of Āsnᴀˊxkǃ on the Queen Charlotte islands. The other town people
were continually bringing in halibut and a salmon called îcqēˊn, but
he and his mother could not get one piece and were very hungry. One
day he begged to accompany some people who were going out, and they
consented. When he got to the fishing ground he had a bite and began
to pull up his line very rapidly. As he did so numbers of salmon tails
began coming up for some distance around, and the people started to put
them into the canoe. They did not know what it meant. When he got it up
they found that it was a very large sack full of salmon with just their
tails sticking out, and they completely filled their canoes, for the
salmon extended all about them. Then they carried these ashore and had
so many that they began making oil out of some. With this oil and the
dried salmon the people of that village had plenty to eat.
Years ago it always happened that the poor people to whom others were
unkind brought luck to the village. They were so unkind to this boy
that they did not give him any halibut, and that is why it was through
him that they had plenty to eat.
49. ROOTS[114]
A boy was walking along in front of the houses of a very populous
village early one morning when a quill fell right in front of him. The
boy picked it up and started to run away, but it lifted him up into the
air out of sight. After that several other people were missed, and no
one knew what had become of them. Finally, however, they saw another
going up very rapidly, and so discovered what was the matter. Now, the
people watched very closely, and, when another was seen to be taken up,
a man seized him by the legs. He, however, was also lifted into the
air. Then another grasped him, and all of the people of the village
kept on doing this, thinking to break the string, until no one was
left in that town except a woman and her daughter. These two lived at
one end and refused to touch the others.
The mother of this girl was very fond of making spruce-root baskets,
and, when she went after roots, the girl always accompanied her. When
her mother cut off the ends of the roots out in the forest her daughter
would chew them because they were sweet, and swallow the juice, after
which she would spit them out and take more. Finally she got so used
to chewing them that she would chew up fine the roots themselves and
swallow them.
Now, after this had gone on for some time, the girl saw that she was
growing large, and presently she gave birth to a boy baby. While this
child was still very small she bathed him in cold water to make him
strong, and he grew very fast.
When he was partially grown he one day saw the quill which had carried
away the people, picked it up and pulled on it very hard. Then he
noticed that someone was pulling it up. This invisible person tried to
pull him up also, but he was very strong and ran out roots into the
ground in every direction so that he could not be moved. All that he
could see was the quill. He tried hard to find a line fastened to it,
but there was nothing visible except the quill pulling up and down. He
determined to hold on, however, to see what would happen, and at last
he felt something break and the quill come away in his hands.
While Roots continued sitting in the same place a boy came to him
saying, “Where is that quill of mine? Give it to me.” Then Roots
answered, “Well! where are my village people? Give them to me.” “Give
me the quill first,” said the boy. “No, give me back my village people
first, and I will give you the quill.” Then he begged very hard for his
village people, and the boy begged very hard for the quill, until at
last Roots heard the noise of people coming. At that he handed back the
quill and the boy vanished.
The people did not come that day, however, and Roots was uneasy,
feeling that he had been very foolish to give the quill back before his
friends had returned. Next morning early, however, he heard a great
noise as of people moving about, and he jumped out of bed to look. The
houses throughout the village were filled with their former occupants,
who had come back during the night. All were very glad to get back
after their long absence, for where they had been they seemed to have
suffered. All complained of the mean master that they had had, but they
could not tell whether they had been made slaves or not. All were very
good to Roots for having restored them.
Afterward Roots, the full form of whose name is Root-ends (Xᴀt
cugūˊʟkǃî), was known everywhere, and all of the strong people would go
to his village to test him. Among them went a strong rock, called Itcǃ,
who felt that he was very powerful. When they began to contend, Roots
jumped upon Itcǃ first but could not move him. Then Roots looked at
his antagonist and saw that he was half buried in the ground although
a human being. This made Roots angry and he stooped down, picked Itcǃ
up, and threw him down headlong. After he had done so he looked and lo!
there lay only a rock. If it had not been for the numbers of roots that
Roots sent out, however, Itcǃ would have beaten him.
