nin the Bible Lot\u2019s wife was turned into a pillar of salt.\n\n\n\n\nYAHY\u00c1HA\u00c4S AND THE K\u00daJA SISTERS\n\nAs usual in Indian myth-tales, the younger sister has the most power.\n\nYahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s boasted that he could conquer the K\u00faja sisters. The eldest,\nto show her power, stuck a woodpecker\u2019s feather in the ground and it\ncame up a streak of fire in Yahy\u00e1ha\u00e4s\u2019 cane.\n\nK\u00fblta had been dead a long time. K\u00faja washed his body and stretched it,\nthen, by stepping over it, brought it to life.\n\nBringing to life is one of the most familiar performances in American\nand in Oriental mythology. The Mongolian hero sprinkles a pile of bones\nwith the Water of Life taken from a spring near a silver-leafed aspen\ntree. Immediately the bones resume their old connections and take on\nflesh; the man rises and proceeds on his journey as though nothing had\nhappened.\n\nIt should be remembered that, whatever be the names of the myth-tale\nheroes at present, the original heroes were not human; they perform\ndeeds which no man could perform, which only one of the forces of\nnature could perform, if it had the volition and desires of a person.\nIn a beautiful myth of the Warm Spring Indians of California, Summer, a\nlong time dead, is brought to life by the South Wind.\n\n\n\n\nTSMUK AND G\u00d3SHGOISE\n\nWhen asked who the Yauk\u00fbl people were the story-teller said: \u201cThey were\nstone people.\u201d The Modoc word for stone is bondak, that for rock is\ngowan. In a fragment of a variant of this myth Frost is one of the\ncharacters. The Modocs had a name for the different manifestations of\nfrost; it is possible that Yauk\u00fbl is one of those names.\n\nG\u00f3shgoise personifies spring. His grandmother made him a bright blue\nquiver out of her own hair. Then she made a spear that would last\nalways and never get old,\u2014lightning. He killed the Yauk\u00fbl people, then\nbattled with the Kaudokis and the Juljulcus. He gave his spear, long\nlightning, to Juljulcus, and took Juljulcus\u2019 spear, heat lightning,\n\u201cthat lightning which flashes around the sky in warm weather.\u201d He went\nto Tsmuk\u2019s house, and I\u00fanika (Twilight), Tsmuk\u2019s daughter, who owned\nthe moon, became his wife.\n\nIn this myth the idea that \u201cbad thoughts\u201d bring misfortune is brought\nout very strongly. A bad thought causes much trouble.\n\n\n\n\nWAR BETWEEN BEASTS AND BIRDS\n\nThis myth recalls the fables of the great Russian writer, Kriloff.\nWhoever determines to be always, right or wrong, with the winning side,\nis likely to be left alone, as was Bat, who has no friend either among\nthose that fly or those that walk.\n\n\n\n\nLOK SNEW\u00c9DJAS\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas was a cloud, a snow storm and a whirlwind. The mountain\nwas her father and the earth was her mother. In Wintu Wimaloimis, the\ngrizzly-bear cloud woman, was not as good a mother as Lok Snew\u00e9djas,\nfor she tried to eat her sons, Thunder and Lightning. Lok Snew\u00e9djas,\nwhen her child was in danger, rushed down the mountain in a whirlwind\nthat tore big rocks from under the ground and threw them around as\nthough they were tiny stones.\n\nLok Snew\u00e9djas owned all the y\u0115lalwek there was in the world. \u201cNo one\nhad ever eaten any seed like it, or will ever eat any like it again.\u201d\nNo matter how much was eaten the same amount remained. From a handful\nall the people in a village were fed and the handful remained.\n\nThis myth shows what power the Indians thought their \u201cmedicine men\u201d\npossessed: if they called to the spirit of a dead man before the spirit\nreached the place where the sun goes down, it would came back to the\nbody.\n\n\n\n\nHOW KALASL\u00c1KKAS WON HIS WIFE\n\nIn this myth-tale Tusas\u00e1s, who, wherever he appears, is always the same\nworthless, shiftless mischief-maker and boaster, is well described. The\nimportance of dreams is also well brought out.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BAD BROTHER\n\nThe hero is Rain. He drowns his mother, then sends his sister to K\u00f3we,\nwho in other myths is described as having control of all the springs in\nthe world: \u201cShe lives under the water, she is in every spring. She is\nour grandmother. If she gets mad she can dry up the deepest water.