FAIRY TALES
THE WOMAN OF SIN.
Hundreds of years ago a young man and his wife resided at what is
called Tu-rep village, which is located on the south side of the
Klamath River about six miles from its mouth. The Tu-rep bar on the
river is very large, consisting of fifty or a hundred acres of rich
and productive soil. This man’s wife before her marriage belonged at
the Si-elth village, across the river from Tu-rep on the north side.
They lived very happy together for a number of years, he being very
kind to her in every way and never spoke in a cross manner at any
time. As the years went by he began to drift away from her and their
home, neglecting her more and more. It seemed that a soul affinity had
come into his life, a woman at the Reck-woy village, at the mouth of
the river, was enticing him away from his wife and home. He found a
resistless charm in her serpent-like arms, and as the days went by he
would tarry longer in her company and he would be loath to part with
her at all. At last his wife was being left alone so much and neglected
that she became suspicious that another woman had robbed her of his
love. She found her suspicion to be true as her husband was now giving
all of his attention to the woman at Reck-woy. The wife became very
sad and broken hearted over her husband’s actions and unfaithfulness,
and went about her work in a dispirited manner and her attitude and
appearance became one of profound sadness. In company she always
seemed down hearted, as the same sad look was always upon her face,
making her appear to the visitors as wretched and lonely.
As the miserable wife spent the lonely days at Tu-rep village, the
people decided to give a large entertainment a host of guests gathered
to make merry. Among the crowd was a man from the Ur-ner village, which
is nine or ten miles up the river at the mouth of Blue Creek. During
the entertainment the Ur-ner man was attracted to the lonely Tu-rep
wife who appeared to him to be very sad and lonely in the midst of such
gaiety. He came over to where she was seated and began a conversation
by exchanging a few remarks. He thought he might be wrong in addressing
her so boldly, and started to walk away but something stirred his inner
emotions strangely, so much so that he could not resist the temptation
to return to her. This time after a few remarks he summoned up courage
to inquire into her troubled life, as he said she seemed very lonely.
Deeply impressed by his winning manner and kind words her confidence
was easily won and she readily related to him her unhappy marriage and
how unfaithful her husband had grown. He at once became more interested
and listened patiently to her story of sorrow, and with his sympathetic
words of comfort, strange emotions that had long been dead within her
breast thrilled into life once more. She had become a victim of his
beguiling words of comfort as he drew her into his arms of passionate
love. Alone and together they planned a secret meeting place that her
husband and the village folks might not know of their clandestine
meetings.
When the Tu-rep husband would go down the river to Reck-woy to bask
in the love of the woman of his affections, his wife would wait until
the darkness of night had cast its gloom over the village, when she
would creep carefully forth from her dwelling and meet her lover. She
had a long way to go up the Tu-rep bar from her house, and each step
she would take, she would cover her foot-prints with stones. In this
manner she would cover her tracks over, for a distance of at least one
mile along the river bar and when she reached the upper end of the bar
she would step out into the water, and as before she covered over her
tracks with stones until she stepped into her lover’s boat. The Ur-ner
Indian would come across the river from the opposite bank and take her
into his canoe and paddle back to what is known as Stah-win bar. This
is also a large bar covered with huge redwoods. Together they would
wander into the inky blackness of the huge redwoods where they would
enjoy each other’s company until a late hour at night, when the Ur-ner
man would again take his soul affinity into his canoe and return her
to the upper end of Tu-rep bar, where she would leave him and proceed
down the bar to her home, as before covering over her foot-prints with
stones. She held these clandestine meetings with the Ur-ner Indian in
that manner every time her husband would leave her and go to Reck-woy.
After a while her husband became suspicious of her action, as when he
returned home at night he never found her at home, yet he was very
kind to her. He made every attempt to trace her footsteps but they
were always lost upon the bar and all his efforts were futile. At last
in desperation he made up his mind to try other plans to detect her
mysterious whereabouts. He would start down the river on a pretence
of going to Reck-woy, but would hide where he could see his wife’s
movements around the house. This was kept up for sometime but he could
not find out which way she had gone, but in his earnest endeavors
to discover her whereabouts, one night he saw her covering over her
foot-prints with stones as she went to meet her lover. Her shame and
sin was at last discovered in spite of all her efforts and precaution
to hide her disgrace from human knowledge. This covering of foot prints
with stones is called in our language, “Way-nah-mah way-lap-po-lah
hah-elth-werm-chelth,” which means covering the tracks of sin and
shame with stones. To this day there can be seen at Tu-rep bar in the
summer months when the waters of the river is low, the rows of stones
that this sinful woman used to cover up her foot-prints of shame, and
they stand out in strange relief along the waters edge where they were
supposed to have been placed centuries ago by the woman of sin. The
Indians point to these stones as a warning to all married women that
no matter how secretly they sin against the marriage vows, they will
be discovered sooner or later, and their sins will be reflected upon
them throughout their lives. The moral of this story is to keep women
from sinning and when they are tempted into sin that they are forever
burdened with the heavy stones of disgrace that points to their sins
and time cannot efface it.