FOOTNOTES:
[114] See story 13.
50. THE MUCUS CHILD
From a certain village the men began to disappear. They would go up
into the woods behind after firewood and never come back. Finally all
the rest of the men went up there together, intending to kill whatever
had been destroying their friends, but they, too, never came back. Then
the women and children began disappearing in the same manner until not
one person remained except a woman and her daughter who refused to go
out.
After that the younger woman walked back and forth in front of the
houses, crying and calling to each of the former house owners. One
day she cried very hard until the mucus ran down from her nose, and,
wiping this off, she threw it down near one of the doors. After a
while she noticed from the corner of her eye that it moved. She looked
at it closely and saw that it was like a bubble. Then she stooped
down to examine it and saw in it a little man. Before the bubble had
disappeared she picked it up and swallowed it and soon discovered that
she was pregnant. In a short time she gave birth to a boy.
This mucus child grew up very fast, and, when he was old enough to
shoot, his mother made him a bow and arrows with which to practise.
When he became somewhat larger he asked his mother, “Mother, why are
these houses empty? Where have the people that occupied them gone?” And
his mother answered, “We had many friends in this village. They would
go after wood and never return. The women and children did the same
thing. They followed their husbands and parents and never returned.”
This boy grew up very fast, and meanwhile he kept thinking to himself,
“I wonder what happened to those people who went up after wood and did
not come back.” After he had become still larger he made himself a
bow and arrow points, and his mother made him a quiver. With these he
ventured a short distance up into the woods. He was afraid to go far.
Finally he thought, “I am going a long distance up into the woods, but
I am not going to say a word about it to my mother.” And so, early in
the morning, he went straight up from the house and, after traveling
for some time, reached a creek of black water which ran out from under
a glacier. There he met a large man who said to him, “Grandson, take
off all of your clothes, get into this creek until the water is up to
your neck, and sit there no matter how cold it is.” The boy did so,
and, after a long time, the big man saw the water shake around him and
thought, “The water is shaking because he has sat in it so long that he
is beginning to get cold.” Then the big man told him to come out, and,
after he had done so, he said, “Go and try to pull up that tree.” This
tree was a short one, and he pulled it up easily by the roots. Then the
big man told him to strike a large round white rock near by to see if
he could smash it, and he did so. The rock was broken in pieces. But
this rock was only a friable one put there on purpose for the boy to
break. Then the big man said to him, “Put on your clothes now and go
home. To-morrow come up again.”
The next day the big man told him to get into the creek again, and,
when he saw him shivering, told him to come out and pull up a still
larger tree. He pulled it up easily. Then he took him to a still larger
rock that looked shiny and hard and told him to strike it. When he did
so the tree went into slivers, but the rock was intact. So he told the
boy to dress, run down home, and come up again very early. This time he
was told to pull up a big crab-apple tree. He succeeded, but, although
it looked easy to him to break the rock, only the tree was shattered.
The fourth time the boy came up very early before daylight. After he
had been in the stream long enough to shiver the big man said, “Run
to that tree standing over there. Try to break that.” It was a wild
maple, but he broke it more easily than the crab apple. The big man was
surprised.
Now the boy knew that he had great strength, and when the big man told
him to try to smash the rock again, the rock flew all about. Then the
big man took off his leggings, his shirt, and his moccasins, which were
beautifully worked with porcupine quills, and put them on the boy.
The moccasins were made to tie to the leggings and the sole of one of
them was a whetstone. Then the man told him that he was Strength and
had come to help him. He showed him a valley and said, “Go right up
that valley, making sure to walk in the middle of it. On one side is
the glacier. As soon as you reach the top of the mountain you will
hear some one calling. You will see a large town there. This village
is where your people went when they disappeared and those are the wolf
people that took them. As soon as they get within your reach hit them
with your club, and if it touches one of them it will kill him. Run up
the hill. If you run down the hill you will be caught. If you become
tired, think of me and you will become stronger.”
