100. The Morning Star and the Cannibal Wife
Once far off in the woods there lived by themselves a husband and wife. It was the custom of the husband to hunt, while the woman devoted her time to raising corn and beans.
One day, while the wife was baking a cake in the ashes, a large spark from the fire fell on her hand as she sat in front of the hearth. The pain caused her to rub the spot with her finger. Soon it began to blister, whereupon she wet her finger in her mouth and rubbed the burned spot; in this way she got a taste of her own blood, and strange as it may seem, she took a liking for it and craved more of it. So with a knife she cut out pieces of the burned flesh, which she ate ravenously. The taste for the flesh grew on her so that she put a coal of fire on another spot on her hand, where it burned more flesh; thus she continued to cut out pieces of her own flesh and eat them. She persisted in this unnatural practice until she had eaten all the flesh from her legs and arms.
The husband had a dog, which was very wise and faithful to him. Now this dog eagerly watched what the woman was doing. When about half through eating the flesh off of her limbs, the unnatural wife, turning to the dog, said: “You would better go and tell your friend and master to escape from this place at once. You must go with him, for if you do not hurry away I shall eat you both.” Obeying this warning, the dog started and, running as fast as he could into the forest until he came to the place where the husband was hunting, [[465]]he told him at once that his wife had become an Ongwe Ias (cannibal), and that she would eat them both if they did not flee immediately. The man and the dog started without delay on a keen run. After a while the man, knowing that the dog’s legs were short and not strong, decided to put him into a hollow tree. The dog consented to this in order to save the man, as he knew what was in store for both. So the hunter placed the dog in a hollow tree, at the same time bidding him to become punk. The hunter went on as fast as he could run, continuing until he came to a river with high banks, where an old man lived. He said to the old man: “Grandfather, I am in great trouble. Take me across the river to save me from peril of my life. My wife, who has become a cannibal, is pursuing me in order to devour me.” The old man said in reply: “Oh! I know what you are telling me, but she is still a long way behind you. She will not be here for some time to come. But you must bring me a basketful of fish from my fishpond.” The hunter at once went to the pond, which was enclosed, where he found a wickerwork dip net, with which he soon filled the basket with fish. As soon as the basket was full he hastened back with it to the old man, who soon said, “Sit down and eat with me.” So they ate together the fish, which had been prepared and cooked by the old man in such manner as to give the fugitive hunter more orenda (magic power) to resist the hostile influence of that of his wife. When they had finished eating the fish, the old man said, “I now want you to bring me a basketful of groundnuts.” The hunter went at once to the garden of the old man, and digging up the groundnuts as quickly as possible, brought them to him. After these were prepared and cooked they sat down and ate them. Then the old man said, “I will now take you across the river.” Going to the river bank, the old man lay face downward, resting on his elbows at the edge of the water, and stretching out his neck to the farther bank. He said to the hunter, “Now you may walk over on my neck, but you must be very careful, for I am not as strong as I have been in the past.” The hunter walked over on the old man’s neck with great care. When he had reached the other bank, the old man bade him good-by with the remark, “Far away in the west you will see a large lodge, which belongs to three aunts of yours, who will help you further; so call on them for aid.” On hearing this, the hunter hurried away.
After the woman had sent the dog away she ate all the flesh from her bones; then with small sticks she pushed all the marrow out of her bones and devoured that, too. Finally she filled the hollows in her bones with small pebbles, which rattled as she moved around. From time to time she sang and danced, causing the pebbles in her bones to rattle; whereupon she would exclaim: “Oh, that sounds fine!” [[466]]Having become ravenous, she fell to devouring everything in the lodge—meat, bread, corn, beans, skins; in fact, everything that could be eaten. When she had eaten everything in the lodge, she started in pursuit of her husband. She soon discovered his tracks and followed them. Once in a while on the way she would stop and dance, listening with delight to the rattle of the small pebbles in her bones. Afterward she would take up the trail again.
Shortly after the hunter had fled from the lodge of the old man his wife came running along. Coming up to the bank of the river, she screamed: “Old man, take me across this river. I am pursuing my husband to seize him and eat him. Come! Be quick!” The old ferryman, not being accustomed to hear words like these, slowly turned toward the woman, saying: “I can not take you across. There is no walk for you, who are chasing your husband to eat him.” But the woman begged and begged him to comply with her request. At last the old man replied: “It is well. Go bring me a basketful of fish and also dig me a basketful of groundnuts.” Going out, the woman caught a basketful of fish in the old man’s pond; then from his garden she dug a basketful of groundnuts and brought them to the old man. When he had prepared and cooked them, she would not eat them, for she now craved nothing but human flesh. After eating by himself, the old man went to the bank of the river and, getting into position, stretched his neck across the water like a turtle, making a very narrow, high, arching span. Then he told her to walk across. But the woman became angry and said: “How do you suppose I am going to cross on that kind of walk?” The old man replied: “Oh! you can do just as you like about it. I am old now and can not make my neck flat. If I did, it would break down. As it is, you must walk very carefully.” No matter how the woman raged she had to go on that narrow path; so she picked her steps carefully, scolding as she went along. The river, which was very angry and deep, was full of terrible creatures. When the woman reached the middle of the river, she made the old man so angry by her scolding that he suddenly jerked his neck, making her fall into the water; whereupon she was devoured instantly, with the exception of her stomach, in which was her life, which floated downstream, passing the lodge of the three aunts of the hunter, her husband. Seeing it on the surface, the three aunts, having caught it, chopped it up fine, thus killing the woman.
