Part 35

Very early next day he went after firewood. Then he brought it in and took it up to the camp. His father-in-law was very glad on account of it, and he called the people for it.

After that he again went after firewood, took his loon skin out from between the two tree tops where he kept it, and put it on. Then he saw a halibut swimming along and threw it ashore; and he brought it in. Again his father-in-law called the people for it. Every time he went for firewood he brought in hair seal or halibut. Each time his father-in-law called the people for them. By and by they went away.

At that time some copper stuck out toward the sea from a cliff on Mount Qātcꜝig̣ᴀ′n. [718] Every time they went by there was a crowd of people below. All that time they wanted to get it, and tried to bring it down with their arrows. When they did the same thing below it this time, they (the hero and his people) were also among them.

At that time a slave owned by his father-in-law shot at the copper with his sling. Then he struck his master’s wife with the sling. And the slave became ashamed. That is why slaves are ashamed when they make mistakes.

But he (the hero) hit it with the sling. And when it came down his mother-in-law became frightened and said something about having it go to the north. Thither it at once went. That is why there is much copper to the north. If she had not been frightened, there would have been very much copper in the Nass.

Afterward they set out and camped again. And from there his wife, the slave, and himself went after something. When they moved on they always wore their best clothes. Then he left his good clothes in the canoe in order to get something. When he came back the slave had put on his clothing and was sitting near his wife on the broad thwart in the middle of the canoe. Then he did not want to make him ashamed, so he got in at the stern and paddled them away. Because this chief’s son did so to them chiefs’ sons now do not like to make people ashamed.

Here he again hid his skin in the fork of a tree. Then he again went for something. And he put it on and saw spring salmon swimming about at the other side of the river. He took one and brought it ashore. He brought it to the camp. His father-in-law also called the people for that.

Again he went for something, entered his loon skin, and brought out two. He also brought those to camp. His father-in-law also invited the people for those. Every time the slave went with him and saw how he used the skin.

After he had done so at this place for a time he began to gamble. After he had lost for a while he stopped and went to the house. His wife was gone from the house. [719] Then he went to where he kept his loon skin, and that too had disappeared.

Then he went down to the river. He looked into the water and saw his wife wearing the loon skin lying with her arm round an old log in the river. After she had put this [skin] on she thought she saw a spring salmon. She seized it. But [instead] she seized an old log lying under water. There she was drowned.

Then he pulled out his wife’s body and started inland in shame right opposite. She alone knew what her husband did. And, after he was gone, the slave began doing the same thing. Before he had done it for a long time, in going out to a spring salmon which was swimming about, he disappeared for ever.

This is why women always spoil things by meddling with them and by talking; [why] slaves, too, are always ashamed when they make mistakes.

This is another story of the rival towns so popular among Tsimshian and Haida alike. Compare the story of A-slender-one-who-was-given-away and notes to same.

SLAUGHTER-LOVER.

[Told by Richard of the Middle-Gîtî′ns.]

A chief in a certain town was married. Then he asked a good-looking woman in a neighboring town in marriage. After a while he married her. On her account he rejected the one he had first married, and she sat around in the corner of the house weeping.

Then the uncles and the brothers of the one he had just married came to him, and he gave them food. They were unable to consume the cranberries and berries of all kinds which he gave them to eat. During the same time, his brothers-in-law [720] gave him much property.

Once, when they went to bed, the one he disliked was weeping in the corner for her dead child with pitch on her face. And in the night she went to one of the chief’s brothers-in-law of medium age who had paint on his face and feathers on his head. Then the woman rubbed herself against the paint upon his face, and she rubbed herself upon his hair. Then she went to where she had been lying.

Next morning the woman’s nose and face had paint upon them, and her face had feathers upon it. And the man’s face also had spots of pitch upon it. Then the chief took to his bed [with grief]. She did this because she wanted to see whether he had really rejected her. Then his brothers-in-law went away.

Some time after that he sent out to call his brothers-in-law, and his brothers-in-law came to him. Then he gave them food. And they went to bed. All slept. Then he put water on the fire, and he spilled it on them. And their bodies lay there motionless. Then he dragged the dead bodies of his wife’s brothers[720] and uncles[720] to the bases of the trees. And he again refused to have her.

Now her mother (the mother of his second wife) was saved and cried about. She wept continually, holding her arms toward the sky. Then the chief went to the town and killed all the old people in it. And her mother went inland, made a house out of old cedar bark at a certain mountain, and wept there. All that time she held her hands toward the sky.