\u201d The\nsister marries Dj\u00e1udjau. Dj\u00e1udjau visits his brother-in-law, and on\nleaving he gets green twigs, rubs himself with them, then rubs the\ntwigs on the ground, and says: \u201cI have brought away some of my\nbrother-in-law\u2019s bad thoughts; now, Earth, take them all.\u201d He talks to\nthe mountains and forgets his brother-in-law. A description of a\nsimilar act appears in several Modoc myths.\n\n\n\n\nMINK AND WEASEL\n\nTskel and Tc\u00fbskai are great characters. In every myth in which they\nappear they are brothers and Sk\u00f3\u016dks is Tskel\u2019s wife; Tc\u00fbskai is always\nsmall, mischievous and inquisitive. Tskel, to punish Tc\u00fbskai for giving\nhis blanket to Gopher (Pshag\u00e9knik), who is North Wind, hid water.\nTc\u00fbskai found it and was drinking it up when Tskel came. Had he drunk\nit all there would be no water in the world. Tskel made a cap of the\nskin of Gopher\u2019s head, and putting it on, went to Thunder\u2019s house and\nkilled the five brothers.\n\nTc\u00fbskai, though he was so small that he could camp in a woodpecker\u2019s\nhole, pursued W\u014fn, a creature that had to bend down to bite off the\ntops of trees. He wrestled with Sukas, a man-eater, who drew people in\nwith his breath and swallowed them.\u2014A wave.\n\n\n\n\nPITO\u00cdOIS\n\nPito\u00edois is now a bird (English name unknown). The old father-in-law is\nlightning. His life is in the stone mortar which he throws at persons\nwhom he wishes to kill. If the mortar is broken he presses the pieces\nto his breast and it is whole again, but if it is buried in the ground\nunder water he dies.\n\n\n\n\nILY\u00daYU\n\nIly\u00fayu became a head. The head crossed a mountain at a bound and rolled\nalong in the air; it flew at men and killed them.\u2014Among the Iroquois a\ncyclone is represented as a great head, the name of which, in Seneca,\nis Dagua Noenyent.\n\n\n\n\nLOK AND K\u00c9KINA\n\nIs an attractive myth. K\u00e9kina is early Spring. Every time the little\nfellow calls: \u201cSpring is coming. Spring is coming!\u201d he hurries Spring\nalong. The Loks are clouds; they prefer winter.\n\n\n\n\nGRASSHOPPER IN LOVE WITH DEER\n\nIs an illustration of unfaithfulness and deceit.\n\n\n\n\nKAI AND HIS FATHER-IN-LAW\n\nOld Ko-a-l\u00e1k-ak-a, who told this myth, did not know who Natanatas was,\nbut she thought that he represented Wind. He could cause a storm, and\nwhen a storm was raging, by wishing hard he could quell it. Natanatas\ngave his son-in-law what he thought to be impossible tasks.\u2014The giving\nof tasks to a new son-in-law is a feature in many Indian myths, and\nalso in Aryan myths.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] Different events in the lives of Isis and Kumush are represented by\nrocks on that side of Tula Lake. Half-way up a high mountain is the\nhouse in which Kumush and Isis lived (a large rock); near Deus (Stork\u2019s\nbill), is Isis (a rock of peculiar shape), and at the northwest corner\nof Tula Lake is Kumush himself.\n\n[2] The rocky summit of a mountain near Lake Tula.\n\n[3] A mountain in Oregon.\n\n[4] Gauwams, a pond or small lake.\n\n[5] The seed of a certain kind of weed.\n\n[6] A red root.\n\n[7] Doctors often rub a whipsnake in dust and pull off his skin, then\nhe gets a new skin, so what W\u00e9wenkee said was true.\n\n[8] Obsidian knife.\n\n[9] A grass that grows in the water.\n\n[10] The edge or rim; meaning the end of the story.\n\n[11] A certain root. English name unknown.\n\n[12] A vegetable like an onion.\n\n[13] A \u201cmedicine man.\u201d\n\n[14] Mount Shasta.\n\n[15] The relator of this story said that after telling it there would\nbe heavy wind, for the story always brought a wind-storm.\n\n[16] A medicine basket is made of tckula, a kind of willow, and is\npainted red. When the basket is not a medicine, it is used as a sieve.\nThe old Indian woman who related this G\u00e4k myth said: \u201cThe basket is a\ngood medicine. If a man is wounded, and the basket is put over him, he\ngets well.\u201d\n\n[17] When Indians tell this story, they talk down in their throats, to\nimitate the N\u00e4n\u00edhl\u00e4s people.","title":"Myths of the Modocs","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":135068}