Now the boy went up the hill as he had been directed until he reached
the end of the valley, where he heard some one call. He looked down
and saw a very large town. At once people came running toward him,
and he clubbed them. He could see them fall but did not feel his club
strike. He kept on running up the hill, clubbing his pursuers as he
went until he had destroyed all of them. Then he returned to his
benefactor.
When Strength heard what had happened, he said, “Go back, for there
is another village on the other side. Go there and call to them. They
will not see you as quickly as these first. Call to them, ‘Give me my
uncle’s life, my village people’s life.’ If they refuse, tell them that
you are going to strike their village with your club. If they allow you
to have it they will hand you a box.” He gave the boy strict orders not
to strike unless they refused to give him the box of lives.
When the boy came to the first house in this village, he asked for the
lives of his town people, but they said, “We don’t know where they are.
They might be in the next house.” He went to that, and they said the
same thing there. They answered him in the same manner at all of the
houses. By the time he reached the last he was discouraged, thinking
that he had undertaken all of that labor for nothing. He went in there,
however, and said, “Give me my village people’s lives. If you don’t
give them to me, I will strike your village.” This was the town chief’s
house, however, and he said, “Don’t strike our village. I will give you
the lives of your village people.” These people were also wolf people.
Then the wolf chief handed him the box of lives and said, “Take it back
to your village and leave it in each house for four days. At the end of
four days go into the house and see what has happened.”
After this the boy returned to his native village and left the box of
lives four days in the house of his uncle, the chief. Early on the
morning of the day following he heard noises there, jumped up and went
over to it. There were all of his people walking about and looking very
happy. He left the box in every house in town for the prescribed period
until all the absent ones had come to life, and all of their houses
were filled as before. All the time this boy was away among the wolves
his mother and grandmother were worrying about him, but after the
people had been restored they were very happy.
51. THE SALMON CHIEF
A certain fisherman fished for salmon and nothing else. One day, after
he had fished for a long time, he was walking upon the beach and came
upon a salmon left by the tide. He was very glad for he had not been
getting any fish for some time and saw that this was nice and fresh. He
said to himself, “Oh! what a nice meal I shall have.” He had been very
hungry for salmon. But, as he reached down to pick it up, it spoke to
him saying, “No, no, don’t eat me. I am chief of all the salmon. Put
me into the water and let me go out again. You will get lots of salmon
if you let me go.” The man felt very badly to lose it, but he thought
that since it talked to him in this way he would let it go, and he did
so.
Before this happened it had been very stormy, so that the fisherman had
been unable to get anything, but now it became calm, and he went out
fishing and caught many salmon. Next day he went for more, but it was
so stormy at sea that he could not catch any. Then he thought that he
would walk along shore again. He did so, and when he came to the place
where he had found the first salmon he saw another large, fine salmon.
He thought, “Oh! what a fine-looking salmon, and I have to let it go
again.” But the salmon spoke up at once saying, “No, don’t let me go.
Take me home, and you shall have me for your supper. After you have
cooked me do not break any of my bones. Take care of all of them. Take
the bones out of my head and place them in a dish. Then put them under
your pillow and sleep on them to-night.”
This man lived alone with his wife, and they had no children but were
very anxious for them. About midnight the man awoke and, looking under
his pillow, saw two fine-looking boy babies.
The children grew up quite fast, and one of them was very brave, but
the other was a coward and always stayed at home. One day the former
asked his father, “Are you two the only ones who live here?” “That is
all; that is all,” said his father, for he did not want his son to
leave them. After that the boy begged hard to go away, and asked his
father to put up some food for him to take, but at first his father
refused. He begged so hard, however, that after a while his parents
consented and prepared it.
So the boy finally went away, and presently he came to where an
old woman lived. This woman said to him, “My grandson.” “Oh! my
grandmother,” said he. Then she gave him something to eat. She put
something into a very small kettle, and, after it was cooked, she
gave it to him and it tasted very good. Then she looked up at him and
said, “I suppose you thought ‘That old woman who lives back there
is starving.’ I don’t suppose you thought I had anything to eat.”
