The next morning the youth again went to the place where the skull of his other uncle was protruding from the ground. When he arrived there his uncle asked him what had taken place last night. In answer, the youth related in great detail just what had come to pass between the old man and himself. He told him all very carefully. Thereupon this uncle said: “Now, it is a fact that he is collecting more logs and putting them on the fire and near it, for he will again make a large fire this very night. And it is, too, a fact that when he has his dream tonight, he will say in his own mind that he desires the liver of a bear. This you do not possess. Be brave and do your very best. This time you must hunt for fungi that grow on old rotten logs. These you must procure—two in number—and you must treat them in the same manner as you did the grapevine, and at once they will become bear’s livers. So, now, go out hunting for these things.” The youth at once started on his quest for fungi in the forest. He was not very long in finding the two that he required for his purpose. At once he rubbed them with his hands, saying at the same time: “Let these soon become bear’s livers.” Immediately the transformation took place as he wished.
Then he started for the lodge, where dwelt his uncle. Arriving there, he said: “Oh, my uncle! I have now returned.” He saw that the fire was a great one. Night came on at last, and the two lay down to sleep, but the youth did not fall asleep. It was perhaps midnight when suddenly the old man began to moan and groan with increasing force and loudness; all at once he arose and crawled around there on his knees. Finally, with a loud cry, ‘ĕñʻ, he threw himself on the fire. At once large pieces of wood, all ablaze, fell in every direction, some in the direction of the youth’s bed. Quickly arising and crossing over to the opposite side of the fire, he took down the war club of his uncle, and seeing the head of the latter close to him, moving from place to place, he struck it a blow with the club, at the same time saying: “Oh, my uncle! what is causing you to see marvels?” Then quickly he raised the club for another blow. Suddenly, however, the dream ceased, and the old man exclaimed, to avoid another blow of the war club: “It has stopped now.” Having said this he drew aside and took a seat. The youth did likewise. Addressing his nephew, the old man said: “Oh, [[595]]nephew! Compliance with the command which the dream gave me is very difficult indeed, yea, dangerous.” The youth asked: “What did it command you?” The uncle answered: “Why, it commanded me, saying you and he must barter by exchange, you and your nephew; and it commanded also that this must take place early in the morning, and that a calamitous thing would happen to you if it should come to pass that the barter by exchange failed to take place before midday.” The youth replied: “So be it; we will attend to this matter in the morning.” Then the two returned to their respective beds.
Very early the next morning the old man, having arisen, again addressed the youth: “Now you must go once more to the end of the lodge.” Having gone there, the nephew kindled a fire. All at once the old man in his place began to sing again, as before: “Yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, he and I are bartering by exchange; thou Gādjisʹdodoʻ, thou who art my nephew, yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ.” As he sang the youth saw that he came toward him. Having arrived at the end of the lodge occupied by his nephew, the old man said: “Oh, my nephew! I come to barter by exchange.” The latter at once replied: “So let it be; what, then, shall I give you?” The uncle’s answer was: “Oh! you have it certainly. You have what I desire.” At this, then, the youth began to offer his uncle the things which he ostensibly guessed the old man desired. When he had consumed sufficient time to mislead his antagonist, he finally exclaimed: “Oh, my uncle! I believe that you indeed want the liver of a bear—the fat liver of a bear.” Quite deceived as to the mental acuteness of his nephew, the uncle replied: “I am very thankful for this.” Then they two made the exchange, and the old man returned to his own end of the lodge, carrying on his back the package of liver. As he went along he sang his song: “Yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, he and I are bartering by exchange, yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ; thou Gādjisʹdodoʻ, who art my nephew, yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ.” Thus the uncle returned to his seat. When the youth thought that the old man had reached his own part of the lodge, he returned to his own bed. When he had reached it the old man said to him: “Now, what the dream commanded me has been fulfilled. I am thankful, too.”
Then the youth, having made the necessary preparations, departed, going to the place where the skull of his other uncle protruded out of the ground. On his arrival there, the uncle said to him: “Well, what happened?” The nephew answered him: “Oh! we completed the exchange, and I passed through the test without mishap.” To this the uncle rejoined: “Now you must hasten to return to the lodge. It is your turn to have a dream of that kind. You, too, must kindle the fire by gathering great logs, so that you may have a great fire. As soon as midnight comes it is for you to do [[596]]just as your uncle did, and as soon as he strikes you a blow with his war club, you must say: ‘It is now ceased. Difficult and sinister is what the dream commanded me to do.’ Then your uncle will ask: ‘What did it command you to do?’ In reply you must say that it commanded you to have your uncle seek for the wish [word] of your dream; and it said, too, that a direful thing should happen to your uncle should he have failed to divine your dream’s desire by midday. A small round squash, which is growing on a vine planted by your uncle beneath his bed, is what you must desire in your dream. He prizes this squash very much, believing that his life depends on it. You must say, ‘Yes’ only when he names this squash as the thing desired for you by your dream. So now quickly return to the lodge and get ahead of him in making the preparations for kindling a great fire tonight. You must make the fire, and you must gather large logs to maintain it in full blaze during the night, for you must have a fine fire.”