WHAT HAPPENED TO TWO MA-REEP GIRLS
A number of generations back there lived in Ma-reep village a man and
his wife with their three girls. The oldest of them was a good dutiful
child, helped her mother in every way she could, while the other two
were naughty, idle, cross and pouty. When it came time for their
meals the oldest would eat and act like a perfect lady but the other
two girls always kept up their naughty ways. They would go away in a
corner and pout for more of this or that thing, and their mother kept
telling them that if they did not stop being naughty, and act in a
better manner and eat their meals properly, that a big owl would come
and carry them off. They kept on until one night sure enough, a large
owl came and took them and carried them about a mile down the river
and placed them on a large, high rock, where they could not get down.
They sat there and turned to stone, and are sitting there to this day
and look like two little girls sitting up there. This rock we call
Hoaks-or-reck and Klamath Indian mothers have been pointing to these
two little stone girls, telling them this fairy tale to keep them from
being naughty and to have them conduct themselves in a good, mannerly
way. This rocks is close to the river on the north bank at the lower
end of Ma-reep Rapids.
THE ADVENTURES OF A COYOTE.
Long ages ago a Coyote with his family resided at He-melth, which
is a place on the Klamath River that is famous in Indian lore. One
lovely day in early spring Mr. and Mrs. Coyote with all their children
journeyed over the hills of the Klamath from He-melth to a place on
the mountain side known as On-a-gap. This was a place where they went
annually to gather green grasses upon which they would feast during
the spring months. The family was camping out and having a good time.
They kept on moving toward the mountain top when there suddenly came
quite an unexpected snow storm, the weather turned freezing cold and
Mr. and Mrs. Coyote did everything possible to save the lives of their
children, but of no avail. One by one they perished in the cold snow
as it kept snowing and falling very fast. The fond parents were left
desolate and grief-stricken in the gloom of the storm, as they never
could call back their loved ones. (The Coyote we call Say-yap.) As
they laid the little bodies in their graves of snow, Mr. Coyote grew
desperate over his great loss, and determined to seek revenge against
the Sun. The Sun, he argued, heartlessly murdered his children, because
it had refused to shine and give them warmth, so he started out at
once upon one of the longest journeys ever made by any living animal.
He chased the Sun over mountains, hills, through canyons, across vast
plains and valleys, and past rivers and lakes, until he at last came to
the ocean. Here he lost it, for it sank into the waves with a mocking
laugh and left him standing alone upon the shores of darkness. Darkness
closed around him with its mighty arms and he stood there on the shores
of the restless ocean for several minutes in utter despair. Weary in
body and limbs, and sad at heart for his great loss, the truth flashed
upon him that he could never in this world get his revenge, as the
being of his wrath was swift in its flight through space. Thus on the
shore he stood, when he suddenly turned his back on the west with a
kick of contempt in that direction, where the Sun (his great enemy) had
sank. In silence he gazed towards the east and then away towards the
northern horizon, and there in the far north he saw a more pleasing
scene where he buried his great burden of sorrow. While he still stood
there gazing he saw the seven stars winking down through the heavens
at him, and they kept winking for him to join them. Suddenly he felt
himself rising from the earth as if he had been transformed into an
Angel with wings, and he rose far away to the Kingdom of Heaven. Up
he soared, ever up, until he was at last flying among the seven stars
and when he reached them, he began to dance and sing, as they were all
girls and also sisters. They asked him not to keep on singing as they
said he did not know how to sing properly and said they would teach
him how to sing, so he could join them in some of their songs. So he
became flattered to think that the sisters were taking so much interest
in him and he became very vain at once, as some narrow minded people
do, when they become associated with a superior circle. He was rather
enthusiastic now, to think what a good escape he had made from the
cruel earth to a beautiful abode in Heaven. He flattered himself so
much in his wild enthusiasm that he thought himself very wise, and he
would display some of his talent before the sisters. As they offered to
teach him he replied to them, “I can sing beautifully; I used to sing
for my wife and children down on the earth, they always said my voice
was good and I believe I know a good deal about singing, and do not
need any training. So never mind girls about teaching me for my voice
is just splendid and I can sing perfectly.” The sisters looked at each
other and felt very disappointed to think that the Coyote persisted
in knowing all about the fine arts, when he practically did not know
the first step. After some persuasion they decided they would never
be able to teach him any of the fine arts of singing, for the stars
of Heaven were much different from those on earth. They reasoned too,
that perhaps he was out of his natural mind, after traveling so many
millions of miles through space. The sisters replied as good naturedly
as they could: “very well kind sir, we are deeply grieved to find that
