Tcûskai filled all the little holes and fanned smoke into the big hole. At midday he said to his brother: “I am stronger than you are; you never could have filled all these holes.” He went again to hunt for water. At last he found the place where Tskel had hidden it; then he drank and drank, drank nearly all the water there was in the hole.
Tskel wondered why Tcûskai didn’t come back. At last he thought: “Maybe he has found the water; I will go and see.” Tcûskai was still drinking, and only a little water was left. If Tskel hadn’t thought of the water and gone to look for his brother, he would have drunk it all and there would have been no water in the world.
Tskel caught hold of Tcûskai and threw him against the rocks so hard that he killed him; then he scattered the water. There was only a little left, but it spread fast, spread until there were rivers and lakes. Then Tskel went to his brother, took off the string of rattles he wore around his neck, and struck him five times with it. Tcûskai came to life. Tskel said: “The holes are stopped up; now I will help you kill Gopher. [[291]]He is terrible to look at when he is mad. You must keep your eyes closed; if you see him, you will die.”
Tskel had two stone knives. He gave one to Tcûskai, then he built a fire and blew the smoke into the big hole. Tcûskai listened; there was a noise of some one moving around in the hole. He was so scared that he died. Tskel brought him to life, and said: “You mustn’t get scared. That was only a young Gopher; old Gopher hasn’t moved yet.”
Tskel blew more smoke into the hole. There was a roar as though the mountain was going to burst open. Tcûskai died again. Tskel brought him to life, and said: “You have played with these people and made all this trouble; now you must stay here till it is over. Don’t get scared every time you hear a noise.”
Just then old Gopher moved and the earth shook. Tcûskai was dreadfully frightened. (He was on one side of the hole and Tskel was on the other.) There was a shaking and roar, then a great, red, fiery head came out of the hole. Tskel cut the head off with his long knife, skinned it, and made a cap of the skin; then he buried the head under great flat rocks. Right away the rocks were as red as blood. (They are red to this day.)
Tskel said to Gopher: “Hereafter you will be of no account. You will dig in the ground and people will make fun of you.”
If Tskel hadn’t killed Gopher, there would be no one living in the world now.
In the hole where Gopher was it is always hot, no matter how cold it is outside. Gopher’s body, turned to stone, is still in the hole.
After Tskel killed Gopher, he and Tcûskai went home, but Tskel didn’t want to stay there. He thought about his cousin, Kaiutois. One day he said to Skóŭks: “I am going to see my cousin,” and he sent Tcûskai to ask Gäk if he would go with them. Gäk was willing and the three started off. As they traveled, people told them they mustn’t go near the Leméis family, that they were killing everybody, that each day they carried off men to eat. Tskel said: “I am traveling around the world to see people; I’m not afraid of Leméis.” [[292]]