Afterward the boy said, “Grandmother, why is it that this village looks
so black?” She answered, “There is a monster there which is a human
being and yet not a human being. It has seven heads. It is to be fed
with the chief’s daughter. Otherwise he will murder every one in the
village.” Finally they heard a drum and saw people going along dancing.
They were taking the chief’s daughter to this monster. Then the boy saw
them return without her.[115]
At once the boy started on a run toward the place whither they had
taken this girl and presently came upon her walking toward the monster
very slowly. When she heard some one walking up to her she turned round
and saw the boy. She said, “Where are you going?” Said he, “Where are
you going?” “Oh! my father has given me to this seven-headed monster,
and that is where I am going.” Then the boy said, “Don’t go there. You
better go back with me.” She kept going along closer and closer to the
monster’s place and seemed to go slower and slower.
By and by they saw the man with his seven heads sticking out of the
den. He began to laugh when he saw them and said, “I thought I was
going to have only one girl to eat, but I am also going to have a fat,
plump boy.” The boy answered, “You are going to have me to eat, are
you? You and I will fight first.” Then the monster laughed again and
said to him, “Do you see all of those bones around there?” Human bones
lay all around. “And you think you can fight me.”
After that they began fighting. The boy had a knife made of obsidian
(în). He was very quick and could walk all over his opponent because
the latter was slow and clumsy, so he finally cut off three of the
monster’s heads. Then the boy said, “Let us sit down for a minute and
rest.” They did so, and, after a while the monster said, “I am strong
now, stronger than I have ever been.” But the boy answered, “You had
seven heads and I cut off three, leaving you but four, yet you say that
you are stronger than before. You may be stronger, but you are too
slow.” The girl stood near by looking on. Then they started fighting
once more, and the boy cut off the monster’s four remaining heads for
he was slower than ever.
Now they went home to the boy’s father, and, when he told him what had
happened, his father felt very proud of him. The boy wanted to marry
the chief’s daughter, and, although his people were poor, the chief
consented willingly.
FOOTNOTES:
[115] This portion of the story and that which follows look like a
garbled European myth, such as the story of Perseus and Andromeda, or
that of Hercules and the Hydra.
52. THE JEALOUS UNCLE[116]
A high-caste man had a beautiful wife of whom he was very jealous. He
had also four sisters well married in different villages, all with
sons. One morning the eldest of these sisters said to her husband, “I
want to go to see my brother. I believe he would like to see our son.”
Her husband was willing, because he wanted to see the man himself.
When they arrived there, the woman’s brother pretended that he thought
a great deal of his nephew, but really he did not want to see him for
fear his wife would take a liking to him because he was handsome. He
told the young man, however, that he was going to take him everywhere
with him. His mother felt very happy to think that her brother thought
so much of him and left him there with his uncle.
Immediately after his mother had gone, however, the uncle determined
to make away with him, because his wife seemed to like him. So next
morning he said, “We are going down right away to get some devilfish to
eat. The tide will soon be low enough.” Then the boy prepared himself,
for he was very anxious to go, and they set out. His uncle said, “Walk
right along there,” pointing to a high ridge parallel with the beach.
“Walk ahead, and I will follow you.”
The boy did as he was directed and soon saw something large on the
beach, that kept opening and closing. It was a very large clam. His
uncle told him to get right on top of the ridge to watch it, for it was
the first time he had seen anything of the kind. As the boy was very
anxious to examine it, he got up there and leaned far over. When he did
so, however, the clam opened and remained open, and his uncle pushed
him right down into it. Then the clam closed upon him and killed him.
The boy’s parents soon found out what had happened to their son, and,
although his uncle declared that it was an accident, they knew that he
was jealous and did not believe him.
Some time after this the uncle turned his thoughts to his second
sister’s son who was still handsomer. His wife had seen this youth, and
had told her husband how fine he was. This made him very jealous, and
he sent to this sister, saying that it was about time she sent one of
her sons to help him, for he had no children and needed help. He knew
that the oldest child would be sent, because the next was a girl. So
the boy came, and he threw him down into the big clam like the other.
