129. The Legend of Hahadodagwatʻha
Once there dwelt together a brother and his younger sister in a lodge.
The brother had a rich suit of hair, half of which was red and the other half black. It was the daily occupation of the brother to go out hunting, and the younger sister was contented. They lived thus in peace for a long time.
One morning the brother went out as usual to hunt. He had not been gone long when seemingly he returned, laughing and looking at [[667]]his younger sister, it is said. He took a seat by her side as she sat on her bed and embraced her, whereupon she said to him: “What has happened to you?” He made no reply but attempted to throw her backward on the bed while he tickled her. At this she exclaimed: “You are abusing me; you have never before acted in this manner;” and she struggled with him as he continued to grapple with her, until at last he went out of the lodge.
Not long after this episode her brother entered the lodge. Having been injured, she was weeping. Her brother said to her: “What has happened to you? Are you, perhaps, ill?” She made no reply and would not give him any food. Then she spoke to him, saying: “It is, indeed, an awful thing, the manner in which you have abused me, your own sister.” He answered: “What have I done to you?” She replied: “You abused me and tickled me, and desired to throw me on my back. This is the reason why my mind is troubled.” Answering, he said: “Not in the least could I abuse you, for I have too much compassion for you.” But she did not believe him. Then he continued, saying, “Now: it is, perhaps, my friend who has visited you and who looks exactly like me, having hair like mine, of which half is red.” Then she said: “That is not true; at all events, it was you who came into the lodge.” Thereupon he added: “My friend made this visit, because you have now arrived at womanhood. Not far away stands the lodge where mother and son live; the son is my friend.” She told him that she would not believe a thing he had said to her. He answered that whatever happened to him happened also to his friend.
The brother himself warmed up some food and ate his meal. In the morning his sister would not arise, for she was still very angry with him; so he himself prepared his morning meal and ate it. When he had finished eating it he went out to hunt. Before going, he said to his sister: “Do not think hard of the conduct of my friend, for he only desires to marry you.”
Just after the brother had left he (as she supposed) returned and seized her as she was walking along, and they struggled desperately in the lodge. She succeeded in scratching him in the face, whereupon he left the lodge and fled.
When the sun was nearly set her brother returned to the lodge. He said to his sister: “Oh, my younger sister! I fell among thorns and briers—that is why I am all scratched up.” She was indeed astonished at what he had told her, for had she not herself scratched him in the face? So she replied: “I for my part can not believe what you say.” Then she began as usual to weep.
Finally, the brother said: “My sister, you believe that it is I who act thus, but it shall be made evident that it is not I who am doing this. To-morrow as soon as I depart the man will return and will [[668]]enter the lodge. As soon as he starts to leave you must seize his robe of skin and pull it off, for it is exactly like mine in all respects.”
In the morning the brother started, as was his custom, on a hunting trip. After he had been gone only a short time a man suddenly entered the lodge and at once seized the lone sister, whereupon they struggled fiercely. When he attempted to throw her on the ground she exerted her whole might to free herself. Having failed in his purpose, he started to flee from the lodge. As the ends of his robe were flying about, catching hold of it, she drew it off, at which he went out of the lodge leaving the robe in her hands, as its fastening broke.
It was not very long after this episode when her brother reentered the lodge. He said to her: “Has he made another visit?” She replied: “Yes, of course, he has; it is you yourself returning.” She did not believe in the least what her brother was telling her, for she felt sure that it was he who was tormenting her. By this time her mind had greatly changed from normal, for she did not cease from lamenting her situation, being so worried to think that it was her own brother who had attempted to outrage her. She then handed him the torn robe, saying: “Here is this robe.” Taking it, he said: “There, now! that is certainly the robe of my friend. As to me, in hunting I had climbed a tree on which a bear lived and fell from it, and in the fall my robe was torn.” Laying the two robes together and finding that both were torn, he said: “Now you see what I have been saying all along has come true; whatever happens to me happens also to my friend;” and he added, “Well, do you now believe what I have been telling you?” Then she stopped her weeping and gazed at the robes as they lay together and she saw that they were exactly alike in every respect. Again he asked: “Well, now, do you believe what I have told you?” But she did not say anything in reply.
Then the brother said: “Your mind is still unchanged that it is I who am abusing you, so now this shall take place to-morrow. As soon as I start again I shall hide myself in a place near by. As soon as the man attempts to attack you again or to leave the lodge you must seize him and not let him go. Thereupon I shall come in and kill my friend, and then it may be that you will believe me in saying that it is not I but my friend who is abusing you. We two, of course, shall be doomed to death because of my act, for his mother has the power to transform herself into a great bear, so potent in sorcery is she.”
