Kuyas Red Ants
Pshagéknik Gopher
Slikwis Fire-drill
Tálwas Hot-Water Baskets
Wus Fox
Ten Tálwas brothers lived in two houses, five in one house, and five in
the other; near by, in two other houses, lived the ten Slikwis
brothers. One day Wus came from the west and went into the house of
five of the Slikwis brothers.
“Oh,” said Wus, “what are these nice long sticks here around the fire
for? They would make good gambling sticks. I will take them. If I meet
people, I can gamble with them and beat them with such nice sticks.”
He took all five of the Slikwis brothers in one hand.
As soon as he had them, they blazed up high. They were mad at him for
picking them up.
He threw them down and ran out screaming: “What can those things be?
Are they people?” He cried, for his hand was burned.
When he came to the second house, he looked in and said: “Those look
like the same kind of sticks, but I will try to pick them up. I could
beat everybody if I had such nice gambling sticks.” As soon as he took
the sticks up, he screamed, threw them down, and ran out of the house.
His hands were burned and his hair was singed. “Oh,” said he, “I never
heard that such kind of people lived around here. I don’t like them;
they are bad people.”
He went farther and came to the house of the five Tálwas brothers. When
he went in, he saw water baskets standing near the fire.
“Oh,” said he, “I am glad to see water; I am dry. Everybody is gone;
the water is left to cook with when they come back.” Wus looked for
something to eat, and when he couldn’t find anything, he said: “I will
wash my hands in one of these baskets, and I will drink out of
another.” He put his hands into one of the baskets; the water boiled up
and scalded him. He screamed, then all the baskets boiled up and threw
water. Wus was terribly scalded. He ran out of the house, then looked
back, and said: “What can that be? I am almost dead!”
He went on till he came to the second house. He looked in, and when he
saw five other baskets, he said: “They would kill me; I won’t touch
them.” He hunted inside and outside of the house for something to eat,
but couldn’t find anything. He was so dry that he crept up to one of
the baskets and put his little finger into the water; it was cold
water. He thought: “Now I will have a good drink. This is just water;
that over there is something else. This is such water as I drink when I
am traveling.” He began to drink out of the smallest basket.
That was the youngest brother, and he didn’t get mad. He knew how his
brothers had scalded Wus and he felt sorry for him. He thought: “Let
him drink of me if he wants to; I will be cold for him.” But the other
brothers began to jerk and gurgle and bubble up; they were mad at Wus.
Wus got scared and ran out.
He stood at the door and looked in. The four brothers boiled up and
threw water over the house. Wus was terribly scared; he ran as fast as
he could till he came to two other houses. Those were the houses of the
ten Kuyas brothers. He went into the first house; there was a big fire
burning. He looked around and wondered where the people were who built
the fire. He thought: “I will wait till they come; maybe they will give
me something to eat, since they are going to cook.”
Wus waited till the middle of the day, then he said: “I am tired of
waiting; I’ll hunt around and maybe I can find something to eat.” He
couldn’t find anything, then he said: “I will stay till night; they
will come when it gets dark,” and he lay down by the fire.
The five brothers were sitting around the fire, but Wus didn’t see
them. When he lay down, one brother bit him. He jumped up and screamed:
“What bit me?” Another brother bit his leg, a third one bit his hand.
Wus screamed: “What can it be that bites so?” And he threw burning
coals around the house to kill what had bitten him. The five brothers
were mad, and they all bit him.
Wus ran out of the house, came to the second house, looked in and saw a
fire burning. Five brothers were sitting around the fire, but Wus
couldn’t see them. Those five brothers jumped on him and bit him; the
other five came in and helped them. Wus screamed with pain, but they
didn’t stop biting. They killed him and had almost eaten him up when
Pshagéknik came in.
He saw Wus, and asked: “Old man, why are you sleeping so long?”
That minute Wus jumped up, and said: “Oh, I’m sleepy!” He went out of
the house and traveled on toward the north.