by our billion of years of experience and knowledge we are not able
to teach you anything, and you may proceed as you like.” The Coyote
began to dance and sing again among his friends until he grew very
tired and when he could no longer sing and dance he began to talk to
them in a broken tone. His head grew dizzy as his mind wandered from
the songs and drifted into thought about himself. He kept repeating
the words as he danced until he lost his pipe, tobacco pouch, belt and
deer skin trousers, which caused the sisters to smile and wink among
themselves. They tried to persuade him not to talk so much but he kept
right on and would not heed them. They became very weary and bored
over this stupid nonsense and the elder sister said they would join
him in his revelry. One on each side of him took his hand in theirs,
formed one large circle and began to dance and sing around him. They
dragged him faster and faster until they whirled him as fast as they
could go. His poor head was in a dizzy whirl and he began to fear for
his safety, not knowing when they would let him rest, as it seemed they
had been whirling him for centuries. They might go on whirling him for
a thousand years, and he felt so famished and weak that he could not
endure this treatment much longer. “Ouch!” he exclaimed in a terrible
voice, “I say girls I cannot glide your fast whirls any longer, I am
afraid I will fall down in a heap and die, or else my bones fly to
pieces.” “So you shall fall in a heap Mr. Coyote,” exclaimed the girls
in a loud chorus, “down with you to the earth from whence you came, as
you are not a bright pupil here in heaven. Up here you must be very
brilliant and you have always been stupid enough to think that you
knew it all. We are weary of your revelry, so farewell, we wish you
many happy days down on the earth and again we say farewell,” and they
pushed him down from his place in Heaven. He fell so rapidly through
space that he found it impossible to keep himself together and the
bones of his body fell to pieces and went flying and whizzing in each
direction, but some how they managed to fall in a heap at Ca-neck,
which is a very ancient village and the most famous among my people for
stories, as so many wonderful tales begin there. The Coyote’s bones
laid bleaching in the sun for a short time near this village when a
heavy rain storm caused the river to overflow its banks. The rising
waters of the river took the Coyote’s bones and carried them down to
the mouth of the river at Reck-woy where they were washed upon the
sand beach. After being planted there in the sand for several days, a
slender shoot sprang up and unfurled its green foliage above the sand.
In time this slender shoot grew into a tall alder tree and the Coyote
and his bones were now transformed into a tree. One day an old woman
with her wood basket on her back and a stone hatchet in her hand came
along the beach looking for some wood. She took a great fancy to this
alder tree as she thought it would make good wood for the fire, it was
just the kind of a tree she had been looking for, for some time, and
was pleased upon finding it. So she began to chop it and to her great
surprise the tree sprang from the earth and vanished in a flash and
then took up the shape of a Coyote which stood before her. “Ouch!” he
yelled in a loud voice, “go away, old woman, how dare you cut me to
pieces like that?” The old woman became more frightened than ever, as
she dropped her hatchet and ran for her life back to the village. She
could not find any reason for such a strange encounter and came to the
conclusion that it was some of the Indian devils trying to frighten
her. The Coyote, to his great relief, was once more in his own natural
body and he set out to travel upon the earth again. He ventured to the
rabbits as he had a desire to visit them. Upon reaching the rabbit’s
home he found Mrs. Rabbit away and only her small children there, upon
entering the house he asked the children to give him something to eat
as he was very hungry, not having had anything to eat for a long time.
The children were too young to understand what he was saying and all
of them became frightened and ran out of the house. When they were
all safely outside they set fire to the house in hopes of burning the
Coyote to death, and he was busy inside, going through the shelves
looking for something to eat. But as fortune favored him this time he
heard the flames crackling in time to make his escape from a dreadful
death. After his narrow escape he decided to go and stay with his
grandmother at Weitchpec and he journeyed slowly up the river until
he reached her home. As soon as he arrived there he had a long story
to tell her, he said he was almost dead from hunger, as he had been
on a long journey without any food and asked her to cook the best she
could afford as he needed it to build up his strength again, and he
also informed her that many of his cousins were coming to visit her. He
explained to her that he had left them a few miles down the river to
camp for the night and they had sent him ahead to tell her they were
coming and for his grandmother to prepare a feast and be ready for
them. She told him there was nothing to eat except Tur-perks, which
are blighted acorns that fall to the ground and are worm eaten, that
she was sorry for her guests but it was the best she could do. She at
once set about cooking great basket-fulls of the tur-perks, as she
never doubted but what her grandson was telling the truth. When these
were cooked she placed the baskets on the table before the Coyote,
never doubting but what he would leave plenty for his cousins to eat.