Since the beginning of this trouble the sister had not prepared food for her brother, and he himself made ready what food he needed and ate his meals. She refused to do her duty because she was very angry at him. [[669]]
In the morning, when he had finished his meal, he again started out to hunt, saying to his sister, “You must now carry out my instructions as I have given them to you.” He did not go to his hunting grounds, however, but hid himself near the lodge and kept a faithful watch on his home. He had been there quite a long time when suddenly he perceived his friend running toward the lodge, which he entered. After waiting a few minutes the brother ran to the lodge and on entering saw his sister and his friend struggling fiercely, the latter striving to get out of the lodge. As the brother entered the man let go at once of the sister, whereupon the former said: “My brother, my friend, now we are doomed to die. I can do nothing in the matter.” Making ready an arrow, with a twang it sped into the breast of the man, where it stuck quivering, while the victim, reeling, fell backward to the ground. Thus the brother killed the man who had been his friend. Drawing out the arrow he exclaimed: “Well, do you now believe what I have told you in this matter?” But his sister made no reply.
The strange man and the brother did indeed look alike. They were of the same height; they had the same kind of hair, half of it reddish in color; they had the same kind of raiment and their robes were alike, even to both having been torn.
Then the brother said to his sister: “Now, I suppose we must hide the body of this man, and, moreover, you must by all means aid me in this matter, for now, of course, we are both guilty. It had been better had you consented to what he desired, for he wanted to marry you. We will dig a grave where the fire burns—that is, under the fireplace.” Then they two dug a very deep grave under the fireplace, in which they placed his body. They took great pains in covering the grave, so that one would not know that a man’s body lay buried there. Over the spot they rekindled their fire, and thus finished the task.
The brother then said: “My younger sister, now have the courage to do the best you can, for we two in appearance at least must live as husband and wife, as it is certain that in one, or perhaps in two days the woman will come here. When she does it must appear that we are indeed husband and wife in order to mislead her.” Then he said further: “I shall not go to another place again; we shall remain here together.”
So they dwelt together thus until the next day. As soon as it was morning they sat together, because they constantly expected that at any moment the mother of the dead man would come in haste. Hence they lived as husband and wife, and the brother kept saying to his sister: “Be of good courage; you must do exactly as I tell you, for we must try to escape in order that we may live until we reach the distant place whence we two started.” [[670]]
When the sun had sunk low in the west the door flaps were thrust aside suddenly, and the old woman entered the lodge. They two who lived there were indeed husband and wife (in appearance). The old woman thereupon said: “Oh! I am exceedingly thankful that now for certain I have a daughter-in-law.” At this they two smiled.
The old woman said further: “I have misgivings in my mind, caused by the actions of your dogs. None of them will accept what I offer them for food. You should go there again to feed them, and you two might remain there once overnight.”
The young man replied: “So be it.” Just then the fire began to sing unexpectedly, and the fire spoke too, saying three times: “He, my friend, has killed me.” At this the old woman exclaimed: “Kyū-uʼ! It is frightful. It is an astonishing thing that is happening in the fireplace which you two have for yourselves; for it does not cease from saying: ‘My friend has killed me, there in your fire.’ ” The young man answered: “I do not know anything about the thing concerning which you are perplexed.” Reaching for an arrow, he scraped it, saying: “It is so that we two, I and my friend, use the fire for the scrapings from our arrows;” and thereupon he threw the scrapings into the fire. At once the voice from the fire pit exclaimed several times very rapidly: “My friend has killed me!” The young man again said: “We use the fire for the scrapings from our arrows.” The old woman exclaimed: “Kyū-uʼ. You two have no sense,” and she then departed. The young man said to her as she was leaving the lodge: “We will soon be there.”
When they were alone he said to his sister: “It is just as I have been saying right along: we two are about to meet our death.” He believed that she was in great fear, so he added, “Do you have courage; and do not let it appear that you fear anything.” Just as the sun sank low in the west they started for the place where stood the lodge of the old woman. They arrived there just before night. As they entered the lodge and sat down in the place where the friend of the young man was accustomed to sit they were surprised to see standing on one side a screech owl and on the other a horned owl. They were more distressed when the screech owl sang out, “It is another, it is another, it is another, it is another.” Then the old woman said: “Lo! This is happening all the time, and it gives me a troubled mind.” The young man answered her: “It is very strange that you pay any heed to the various notes of the screech owl,” and he said to the owl: “Here, this is what you eat,” giving it meat. It stopped uttering its warning notes and merely repeated its usual note thrice, saying, “Ho-ho-ho-wāʼ.”
