After each name is given that of the beast, bird, or thing into which
the personage was changed subsequently.
=Chírchihas=, mountain squirrel (red); =Handokmit=, striped snake;
=Hau=, red fox; =Hawt=, eel; =Hus=, turkey buzzard; =Kanhlalas=,
weasel; =Karkit=, raven; =Kinus=, wood dove; =Kiriú=, loon; =Lutchi=,
humming-bird; =Memtulit=, otter; =Múrope=, bull snake; =Nomhawena=,
----; =Nop=, deer; =Patkilis=, jack rabbit; =Patit=, panther; =Sedit=,
coyote; =Tichelis=, ground squirrel; =Tsaik=, bluejay; =Tsárarok=,
kingfisher; =Tsaroki Sakahl=, brown-green snake; =Tsihl=, black bear;
=Tsileu=, yellowhammer; =Tsudi=, mouse; =Tunhlucha=, frog; =Waida
Dikit=, Dolly Varden trout; =Waida Werris=, Polar star; =Wai Hau=,
silver-gray fox; =Waiti=, north side; =Watwut=, mountain bluejay;
=Wima=, grizzly bear; =Yípokos=, black fox.
* * * * *
On the south side of Bohem Puyuk is a small mountain called Tede
Puyuk. Near that small mountain lived Waida Dikit Kiemila. He lived
all alone, without neighbors. There was no house near his. He lived
long in that place, thinking what was best for him to do, thinking,
thinking. After a great while he thought: "The best thing to do is to
build a sweat-house."
He built a sweat-house about a mile west of the place where he was
living. When he had finished, he took a kind of red earth and painted
the eastern half of the house red on the outside. The western half he
painted green with paint made from leaves of bushes. After he had
painted the western half, all the different kinds of bushes whose
leaves he had used for paint grew out of that side of the
sweat-house.
The sweat-house was ready for use now, and Waida Dikit went to see a
man, Tsaroki Sakahl, who lived farther south.
"My grandson," said Waida Dikit, "I wish you would come up and stay in
my house. I have no one to keep me company. I wish you would come and
live with me."
"I will go with you," said Tsaroki, and he went to live with the old
man.
Waida Dikit had not told Tsaroki of the sweat-house, he took him to
the old house. After two or three nights Waida Dikit said,--
"My grandson, what shall we do? What would you like to do? What will
be best for us? We must talk about something. There should be
something for us to talk about. We must have something to say."
"Well," said Tsaroki, "I think that you want what is best; you want to
see somebody, to see something. I think that is what you want. I think
I know what you want. The best way to get what you want is to build a
sweat-house."
"That is wise talk, my grandson, I like to hear it. I have a
sweat-house built--all finished."
"Where is it?" asked Tsaroki.
"I will show it to you soon," answered Waida Dikit.
Putting his hand behind him, he picked up a small basket, took out
yellow paint with his thumb and forefinger, and drew a yellow streak
from Tsaroki's head down his back. The young man had been all green;
now there was yellow on his back. Next Waida Dikit took a net woven of
grass fibre, like a woman's hair net, and put it on Tsaroki's head.
"You are ready now," said he. Then he led him out of the house and
said, pointing to the west,--
"Look! There is our sweat-house. Now, my grandson, I am going to take
you to that house. The east side is painted red. When we are there,
don't go near the sweat-house on this eastern side; pass by, but not
too near, a little way off. When we go in I will take the eastern half
and stay in it; you will take the other half and stay on the western
side, where there is green paint. That is where you are to lie, on the
green side."
They started. The old man walked ahead. When they went in, Waida Dikit
took the eastern half of the house and Tsaroki the western. The young
man sat down, and then Waida Dikit took a pipe which was in the
sweat-house.
"My grandson," said he, "you will find a pipe right there on your side
of the house and a sack of tobacco. You may smoke if you wish."
Tsaroki took the pipe, looked at it, liked it well. This pipe was from
Wai Hola Puyuk. When he drew in the smoke and puffed out the first
whiff, the whole house was filled so that nothing was seen in it.
Waida Dikit put his head outside the door. There was smoke outside
everywhere. He could see nothing. Then he turned back and said,--
"My grandson, you are a good man. You are a strong man. You smoke
well. This will do for the first time.--If he does that again,"
thought the old man, "there will be nothing seen in this world; all
will be covered with smoke;" and he said, "You are a strong man; that
is enough for this time."
