52. The Man Pursued by His Sister-in-Law
Two brothers lived together in the forest. Every day the elder went out to hunt, but he never brought home game or flesh of any description. The younger brother noticed, however, that his brother’s back bore bloody stains just as if he had been carrying freshly killed game; so he decided to watch him, that he might see what he did with the game he killed.
One day while the younger brother was watching he found that, when returning with game, a woman approached from a side path [[271]]and took from the elder brother the game, which she carried away. So the next day the younger brother started off in the direction the strange woman had taken. He soon came to a lodge, and on entering he found a young woman, who smiled and began talking to him.
In the afternoon he started for home; but after he had gone some distance he saw that he was returning to the lodge which he had just left, and was greatly disturbed about himself. Thereupon he went in an opposite direction. While he was walking along, his elder brother, coming up behind him, said, “My brother, it is strange that you do not know that there is a fishhook caught in your neck.” Having removed the fishhook and fastened it to a near-by bush, the elder brother said to his younger brother: “Your only safe course now is to escape from this place as quickly as possible. I will aid you to escape.” Then the elder brother, causing the younger to become small, after opening one of his arrows introduced him into it, and after securing him there, told him, “When the arrow strikes the ground, quickly get out of this arrow and then run for your life.” Then he shot the arrow off into the air.
When the young woman drew on the fishhook she found that she could not pull it to her; following along the line, she found that the hook was fastened to a bush. This caused her to get very angry, and she said, “Young man, you can not escape from me; this world is too small for that.” Thence she quickly went to the young man’s lodge but he was not there, so she tracked him to her own lodge and back again to the bush. There she found the trail of the arrow, which she followed to the spot where it fell. On finding there the tracks of the young man, she pursued his trail with great speed. As she approached the young man he heard her footsteps and, pulling off his moccasins, he told them to run ahead to the end of the country;[119] further, he transformed himself into a stump right where he stood. The pursuing woman soon came up to the stump. Halting there, she looked up and said, “Why, this looks like a man”; but, as the tracks of the young man apparently passed on, exclaiming “Why do I waste time here?” she ran on. When she reached the end of the country, behold! there stood the young man’s moccasins. Then she hurried back to the place where she had seen the stump, but it was no longer there. Finding, however, fresh tracks made by the young man, she followed them. Soon the young man heard her approaching again, whereupon he cast a stone behind him, with the remark, “Let a high rock extend from one end of the country to the other.” As soon as he had spoken the words the great ridge of rock was there.
When the young woman came to the rock she could go neither through it nor over it. Finally she said, “I have never heard of this high rock; surely it can not extend across the country. I will [[272]]go around it.” So she ran to the end of the country without success; then she ran to the other end of the country, but with no greater success in getting around the ridge of rocks. Coming back to the spot whence she had started, she stepped back a short distance and then, rushing forward, she butted her head against the solid rock to break it down; but she fell back seemingly dead. After a long time she recovered consciousness and, looking around her, Lo!—the rock ridge had disappeared; only a small stone lay there. “Oh! he is exerting his magic power,” she exclaimed, and again she hurried on after him.
When the youth once more heard her footsteps and knew that she was fast gaining on him he took a pigeon’s feather out of his pouch, and casting it down back of him commanded, “Let there be a pigeon roost across the country and let there be so many pigeons in it that their droppings shall be so deep and high that nothing can get through them.” Soon the young woman came to the roost and started to go through it, but could not do so; then she drew back, saying, “I never heard that a pigeon roost could extend across the world. I shall go around it.” Thereupon she followed the roost, first to one end of the world, then to the other, but was not able to go around it. Returning to the spot whence she had started she attempted to break through the mass of droppings by butting her head against it, but she fell back seemingly dead. After a long time she regained consciousness, and on opening her eyes found a small feather lying on the ground. The roost had disappeared. She was now very angry and took up the pursuit with great speed.
In his flight the young man came to a lake where he saw people bathing and playing in the water. Stopping there he said, “Let one of those men become just like me and let me become an old stump.” Presently the young woman came up to the stump, but hearing the laughter of the bathers she saw on looking at them that the man farthest out in the lake was the one she was following. Seeing her standing there the people called to her, “Come! help us catch this man who outswims us.” Quickly springing into the water, after a long chase she caught him, but the moment she had done so he took his own form, whereupon she knew that she had been deceived again. Going back to the shore she found that the stump had gone.
Again she followed the tracks of the young man. Just as he heard her approaching, a man stood before him who asked, “What is the trouble?” The young man replied, “A woman is pursuing me.” The stranger answered, “I will try to aid you.” Stooping down, he added: “Get on my back. I will throw you on a hillside. You must run along the hill until you are forced to descend.” The young man stepped on the back of the man Nosgwais,[120] who stretched his legs to an enormous length, throwing the young man off to a great distance [[273]]on a side hill. The young woman came to the trail, where she found the ground soft and resilient. As she tried to advance it would fly up, throwing her backward. On looking around she found that she was standing on a toad’s back. She made great circles in search of the tracks of the young man. At last she reached the hill. When the young man reached the hill he ran along its top for a considerable time until he slipped and fell. Being unable to help himself, he slid down the hill with great rapidity, so fast that he did not realize anything until he struck a lodge, a voice within which said, “I think there must be something in our trap.”