By and by her thigh swelled up. Before ten nights had passed it burst, and a child came out. Then she washed him. And not a long time afterward he wept for a bow. Then she broke off a hemlock branch and made one for him. Then he went out and brought in a wren. [721] He skinned it and dried the skin.

The next time he went out he killed and brought in a song sparrow that went whistling along. And he also skinned that. He went out after that and brought in a robin, [722] and he ate its meat. There was nothing [else] to eat.

After he had been bringing them in in this way for a while, one day he killed a black bear. After he had killed all kinds of animals, he killed a grizzly bear. That he also brought in to this mother.

By and by he asked his mother: “Mother, why do you live here all alone?” Then she said to her son: “My son, they destroyed your uncles. Your sister was married. Then your uncles went to her. There they were destroyed. They also came after us. I escaped from them. Therefore I am very careful where I go. I am afraid to look at the town.”

Then he asked his mother: “Where is the town?” And she said to him: “It lies over there.” And he said: “Mother, to-morrow, I am going to see it.” “Don’t, my child, they will kill you also.” “Yet I will see it.”

And next day he went down to see his sister. With his copper bow he went down to help her. He had concealed it outside from his mother, they say, and, when he went out, he threw away that she made for him just outside and took his own.

Now he went to the town. And he sat behind it and thought of his sister. He had something round his neck. It was made of copper. Then his sister came to him and he asked her questions. He asked her how he treated her. And she told him that he treated her badly.

Then he pulled off what he had round his neck and gave it to his sister. “Tell him you found this for him. And, when it begins to burn a little, run out from him with it and come to me again.”

Then the woman went in and said: “Here is something I found for you.” When he took it, fire flashed out from it, and she ran out from him. Then her brother handed her his bow: “Say the same thing to him and run out from him.” Then she went in and she gave him the copper bow. And at once she ran out. And behind her there was a great noise of burning inside of the house. The whole town burned the way (i.e., as rapidly as) a grouse flies away. [723] Not even one was saved out of it. He did it on account of his uncles.

Then he went with his sister to where his uncles had had their town. And he asked his sister: “Where do my uncles’[720] bones lie?” And she said: “They lie behind the burned town.” Then they went there and put their bones together. And, after he had spit medicine upon them four times, they sat up. Then his uncles[720] settled in the empty houses.

Then he went to get his mother. Now his mother was already an old woman. And he spit medicine over her, and she became young. Then he settled his mother down in the town. And he spit medicine upon the old people they had killed, and they also became young. [724]

And he went out in the evening and came in next morning, and he told his mother he had killed a whale. And, when they went down to see it, a whale lay there. Then the town people cut it up. And the next evening he went out and came in in the morning. And he pulled some strings of halibut in in front of the town.

One day he called the people. At that time he gave them all kinds of food. The things in the trays were not consumed. Then they went away. Those he restored to youth were married. Then he said: “I will give you ten whales to eat.” And, after they had returned home and the next morning had come, ten whales were floating in front of the town.

And after that he looked about in the neighboring towns for a wife. In the evening he went out. He came in very early. All that time he concealed the things with which he was born. Only his sister knew about them. By and by he prepared to ask the chief’s daughter in a neighboring town in marriage. Presently he was accepted and all the town people went with him to get her. And she came in with him.

Then his uncles gave him the town. And he frequently gave them food. When he sent to call them in he told them to go out aimlessly and get things for him. It was as if things flowed in through the doorway, and he fed them.

After some time had passed he went to his father-in-law. Then all his uncles again went with him. But instead of receiving him kindly they used supernatural powers against him. Before anything they tried against him came to him, it was gone. By and by his father-in-law pulled him against a cloak he wore which was covered with needles. Then the needles dropped from it, and he threw it into the corner.

Then he said: “Did you lie to me formerly?” And he began to give his son-in-law something to eat. And, after he had got through feeding him, he arose very early next morning, and, when he went to the fire, something near him made a thundering noise. Now he sent his uncles home. And he remained behind. After he had received food there a while he asked his father-in-law to take him over. Then he took him over, and his father-in-law [returned without] going into the house. Then he said: “I am giving you ten whales.” And the morning after they got back ten whales floated in front of the town.

And he again feasted the people. By and by one of his uncles came in to him, saying he was not in good circumstances. And he said to him (his uncle): “Live over there. You will be well off over there.” And, after he had given his uncle food, he told his uncle he had better go. “Go. You will cease being poorly off. When I have food brought to you, invite your elder brothers.” He went at once. Food came in of itself after him. Then he called the people for it.

And then his wife became pregnant. And her thigh was swollen, as that of his mother had been. Out of it came a woman. Within ten nights she started to walk. She was he himself born again.