"I should like to know why he says, 'That is enough.' What does he
want to do with me?" thought Tsaroki. "Maybe he is trying me in some
way."
"My grandson," said the old man, after a while, "I should like to see
somebody; I should like to see something, see people; I should like to
have fun and see games of some sort."
"I should like to see them too," answered Tsaroki; "I should like to
see them, my grandfather. You are older than I; if you tell me what to
do, I will do it."
"My grandson, can you play on anything?"
"I should like to play if you would teach me," said Tsaroki.
The old man put his hand behind him into a basket of things, drew out
a flute and gave it to Tsaroki, who took it quickly, he was so glad.
He sat down, crossed his legs, and before he had blown into the flute,
just as he touched his lips with it, beautiful sounds came out.
The young man was glad, wonderfully glad. The old man, who sat looking
at him, asked,--
"How do you like the flute, my grandson?"
"I like it well," said Tsaroki.
"I am glad to hear you play, my grandson; I am glad when you do
something good. When I was young, I used to say good things, I used
to do good things. Now, my grandson, think what you would like best to
do."
"I should like to hear something nice, to hear music, to hear
beautiful sounds."
After he had taken the flute Tsaroki did not sleep; he played for
three days and three nights without stopping; then he stopped and
asked,--
"What is this flute? What is it made of? It sounds so sweetly."
"My grandson, I will tell you; that flute is of wood,--alder wood.
That is an alder flute, but the wood is people's bones. There were
people long ago, and that alder wood grew out of their bones. My
grandson, would you like to have another young man with you, or do you
wish to be alone? I think it would be better for you to have company."
"My grandfather, I should like to have another man with me; I could
talk with him. I could live then more pleasantly."
"My grandson, to see another young man you must go to the west; you
must go in the middle of the night, when it is very dark, so that no
one may see you. My grandson, it is better for you to go to-night."
"Where? Which way do you want me to go, my grandfather?"
"Go west from here, far away; you will start when it is dark; you will
get there in the dark. You will go to where the old woman Nomhawena
Pokaila lives: she is your grandmother. When you go to her house, ask
her about your brother; she will tell you where he is."
"My grandfather, I don't believe that I can find her house. I don't
know what kind of house it is."
"You cannot miss it, my grandson. The night will be very dark; no one
will be able to see anything, but you cannot miss the house. It is a
little house; no one can see it, but you cannot miss it. You will go
there very quickly, though 'tis far from here and the night is dark."
Then the old man showed him a small sand trail; it was bright, just
like a ray of light in the darkness, though it was very narrow, as
narrow as a hair, and all around it was dark night. The old man had
made this trail purposely.
Tsaroki started, and could see the trail straight ahead of him; he
went over it as swiftly as an arrow goes from a bow. He travelled
right on, and at the end of the trail, just on the trail itself, was a
little bark house. He went into this house, and saw an old woman lying
there with her back to the fire; she was sleeping on the south side of
it. He walked in and stood at the north side. He sat down then, and
was sitting a while when the old woman woke, turned her face to the
fire, and saw some one opposite. She rose, stirred the fire to make
light, looked at the young man, and said,--
"I see some person over there; who is it?"
"My grandmother, I am Tsaroki Sakahl. I have come because my
grandfather, Waida Dikit, sent me to see you, so that you might tell
me about my brother. I should like to know where my brother lives. I
have come to see my brother and speak to him."
"Very well, my grandson, I will tell you. He lives right over here on
the west."
As soon as she had finished speaking, Tsaroki stood up and went toward
the west. He had not made many steps when he saw a large space, a
broad space on which a great many people were sitting. The place was
dark, but the people could see one another. Tsaroki saw all, and
looked around carefully. He saw that all were at work except one man,
who was sitting in the middle in a good place. He looked a long time,
not knowing what to do, for Waida Dikit had said to him,--
"You must not let any one know but your brother why I sent you, and
tell him not to tell others."
No one present saw Tsaroki, and he thought: "I don't know how I shall
go to my brother without letting any one know." At last he made up his
mind what to do. He went down under the ground where he had been
sitting, and came up just in front of the great man, his brother.
