_Lillooet_
Raven and Sea Gull were friends. Their houses were close together in
the Lillooet country. It was dark all over the world at this time,
because Sea Gull owned the daylight, which he kept in a box. He
never let any of it out except for his own use.
Raven said, “It isn’t fair that Sea Gull should have all the
daylight. People should have some of it.” Therefore Raven planned to
get the daylight.
One night he placed thorn branches on the trail between Sea Gull’s
house and the place where his canoe was fastened. Then he ran to Sea
Gull, shouting, “Your canoe has gone adrift! Your canoe has gone
adrift!” Sea Gull heard Raven and rushed out of the house in haste.
He did not even put on his moccasins; he ran in his bare feet and
stepped on the thorns. Then Sea Gull screamed, “Ah-ah!” just as sea
gulls do now. He shouted to Raven, “Get my canoe! Save my canoe!”
Then he went back to his house. He was much excited.
Raven pulled up the canoe and went to the house. Gull spoke of those
thorns in his feet. Raven said, “Oh, I can pull them out, if you
will let a little daylight out of your box.” So Gull sat down beside
the box and opened it a little with one hand. Raven began to pull
out the thorns with an awl. Soon he said, “I can’t see well. Give me
more light.” Gull opened the box a little more.
Raven pulled out all the thorns but one. He said, “This last one is
hard to get out. I shall need more light.” When Gull opened the box
a little more, Raven gave his arm a push. Thus he knocked down the
box and broke it. Then all the daylight rolled out and spread all
over the world. Sea Gull was unable to collect it again.
Raven took out the last thorn and went home chuckling.
Now Raven could see very well indeed, and one day he cleaned himself
nicely. He combed and oiled his hair, and put on his best robe, and
painted his face black. Then he sat on the top of his underground
house and looked all over the world. He saw nothing. The third day
he changed the paint on his face. That evening he saw signs of
smoke. The fourth day Raven changed his face paint again. Now he
located the smoke. It was far away to the south, on the shore of the
sea.
Raven had four servants. They all at once entered a small canoe, but
it was swamped. Then he tried another. Then he said to his wife, “Go
to Sea Gull’s house and tell him I need to borrow his canoe.” So he
started off in Sea Gull’s canoe.
Now they paddled downstream until they were close to the house of
the people who owned the fire. They planned very quietly. That night
they bored a hole under where the baby board hung and stole the
baby. Then they ran away.
Now early in the morning the people missed the baby. They knew what
had happened. But Raven was too far ahead. They sent out men.
Sturgeon, Whale, and Seal searched for Raven’s boat, but they could
not find him. Other men searched, but only one small fish found
Raven’s canoe. He tried to stop the runaways by sticking to the
paddle, but after a while he got tired and went home. Now Raven
reached his own country.
Then the Fire People visited Raven with presents. Four times they
came; Raven refused all their gifts. Then they said, “What do you
wish?” Raven said, “Fire.” Then they said, “Well, why didn’t you say
that before?” And they were glad, because they had plenty of fire
and thought little of its value. So they brought Raven fire, and he
gave them back their baby. These Fire People showed Raven how to
make fire with dry cottonwood roots.
Raven said to Sea Gull, “If I had not got the light from you, I
could not have seen where the fire was kept.”