A few days later they went out again, a little farther than on the first day. Again on their return home supper was ready. The boy always gave the dog his share first. A third time they went out. They had already gone a considerable distance from the lodge when all at once the dog ran after some wild turkeys. The boy followed the dog, which at last chased them into the bushes. The boy could not get into the bushes to shoot them, for his sister was strapped on his back. Thereupon he said to himself, “I will unstrap her for just a moment. Then we shall have a good fat turkey to eat.” So he took her off for a minute, but almost before he had reached the bushes she screamed, and he saw a great bear run off with her. The boy and the dog followed the bear for three or four days. The boy heard the dog bark as it ran on. At last it got out of hearing and he lost all track of both dog and bear; now he was alone in the world. He had nothing to live for and wished to die. He tried several times to destroy himself, but he could not.
One day he climbed the high banks of a great lake. Mounting a rock, with the thought, “Now I will end my life,” he leaped into the water. When he struck the surface he lost his senses. On coming to himself again he seemed to approach a beautiful country with the purpose to stay there, and he thought that he was very comfortable. But it turned out that a great fish had swallowed him when he had struck the water.
After a few days the fish got into a small stream, on the banks of which two sisters had built a lodge; they had also made a dam to catch fish. One morning on going to the dam they were delighted to find a great fish there. The first said, “Let us dress it right [[183]]away.” “Wait,” the other said, “until we get the water boiling to cook it. We must cut it up carefully. Such a fish must have much roe.”
When everything was ready they opened the fish carefully; in the place of roe they found a beautiful boy. For a moment they forgot the fish. They washed the boy and cared for him, and were rejoiced that such a gift had come to their door. They said: “We will take good care of him. Perhaps he will become a great hunter and get meat for us when we are old.” The sisters and their son, as they called him, lived very happily together. He soon surprised them by killing large game and by becoming a great hunter. When they found, however, that while hunting he wandered off a long distance from home, they were alarmed and cautioned him to keep near the lodge and, above all, not to go near the setting sun. Finally he killed a great deer. While the sisters were pleased with his power and skill, they were afraid something might happen to him, since there were so many wicked people about. The fear worried them greatly. They kept warning him of danger, saying that he must never on any account go toward the setting sun.[52]
After a time the youth killed any kind of game he wished. One day he said to himself: “I wonder what there is near the setting sun? I will go to see for myself.” He had not gone far before he came to a clearing, in which he saw a cabin that seemed to be empty. Everything was quiet around it. Creeping up cautiously, he peeped in; an old man was sitting there with his head bent upon his breast. The latter instantly called out, “Well, nephew,[53] have you come?” Knowing that he was discovered (by sorcery), the boy answered: “Yes; I have come. I thought I would see what you are doing.” “Well, come in and wait a moment. I will get my head up,” the old man replied. Taking up a mallet and a large wooden pin that lay at his side, he drove the pin down his spinal column. Up came his head, whereupon he said, “I have a rule that when one of my nephews comes I play a game with him, and we bet.” “What do you bet?” asked the boy. “I bet my head against his,” came the reply. “All right,” said the boy. The old man dusted off the fireplace and made it smooth; then he shook the bowl and plum pits. The agreement was that the first who turned the plum pits all of one color was to be the winner. The old man said, “You must throw first.” “No,” said the boy, “you proposed the game; now you must play first.” At last the old man agreed to this. As he shook the bowl the six plum pits flew out of the smoke hole. When they got outside they turned into birds, which flew off out of hearing. By and by the boy heard them again; down into the bowl they rolled as plum pits. Bending over, the old man stirred and stirred them, repeating, “Let them be white; let them be white!” But he [[184]]could not get them all of one color. At last he ceased his efforts. Then the boy threw his own dice, and, like the others, they went out of the smoke hole and, turning into birds, flew off. Thereupon the old man began to stir the dish, saying, “I wish this, I wish that.” Down came the birds as plum pits. Then both stirred them, repeating, “I wish this, I wish that,” and they all turned to one color. When the old man saw that he had lost the game he wished to play once more. “Oh, no,” said the boy; “that is not the rule.” “Well, let me smoke once more,” begged the old man. “No,” the boy said, and, catching up a tomahawk, he cut off the old man’s forfeited head. Afterward he set the cabin afire. Later he went home, but said nothing about his adventure.