The people were dressing skins, making arrow-points, and finishing
arrows. All were at work but the man in the middle. Tsaroki came up in
front of him and whispered,--
"My brother, I have come for you. My grandfather sent me to ask you to
go to him and not to tell any one."
"That is well. I will go. Let us start."
That was all he said. This big man was Hawt. Tsaroki had brought his
flute, but he could not use it, for he had to keep his journey secret
and not let himself be seen; he held the flute hidden under his arm.
"Let us go," said Hawt; "you go ahead."
Tsaroki went into the ground, came out where he had been sitting at
first, and then went to the house of the old woman, his grandmother.
Hawt stood up to make ready for the journey. The people kept on
working. They were all of the Hawt people, and the big man was their
chief.
Hawt dressed, and took his bow and arrows. When ready, he turned and
said,--
"My people, I am going to leave you, to be gone two or three days,
perhaps longer."
That was all he said; he did not say where he was going, nor why. He
walked away and went to Nomhawena's house, where Tsaroki was waiting.
The two brothers had been sitting just a little while when the old
woman said to them,--
"Now, my grandsons, you must go; you must be at Waida Dikit's before
daylight; you must travel while it is dark, we do not wish to let
other people know of your journey. Go. I shall be in this house, but
shall hear all that is happening at your place."
They left the old woman, and reached Waida Dikit's before daylight.
The old man was up already, and standing by the fire in the middle of
the sweat-house combing his red hair, which touched his feet. The
moment he went into the house Tsaroki took his flute, lay on his back,
and began to play. Hawt stood a while; didn't know where to sit. At
last Waida Dikit said to him,--
"My grandson, I am living here in a small house. There isn't much room
in it, but go north of the fire and sit there."
Just as Hawt was sitting down at the appointed side, daylight came.
Tsaroki played two nights and two days. Hawt lay in his place and
listened.
"My grandson," said Waida Dikit to Tsaroki, "I should like to hear you
both play. You must give that flute to Hawt some of the time."
Tsaroki gave the flute to his brother, and from time to time they
passed it from one to the other. Both played; both made beautiful
music. They played day after day, night after night, ten days and ten
nights.
"You play well now, both of you, my grandsons. Would you not like to
hear other persons play?"
"Oh, we should like that very much; we should like to hear other
persons play," said Tsaroki and Hawt.
"I used to hear a friend of mine long ago," said Waida Dikit, "and he
played very well. Would you like to have him play with you?"
"Yes, yes; maybe he would teach us to play better."
"My friend is very old now," said Waida Dikit: "he is Kanhlalas
Kiemila."
"I will go and bring him," said Tsaroki.
"Go, my grandson. I will show you a trail, but do not go near the east
side of my sweat-house. It is not far. Kanhlalas lives northeast from
here."
Tsaroki found Kanhlalas's sweat-house on the trail. He heard music
inside, beautiful music. He stood awhile listening, then went in and
saw an old man lying on his back playing. The old man stopped playing,
but did not speak. Tsaroki touched him on the shoulder and said,--
"My grandfather, I have come for you. Waida Dikit, my grandfather,
sent me to ask you to visit him."
"I will go," was all that the old man said. No questions were asked or
answered. "I have come for you," "I will go;" no more. Those people of
long ago talked in that way; they didn't talk much.
Tsaroki went home. Kanhlalas made ready to go, and went under the
ground. Waida Dikit was lying in his house when on a sudden Kanhlalas
rose at his feet. Waida Dikit sat up when he saw him, took a pipe, and
told him to smoke. Kanhlalas smoked, and the two old men talked a good
while. The young men played, first one, then the other. It was dark in
the sweat-house, but after Kanhlalas came he shone and gave light like
a torch in a dark house. You could see some, but not very much.
Kanhlalas was a grandfather of Waida Werris.
"I sent for you," said Waida Dikit, "for I thought you might teach my
grandsons to play better. They like to make music. They think of
nothing else."
"I am old," said Kanhlalas. "I am not as I used to be. I cannot play
much now. When I was a boy, when I was young, I could play. But I will
play a little."
