Soon the young man said: “I wonder what is so heavy.” He threw away his bow and arrows. Ilyúyu cried. He picked up the bow and carried it in his mouth. “Come on, Ilyúyu,” said his master. “Don’t cry, I have another bow at home.” Soon he said: “I wonder what is so heavy.” And he threw away his quiver.
Kûlta’s wife knew what the women were doing to her brother. She took a basket and followed him. When he threw away his quiver, she was there behind him; she picked up the quiver and put it in her basket. She felt badly. She cried hard and thought: “Poor brother, they will kill you.”
The young man said: “There are too many beads on my moccasins; they are so heavy I can hardly step.” He threw away one of the moccasins, and called: “Come on, Ilyúyu!” [[335]](He didn’t see his sister, and Ilyúyu didn’t see her.) Soon he pulled off the other moccasin and threw it away. He threw away his belt. Ilyúyu picked it up and tried to carry it in his mouth. He dragged it a while, then dropped it. After a time the young man said: “What have I got on that is so heavy?” He took off his beaded shirt and threw it away. When Ilyúyu cried, his master called: “Come on, Ilyúyu, I have another shirt at home.” He threw away his beaded leggings; then he was naked. Ilyúyu was crying. “Come on, Ilyúyu,” said his master. Soon he pulled off one arm and threw it away. Ilyúyu tried to drag the arm along with his teeth, but his master called: “Come on, Ilyúyu, come on!” and he left it. His sister put it in her basket. Soon he said: “I wonder what is so heavy.” And he threw away the second arm. He pulled off his legs; then he was only a body and head. He went on a little way, then said: “I wonder what is so heavy.” His body fell off, and he was only a head. He became Núsdilausniyas (Rolling Head) and could travel fast. He crossed a mountain at a bound, then rolled along in the air. He had big eyes and long hair that waved behind him.
When he got to the river near his home, he struck the ground, and said: “Dum! dum!” Then he called in a loud voice: “Mother, come and take me across!” “Where are you?” asked his mother; she couldn’t see him.
“I am here waiting. Come and get me!” When she didn’t come, he got mad, flew across the river and came down in the house: “Dum! dum!” Then he flew at the people, hit them, and killed them.
Ilyúyu was crying; the river was swift and he couldn’t cross. Soon the sister came. She found a canoe, crossed the river, and went to the house. She looked in through the smoke hole and saw the Head eating the body of her mother. She was terribly scared. She ran to the village to tell the people; she knew that after the Head had eaten her father and mother, it would fly to the village and kill everybody there.
The Head felt dust scatter in at the smoke hole, and knew that somebody was on the top of the house. It went out, saw tracks, and followed the woman. When Ilyúyu saw his master, [[336]]just a great bloody Head, he felt so badly and was so afraid that he ran off to the mountains and wandered around, crying all the time.
When the sister told the people that her brother had turned to a man-eater, the two oldest women in the village said to them: “You must paint your faces with the pitch out of cedar trees, and be strong; maybe we can save you.”
The two made a basket as tight and firm as they could. They waxed their hands so they could hold the Head. Then they rowed to the other side of the river and waited; soon they heard the Head coming, with a terrible whizzing and noise. It struck the bank: “Dum! dum!” and called out: “Come and take me over!” When it saw the two old women, it asked: “Why didn’t young people come for me?”
“They are afraid of you,” said one of the old women.