Resuming his natural form, the lad ran around exultingly, crying, “I have taken your hearts. I have taken your hearts.” Then the three sisters pursued him with their war clubs. As the eldest was on the point of overtaking him, the lad squeezed her heart and she fell down in a faint. Then the second sister drew close to him, when he at once squeezed her heart and she, too, fell in a faint. The same thing happened to the third sister also. Then the lad came to a great round, flat rock, where Deadoeñdjadases was accustomed to kill his victims; he ran around this while the sisters, who had recovered from their fainting spells, sought to close with him. Every little while [[138]]he would squeeze a heart and its owner would fall in a faint; but as soon as he stopped squeezing she would spring up again. When he had sufficiently tortured the sisters in this manner he ruthlessly dashed their hearts against the great rock, one after another, and thus all were killed.
When the cannibal returned at the usual time and did not find his sisters at home he was very angry; but Hadjoqda assured him that they were pursuing the elks and that his dinner was left all prepared for him. Deadoeñdjadases sat down and began to eat. Emboldened by the fact that the lad stood beside him holding the heart of Deadoeñdjadases, Hadjoqda taunted Deadoeñdjadases, “the Earth-circler.”[39]
At once Deadoeñdjadases rushed after the lad, who ran toward the great rock. When the man-eater drew near him the lad would squeeze the heart and the great Deadoeñdjadases would fall in a faint. When the lad ceased squeezing the heart the man-eater would rise again. So, no matter how he tried, he could get only as near the lad as the latter would let him. When tired of this kind of sport the lad dashed the heart of the man-eater against the rock, and Deadoeñdjadases fell dead in his tracks.
Around the great rock on every hand the lad found heaps of human bones, which he carefully gathered together into a great pile. Placing Hadjoqda on the ground with his head toward the west and his feet toward the east, the youth went to a great hickory which was standing near and shouted, “Do you all rise and run or the tree will fall on you.” On the instant a great number of persons arose and ran in every direction. Hadjoqda received his body back and became at once as well as ever. But some had legs and arms which had belonged to others, and hence were deformed in these members.
“Now,” said the lad to Hadjoqda, “there is no other such strawberry patch in the world. We must all come here to live. This field shall belong to you, and I and all my people shall settle around here. I shall go after my grandmother and you must go after your friends.”
Among the people whom he had raised the youth found all his relations, and these persons accompanied him on his journey to bring his grandmother to that country. His grandmother was very glad to see all her relations again, as she had never expected this good fortune. Taking their garments and weapons which the grandmother had kept for them in the long room, all set out, with the aged grandmother, for the great strawberry patch of Deadoeñdjadases. With their friends and relations from far and near, all settled in villages around the great strawberry patch, they lived in great contentment thereafter. Among these people who were raised by the potent youth were the Okweson, Osoon, and the Goqgwaih [i.e., the Partridges, the Wild Turkeys, and the Quail]; the youth and his grandmother, and even Hadjoqda, belonged to the Osoon tribe. [[139]]
22. Hatʻhondas (the Listener)[40]
Once upon a time an uncle and his nephew lived together in the forest. Being very needy, they gathered and cooked for food fungi which grow on trees. After they had lived some time in this way his uncle said one day to the boy, who had grown nearly to the age of puberty, “To-morrow you must go out yonder into the ravine to listen, and as soon as you hear something you must hurry back to tell me what it is.”
The nephew did as he was ordered. The next morning as soon as he heard the song of a bird he hurried home, rushing almost breathless into the lodge and crying, “Oh, uncle, I have heard something!” “Wait a while, nephew,” said the uncle. “Wait until I light my pipe and the smoke rises from it.”[41]