The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories

by George Bird Grinnell

Early next morning they put their canoe in the water and paddled away, and when they came near the Magpie’s house they saw him sitting on the roof. They landed, and went [[20]]up to the house, and the Magpie came down from the roof, and all went inside and sat down. Bluejay and his sister sat there and looked all around, but they saw no food. After a little while the Magpie swept his house, and while he was sweeping it out he found one dry salmon egg. He put this in the feathers of his head. Then he made a fire and heated some stones. He filled a basket-work kettle with water, put the salmon egg in the water, then put the stones in the water, one after another, and covered the kettle. Soon the water was boiling, and when it had boiled a little while he took off the cover, and the kettle was full of boiled salmon eggs. The Magpie put the kettle before Bluejay and his sister, and said, “Eat, my friends; you must be hungry.” They ate until they were satisfied, and still the kettle was half full.

After a time they started to return to their house, taking with them the kettle with the food that was left. When they were about to start, his sister said to Bluejay, “You go down first to the beach.” He said to her, “No, you go down first.” So his sister went down first to the beach to get the canoe ready. [[21]]

Bluejay said to the Magpie, “To-morrow come and visit us and get your kettle and bring it back with you.” The Magpie said, “It is good; I will go to visit you.” Then Bluejay and his sister went home.

The next morning, early, Bluejay went up on the roof of his house and sat there. After a time he called out to his sister, and said: “A canoe is coming.” She answered: “It is coming, because you told him to come.” Pretty soon, as they looked, they could see that it was the Magpie in the canoe, and at length he landed and pulled his canoe up on the beach and walked up to the house. Bluejay came down from the roof, and they went in and sat down.

Soon Bluejay got up and swept his house, and found one dry salmon egg, which he put in his topknot. When he had finished sweeping his house, he built a fire and heated some stones and filled a basket-work kettle with water and put in it the salmon egg, and then the hot stones, and covered the kettle. He did everything just as the Magpie had done it. Soon the water boiled, and he took the cover off, but there was nothing in the kettle but hot water.

The Magpie said, “Bluejay can do only one [[22]]thing.” He took the kettle and threw the stones out of it. Then he heated more stones, put a dry salmon egg in the water, put in the hot stones, and covered the kettle, and soon the water began to boil. Presently he took the cover off the kettle, and it was full of boiled salmon eggs. Then the Magpie went down to the beach and put his canoe in the water and paddled away to his home.

After several nights Bluejay and his sister were hungry. Bluejay said: “Let us go visiting. Let us go and visit the Duck.” “We will go to-morrow,” said his sister. The next morning early they started and paddled away towards the Duck’s house. After a while they came within sight of the house, and then landed on the beach and went up to the house. After they had sat a little while, the Duck said to her five children, “Go and wash yourselves.” They went down to the beach and went into the water and washed themselves. Then they dived, and when each came to the top of the water it had a trout in its mouth. They put these on a mat on the beach. Ten times they dived, and by that time their mat was full of trout. They took [[23]]them up to the house and made a fire and roasted them, and when the fish were cooked they gave them to Bluejay and his sister, and they ate part of them and were satisfied. Pretty soon the visitors got ready to go, taking with them the food that was left. Ioí said to her brother: “You go down first to the beach, or else you will talk ever so much.” Bluejay answered her: “No, you go down first.” So his sister went down first to get the canoe ready, and when she had gone, Bluejay said to the Duck: “Come to my house to-morrow and get your mat.” The Duck said: “To-morrow I will go to visit you.” Then Bluejay and his sister paddled away, and soon came to their house.

Early next morning Bluejay got up and went up to the roof of the house. After he had been sitting there for some time, he called out to his sister: “A canoe is coming.” She said to him: “It comes because you asked them to come.” Pretty soon the Duck, with her five children, reached the beach, and after they had pulled the canoe out of the water, they went up to the house. After they had sat a while, Bluejay said to his sister’s children: “Go and wash yourselves.” [[24]]

The children went down to the beach and into the water and washed themselves. They tried to dive, but no matter how hard they might try their backs remained above the water. Ten times they tried to dive, and their feathers were all wet and clinging to them, and they were almost dead with cold. They came up to the house shivering, and not bringing anything with them.

The Duck said: “Bluejay can do only one thing.” Then she said to her children: “Go and wash yourselves. We will give them something to eat.” The Duck’s children went down to the beach and washed themselves. They dived ten times, and then their mat was full of trout. They brought them up to the house and threw them on the ground. Then the Ducks went home.