She never dreamed that one small being could eat so much at one time,
and was greatly disappointed and humiliated when she found that he
had eaten all the acorns, even licking the baskets clean and dry. As
he finished this large meal he heaved a sigh of relief, as it was the
first meal he had eaten for over a hundred years, just how long ago he
first left the earth to go to Heaven he could not remember. His cousins
were not coming, he just wished to deceive his grandmother, that she
might cook a great quantity so he could feast by himself. He deceived
her for the first time very cleverly as she did not doubt the story
of his cousins coming. After this meal the Coyote called to her and
said, “I am going to fish tonight and if my luck is good our baskets
will be filled by day-break, now my dear you may cook tonight another
large quantity of tur-pecks and tomorrow I will help you prepare the
fish for cooking as I think my cousins will arrive at sunset. His
grandmother still believed his story to be true but she was very tired
and after he had gone to fish she decided to go to bed, thinking she
would have plenty of time on the morrow to cook the tur-pecks for the
cousins, as they were not coming until evening of the next day. When
the Coyote reached the bank of the river he did not even pretend to
fish but jumped from boulder to boulder and bruised his head and face
as much as he could. Some time in the night he returned and repeated
to her a pitiful tale of how some one had attacked him and given him
a severe beating—of how some of the other people would not allow him
to fish, etc. She listened patiently to his tale of woe and realized
for the first time that he was telling her falsehoods. After he had
finished his story she became very angry and gave him a severe scolding
for being so deceitful. The Coyote did not stay with her very long as
he wearied and annoyed her so much she planned to get rid of him. One
day she hired a young man to take him across the river to the village
of Peck-toolth where she instructed him to camp for the night. That
night after dark the young man asked the Coyote to sleep at his feet,
which the Coyote gladly did as he was somewhat tired from tramping
through the woods that day and he was soon fast asleep. Then the young
man quietly left the bed and rolled a log in the place he had been
lying in. He did this to deceive the Coyote when he awoke, as he would
most likely see the log and think he was still sleeping there, then he
hurried away and left him asleep and alone at Peck-toolth. The Coyote
woke up during the night and looked about him and soon discovered the
log and that the young man had left him alone. He jumped to his feet
hastily and ran down to the banks of the river, and when he arrived
there he saw the young man standing on a high rock on the opposite
side of the river, he yelled until he was hoarse for him to come over
in his canoe and take him across to his grandmother’s. The young man
refused to help him which made him very angry and he called him all the
names he could think of and begged him in a pleading manner, but of no
avail. At length the Coyote became so enraged that he yelled at the
top of his voice that he would murder him if he ever reached him and
he seized a sharp stone and ran up and down the river for a long time,
swearing as fast as he could utter his words. The man stood still
on the rock with a mocking smile on his face and watched the frantic
efforts of the Coyote, when he thought he was getting pretty tired the
young man called out to him to swim across the river, he dared him and
said it was easy to swim across. The Coyote at once took up the dare
and plunged into the river and began to swim with all his might as he
was compelled to swim against the current. He was almost successful in
getting across when the young man shouted to him to look back across
the river as there was something coming down the bank. The Coyote was
foolish enough to look back over his shoulder, and as he did so the
strong current swept him back on the same side he started from. He
immediately made another desperate attempt to swim the river. He swam
and swam, fighting against the strong current until he became exhausted
and it was impossible for him to swim any longer. Realizing he would
soon drown he called again and again to the young man to rescue him a
boat, but the other stood immovable on the rock and calmly replied,
“I cannot help you for your last day on earth has ended.” The Coyote,
crying the mournful wail of death, sank into the waters of the river to
rise no more.
A BEAR STORY.
Many years ago the Indians were warring among themselves at the village
of Hop-paw, near the mouth of the river. A portion of them whipped the
others and those who were defeated in the battle moved away from there
and went back in the mountains to live, while the victorious warriors
also left the Village for a few days’ stay at a place known as Si-alth.
While the Indians were all away, a bear strayed into the village and
went into one of the Indian houses where he discovered a very large
basket filled with beautiful Indian dresses and strings of Indian money
and other Indian ornaments. He was very happy when he discovered this
basket and began to take the things out and look them over carefully.
As he came to the dresses he would try each one on and then dance, but
he could not seem to find one that suited his idea of fashion. He kept
on throwing the dresses aside as he pulled them off. He wanted one that
rattled as he danced. At last he found the one he wanted, for when he
put it on and danced the shells began to rattle, as there were a great
many on the dress. As he danced, to his great delight, the shells rang
like music in his ears, and well satisfied with the dress he pulled it
off and put it back in the basket with all the other articles. After he
had finished storing them away in the basket he began to tear up the
earthen floor, and scatter things all over the house. After doing all
the damage he could he shouldered the large basket and started for the
woods, and traveled some distance to a large hollow redwood tree. He
decided to stop here and put on the dress with many shells and put it
on, and began to dance and sing, having a glorious time all by himself,
as he had no comrades to join him in the fun. This is the song he sang
while he danced: Ho-wen-ah-a, ho-wen-ah-a, nah-hay, nah-hay. After he
had danced for some time, he became so tired that he could no longer
sing. The dress began to weigh so heavily upon him that he became
exhausted but he managed to keep on dancing, he loved to hear the music
of the shells as he danced about.