About dark he said a second time, "I will play a little." So he lay
on his back, took his own flute, which he had brought with him, and
began. The two brothers lay and listened. Kanhlalas never took the
flute out of his mouth from the dark of evening until daylight. Next
day he played, and all night again. When morning came there was a
light stripe down his breast, and when the sun rose his breast was
white, for the breath was nearly out of his body. That morning old
Waida Dikit said,--
"Now we will invite all people in the world who can play, to come
here."
"If you invite all people in the world who can play," said Tsaroki,
"this house will be too small for them."
"No," said the old man, "it will not be too small. You will find it
large enough when they come."
Tsaroki was sent to the northwest to invite people. He went very fast.
In a little while he was at a place just this side of where the sky
touches the earth. He went to Nop Hlut. When near the sweat-house he
heard stamping in a dance. He went in and saw a very big house full of
people sitting around at the wall. Only one woman and a young girl
were dancing in the middle of the house, Nop Pokte and Nop Loimis. The
girl was very small, and had fawn's feet tied behind her head. These
rattled so sharply that you could hear them when far away. As Tsaroki
was coming in through the door on the south, he saw an old man lying
on the north side. This was Nop Kiemila, the master of the house.
Tsaroki went straight to him, put his hand on his shoulder, and
said,--
"I have come for you."
"What kind of call do you make?" asked Nop.
"My grandfather is going to have a playing on flutes."
"I will go," said Nop.
"My grandfather is inviting people from all parts of the world. All
will be invited who can play on the flute."
Waida Dikit himself went south to invite people living in the water,
and sent Tsaroki to invite all the land people. They went far and near
to invite all. After a time both grew wearied, and wanted to get some
one to take invitations. They thought who would be best in heat and
cold, light and darkness, and thought that Kinus would be; so they
called him, and hired him to go.
Kinus went as far as he could go, went around the whole world to a
distance a little this side of where the sky comes down. After a time
he returned and said,--
"This world is wide and big. I called all the people as far as I went,
but I was not able to go everywhere,--this world goes farther than I
went. Whole days I could get no water, no food; but I invited all the
people that I saw."
Now, while Kinus was speaking the invited people were listening; and
there were many of them then at Waida Dikit's. Lutchi sat at one side
and listened.
"There is," said Waida Dikit, "a man that we should like to see here.
Waida Werris and also a man who lives far in the East, Patkilis; he
lives behind the sky, beyond the place where the sky touches the
earth, and Sedit lives with him. We want these three. Now Kinus cannot
go to them,--nobody that we know is able to go to them. What shall we
do?"
All talked about this. Lutchi sat back in silence, and listened to
what they were saying.
"This sweat-house is too small," said Kanhlalas.
"You will see," answered Waida Dikit.
The sweat-house was spreading out, growing gradually, growing all the
time as the people came. A great many came that afternoon. The house
extended now as far as the eye could see. Whenever new people came,
Waida Dikit would blow and say, "I wish this house to be larger!" And
the house stretched, became wider and longer and higher. In the
evening great crowds were there already.
Kinus and the rest talked all night and the next day. "Nobody can go
to Waida Werris, Patkilis, and Sedit. That was what they said."
They asked all present, and each answered, "I cannot go to them." They
talked and talked. At last one man said to another, "Let's ask that
Lutchi Herit over there; maybe he can go." A third said, "Yes, let's
ask him." And the three said to Waida Dikit, "Ask that little man;
perhaps he can go." "He is small," said Waida Dikit, "but I will ask
him." He went up to Lutchi, touched him on the shoulder, and asked,--
"My grandson, can you do something for me? You are small, but I am
asking you."
Lutchi said nothing; just raised his brows, which meant "Yes." As soon
as he did this, Waida Dikit put his hand under his arm and took out a
kunluli (a delicate blue flower that grows near the water), and gave
it to Lutchi. Lutchi took it in his open palm, looked at it, rubbed it
between his two hands, spat on it, and made a paste which was a
beautiful blue paint. Then he rubbed his face, arms, breast--he became
blue all over (to this day Lutchi is blue, he was white before). He
went out among the people then, and said,--
"People, look at me! What do I look like? Haven't I a nice color now?"
"You are beautiful," said the people. "You look well."
It was at the point of daybreak. They could see just a bit of light.