The uncle was very jealous of his wife because he knew that everyone
fell in love with her on account of her beauty.
After this the uncle sent for the third sister’s child who was older
than the last he had killed, but he would not go for a long time, and
his parents did not ask him to. He was a flighty youth, however, and,
after his uncle had sent for him several times, he thought of his
uncle’s handsome wife and made up his mind to visit them.
All of the time this boy was with him the uncle watched him and his
wife very closely and would not leave the house for a minute. His wife
was very anxious to give him warning, but her husband feared it and
watched her too closely. She made signs to the boy, but he did not
understand them. When his uncle took him down to the beach, he said, “I
must go back to the house after a drink of water.” He thought that his
uncle would wait for him, but instead he followed him right back to the
house. Then the boy said to his uncle’s wife, “Where is the water?” She
pointed it out, but, as her husband stood close by, she could not say
anything more. So they went down to the beach, but, when the youth saw
this clam moving in the distance, he ran by it very quickly, and his
uncle was disappointed. Then they went on farther, and the uncle said
to him, “Do you see that hole down there?” He could see plainly a very
large hole. Then his uncle said, “The devilfish that we want to get for
our supper is in that.” He handed him the stick for getting devilfish
and said, “Hook it. You can get it very easily.” The boy put the end of
his stick into the hole, felt that the fish was there, and hooked it.
Immediately he tried to run off, but his uncle was right behind him,
and pushed him forward so that the devilfish seized him and dragged him
under the rock.
All the time this man was killing his nephews, the youngest, who looked
very much like the first one killed, had been practising. His father
showed him how to make himself look like a very small ball of feathers.
He had the shaman of that village make a bracelet of eagle down for
him inclosing a piece of devil’s club carved by the shaman. Then the
shaman said, “Just as soon as you find that you are in danger turn this
bracelet around on your wrist four times as quickly as you can.” Then
the shaman told him to climb a very high tree, and climbed right after
him, while his father stood watching. The shaman said, “Now turn that
around on your wrist four times as quickly as you can.” He did so, and
just as he finished the shaman pushed him down. Then his father saw
nothing but a ball of eagle down rolling down the tree. As soon as
it reached the ground there stood the boy, and the shaman knew that
everything was all right. He also gave the boy a knife having a handle
carved like devil’s clubs, which he kept in the bosom of his shirt,
tied around his neck.
After this the boy’s friends took him to his uncle and remained with
him for three days. On the fourth day they returned. Then the uncle’s
wife cried continually to think that a boy not fully grown should be
left there to be killed, and his uncle said to her angrily, “What is
it you are always crying about? You are in love again aren’t you?”
Then the boy said aloud so that his uncle could hear, “You are in love
with the right one this time.” At that his uncle became angry and told
him he talked too much. Right away he said, “Come on with me. We will
get a devilfish for our supper.” So the boy prepared himself, and they
started off, while his uncle’s wife came out and watched them, thinking
that he was the last.
As they went along the boy saw the clam, and, before his uncle told
him it was there, he stood still just above it. For a moment he forgot
about his bracelet, but, just as he saw his uncle raise his hands, he
remembered and turned his bracelet about once. When he reached the clam
he turned it for the fourth time and fell into the clam as a ball of
feathers, while his uncle went home, thinking he had disposed of him.
The ball of feathers inside, however, turned back into a boy, and he
cut both sides of the clam and came out.
Then he saw the devilfish-stick his uncle had given him lying there
and thought he would go on and see the devilfish they were to have
had for their supper. When he reached the place and saw the devilfish
sitting outside of its hole he became frightened, yet he thought that
he would try to kill it. Now he went up to the creature and turned his
bracelet around twelve times, wishing that it become small. It did
grow small, and he killed it easily and dragged it home on his stick.
Reaching the house, he pushed the door open and threw it right in front
of his uncle, where it reassumed enormous proportions. Then his uncle
was astonished to see him and began screaming loudly, begging the boy
to take the devilfish out at once. So he took it out and threw it down
upon the beach. Afterward he looked back at it, and it had become the
same big devilfish again.