After a few days he thought he would go again toward the setting sun. Passing the old man’s place, he soon came to another opening, in which he saw a second cabin. All around it the ground was very smooth as if it were a great playground. Seeing nobody, he walked up quietly and peeped into the cabin; an old man sitting within called out: “Is that you, nephew? Come in. I have been waiting for you now some time.” “Yes, I was going by, and I thought I would look in and see you,” said the boy. “Well, I have a way of passing time. I play a game when my nephews come,” declared the old man. “What is your game?” asked the boy. “Playing ball,” replied the old man. “I like that game,” answered the youth. “I bet my head against my nephew’s,” said the old man. “All right. Let us play, then,” was the boy’s reply. They went to the middle of the clearing. At each end was a stake. The young man said, “Are you ready?” Counting, “One, two, three,” they threw the ball. The old man beat the young man in throwing, but the young man struck the ball, and was the better runner. When he was getting far ahead, the old man threw a horn after him, which stuck into the middle of the boy’s foot. He had to stop, sit down, and pull out the horn. Just as he drew it out, the old man passed him. Spitting on his hand, the young man rubbed his foot, and it was healed. He then threw the horn, hitting the old man, who now had to sit down and pull the horn out of his own foot. The ball rolled on, passing between the stakes. At the next turn the result was the same, so the game was lost for the old man, who wanted to try again; but the young man said, “No; that is not the rule.” Thereupon with his knife he cut off the old man’s head, and, after burning his cabin, went home.
A third time the youth went toward the setting sun, farther than before. Passing the first and second clearings, he came to a third, in which he saw a great pond covered with ice; near it was a cabin. As the young man peeped in, an old man sitting there called out: “Well, nephew, I knew you would come. I am glad to see you.” “Yes, I thought I would look in and see you. Now I must go,” [[185]]added the youth. “Oh, no! I have a rule that when one of my nephews comes I play a game. I run a race on the ice, and whoever gets beaten to the end loses his head. No matter how he gets there; only let him get there first, he wins.” Just as he was ready to start, the young man, taking a ball off an oak tree, said, “Let there come a high wind!” He got into the ball (which grows on the oak tree at a certain time of the year) and in a moment he was over the ice. The old man was scarcely halfway across. The young man then pulled out of his pouch a white flint. As he threw it toward the middle of the pond, he said, “Let this stone melt the ice and boil the water.” In an instant the old man was sinking in boiling water and cried for mercy, but the young man said, “No!” As the water boiled it melted all the ice; thereupon then the water disappeared, dry land appeared, and the old man was left in the middle of it, a great stone monument. After setting fire to the cabin the young man went home. He had never forgotten his father and sister, and he knew where they were.
One day a runner came to the lodge of the two sisters, announcing, “I have been sent by the chief to give notice of the marriage of a certain woman. The chief wishes all to come.” Knowing that the boy had orenda (magic powers), the sisters were careful of him. When he said, “I want to go to the gathering,” they raised many objections, saying, “Bad people will be there; all sorts of games will be played.” They were afraid to let him go. He replied: “You were afraid to have me go toward the setting sun. I have been there. I have destroyed the dice man,[54] the ball man, and the ice-pond man.” The sisters were greatly astonished. The youth added. “Now, I am going to the gathering. My mother, father, sister, and dog are there.” Yielding at last, they told him how to find his grandmother, and said that she would tell him what to do.
He set out; after traveling a long way he struck another trail; then he began to meet many people, and as they journeyed the crowd kept increasing. When night came they all camped together and were very hungry. Going out, the youth killed game, which he told the men to bring in; this the women prepared. The next day all went on. The sisters had said to him before starting: “There will be one woman in the crowd who will seem to have power over all men. Do not notice her.” He saw the woman, for the men all crowded around her, and one after another she satisfied all their desires. He looked at her but passed on.
At last he reached the place where his grandmother lived. She was very poor. He said, “Grandmother, I have come.” “Poor grandchild, I am sorry. I have so little to give. I am alone and poor,” murmured the grandmother. “Oh! do not mind; we shall [[186]]be all right,” said he, bringing in game until the old woman was so glad that she was almost crying with joy. She hurried around like a young girl to prepare food. Then he began to question her. She told him: “There is a great gathering at the Long Lodge. The chief’s daughter is to be married. She has been married before, but she nearly destroyed her husband, her daughter, and their dog. She had a son, but nobody knows where he is. Now she is going to torture her husband to death. He is hung up at one end of the Long Lodge, and everyone can strike him with a burning brand; his tears become wampum beads. Her daughter is hanging on a peg over the fire, slowly roasting. The dog is at one end of the fire and everyone who passes gives him a kick. He has consumption and his hair is all singed off.”