“Why do you want to know?” asked his mother.
“I want to go and swim.”
“You are too old to go; only young men, who want to be great gamblers or doctors, go to those swimming places.”
Wus had fallen in love with a Wálwilégas girl that he had seen near the spring, but his mother didn’t know that.
He kept asking the old woman to tell him where the swimming ponds were, and which were the best ones. She wouldn’t tell him; she always said: “It is too late for you to go to such places. You are too old. You should have gone when you were young. There are no swimming ponds near here.”
“I don’t care how far away they are,” said Wus. “I’m going. You must send for old Djáudjau to come and make holes in my ears and nose.”
“There is no use in making holes in your ears and nose,” said the old woman. “You are too old to go to the swimming ponds. The earth and the mountains won’t listen to what you say.”
When she told old Djáudjau what her son wanted, he said: “It is too late, but let him try; maybe he can get something [[215]]out of this earth. If the earth pushes him away, he will come home. But I think he is after some woman, and is trying to fool you.” The old man made holes in Wus’ ears and nose, and tied a deerskin blanket around him.
When Wus was ready to start, he asked: “Where are the most powerful swimming places?”
“The first swimming place is on the top of Mlaiksi, the other one is on Mlaiksi’s brother,” said the old man. “But I don’t think you will get to either place.”