The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories

by George Bird Grinnell

The next morning when it became day he went through the village again, and he found many bones in those houses.

It got dark, and some one said, “A whale has been found.” His elder sister gave him a knife, and said to him, “Quick, run! a whale has been found.” Then Bluejay ran fast, and when he reached the beach he met some of those people. He called out to them in a loud voice, asking them, “Where is this whale?” Only bones lay where the people had stood. He kicked the skulls out of the way and ran on a long distance, and met some other people. Again [[42]]he called out loudly to them; only bones lay there. He did this several times. At last he came to a big log, thrown up on the beach—a big log with thick bark—and many people were at work peeling off that bark. Bluejay shouted. Only bones lay there. That bark was full of pitch. Bluejay began to peel it off. He peeled off two pieces and put them on his shoulder and went home. As he was going along he said to himself, “I thought it was really a whale, but it is only a fir-tree.” He kept on, and at last he reached the house. Outside the door he threw down the bark and went in. He said to his elder sister, “I thought it was really a whale, but you see it is only bark.” His elder sister said to him: “It is whale, it is whale. Do you think it is bark?” She went outside, and there two cuts of whale meat lay on the ground. Ioí said, “It is a good whale; its blubber is very thick.” Bluejay looked at it. Now he believed that a whale lay on the beach. He turned back and met a person who was carrying bark on his back. Blue jay shouted, and only bones lay there. He took the piece of bark and put it on his shoulder and carried it home. In this way he treated [[43]]all these ghosts, and after a while he had a great deal of whale meat.

“ITS HEAD WAS SO HEAVY THAT IT THREW IT DOWN”

Bluejay continued to live there. One day he went into a house in the village and took a child’s skull and put it on the bones of a grown-up person. He took the large skull and put it on the child’s bones. Thus he did to all these people. When night came the child sat up, intending to rise to its feet, but it fell over. Its head was so heavy that it threw it down. The old man got up. His head was light. The next morning when it became day he changed these heads back again. Sometimes he changed the legs of the ghosts, so that he gave small legs to an old man and large legs to a child. Sometimes he gave a man’s legs to a woman, and a woman’s legs to a man. After a time the ghosts began to dislike him. Ioí’s husband said to her: “These people dislike Bluejay because he treats them in this way. It will be good for you to tell him to go away to his home, for now people do not like him.” Ioí tried to stop her younger brother, but he would not listen to her. Now again when it became day Bluejay arose early. Ioí had in her arms a skull. Bluejay threw it away, saying, “Why does she hold [[44]]that skull in her arms?” She said to him, “Ah! you have broken your brother-in-law’s neck.” It became night, and his brother-in-law was sick. His relations tried to cure him, and pretty soon the brother-in-law got well.

Now Bluejay started to go to his home. But as he was going home he got caught in a fire, and was burned and died. Then he started back for the country of the ghosts. When he came to the river he called out to his elder sister, and she said, “Ah, my brother is dead.”

She put her canoe into the water and went across the river to fetch him. When she reached him he said to her, “Your canoe is pretty, Ioí.” She said to him, “You used to say that canoe was grown over with moss.” Bluejay thought: “Ioí is always telling lies to me. The other canoes had holes and were moss-covered.” She said to him, “You are dead now; that makes the difference.” Bluejay thought, “Ioí keeps telling lies to me.”

Soon she carried him to the other side of the river, and he saw the people. They were playing games—dice and the ring game—and dancing—tum, tum, tum, tum—and singing. Bluejay wanted to go to these singers. He tried [[45]]to sing and to call out loud, but they laughed at him. Then he went into his brother-in-law’s house. There sat a chief, a good-looking man; it was Ioí’s husband. Ioí said, “And you broke his neck.” Bluejay thought, “Ioí keeps telling me lies.”

“Where did these canoes come from? They are pretty.” Ioí answered, “And you said they were moss-grown.” Bluejay thought: “Ioí is always telling lies. The others were full of holes, and were partly overgrown with moss.” “You are dead now,” said his sister; “that makes the difference.”

Then Bluejay gave it up and became quiet. [[47]]