A young Mouse-Girl loses a tooth while pilfering puddings and claims she was shot by the Envious-One from heaven. Her grandmother and Ermine-Woman investigate, discovering the truth through a tooth-fitting test. Exposed for her mischief, the girl is scolded by her mother and told to die, ultimately succumbing after failing to strangle herself on a forked twig.
Source
Koryak Texts
by Waldemar Bogoras
American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume V
(edited by Franz Boas)
E. J. Brill – Leyden, 1917
► Themes of the story
Cunning and Deception: The girl’s falsehood about her injury exemplifies deceit to avoid punishment.
Family Dynamics: The interactions between the Mouse-Girl, her mother, and grandmother highlight familial relationships and responses to misconduct.
Divine Punishment: The girl’s claim of being punished by a celestial being reflects themes of retribution from higher powers.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Koryak people
Collected in the village of Kamenskoye, on Penshina Bay, with the help of Nicholas Vilkhin, a half-Russianized Koryak, Decmber 1900 – April, 1901.
Mouse-Girl said, “Let us play!” They played, and one of them lost a tooth, the youngest one of all. They said to her, “How did you lose this tooth?” She said, “I was shot by the Envious-One from heaven. By his arrow I lost my tooth. Now I shall die, how can I live?” They said to her, “Do not stay outside! Let us carry you into the house!” They carried her home.
Her mother said, “What has happened to you?” “I was shot from the sky by the Envious-One with an arrow.” The mother said, “Let us call grandmother!” They called her, they brought her to the house. She began to practise shamanism, in order to find out where the small daughter got her suffering. She said, “My breath does not fit anywhere.” Then she wanted to go to the porch. Ermine-Woman said, “Halloo! I will go to the porch, I will inspect the puddings.”
► Continue reading…
The small girl pilfered there, and so she lost her tooth. They looked at the puddings, and saw that one made of stone-pine nuts had been gnawed at. There she left a tooth. Indeed, when pilfering she lost a tooth. Ermine-Woman brought in the tooth.
“Whose tooth is it?” Ermine-Woman said, “On which of the small girls shall we try this tooth?” She said to one of the small girls, “Open your mouth!” That one opened her mouth. She applied the tooth, but it did not fit. In the same way it did not fit any of those small girls. Ermine-Woman said, “Let us try it on the little suffering girl!” She tried it, and it fitted her well. Ermine-Woman said, “She was pilfering.” What should she do?
Her mother scolded her, and said, “Go and die! Strangle yourself on a forked twig!” She (went, and very soon) came back. She said, “I could not strangle myself on a forked twig.” [The natives believe that the mice actually commit suicide by strangling themselves in a forked willow-twig.] Mother scolded her, and said again, “There, go away!” She went away, and then only she died.
That is all.
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