So the youth returned to the lodge, and when he arrived indoors he said to his uncle: “It is now my turn to make a good fire, and I will kindle it well, because I think we shall have a very cold night.” Then gathering together many large logs and pieces of wood, he proceeded to put them on the fire in order to have a fine blaze for the night, as he had been told to do. Nighttime having come, they lay down to sleep. No word of conversation passed between them. About midnight the youth began to moan and to groan, saying, ʼĕñʻ, ʼĕñʻ, ʼĕñʻ. In a short time he arose from his bed groaning then very loudly, and without further act, he cast himself on the fire, scattering in all directions with his feet and hands the blazing firebrands, some of which went in the direction of the bed of his uncle. The latter, having been awakened by the groaning, quickly arose to avoid the firebrands. Then saying, “What has happened to you?” took down his war club, and seeing the head of his nephew moving about close to him, struck it a blow with the club, which resounded with a băʼʻ, very loud. Immediately he raised the club to strike another blow, but at that moment the youth said: “Oh, uncle, it has now ceased.” After regaining his composure, he continued: “Now, what the dream commanded me to do is very difficult of fulfillment, although a severe and cruel penalty is the price of failure to perform its mandate.” Thereupon the old man asked: “What did it command you to do?” The nephew replied: “It ordered me to have my uncle seek for the desire of my dream, to divine its word in other terms; and if my uncle is not able to divine the word of the dream by midday, something cruel and sinister will befall his body.” The uncle’s answer was: “So be it. It has no great significance.” Then the two lay down again to sleep. [[597]]
Very early in the morning the youth arose and, after making his usual preparations, said to his uncle: “The time has now come for us to begin.” The uncle replied: “So be it; I am ready.” While they were taking their places the old man remarked: “Verily, you must give me a clue to the ‘word’ of your dream.” But the nephew answered: “That is not at all the custom in such cases, and it is certain that the reason it is called ‘the seeking of one’s dream word’ is that no clue shall be given.” At this reply the old man exclaimed with mock surprise, “Wuʻʹ! this is indeed an astonishing thing”; but he failed to make his nephew agree to give him a small clue to the thing he had dreamed.
Thereupon the old man began to ask the questions necessary to ascertain the dream desire of his nephew. He asked: “It may be that you desire my pouch?” His nephew answered: “No; that is not what I desire.” The old man continued: “It may be that you desire, possibly, my raccoon-skin robe?” The answer came: “No; that is not what I desire.” The next question was: “It may be that you desire flesh of the bear?” In disgust the nephew answered: “Wāʻʹ. No, no! I do not want that.” The uncle ventured: “It may be, it is probable, you desire the flesh of the raccoon?” The youth answered: “No; that is not what the dream indicated.” Another question from the uncle: “It may be, perhaps, that you desire the flesh of the turkey?” His nephew said: “No; that is not what is required.” Again the uncle asked: “It may be, perhaps, that you desire the flesh of the deer?” The nephew rejoined: “No; that is not what the dream indicated.” Meanwhile the uncle and his nephew kept walking up and down in their respective places. Again the old man asked: “It may be, perhaps, that you desire my war club?” But his nephew replied: “No; that is not what I desire.” At last the old man spoke, saying: “Well, what, indeed, will take place? I moreover have the thing, but I would like to know what I have asked?” The nephew answered in disgust: “Wuʻʹ, you know that it is not the custom that there should be a lot of talk about such things when one is seeking the ‘dream word’ of another.” He did not give any intimation to his uncle as to what his dream had indicated to him, but he kept looking up at the sun to see how near midday it was. On resuming the struggle of questioning and replying, the uncle said: “It may be, perhaps, that you desire what I prize very highly—my fetish, which is very fine and with which I hunt,” at the same time showing it to his nephew to cause him to desire it. But the nephew answered merely: “No; that is not what my dream indicated to me.” It was then nearly midday. The old man, going to and fro and stopping now and then to ask the questions, would hang his head, saying to himself: “I wonder what can be the thing that my nephew desires.” Addressing the youth, he said: [[598]]“It may be, perhaps, that you desire what I have prized highly, too, for a long time, namely, the otter fur which is white in color?” But the nephew replied: “No; that is not what I desire as answer to the demand of my dream.” Again looking up at the sun to see how near midday it was, and finding that it was very near the time for the contest to close, the old man said: “It may be, perhaps, that you desire what, too, I have prized and kept carefully in divers places, namely, my marten fur?” The nephew impatiently answered: “No; that is not what I