After visiting for several days at Si-alth the Indians returned to
their homes at Hop-pow. When they reached the village they discovered
that everything had been turned topsy-turvey in one of the houses, and
that the large basket of Indian dresses were missing. They at once
suggested that some of their enemies had returned while they were away
and stolen the things, and they all followed in hot pursuit to recover
the stolen articles. But they could find no trace of them, and in
despair gave up the chase. Some of them made a closer inspection of the
house and this time they were sure they saw bear tracks in the soft
ground. The Indians now followed the bear tracks closely, which led
them to the large redwood tree, and as they approached it they could
see that it was hollow and had a large roomy place inside, and glancing
in they saw the bear dancing, dressed in one of the dresses. One of
the smaller boys became tired watching the bear and asked if he might
go up near the tree and the older Indians decided to let him go and
asked him to try to get the dresses away from the bear. The boy agreed,
and went up until he was afraid to go nearer. The bear’s attention
was now attracted to the boy, and he saw at once that the Indians had
discovered his hiding place, and stopped dancing and left the tree,
carrying with him the Indian dresses, determined to take them to his
own home, which was in a tree top near by. This tree was hollow up its
trunk and in the top of this hollow the bear made his home. He tugged
with all his might at the huge basket but it was so large he could not
pull it through the hollow to his nest, and when he saw that he could
not pull it through it made him mad and he tried to dig the tree up by
the roots. He dug so rapidly that he soon found he had dug a cave under
the tree, and being fatigued from his strenuous efforts he seized the
basket and pulled it after him into the cave. Once in there he thought
himself secure from the Indians. As the bear disappeared into the cave
with the basket, all the Indians ventured up near the tree, they began
talking as to what they would do, being very anxious to recover the
things as it meant a great loss of riches if they could not recover
them again. They finally agreed they would kindle a fire at the mouth
of the cave and smoke the bear out of his den, so they gathered up a
large pile of wood and dry branches and made a fire. The Indians lined
up ready for him when he came out. The owner of the articles was an old
man and he took his place near the cave, with his bow drawn, ready to
shoot the bear, but his arrow did not wound the bear fatally and the
bear seized him and crushed him to death. The enraged bear then turned
upon the other Indians, but at last he sank to the ground riddled with
arrows. They recovered the basket of dresses and returned home in a
mournful procession, for one of their members had departed to the
spirit land. The bear in his wild revelry had also lost his life.
THE WOOING OF ROBIN RED-BREAST.
Long centuries ago before the world was inhabited by very many
people, Robin Red-breast lived as a handsome young man by himself in
a magnificent mansion on the Klamath River. This skeptical young man
always laughed mockingly at the suggestion of matrimony, as he was very
rich and kept many servants about. In fact he kept a servant for each
room of his splendid mansion.
He would often go by himself on moonlight strolls by the river or walk
in the sunrise in early morning through the woods. The young maidens
would catch a glimpse of him as he passed their windows, or as they
peeked from out the bushes at him, admiring all the charms of his
physical manhood. But proud young Red-breast would walk haughtily by
them whenever he chanced to meet them and positively refused to accept
any of their attentions that they were so eager to bestow upon him.
Every maiden that chanced to catch a glimpse of him imagined herself in
love with him, and her lonely heart would invariably yearn for his love
that he might make her happy.
The laws of olden times were very different from the laws of today. It
was the rule then that when a young maid fell in love with a youth, it
was her place to go and call on him first at his home, also to propose
matrimony, unless the young man preferred to do so himself, then it
was proper that he should. This was true in the case of Red-breast, as
in the days of yore, when a young man returned a woman’s affections he
would accept her love and make her his wife. And if he did not return
her affections he would refuse to consider her proposal of marriage.
Many young ladies called each day at Red-breast’s home, seeking the
loving devotion that he might bestow upon them. He always kept a door
usher to announce the arrival of any young lady that would call to seek
his acquaintance, and desire to unite her fortune with his. The later
was usually her purpose in view wishing a private interview. Red-breast
gave strict orders to the usher not to admit any young lady that might
call inside the door of his mansion, and besides he could never show
her into his presence without consulting him first. When the usher
would announce to Red-breast that a young lady was at the door wishing
to interview him, Red-breast would always ask the kind and color of her
dress, if the usher replied that she wore a suit of teach-ah-me-tah, he
was told to send her away as he did not wish to see her.
One by one the girls came to the mansion in hopes of securing an
interview, but to their great disappointment they were all turned away
from the door. One can imagine how many poor broken hearts followed
each other as they had been dismissed from the door of love to go forth
into the lonely world to weep. Some of these girls were foolish enough
to shut themselves in dark cells, that they might never be seen by the
man who ruined their hopes of a happy wedded life. Other compassionate
souls threw themselves into the sea, that their early sorrows and
disappointments might be ended forever. Poor deluded girls, if they had
only known how little Red-breast cared for their miseries and how he
mocked them in his mansion they would never even have considered him as
worthy of notice. However, many of the girls were not so foolish as to
destroy all their future happiness but forgot the mocking Red-breast
and sought other lovers whom they married and were very happy.