Then all lay down for the night, and the brother and sister lay together in the place where the dead friend of the brother was accustomed to lie. All of a sudden the horned owl cried out: “Hi, [[671]]hi, hi, hi; he takes to wife his younger sister.” This it repeated thrice. At once the old woman arose, saying: “Why do you two not stop it constantly saying, ‘He takes to wife his younger sister.’ ” But the young man exclaimed: “Fie upon it! Why do you pay any attention to all the notes made by a common horned owl?” With these words he again gave it meat, which it greedily seized as he said to it: “Here, take this; it is what you eat.” As soon as it had finished eating the meat it resumed its regular note, “Hi, hi, hi, hi.” Then the young man said to his suspicious host: “So let it be; now lie down again.” However, the old woman continued to grow more and more suspicious, for she began to believe that something had perhaps happened to her son and that he was no longer alive. At midnight the brother said to his sister: “You must lie as still as possible and I, too, shall do the same; we must pretend to be asleep.” They at once began seemingly to snore, but of course they were not snoring; they did not know what the old woman would do should they fall asleep.
The old woman arose very stealthily while the notes of the owls continued, the screech owl saying, “It is another, it is another, it is another,” and the horned owl, “Hi, hi, hi, hi; he takes his younger sister to wife.” Creeping slowly over to the spot where the two were lying, and thrusting her hand under the coverings, the old woman made an examination of their private parts, after which she exclaimed: “Pshaw! Of course things are as they are with those who do as married people are accustomed.” Then she went back to her part of the lodge and again lay down.
In the morning the old woman prepared the morning meal, and all ate their breakfast. When they had finished eating the old woman said: “I have mysterious premonitions. I visited the place there where thy friend has kindled a fire, and it says continually, ‘My own friend has killed me; my own friend has killed me; my own friend has killed me.’ ” The young man replied: “Pshaw! It is foolish to pay any attention to that noise, for it is caused by our scraping arrows there.” As he spoke he got his arrow and began scraping it, and cast the litter into the fire, whereupon the fire said several times, “My own friend has killed me.” He added, “Now cease paying any attention to such idle things.” The old woman replied, “So be it, as you say.”
Then the young man said: “Oh, mother! We two will now go back to the other place. I said that of a certainty we would remain here only one night, and perhaps now my brother-in-law is anxious about us.” The old woman replied: “So let it be as you have spoken.” He answered: “In two days we two will return again.” So they started for their home, where they arrived all right. Then the young man said to his sister: “The only thing left for us [[672]]to do is to make preparations to escape. You shall take the lead and I will remain, and I shall overtake you if it so be that I shall survive.”
The brother then drew from under the couch whereon he was accustomed to lie a small case and took therefrom a very small black dog and a little rod of red willow. He used the rod to tap lightly the dog, which immediately began to grow in size. At first he said: “It is not yet large enough,” although the dog was then of the size of ordinary dogs. So he tapped it again and it continued to grow and had now reached the size of the largest kind of dogs. Yet he said: “Still I do not think the dog is large enough, for it is not yet large enough for you to ride astride of it;” so he tapped it with still other blows, which caused it to grow in size. It had become at last a very large dog.
Having done this, he said to his sister: “You two shall go together. This shall be done on the way: As soon as you become wearied, the dog will stop beside a tree, and then you must descend from his back; and as soon as he becomes tired he will likewise stop beside a tree. You must watch for this, and then you must descend from his back, and run ahead as fast as it is possible for you to go. Thus you two must make your way homeward. You must keep a course directly eastward without fail. You two must remain in camp at night on the way; and you, my sister, must lie down beside the dog’s body. You two must not get far apart from each other, and you must take rests. He himself knows when you should rest, and you must regulate your actions by what he does, for it is a fact that he is our brother. You must know, too, that it is uncertain whether you will see the old woman, who is immune to the arts of sorcery and who, too, is able, it may be, to overcome our orenda (magic power). It seems uncertain whether you shall again see Hahadodagwatʻha; it is uncertain, I say, for verily, it is I who am called Hahadodagwatʻha.” Then he added: “Now, you two flee;” whereupon the younger sister mounted the dog’s back, and her brother again spoke to her, saying: “Have courage. We shall have the good fortune of your safe arrival in the place where our mother dwells.”