When he was ready to start, Lutchi said,--
"I don't know how far it is, but if I go to those places I shall be
back here at sunrise. If they are very far away, I shall be here when
the sun is as high as the tree-tops."
"Do you think you will be back by sunrise?" asked Kinus. "Those places
are very far away."
"I know they are far away," said Lutchi.
"I have been all over the world," added Kinus. "I was gone a long
time, but those places are farther away than any spot where I have
been."
"Ho! Now I am going!" said Lutchi; and he darted straight up into the
sky, next down, and up and down again. Then he called out,--
"How do you like that? Do you think I can go to those people? This is
the way I travel."
He shot away east and returned. Then he went west and came back in a
twinkle. Next he turned north and was gone. He had never travelled
through the air before. Till that morning he had always walked on the
ground, just as we do now. He went straight to Waida Werris's house
and went in. It was dazzling there, and seemed to him just as bright
as daylight seems to a man coming out of a dark place.
Lutchi saw some one inside, who was young and beautiful. He could not
look at his face, it was so bright. There were two brothers in the
house. The younger was Waiti, the elder Waida Werris. Waiti never left
the house; never went abroad or wandered, stayed at home all the time.
"I have come," said Lutchi, "to invite you to meet people from all the
world at a flute-playing in Waida Dikit's sweat-house."
"I will go," said Waida Werris. He knew all that was going on. He had
seen it while travelling early, before daylight.
"I am going now," said Lutchi to Waida Werris. And as soon as he was
outside he rushed off toward the west, came back, rose in the air,
came down, and then shot away, like a lightning flash, eastward to
find Patkilis and Sedit. Soon he was in the east, where the sky comes
to the earth. He took a sky stick, which he had brought with him,
pried up the sky, raised it a little, and then he went under to the
other side. When the sky came down again behind him and struck the
earth, it made an awful noise which was heard over the world. The
whole world shook. All the people at Waida Dikit's heard the noise and
wondered.
"What can that be?" asked they. "What awful noise is that?" Waida
Dikit knew what the noise was, but he never told any one.
Lutchi went straight east from the other side of the sky, and never
stopped till he found Patkilis and Sedit. They were in another world,
another sky came down to their world, and they lived almost at the
edge of that second sky. Lutchi went into their sweat-house. They were
sitting just inside the door, one at one side, the other at the other;
the door was on the east side. When Lutchi had sat a little while,
Sedit rose and said,--
"My grandson, which way have you come?"
"I come here for you and Patkilis," answered Lutchi. "Waida Dikit sent
me to invite you to a flute-playing at his sweat-house. Nobody else
could come to you, so he asked me to come."
"We are glad," answered they. "We will go. You go ahead. But how shall
we pass the sky?"
"I will wait at the edge for you," said Lutchi; and he went on.
When Sedit and Patkilis were ready, Sedit said, "I wish this road on
which I must travel to be short, very short."
They started, and found the road so short that Lutchi was waiting at
the edge of the sky only a little while when they were with him.
Lutchi pried up the sky a second time, and the three passed under to
the western side. Again there was an awful noise, and the whole world
trembled.
"Now I am going quickly; you can move as you like," said Lutchi. He
went west like a flash, and just as the sun was peeping over the
mountains he was back at Waida Dikit's.
"Have you heard what is going on in this world that makes such a
noise?" asked Waida Dikit. "These people heard an awfully big noise."
"That was my travelling," said Lutchi. "Kinus, whom you sent first,
could not go to those three people. I went. They are on the road, and
will be here in a few days."
All the people heard this and were glad.
"Now we shall hear great music," said they.
While travelling along together, Patkilis spoke to Sedit and advised
him. "When we are in Waida Dikit's house," said he, "don't talk much.
Sit down like a wise man and look on; be silent; don't act like a
little boy."
Sedit was talking all the time. He told Patkilis what he was going to
do. He would do this and do that, he said.
Two days passed, and the two men had not come. On the third day, near
the middle of the forenoon, people saw a beautiful little arrow come
down just by the door of the sweat-house,--a bright arrow. When it
struck the ground, it made a grating noise, and they said,--
"That is a nice arrow. Who sent such an arrow?" And all liked it.