It had now come to pass that all the girls in the world had called at
the mansion of Red-breast for the purpose of wooing him for a husband,
except one. All these girls had agreed among themselves that each take
their turn in calling upon Red-breast until he selected one of them for
his wife. Now all the girls in the world had called with exception of
one, and all the other girls were restless and wondering what her fate
would be. She was a sweet young thing with cheeks as red as cherries,
eyes that sparkled like dew-drops and hair that hung in ringlets. It
was an ideal Autumn morning when this maid called at Red-breast’s
mansion, the madrone berries were ripe and hung in crimson clusters
from the branches of the tree, filling the atmosphere with a dewy scent
of sweetness. Heaven and earth seemed blending together and then fading
away into the melancholy shadows of Autumn. Such was the appearance of
the surrounding world when this shy sweet maiden came tripping lightly
up the long wooded avenues to the door of Red-breast’s mansion with
her heart all a flutter. The usher greeted her with a pleasant “good
morning,” as her appearance was very stunning, and he bade her wait
at the door until he returned with his message from his master. Upon
announcing her arrival the haughty Red-breast said, “ah! I don’t care
the snap of my fingers for the prettiest and sweetest maiden that ever
walked the earth, it is not for her love and companionship that I care,
but for what she might wear, her beautiful gown if it is made of the
right material is all I want. I say again that they are all foolish
young things to seek my love, for I have none to waste upon them, it
is all concentrated upon myself and no one else.” Then he asked the
usher the same question, as to what kind of a dress she wore. For the
first time the usher replied that she did not wear a dress of the
teach-ah-me-tah like all the other girls had worn, but she wore a gown
of pretty red, bedewed with clustering ornaments of its same gorgeous
hues. My! exclaimed Red-breast, you can show her in at once, and he
jumped to his feet in delight, his eyes sparkling with false pride. Go
tell her quick that she is the only girl that ever had the honor to be
admitted into my presence. Now I will woo her with all my heart and
flatter her very soul away for the purpose, but not for my wife you
know. You know what I am, so mind you don’t put her wise. Poor little
girl, poor little foolish girl, it is a shame to treat her so cruel but
I cannot help it when she wears such a tempting gown of red, red at
last, my favorite color, and that color I am going to have.
A minute later a sweet shy maid of scarce three seasons old was ushered
into his halls and the magnificent apartments in which she stood before
Red-breast. Her heart had ceased to beat for a few moments as he rose
and greeted her in an elegant manner. He was far handsomer than she
ever dreamed a man could be, and for the first time in her life she
fancied that she was deeply in love. Breathlessly she recollected the
stories of the other girls that had been before her, and now she could
hardly blame them for their mad actions of self-destruction over such
a striking personality. Red-breast received the maiden with a hearty
welcome of flattery as he dismissed the usher from the apartment, that
they might be alone to plan out the future. Gallantly he knelt at the
fair maiden’s feet and poured out to her full measures of his love,
in his elegant and commanding language he pictured in her mind how he
had turned away so many other girls from his door who had come to seek
him as their lover. How he had done because he could never love and
knew that some day he would find his only true love which he believed
to be her, as he had never felt the emotion of love until he first
gazed into her bright eyes. His sweet voice sounded in her ears so
soft and the touch of his fingers was as magical as Heaven itself. Her
cheeks blushed redder than ever as she listened to his tender words of
devotion. She shyly whispered, “yes” as he rose and pressed her against
his breast, and they planned together for the marriage vows. They both
agreed they would exchange the wedding vows on the following morning,
then he held her by the hand and showed her into a nice room where he
said she could spend the night in peaceful dreams, and then he took
his leave, leaving her alone in her room, and he told her that this
room would always be her own private room, where she could retreat and
find solace in being alone. Once alone she sat still for a long time,
dreaming of the blissful future she would enjoy with a husband that so
many had tried to woo but could never win because he loved her only.
Night came with its shadows and she found herself very tired as her
poor brain had been kept in a constant whirl since meeting Red-breast.
Wearily she took off her beautiful gown and laid it carefully on a
chair beside her bed and then hid her face under the silken covers.
Soon in slumberland she did not waken until morning and the sun was
already high in the sky. The gown she wore was the beautiful spangles
of the madrone berries that blushed in their tint of the deepest
vermillion red. While the maiden was sleeping Red-breast stole softly
into the room and devoured the beautiful gown and all that night he
feasted upon the berries and ornaments of the gown. As he gulped down
the last berry he crept softly to the side of the sleeping beauty and
gazed a farewell look upon her innocent face. He then changed his
mansion into a dreary isle of Autumn dampness and flew away as a bird.
Henceforth Red-breast never again appeared on earth as a man, but has
ever since been on earth as a bird.
Sad was the maiden that woke up that morning to find only a terrible
disappointment awaiting her. She found in her heart no solace, but
grief, bitter grief that had no compassion upon her bitter soul.
Looking about her in her loneliness she saw that Red-breast had
deceived her, and that he had selfishly eaten her pretty gown, all that
she could find of it was the ugly strips that had held the ornaments
in their place, and lo, this maiden so young and fair, and once so
beautiful, fled down the damp aisles weeping for the chill of winter
was upon her and had left her desolate, without her clothing.
The moral of this story is that young women should have a care in
pursuing handsome young men, lest they be deceived and left in
desolation.
DR. BEAR AND MRS. SKUNK.