Thereupon, the two started away in great haste, the brother remaining alone in the lodge.
As the sister rode the dog, he would stop beside a tree, whereupon she would say: “Oh, now! my brother has become quite wretched, and I suppose he is now very tired.” With this she would descend from his back, and they two would go on. They kept a certain course directly toward the east. Having gone a great distance, they two would stop for the night, and the young woman lay down right beside the dog. In the morning they would again start on their journey. After going only a short distance, the dog would again stop [[673]]beside a tree. Then the young woman would say: “Oh! my brother is to be pitied; now he wants to bear me again on his back, I suppose.” So saying, she would mount the dog, which at once would start running with her. When at midday the dog stopped beside a tree, the woman said: “I suppose he is now tired out,” descending from his back. As the dog crouched down she decided that it desired that they should take some rest. Then the dog lay down near by, and she seated herself close to him, saying: “I suppose he is now asleep, being very tired.”
Thus, she sat for a long time looking around. Suddenly a fine-looking bird alighted near her, which she resolved to catch. When she was about to seize it, the bird would fly away, but would usually alight again a little way from its former perch. When the young woman would run up to it with the intention of seizing it, it would fly away just in time to foil her purpose. Thus she pursued it a little farther, still a little farther, but could not catch it, although she was determined to do so.
Suddenly she heard the loud barking of a dog which was approaching, saying, Wuʹ, wuʹ, wuʹ, and at once she ran toward the place, then quite distant, where lay the dog. When she returned to this place the dog was gone, for it had resumed its course and was barking as it went farther and farther. At last it disappeared in the distance. Then the young woman began to weep, indeed, and she repeated the words of her elder brother: “You must not change your course, but you must keep going directly eastward.” While she was so engaged her brother, Hahadodagwatʻha, arrived there, having overtaken her.
He remained for two days, when the footsteps of some one were heard by him, and suddenly the old woman, entering the lodge, said: “Lo! Where is your wife?” He answered: “Did you not meet them on the way?” “I did not,” she replied. He said to her: “It may be that while you and they were gathering things by the way you missed one another.” The old woman answered: “Oh, that is true, of course, I suppose. Without ceasing, his pets are uttering notes. At times my mind is deeply troubled by this state of affairs. So let it be. I shall now go back to the other place, for they have probably arrived there now.”
In a very short time the old woman departed for her home. Running through bypaths, the young man reached it ahead of the old woman, who found him sitting there when she arrived. Her son’s pets were making a great noise when she entered the lodge, whereupon she said: “Lo! Where is my daughter-in-law?” He answered her sneeringly: “Pshaw! My daughter-in-law, you say! Why, she has gone home. When she and I returned there all the food was exhausted, so she longed for her mother. I said that in two days’ time [[674]]we would return here.” Thereupon the screech owl kept saying: “It is another one, it is another one, it is another one,” while the horned owl said: “Hi, hi, hi, hi; he has taken his younger sister to wife; hi, hi, hi, hi.” Finally, the old woman exclaimed: “I am beginning to give attention to what is being said, for they have never before during the time you have had them as pets acted in this manner.” In reply the young man said: “Pshaw! you are all the time paying attention to what they are saying; instead you must give them meat, and then they will stop as usual. This is all you have to do to quiet them.” Then he started for his own lodge, saying: “After two days’ time you must again go there.”
The only thing he did when he arrived at his lodge was to make preparations for leaving, and when everything was ready he departed. He followed his sister, keeping on the track made by the dog as it ran along homeward. He had fled some distance when his body became very weak.
At the end of two days the old woman went to the lodge of the young people, where she found no one. Turning to the fire pit in her great anxiety she was surprised by hearing the fire again say, thrice in succession: “My friend has killed me.” Thus it spoke. Thereupon the old woman said: “Oh! my son lies there where I have been thinking he lay all the time. It is exceedingly dismal to think of.” Then she began to dig up the fireplace; and she found him lying there with his face upturned and an arrow sticking through the middle of his breast. At this discovery she began to weep and lament, saying: “Oh, my dear child! you have indeed become wretched. When I have killed them I will return to pay the last rites to you.” So saying, she went out of the lodge and started for her home.
