They kept traveling the entire day, and when the sun was low in the west they arrived at the place where the hunter was accustomed to camp when making his hunting trips in past seasons. Here they kindled a fire, and warming up cold meat and boiled corn bread, they ate their meal and then retired to rest. Early in the morning, as soon as they had eaten their meal and repacked their belongings, they continued their journey, arriving just before sunset in the lodge of the husband’s mother. She was very thankful for the meat which they had brought home in their packs.
It was not long after their return before the bride’s mother entered the lodge. After the usual greetings she said: “Let us two revisit our own clan.” The bride answered: “So let it be; we may go as you suggest.” They finally reached the bride’s former home, where her kinsfolk welcomed her. She then began at once to relate in great detail all that had befallen her during the time she had been absent on the hunting trip with her husband. Among other things she told them that her husband already had a child by some unknown mysterious being, whom he was accustomed to feed with raw meat; and that, when the strange woman had come to their hunting lodge, her husband did not share her couch, but that he lay alone at the feet of his wife and child. The young wife narrated, too, all that occurred in connection with the attack on his wife made by the strange woman’s husband at the doorway of the hunting lodge.
When the bride’s kinsfolk had heard all these things they said: “It seems certain that he has begotten a child by a woman Genonsgwa (sometimes erroneously called “Stone Coat”). You should separate from him lest you become enchanted by some evil power should you return to him again.” The bride and her child therefore remained with her own clan and kinsfolk, as they had advised her to do under the circumstances. This astonishing report soon spread among the tribe. All soon knew what had occurred on the hunting trip in the forest to the misogamist hunter and his bride. It produced a great sensation among the people. So it happened that all the women, as if by mutual consent, shunned the misogamist hunter, and would have nothing to do with him, privately or socially. This is what befell the man who was too proud and selfish to consent to marry any woman of his own people. Now, in so far as his standing is concerned, he is held as despicable beyond measure and of no account among men. [[565]]
116. The Acts of the Seventh Son, Djĕñgoʹʻseʻ
In the olden time there stood in a certain land a lodge surrounded by a dense forest, in which lived a very old man, his seven sons, and a daughter. The youngest son was very small, and he possessed a cur which was not larger than a gray squirrel and a very small bow and arrows to match it; the bow, it is said, was a half span in length.
This small boy and his diminutive dog played together daily, hunting fleas around the fireplace. The cur would track a flea, and just as the flea would leap up from its hiding place the small boy would shoot it with an arrow from his diminutive bow. Thus he amused himself all day and far into the night.
Now, the old man, the father of this family, forbade his sons from going to hunt in a certain direction from the lodge. In time, however, the eldest son, wearying of this seemingly unreasonable restraint, determined to hunt in the forbidden direction, in order to learn, if possible, what it was that caused his father to prohibit his brothers and himself from going into that region. So, following his resolve, he started for the region, but never returned home. Then the second son resolved to follow his elder brother, so he also started for the forbidden land; and he, too, never returned home. Finally, when six of the brothers had gone away and none had returned, the aged father said to his youngest son that he himself was going in search of his six lost sons. After carefully instructing his youngest son what to do for himself and his only sister in his absence, he started away. He, too, failed to come back, and the two young persons in the lodge became anxious about their own fate, as they were then dependent on themselves.
At last the youngest, the seventh, son informed his sister that she and he would have to follow the path of their father. The time was winter, but they started, following the trail in a light snow. As they set out, the young boy, seizing his diminutive cur, dashed it against the ground, whereupon it immediately arose in the form of a very large dog. At this the boy sent the dog away, as it was of no further use to him. The brother and sister traveled the entire day, and when they were nearly famished with hunger they came to a lodge just as it was growing dark. In this lodge they found, to their great delight and comfort, embers still burning and before the fire, which was nearly out, a large piece of broiled venison still attached to the sticks and skewers. By adding fuel to the fire they succeeded in building it up so that it would last during the night. Having eaten the broiled venison, and being very tired, they lay down near the fire and were soon fast asleep.
In the morning they ate the remainder of the venison and at once [[566]]resumed their journey. They had no provisions to eat on the way, but they traveled onward until the darkness made it difficult for them to proceed farther, when, tired, hungry, and ready to drop from exhaustion, they reached another lodge. In this they found dying embers and a substantial piece of broiled venison. As on the previous night, they rebuilt the fire, and when they had eaten the venison they lay down to sleep beside the fire.