Once upon a time a father and mother skunk (wah-chelth) were rearing
a family of two children and there was no food for them to eat. The
old folks were in great distress about what to do as they were all
starving. The mother was very anxious for her family, and one day
she happened to think of a good plan to secure something to eat. So
she announced to her family that she would play sick and have the
bear (chee-ur-ra) come and doctor her. Her husband and children were
delighted with her plan and Mrs. Skunk warned her children to keep very
quiet when Mr. Bear came to doctor her, so she went to bed, feigning
to be very ill while Mr. Skunk went after Dr. Bear and found him at
home. The Doctor accompanied Mr. Skunk at once to the bedside of his
wife and walking into the room began asking Mrs. Skunk about her
illness and she replied in a very weak voice, pretending to feel very
miserable and asked her children to go to one side of the room and be
very quiet as she wanted Dr. Bear to examine her. The children went
to one side of the room at once as they had been cautioned by their
mother to keep very still, as she was going to throw musk in the Bear’s
face and blind him. The Bear began to get things ready to doctor Mrs.
Skunk and as he was about ready to examine her the children became very
anxious and restless, and began whispering to each other and indulging
in a big tete-a-tete, about what a large dinner they were going to
have when their mother killed the Bear. They kept whispering so much
that the Bear became suspicious of their actions and listened closely
and his sharp ears caught a few words of their conversation about what
their mother was going to do. He began moving towards the door to make
his exit, when the mother Skunk saw that he was about ready to get
away and threw the musk with all her might at the Bear’s face but it
missed his eyes and he escaped safely. Mrs. Skunk became very angry
with her children who had spoiled her plans, by being over anxious
and whispering too much. Instead of getting the bear meat as they had
anticipated, they both received a good sound thrashing from their
mother which taught them a lesson for the future.
HOW THE ANIMALS CONQUERED THE MOON.
Many years ago there was a total eclipse of the moon which lasted for
several days and nights. The night continued so dark that the people
and animals were not able to see to go about, so all the animals of
the animal kingdom held a council and decided to devour the moon, as
it had become a useless planet and would not give them light at night.
The animals journeyed from the earth up to the moon and began a fierce
battle to conquer and devour it and after a long struggle the moon lost
its balance in the heavens and fell earthward. It struck the earth
at Ca-neck on the Klamath River where the waters whirl and rush into
fearful rapids. At the lower terminations of these rapids where there
is a large round depression in the land, on the south and west side
of the river, is the place where the moon is supposed to have struck
the earth when the animals threw it down from the heavens. While the
animals and snakes were wrestling with the moon at Ca-neck it was then
the frog stepped forth and objected, saying that they should not devour
the moon completely, as they would need it to light the world at night
in the future. Listening to the frog’s wise council they all agreed to
allow him to restore the moon to its proper place. So the frog began
at once to gather all the blood of the moon and fuse it together with
its other remnants, and when he had completed the task all the reptiles
and animals rendered their assistance in trying to throw the moon
back into the heavens so it would shine again. The great multitude of
animals became exhausted in their mighty efforts as they could not even
move it from its resting place on earth. They were all so tired that
they were about ready to give it up in despair, when the little ant
(hah-pooth) came forward and suggested that he was able to do it. The
multitude roared with laughter at the ant and taunted him with jeers,
saying: “you little hah-pooth, what can a little insignificant thing
like you do with the great big moon?” However, the little ant saw the
opportunity to show his power of great strength, even if he was little
and rushed in among the crowd and made his way right under the moon,
the moon began at once to raise from the earth, and with one mighty
effort the little hah-pooth threw the moon back into the heavens where
it has ever since remained.
The Klamath Indians always remark when the moon is full, that the dark
place on its face (known to the white man as the “man in the moon”) is
the frog in the moon. Whenever there is an eclipse of the moon it is
said that a huge frog is trying to swallow the moon.
THE ACORN.
Many years ago several families were out camping in the Fall, in the
last part of October or November gathering acorns for food. (When the
families get all fixed up in their acorn camps all go forth to pick the
acorns each day as they drop from the tree, using the large baskets to
put them in and carry to camp, in the evening when all have gathered
at the camp house and the evening meal is over, all the family men,
women and children take their places and commence taking the hulls off
so as to get the meat or kernel out. This is done by the teeth and it
is wonderful how expert we become at it, and it is seldom a kernel is
mashed or bruised. These kernels are nearly always in halves, sometimes
in three pieces and once in a great while there will be four pieces,
and to find one that is divided into four pieces just as it grew in the
shell is not a common occurrence. There is on the inside of the outer
shell a very thin skin that covers the kernel or meat of the acorn.)
There was a young Indian girl out with her basket picking acorns, and
as she went along with her basket picking up acorns she would as often
as she could, place some in her mouth and crack the hull and take the
kernel out and put it in the basket with the ones that were not hulled.