Having arrived at her lodge, she took from a bark receptacle in which it was kept hickory-nut meat and ate it, making the sounds, “Gaoñʼ, gaoñʼ, gaoñʼ,” and saying, too, “I shall fortify my body with this meat.” When she had finished eating her meal she went out of the lodge, and going to a neighboring tree, by her great strength she tore off a great part of it with her paws. Exclaiming, “I do not think that this will suffice,” she reentered the lodge and ate more of the hickory-nut meat. Then she exclaimed, “Now I wonder whether this will do.” Going again to the tree she tore it into shreds, and then exclaimed, “This is now sufficient; I have strength enough.”
Then she started away, running swiftly. She had become a bear of enormous size and power. Going to the place where the tracks of the fugitives showed the direction they had taken, and placing her paws on the path along which they had fled, she exclaimed: “It is impossible for you to escape even though you should have gone to the end of the earth.” With these words she started in pursuit of the fugitives. As she ran along she often placed her paws on the [[675]]track made by the young man, and this act caused him to reel and stagger, so potent with evil orenda was the body of the old woman. They were at this time two days’ journey apart, but the old woman, who had transformed herself into a huge bear, was rapidly overtaking the fugitives, every moment drawing nearer and nearer to them, for she was indeed running rapidly.
Finally the young man overheard the old woman, who had resumed her real character (that of a great bear), say: “Thou shalt surely die.” As he listened to the words he drew from his fawn-skin pouch the feather of a wild pigeon. Casting this back of him he made the invocation: “Right away let there be a roost of pigeons here and let their numbers be so great that their droppings shall form a rampart stretching across the world and equal in height to half that of the tallest tree.” As soon as he had finished speaking the air resounded with the sounds made by the alighting of many thousands of wild pigeons; among these sounds one heard, Gäk, gäk, gäk, gäk, and Dūm—m.[453]
There was no possibility for anyone else to possess more orenda than that possessed by the young man; so he passed on, and behind him the great bear came on a run. The monster arrived at the roosting place of the wild pigeons. There was a rampart of their droppings extending upward half the height of the tallest trees. The bear made an attempt to force its way through the great rampart of droppings, but was unable to do so, merely becoming thoroughly covered with the filth. It was not easy for the monster to extricate herself from the great rampart, hence she decided on another course of action.
She started on a run along the rampart’s edge, saying: “There has never been a time when a pigeon roost extended across the world.” After following the rampart for a long time she became tired and returned to the place where the tracks of the fugitive seemingly entered the rampart, where she lay down for the night. In the morning there was nothing to be seen, for the rampart had disappeared. Thereupon the bear exclaimed: “How exceedingly unfortunate this is; verily, he is a great wizard.” Starting in pursuit again, she placed her paws on the track of the young man, causing him to stagger and reel.
Not long after this he heard her speak again, saying: “Thou shalt surely die.” At these words the young man took from his pouch a piece of rock, which he cast behind him with the words: “Let a rock cliff rise here at once which shall reach across the world and which nothing shall have the power of clearing, nothing that has unusual orenda.” With this the young man passed on, but as soon as he had ceased speaking the rock cliff stood complete. In a short time the great bear arrived at this cliff. She failed in an attempt to go [[676]]through in several places, as it was impossible for her to pass this obstruction. Next she ran along the side of the cliff, saying: “We have never heard of a rock cliff that extends across the world.” But after going a long distance the bear, becoming weary, returned to the spot where the track of the young man disappeared under the cliff. There she stopped for the night. In the morning there was no rock cliff to be found, whereupon the great bear said: “How exceedingly distressing this is.” At once placing her paw on the track made by the young man, she added: “Indeed, he is a mighty wizard.” At this the fugitive reeled and staggered, and the old woman in the form of a great bear again pursued him.
He had not gone very far when suddenly he heard ahead the singing of a man: Agadăʼädjoñʹⁿiga soʹdjĭʼ ĕñʼʹ ăgwasʹ deiodiʼäʹdet. When the young man came up to him the singer said: “My dear nephew, have courage. I shall detain the monster with difficulties. It has not been long since your younger sister passed here, and now there is nothing intervening. So have courage. Your mother’s lodge stands not far from here.”
So the young man passed on. The man who had been singing set up many pikes, and when he had finished his work he was surprised to see coming toward him a great beast. Soon the bear came up to the place where he set his pikes and assaulted them with great force. These gave way to a small extent, whereupon the two, the great bear and the man, who had now assumed his true character, grappled. In their long struggle the pikes were broken, and the great bear, at once freeing herself, again ran onward.