And before he went away he stole a look at his father-in-law. Then he prepared to leave [him]. “I will go to renew my town, which has become old.” And one evening he started. He was gone for good.

And he came to his town. His town was old, and he spit medicine upon it. It was as it had been before. Then his wife went back to her father’s town.

And one of his uncles who was in the town went out one evening. Something took him up. Then he took their wives also to the town. That was the Moon who was helping them, because she raised her hands and wept. Then he took all of his uncles up and let them become his servants. There he took good care of them.

This was told me by an old man who had spent much of his youth among the Kaigani, and it is probably a mainland story.

THE WOMAN AT NASS WHO FLED FROM HER HUSBAND

[Told by Jimmy Sterling of the Stᴀstas]

A married woman consorted with a man. She grew to be very much in love with him. Her child was rather a large boy. When he (her lover) went to visit her she said to him: “I will let myself fall sick, and I will let myself die. I will tell them to place me on a tree top. On the night when they place me there go quickly and get me. When you get ready to come up for me get some wet, rotten wood, out of which the water will run and which will just fit the box.”

After she had gone with him for a while she let herself fall sick. She then gave her husband directions: “When I die place me on the top of a tree. I do not want to be on the ground.” As soon as she died they put her into the box and put a strong cord around it. They then put her between the two tops of a tree.

He who was in love with her went at once to her in the night. As soon as he had found some wet wood he untied the ropes which were around her and let her out. He then put the wet, rotten wood in her place. She had told him to do this in order that the water might drip out of the wood and they might think that it was the grease from her body.

He then told the woman where to wait for him the next day. And he let her go before him. On the next day he went after her. He told his friends that he was going to get furs.

They at once set out to go far inland; and, after they had traveled about for a while, he built a house for them far inland, and they began to live there.

Her husband constantly came weeping with her child to the place where she had been placed on high. By and by [what he supposed was] the grease from her body began to run down. That was the liquid running out of the rotten wood. The man who went for furs disappeared moreover. His friends thought that a grizzly bear had killed him.

Where they stayed, far inland, there was plenty of all kinds of animals, which he killed for them. They had plenty of all kinds of berries and salmon. And they wore hides sewed together. They became like Wood Indians. [725]

Moreover, they began there to sing songs. The woman danced the whole time. She also made up new words. During all that time she taught her husband. She made up new words in order that when she went back they should not know her. After they had stayed there many years they went away. They carried on their backs skins of all kinds of animals prepared in unusual ways. Furthermore, the woman dressed herself differently. She wore things such as the Wood Indians wear. But the man did not dress himself so. They now came back to the town.

The man said that he had come to a town while he was hunting far inland, had there married the woman, and had remained there. One night he said that his wife would dance. All the while she spoke the words that she had composed for her husband. But her husband said that it was her language.

All the people of the town then went into the house where she was, and she began to dance before them. Her dances and her songs were strange. Nevertheless she made them desire to come in and look at her.

Whenever she danced her former husband and her child came and looked on with them. When she ceased her dancing she pointed her finger at her child and said something. Her husband then explained her words. She said, [he explained], that she had a child like him in her own country. She then called her child, and she cried.

When she first danced her former husband recognized the motions that she used to make, and her voice. Although he recalled the one who was dead, he did not believe that it was she. That was why he continually went to look. Because she kept them up all night to see her dance they were all asleep in the morning. They learned her songs.

After a while, having positively identified his wife, he climbed up to where she had been put and untied the box cover. Only rotten wood was there. Some time after he had seen this, very early one morning after she had danced, while they still slept, he went thither. Then, after he had pulled from her face the thing that she wore as a hat as she slept, he saw it was his wife. And while they slept he killed them both.

Then they discovered it, but the woman’s friends were ashamed. The man’s friends were also ashamed. Nothing happened. [726]

A similar story from the Alaskan Haida will be found in Memoirs of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Volume V, part 1, page 263.

THE REJECTED LOVER

[Told by Abraham of Those-born-at-Qꜝā′dᴀsg̣o.]

At Qꜝadō′ a certain person fell in love with a woman. She then refused to have him, but she told him to pull out his hair, and then she would fall in love with him. He went again to talk to her. She then told him to pull out his eyebrows and his eyelashes; she would then fall in love with him. After that he went again to speak with her. That time she told him to pull out his mustache and the hair on his body. Only then, [she said], would she fall in love with him. After that he again went to her. Then she absolutely refused him.

He ceased going abroad among the people. When he needed anything he always went out at night. He began to work inside. He whittled. After he had done this for a while he had filled two boxes. And, when a moonlight night came, he went out.