In the meanwhile the husband came to the lodge of his three aunts, who told him to keep on his way and that they would watch and do what they could to aid him. So he kept on until he came to a wood, in which he saw a young woman gathering sticks for fuel. She asked him: “Where are you going?” He replied: “I am going on until I find pleasant people to live with.” The young woman answered: [[467]]“You would better remain here with me as my husband. We can live very happily if you can manage my grandmother, who is a little old woman, but very troublesome.” As the young woman was pleasant and good-looking, the hunter decided to remain with her. When they arrived at the lodge of the young woman the little old woman, her grandmother, was outside. She was about one-half the height of an ordinary person, but very stout. She exclaimed: “Oh! you have brought a husband, have you?” Continuing, she added: “You would better bring him into the lodge to let him rest. You should also give him something to eat.” The young woman replied: “It is well; you ask him to come into the lodge.” So the grandmother told them to enter the lodge; following her inside, they sat down. Thereupon the grandmother, getting a club from the farther end of the room, began beating her granddaughter, saying: “Oh! you like too well to have a husband.” She struck her many blows, which the granddaughter endured without making any defense. When bedtime came the old woman said to her granddaughter: “Your husband must sleep with me tonight.” There was nothing to be done but to comply with her demand. So the husband went to the old woman’s bed. The latter covered herself and the man with a skin, fastening it down on all sides in such manner that it was air-tight, so the man could scarcely breathe. Then the old woman made an attempt to smother the husband; she would have done so had he not had a small false face [fetish] hidden away in his bosom. At once he told this aid to absorb all the odor into itself, and thereupon it did so. When morning came, contrary to the expectation of the grandmother, the husband was alive and well. The old woman now for a time left him in peace, and he enjoyed the company of his wife.
Several days later the old woman said to the man: “We must go to an island today to hunt.” They found that the island was low and that in the middle of it there was a very deep lake. Having made a landing, they drew their canoe up on the island. The old woman said to the man: “Take your position here on the right,” indicating with her finger a spot away from the canoe, “and I will drive the game toward you.” The man had gone about halfway toward the place when, hearing a sound in the direction of the canoe, he turned back, only to see the old woman in the canoe paddling away as fast as she could. He called to her to return, but it was of no use.
The man remained on the island all day long; there was no escape for him. He noticed the marks of water high up on the trees, which were very tall. He knew well what these marks meant. When night came the water began to rise, and thereupon the hunter climbed the highest tree he could find on the island. The water kept rising, and [[468]]he continued to climb as it rose. With the first streak of dawn in the east the hunter saw that all the shorter trees were covered with water, while around him on all sides were great numbers of monsters waiting to devour him. He sat at the top of the tallest tree on the island. While looking around for some avenue of escape he saw the Morning Star shining brightly in the east. Remembering that the Morning Star had promised him in a dream in the days of his youth to help him in the time of trouble or peril, he prayed that the Morning Star would hasten the coming of the day, for he believed that with the advent of daylight the waters would subside and he would be saved. He cried in the anguish of his mind: “Oh, Morning Star! hasten the Orb of Day. Oh, Morning Star! hurry on the daylight. You promised when I was young that you would help me if I ever should be in great peril.” Now, the Morning Star lived in a beautiful lodge, with a small boy as a servant. Hearing the voice of the hunter appealing to him for aid, he called out to the servant, “Who is that shouting on the island?” The small boy replied, “Oh! that is the husband of the little old woman’s granddaughter. He says that you promised him in a dream when he was young that you would help in the time of trouble.” The Morning Star answered, “Oh, yes! I did promise him to do so. Let the Orb of Day come at once.” Immediately daylight came, and the water on the island subsided.
When the waters were dried from the land the hunter slipped down from the tree, and going to the landing place he buried himself in the sand, leaving only his nostrils and one eye exposed. Early in the forenoon the old woman came again to the island. Drawing up the canoe on the beach, she said to herself: “The flesh of my granddaughter’s husband has been eaten up by this time, but I suppose his bones are left. Being very young, they must have good marrow in them, so I think I will have some of this marrow.” So saying, she started to search the island for the bones. The man was watching her, and when she had gone far enough away he sprang up out of the sand, and boarding the canoe pushed off and paddled away. When he had gone some distance from the island the old woman saw him, whereupon she cried out in agony of despair, “Oh, grandson, come back! I will never play another trick on you. I will love you.” The hunter replied in derision, “Oh, no! I will not return. You shall play no more tricks on me,” and continued to paddle away.