Suddenly the young man saw running ahead of him his sister, who was nearly exhausted. Overtaking her, the young man said to her after seizing her arm: “Have courage, my younger sister. We are to die perhaps, I think.”
They lost no time but at once fled. They went a long distance before they stopped to camp for the night. In the morning he said: “We will take this direction.” Having cut a rod of red willow he struck the dog with it three blows. At once the animal became very small and he placed it in his bosom.
At the point toward which they were running they suddenly saw what seemed to be a rock cliff, in which was an open cavern. Out of this a female personage was looking and saying: “Have courage, my children. You two will live if you will come in here.” At that time the brother was dragging his sister along, so exhausted had she become. As they came to the entrance to the cavern the woman thrust out her hand, and seizing the arm of the young woman, helped draw her into the cavern, while the young man also entered. The woman exclaimed: “I am thankful that you two have returned alive. That animal which is coming on the run shall suffer for this.” [[677]]
It so happened that there was a kettle of boiling oil over the fire; this boiling oil was bear’s fat. The beast came on the run to the opening of the cavern, and, crouching low, thrust in her nose. At once the mother of the two fugitives cast a ladleful of boiling oil into the face of the great bear. The pain caused made the bear fall over backward some distance from the cavern, and she began to howl and writhe around on the ground. But the relentless old woman carried out the kettle of boiling oil to the spot and poured the remainder on her enemy, which finally died there in great agony, just as the old woman had threatened.
Then the old woman, their mother, said to the two returned children: “You two who have been absent for so long a time have now returned home again; and I suppose that you would have been made captives had you not escaped. Now, you and I will dwell together again.” Thereafter the mother and her children were again contented in their minds and dwelt together happily.[454]
Suddenly he saw a man lying prostrate with his feet in the water, who was groaning and saying, ʼĕñʻ, ʼĕñʻ, ʼĕñʻ. Hahadodagwatʻha said to him: “Well, what is the matter with you, my friend?” The man replied: “I am very ill; have pity on me and take me to a dry place and lay me there.” Unsuspecting, the young man said: “So be it. I suppose that I can carry you on my back.” When he knelt down, the strange man had great difficulty in getting on his back and in securing a hold on the young man’s neck.
Then Hahadodagwatʻha arose, and going a short distance to a dry and pleasant piece of ground, said to his patient: “Now, you can lie here.” But the stranger replied: “Oh! just a little farther.” But Hahadodagwatʻha answered, “Lie down here.” The man would not consent to dismount, however, but kept on saying: “Only a little farther.” So Hahadodagwatʻha went some distance, when he said again: “Now, get off; this is a fine place in which you can lie down.” But the man persisted in saying: “Only a little farther.” Hahadodagwatʻha would not consent to carry him any farther, saying: “You must now get down by all means.” Thereupon he began to shake himself with great violence, saying: “Get down! Why do you not get down?” But the man would not get off his back, although Hahadodagwatʻha told him that he was very tired. Then, going to a hickory tree standing near by, Hahadodagwatʻha said: “If you do not get down, I will rub you off against this tree;” but the man remained without making any reply. Hahadodagwatʻha rubbed his body violently against the hickory tree standing there, saying the while: “Why do you not get down?” But he himself was injured by the rubbing, so he gave up the task. He said: “This man has caused me great (prospective) trouble.” For a long time he continued [[678]]bearing his burden around from place to place. Finally he exclaimed: “It is very distressing to me that you do not get off my back.”
At last Hahadodagwatʻha decided on more heroic measures. He kindled a lot of dry fagots, and he made a large and very hot fire. Then he asked the man again: “What have you decided to do? Why do you not get off my back?” Making no reply, the man remained on his back. Thereupon the young man proceeded to lie down with his back to the fire in an attempt to burn off his tormentor. But the man, notwithstanding the great heat, stuck fast. In a short time Hahadodagwatʻha himself was not able to stand the intense heat, for his own skin began to scorch. Being thus baffled again, he stood up. He said to his tormentor: “This conduct on your part is very distressing to me; now you and I must die together.” But he received no reply from the man. Hahadodagwatʻha was indeed very tired from carrying this burden around from place to place. Finally he decided on another course of action. Going to a very high and steep cliff and lying down on the edge, he said to his tormentor: “I will roll over the brink unless you get off my back.” There was no reply to these remonstrances. The man merely kept on breathing. Lastly Hahadodagwatʻha said to him thrice: “Now, get off my back;” but the man remained silent, as before. Thereupon the former exclaimed: “We two now die!” at the same time rolling over the brink. The two turned over and over, but fell slowly, their bodies finally coming down very lightly on the bottom of the chasm. Then the young man said: “Now, get off of my back; I am very tired.” Still the man would not in the least heed this pleading.