As she was going along she happened to open one where the kernel was
in four parts which at once became very amusing to her, so she set her
basket down and on taking a look at it she took the outer hull off
and made a neat little cradle out of it, then she took the inner skin
part and made a nice set of baby clothes, after she did this she took
the whole of the kernel and covered with the clothes and placed it in
the cradle that she had made of the hull. After all was finished she
looked at it and then put it in the hollow of an oak tree and went
on picking her acorns until time to go back to the camp house. When
it came time for them all to return to their homes she had forgotten
what she had done. One day while she was preparing some acorn flour
she heard a noise behind her, some one saying mother, mother, and on
looking behind her she beheld a little boy and as soon as she saw him
she knew that he was formed from the acorn that she had fixed and left
in the hollow oak tree. She raised the Sa-quan or pestle in her hand
and tried to catch the boy but he ran from her and she followed after
him and the race kept up until the boy got to the edge of the ocean,
where there was a man in a boat, so the boy jumped into the boat, the
man pushed the boat off and together they started out to sea, and had
got well out when the girl arrived at the sea-shore, she hurled the
stone pestle at them and it fell into the sea and the top of it stuck
up and is there to this day.
Any Indian will tell his white brother this story as a true part to
their religion, as calmly and seriously as if it was the truth and
perhaps some of the lower class really believe it, yet it is only a
fairy tale.
This is the rock that sits out in the ocean some eight or ten miles
from the land, at the present time from Orick or the mouth of Redwood
Creek. This rock the white man calls Redding Rock, the Klamath Indians
call it Sa-quan-ow. The true facts concerning this rock are told in a
preceding chapter.
THE BLUE JAY.
There was an old mother deer making mush for her family’s breakfast
one morning and while she was cooking it she broke her leg and she
then allowed the marrow from the bone to run into the mush as she
stirred it. This made the mush very palatable and oily. The Blue Jay
who happened along at the time, watched the deer cooking the mush and
saw her break her leg and mix the marrow fat with the mush and when the
mush was cooked the Blue Jay tasted it and found it very delicious.
That day when the Blue Jay went home she decided she would make her
acorn mush in the same way, so after fixing her mush she broke her leg
to get the marrow which she stirred into the mush, but to her great
disappointment the substance she took from her leg was not oil but
blood and when she saw how bloody it made her mush and which spoiled
it, she became very mad for being so simple, so she at once turned upon
herself and plucked out all her tail feather and stuck them in the top
of her head and ever after the Blue Jay has worn a top-knot of feathers
on the head.
THE MOURNFUL COO OF THE DOVE.
The Dove (Ah-row-wee) since the deluge of the world has been considered
by the Klamath Indians as the sacred bird. They carry the symbol of the
dove in their ceremonial worship in the sacred lodge, and worship the
bird as divine. Around this little bird is woven a pathetic tale of why
he coos so much and always seems so sorrowful.
Long ago a family of doves made their home and nesting place on a
level bench of land, about half a mile up from the Pec-wan village
on the north-east side. On this bench-like piece of land on the hill
side stood a very large live oak tree and close by the vicinity of
this tree is a small spring of water which gushes forth, the rest of
the flat being covered with grasses. In a little sheltered cove of
this flat the Doves would make their nests and rear their families.
When the baby doves grew strong and large enough to fly they would
all fly up into the live oak tree. There they would hide among the
branches when danger was near and all the families would roost among
the branches of the trees every night. At this time there was a
handsome young male Dove who announced his intentions of taking a trip
up the river to Weitchpec, and while visiting among friends went with
shiftless companions who taught him how to play Indian cards, which
are made of small sticks and called pair-cauk, and the game wah-choo.
The game became so fascinating that he spent the remainder of his
time gambling and did not realize that he had left a sick grandmother
at home and that she wished him to come back home at once. He was so
deeply interested in the game that he did not take any heed of the
message and continued to play cards. Later he received a message that
his Grandmother was dead, but in the revelry of the game it seemed to
him but folly and played on, not heeding the words of the messenger
who kept repeating the words that his grandmother was dead until he
succeeded in diverting the attention of the youthful gambler. The
young gambler looked up sadly from his cards and said, “I will now
shuffle the cards again and again, yes, shuffle them again and again.
My grandmother is dead, and to let the world know that I mourn her loss
deeply, I will coo among the lonesome bushes the mournful coo of a
broken heart, the piteous coo of a grief that knows no ending while I
live.”
The beautiful moral of this story is to teach and impress upon the
minds of the children that they should not drift into shiftless ways,
neglecting to respect and cherish their grandmothers and to love
them as dearly as their own mothers and even more in respect to old
age. Indian mothers repeat the story to their children and mourn as
the doves, by repeating the words: Wee-poo-poo, wee-poo-poo-poo-poo,
whee-whee-whee-poo-poo. Thus illustrating that they might become very
sad and mournful by not being kind and thoughtful to the aged, and
making their sunset years bright and cheerful.
I could give enough of these Fairy Stories to make a book. All classes
of my people, can on meeting his white brother sit down and tell him
these Fairy tales, as a part of our religion, with a twinkle in his
eye, and let him pass on. Some of our fairy stories are partly founded
on truth and then carried off into an imaginary sense, so as to make
them long.
THE END.
Transcriber’s Notes:
- Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
- Text enclosed by equals is in bold (=bold=).
- Blank pages have been removed.
- Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected; 2 cases
of an upside down ‘e’ were treated as errors, one was just the word
‘these’, the other had an inverted ‘s’ on the same line.
- Some variations in hyphenation have been standardized.