He then shot the sky. He picked up another arrow and shot it into the notch of the first. He did the same thing again and again. After he had shot away his two boxfuls it hung a bow’s length from the ground, and he laid the bow upon them. He at once went up upon it.

After mounting for some time he came to a town. That was the Moon’s town, they say. After he had gone about the town for a while some one said to him out of a big house: “Your grandfather invites you in.” And he entered. He (the Moon) then had him sit at his right hand in the rear of the house.

After he had sat for a while looking at him, as he sat near him, he had a box brought to him. He saw that all of his hair was gone. At that time he saw only one box. After he had pulled them apart five times he took a small comb out of the inmost one.

He then had water brought and began to make his face look as it ought to look. Each time he wet his hands he rubbed them upon his eyes. When he had made him good-looking he began to comb his hair. He ran the comb down along half of his head, and when it had passed below he took it off. And after he had done this to him three times he stopped. After that he also made his eyebrows with the comb, and his eyelashes, and he also brought out his mustache.

When he first came in he said to him: “Grandson, news had come that you were going to come up to let me set you to rights. I will make you quite proper.”

He straightway made him good-looking. He finished him. He was there many nights. Then he gave the chief directions: “When the one that you loved, who made you pull out your hair, comes with the others to look at you do not turn your face toward her. Turn your back to her.”

He then went down again upon the arrows. Now he sat erect in his father’s house, and all the town of Qꜝadō′ came in to look at him. Then the one with whom he had been in love looked in at him, and he turned his back upon her. By and by, fascinated by the sight of him, she died.

The first part of a longer Masset story resembles this. See Memoirs of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, volume V, pages 228 and 229. Also compare the story of Big-tail of the present series. The scene of this, like many others, is located at the Tsimshian town of Qꜝadō′; see the last episode in the story of A-slender-one-who-was-given-away.

HE WHO GATHERED FOOD FOR AN EAGLE

[Told by Jackson, late chief of Skidegate.]

He had ten uncles. They gathered food at a certain salmon creek. Then he went up, got very many salmon, and filled his canoe. An eagle sat on a sand bar. He split open the salmon, threw them off there, and paddled away with an empty canoe. On the next day he again went out, split the salmon open, and threw them off. After a long time the people came to know about the eagle.

They then gathered all kinds of berries. His mother was a widow. His mother looked after his youngest uncle’s wife. For that reason he picked wild crab apples and cranberries and gave them to his uncle’s wife. And, when they moved away, since he and his mother had done the best that they could for his youngest uncle’s wife, they stayed with them. The minds of the rest of his uncles became different toward him, because he had gathered food for the eagle.

Now they came to the town. After they had stayed in the town for some time, and it was spring, they became hungry. He then went to the wife of one of his uncles, but she said to him: “Live upon the food that you gathered for the eagle.” He went out and entered another house. There they said the same thing to him. He went into the houses of his ten uncles, and every time they said the same thing to him. When he went into the house of his youngest uncle’s wife, they gave him the dorsal fin of a salmon, and he chewed it.

Now, when it was near the end of spring, they moved away from him. They did not leave even a small piece of old cedar bark in the town. And his youngest uncle’s wife explained to his mother. “When they start off, dig about in the place where I sit down to defecate.”

Now, when they pushed off, she was the last. And he dug about in the place where she had sat to defecate. He then found a bag holding a humpback split open and small pieces of food of various kinds. That was the only food obtainable where they were.

And his youngest uncle left them a little old canoe. And the boy also started off, not knowing whither he was going. [727]

[Told by Wī′nats, chief of the Seaward-gîtî′ns.]

Far away from where they left him was a rock. One day a young eagle sat on the top of the rock. When it flew away, he (the boy) went to the place. Beside the rock lay the tail of a spring salmon. He picked it up and brought it to his mother. She steamed it, and they drank the soup.

The next day he again looked toward the place where the eagle had sat. It sat there again. And he again went thither. A larger piece lay there than the one he had found before. Every morning they became larger until a whole spring salmon lay there.

One day, just at dawn, [728] he looked for the eagle that helped him. It sat there, and he went thither and found a porpoise tail lying there. He then took it to the house, and she (his mother) steamed it. There was a larger piece every morning until a whole one lay there.

One day the eagle sat there again, and he went thither. The tail of a black whale lay there. He cut it up and took it over to the house. The pieces of whale became larger every time until a whole one lay there. Then there were more whales. At last there were ten.

Then the slaves of his uncles went out to look for him. He felt their presence, brought them to the house, and gave them some food. And he watched them while they ate. He watched to see that they did not hide any mouthfuls. When they went away he told them not to say that he was being helped. And they went off.