Once more the young man said: “You shall now get off my back.” Going aside, he stripped off basswood bark, of which he made a noose. Climbing an elm tree near by, he carried his burden to the very top, where he fastened the rope to a large branch and the noose around the neck of the man on his back and also around his own. When he was ready he again said: “Look here! If you do not get off my back, we two shall die now indeed.” But the man made no reply. Then the young man said: “I will now cast my body down to that place yonder.” Before doing so he again asked the man: “Shall we two live? It is for you to decide. Get down from my back.” But still he received no reply to his pleadings. Without further parley he said: “Now, we two shall die,” and cast himself down. But the great branch broke off[455] and floated down slowly until it rested on the ground. Arising, the young man said: “This is exceedingly distressing to me. You have made me very tired, and I am almost exhausted.” But he received no mercy from the man. [[679]]
Suddenly he remembered that he had in his bosom a very small dog, whereupon he started to find a red-willow rod, bearing at the same time his burden. Soon he found the desired rod, which he cut off. Taking from his bosom the dog, which was black in color, he began to strike it with the red-willow rod. At once the dog began to increase greatly in size; soon it became the usual size of dogs. Additional strokes caused it to grow larger and larger until at last it attained the size of a very large bear, one of the largest known. Then the young man said to the dog: “My servant, remove from my back the body of the man who is clinging there,” saying “Wăʹʼs.” At once the monstrous dog, seizing the man by the back of the neck, began to shake him with great force. The body of Hahadodagwatʻha was whirled about in the terrific struggle, in which the gripped opponents fell and arose in many places; the struggle lasted until the dog seized the man by the throat and began to choke him. In a short time it was able to pull off the man and to fling his body aside. Then Hahadodagwatʻha sat near by until his tormentor died, for he himself was entirely exhausted.
Then he said: “Come here, my dog! I am thankful to you, for you have saved me from destruction. You are the cause of my being now alive. Let us two start for home and let us go to the place where dwell together they who are your brothers.” So they started and went on for some distance and then encamped for the night. Thereupon the young man said: “As regards me, I am very hungry; so it behooves you to kill a deer.” At once the dog ran afar off, and in a short time it returned, dragging along the body of a fawn. This the young man skinned, and after quartering the carcass he set pieces of it all around the fire to roast. It was night, and when the roasts were done they two ate their supper, the man and the dog, sharing the meat. In the morning they again started for their home, and they kept traveling until they stopped for the night. In turn the young man went hunting for raccoons, climbing a tree in order to kill them. Having dressed and cooked a raccoon, they ate it. When they had finished eating, they laid down together, the man and his dog.
In the morning they two started, and they had not gone far when they saw in the distance a lodge. In this they were surprised to find a man half of whose hair was red, and there they found, too, the younger sister of the young man. The latter said: “Now has returned our brother who was lost, the Dog.” They asked him: “Where did you two meet?” He answered: “We met at the place of high cliffs. It was he who saved my life when I was in danger of death. This is the reason why we have been able to return to the place where you two, his brother and sister, dwell and where your mother also dwells. Now I give myself up here where you dwell, and we shall all be together always, because he has saved my life and is [[680]]your brother. I, too, am a master of game and a good hunter. So we shall be very contented in our minds.” Then the man half of whose hair was red said: “So be it. I, too, am a good hunter, and I will also help to make ourselves contented.” Thus did they make a compact that they would all compose a single family for all time.
This is the length of the legend.
130. The Story of Hahskwahot[456]
In times past there was a boy who spent his time in hunting birds to kill and in cooking and eating them.
On one of his expeditions he came to a large rock, beside which he took his seat to rest, for it was drawing toward sunset, and began to make arrow points.
While seated there a man spoke, saying: “I shall relate a story.” The boy at once began to look around to learn who it was that had spoken. He finally came to the conclusion that it was the rock beside which he was sitting that had spoken for his benefit. In reply the boy said: “What is the name of it?” The man answered: “It is called a fable (tradition); now you must make me a present of a bird (for telling you this story).” The boy, replying “So be it,” left one on the rock. Then the man again spoke, saying: “You must return here; I shall relate a legend, but as to us we remained at home in the world that was.” And the boy went home.