desire at all.” At once he began to sing, for the time was about up. He said as he sang, “Yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, he and I are bartering by exchange; yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, Sʻhogoⁿʻʹgwāʼs, my uncle, yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ.” Now the uncle was moving around on the opposite side of the fire. Suddenly, after the singing had commenced flames burst up all around the old man with the sound dauñʻʹ! At once he protested to his nephew, saying, “Go slow, go slow, with that, oh, nephew!” As the time had not quite expired, the nephew permitted the flames to go down again, whereupon the uncle said, “Oh, my nephew! you have been exceedingly rude with me.” But the nephew replied: “I can do nothing in this matter, for this has all been planned for me in advance. So I can do nothing.” As the time (midday) was soon to expire, the nephew again began to sing the song he sang at first, “Yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, he and I are bartering by exchange; yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, Sʻhogoⁿʻʹgwāʼs, my uncle, yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ.” As before, flames at once burst all around the uncle as he stood on the opposite side of the fire. At once he exclaimed, “Oh, my nephew! do not be so hard in this thing.” But the youth again began singing: “The time is now up. Yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, he and I are bartering by exchange; yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, Sʻhogoⁿʻʹgwāʼs yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, my own uncle, yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ.”
Thereupon the old man fled to the top of his bed, on which he jumped around in an effort to avoid the pursuing flames. From that spot he spoke to his nephew, saying, “Oh my nephew! I have now overtaken your ‘dream word.’ You indeed desire—I have thought so all along—what I have planted, native squashes called djisgoñtʼăʻ, which has now its fruit.” At once the youth said, “Kuʻʹ, I am thankful for this fulfillment of what my dream word required.” Thereupon each resumed his seat in his wonted place, and the uncle said, “Do you know the history of the custom of ‘seeking for one’s dream word’?” The youth replied, “Yes, I know it—one shall give up at once what the dream has indicated when he shall have divined what it desires.” The old man, in an attempt to outwit his nephew, said, “It is customary too, I know, for me to make something identical with what you demand as your dream word.” But the youth could not be moved, saying, “Now; that is not at all right.” The old man persisted, however, saying: “It is, nevertheless, customary [[599]]that one should make an object resembling the thing desired. So I will do this, and that, too, I will give to you.” The youth did not agree to this, but answered, “That is not in the remotest sense what the dream commanded, that you should give me something artificial.”
With these words the youth again arose and began to sing again, “Yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, he and I are bartering by exchange; yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ, Sʻhogoⁿʻʹgwāʼs yuʹʻhĕñ, yuʹʻhĕñ.” With a loud dauñʹ! the flames once more burst forth around the old man, and a scene similar to the former took place. Finally the old man was forced to surrender, saying, “I shall now give you what your ‘dream word’ desired.” Thereupon both resumed their seats. The uncle then said to his nephew, “It is, indeed, a fact that I live by it; so now I shall give it to you.” With these words he uncovered the plants by raising and removing his bed. The nephew on his side was watching intently what was going on in the apartment of his uncle. He was surprised to see planted there under the bed a patch of squashes, and he saw his uncle gather a squash. Covering the plant again, he gave the squash to his nephew, with the remark, “You must carefully preserve this thing.” The youth answered: “So be it. Now, the matter which was at issue has been settled.”
After making his usual preparations the nephew went to the place where his other uncle’s skull protruded out of the ground. When he arrived there the skull said to him, “Well, what happened?” The nephew answered, “Everything that you said came to pass just right, and I have brought here what he gave up to me.” Drawing it forth, he showed it to his uncle, who said: “That thing, in fact, is what I meant. There is still another thing. It is a fact that a sister of yours is there too, inclosed in a bark case which is set up under his bed whereon he is accustomed to lie down—under your uncle’s bed. That, also, you can remedy by overcoming him in this matter; so you must set your desire on this thing. This must be what your ‘dream word’ shall command you to obtain for your health and welfare. So return home at once and make the necessary preparations for having another great fire tonight. You must collect large logs and place them on the fire. Hasten and do not permit him to be quicker than you are. Be brave. Have no pity on him, for he will overmatch your orenda (magic power) if you fail to exert it to the utmost.”