There were crowds of people in the sweat-house. Some of them wanted
the arrow. "Let's pull it up!" said they, "and see who made it;" but
Waida Dikit would not let them touch it. "Let it stay where it is. Do
not touch it," said he, for he knew that it was Patkilis's arrow, and
that it meant: "I am coming. I shall be there soon."
While the people were talking about the arrow, two men swept in
through the door. No one saw their faces or their heads, just their
legs and shadows.
"Give them room, let them in," said Waida Dikit.
"Where can they sit?" asked Tsaroki.
"Give each a place on the east side," said Waida Dikit.
The two, Patkilis and Sedit, went to the east side and sat down.
Nobody had seen Waida Werris come, but he was in the house.
When leaving home that morning, Waida Werris said to Waiti, his
brother,--
"You will stay and keep house, as you do always. You will be here, but
you will see me all the time, you will see me night and day. Watch me;
they will do other things there besides playing on flutes."
Patkilis and Sedit asked Waida Dikit if Waida Werris had come.
"I do not know where he is," replied the old man. "No one has seen
him."
"Oh, he will not come," said many people. "What kind of a person is
Waida Werris? He is nobody. What do we want of him?"
Waida Werris was sitting there all the time listening. Waida Dikit
knew well what kind of person he was, but said nothing. That night
after all invited people had come, Waida Dikit said:
"Listen, all you people here present. I have called this gathering to
find who is the best flute-player, who can make the best music in this
world. Let us begin. Let each play alone."
Tsaroki began the trial. "I will begin," said he to his brother Hawt,
"then let the others play. You can play when you like."
"I am satisfied," said Hawt. "I will play last."
"That is well," answered Tsaroki. "I will play first, all will follow,
and you may play last."
Tsaroki began. He played a little while, not long; played well.
Kanhlalas played next. All liked his music. Watwut Kiemila played
third; played splendidly.
"Go ahead and play, all you people," said Waida Dikit.
Tsileu Herit played best up to his time, played till almost morning,
till just before daylight. The inside of the sweat-house had become
red, and some asked,--
"Why is it red everywhere inside the sweat-house?"
"We do not know," answered others; "something makes it red."
One man went up to Waida Dikit and asked, "Why is it red inside the
sweat-house?"
"I will tell you. Do you see Tsileu Herit there? Well, he has been
playing all night, the breath is gone out of him, he is all red, and
the whole sweat-house is red from him."
About daylight Tsileu stopped, and then it grew as dark as in a house
when a fire is put out in the night. Now Tsaik played all day, and at
sundown the sweat-house was blue, for Tsaik had grown blue.
All played to see who could play best. Every kind of people played.
When any one was out of breath, he stopped playing, and received a new
color. When Murope lost breath, he was spotted. When Handokmit lost
breath, he became striped. Patkilis played three nights and two days,
and when he gave out after sundown, he was roan. Wai Hau played five
nights, and at sunrise the fifth morning he was red. Kiriu Herit
played five nights, and at the middle of the sixth night he was black,
and his breath gone.
And so for many days and nights they played, one person after another,
till one night all had finished except Hawt. Hawt was the last to
play. All were asleep now. All had lost breath, and received new
colors. Tsaroki went to his brother on the north side of the house,
and said,--
"Begin, my brother; over near the fire there is a place for you; go
under the ground, and when you come out, you will play."
Hawt went under the ground, and came out near the fireplace. He lay on
his back and began to play. He had two rows of holes in his body, one
on each side; he fingered these holes, drew in air through his
nostrils, and sent it out through the holes in both sides. Hawt was
playing on his own body. At first, all the people were asleep, except
one person, Tsudi Herit. Tsudi heard Hawt, and he heard, as in a doze,
wonderful sounds. He listened a long time, thinking it a dream. When
Tsudi found that he was not sleeping, he shook the man next him, and
said,--
"Wake up, wake up! Who is playing? All have played, but I have never
heard music like this. Many have played here, but no one played in
this way."
The person he roused was Hus. Hus said nothing, he was old and nearly
bald, he took a pipe and began to smoke. Tsudi roused other people,
one after another.
"Wake up, rise, sit up; listen to the music somebody is playing."
They woke, one after another. "Who is playing?" asked one. "Who is
it?" asked another. "We have played many days and nights, but no one
played like that. All have their own flutes. Who can this be?"