In the evening the boy returned to the rock and seated himself upon it. Thereupon the man said: “Well, now, I shall say that you must speak; you must say, ‘What?’ I shall tell you what is called a legend. As soon as I make an end of telling one legend I may go on with another. But if you become sleepy, as you may, you must tell me, and we will take a rest; and you can come again to-morrow evening.”
The boy hunted birds, and he had many different persons to accompany him. He said to each: “You must accompany me (to hear) a man telling legends, as I think they are called. In the evening they two would take their seats on the rock and listen until they became sleepy, and then all would take a rest for the night. The next day they two would again return to the rock, and finally other persons followed them to the place. In the evening they would again sit around, and the man would relate another legend. On the following evening they would again repair to the rock. There were now a large number who went to the place where the great rock stood; and the man would again tell a legend. In this manner did it come to pass that there are legends in the world, as these stories are called.
Finally the man at the rock said to the boy: “You will grow old in years. You shall use these legends to aid yourself in your old [[681]]age (by telling them to persons who will pay you for doing so). So it came to pass that as the boy became old he did not cease telling legends.
It was in this manner. When in the evening he would tell a legend some brought on their backs loads of wood for fuel; others brought meat; others brought bread; and still others brought tobacco. These things were left in the lodge of the old man who had been at the rock when a boy. People gave him these things to repay him for telling them some legend. Many times the lodge would be full of people who had come to hear him relate the legends of their people.
So it was that legends came into being, for the people of the former other world were people who possessed great and powerful orenda. The stories of their acts have become the legends of this world. The scene of this story was laid in the former world.
The end.
131. The Legend of Genonsgwa[457]
In ancient times this event came to pass as other like things had taken place. A man went out to hunt on the game preserve of his people.
It so happened that he camped in the night in a large forest. He had four hunting dogs with him. There he made his camp and kindled a fire for the night, and in due time the hunter and his dogs fell asleep. Some time after this the dogs began to bark, and one went to inform the hunter of his danger. Shaking him to arouse him, it said: “I think that we shall now die; near here are men who are very large in size going about stealthily. They must be, I think, what are called Genonsgwa.” Thus did the dog speak, and continuing, he said: “Perhaps there is (time) yet in which you yourself may escape. As to the beast, as much as lies in our power and opportunity we shall attempt to prevent it from overtaking you. So you must do this: You must make three torches, which you must carry and which will suffice, I think, for your purpose in reaching the place where dwell other human beings. You must do thus when you see a forked branch your height above the ground; you must insert one of the torches therein as you pass along, when the torch is nearly burned out; this will become a hindrance to the Genonsgwa, for he will think that you may be near at hand taking a rest and will stop without fail. This will be an aid to you, for you can then gain a good start on him. Then at a suitable distance you must insert another one of the nearly-burned-out torches.”
At that moment he heard the dogs approach, barking, from the direction in which he had come, and he fled with all possible speed. When he had only one torch left he heard the barking of the dogs [[682]]quite near him, for they had reached the place in which he had fixed the second torch. When the man arrived there it became evident to him from the sounds he heard that one of the dogs had just been killed in the distance. Thereupon the hunter stirred up the firebrands to cause them to blaze up and throw out more light. Soon they gave sufficient light to enable him to see as far as the tree indicated by the dog, behind which the strange man, or being, moved around stealthily; with great hands he held to the tree and he had, too, very long legs. Having made the needed preparations, the hunter at once fled from the place.
Having reached a point out of sight of his camp, when his torch that he was carrying was nearly extinguished, he heard sounds which told him that another dog had been killed, and he knew, too, from this that the Genonsgwa was close at hand. Remembering the advice of the first dog that informed him of his danger, he began to cry out the sign of distress, Gōʹweʻ, gōʹweʻ, gōʹweʻ, for he was then aware that the settlement of his people was not far away. They were still all awake and, hearing the cries of distress in the distance, they at once ran in the direction from which these came. Having reached the place, they found the man. The Genonsgwa was then very close to the hunter, who was nearly exhausted. The latter fell into the circle of his friends none too soon, for the Genonsgwa, seizing him by the leg, tore off some flesh. Then at once he turned, fled from the people, and disappeared, and no one knew whither he had escaped.
The end.