CHARACTERS

Gáukos Moon Lok Bear
Kówe Frog Weketas A Small Green Frog
Kûlta Otter

Gáukos and Kûlta had a house among the rocks on the east side of Klamath Lake. On the west side of the lake lived the ten Kówe sisters, beautiful little women. Their clothes were covered with beads and porcupine quills. They were powerful women, too; they could do anything they wanted. A Weketas woman lived with the ten sisters. She was big and ugly, and the only thing she could do was to bring people to life.

Gáukos grew lonesome. He was tired of living in the world. Kûlta said: “I will go and tell the ten sisters that you want a wife. With a woman to cook for us, it won’t be lonesome.”

Kûlta went to the ten sisters, and said: “A young man on the east side of the lake wants one of you for a wife, but he don’t know which one.”

Each one of the ten sisters got ready to go; they cooked nice roots and pounded sweet seeds. They put on new moccasins and dresses, pulled their canoe into the water, and started. Weketas had nothing to cook and nothing new to wear. She had on a ragged old cap, and was half naked, but she went to row the canoe. The sisters kept pushing her, and saying: “Row faster, ugly thing! Row faster!”

Gáukos sat on the rocks where he could watch the sisters. When they reached land, they left the canoe, one by one. To the first one Gáukos said: “Not you; another.” To the second sister he said the same, and so on to the last.

Kûlta told them to go back to the canoe; then he said to Gáukos: “Tell me which one you want.” [[82]]

“The one at the end of the canoe.”

“What do you want of that ugly thing?” asked Kûlta. “You should take one of those nice girls.”