An elderly woman, feeling the stirrings of spring, wishes aloud for goose gizzards to eat. As she voices her desire, she accidentally falls through her home’s smoke-hole into a bowl of water she had left on the floor and drowns. This story highlights the unexpected consequences of idle wishes and the unpredictability of fate.
Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914
► Themes of the story
Conflict with Nature: The woman’s interaction with the natural elements—observing the geese and the changing season—sets the stage for her accidental death, highlighting the delicate balance between humans and their environment.
Tragic Flaw: The woman’s deep sigh and expressed longing lead to her accidental fall, suggesting that her desires or inattentiveness contribute to her fate.
Moral Lessons: The story imparts a cautionary message about the consequences of unguarded desires and the importance of mindfulness in one’s actions.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Koyukon people
There was once an old woman who lived by herself. One day she washed her hair; and she left the water on the floor and went outside, and saw that it was spring. She went up on the top of her house, and saw the geese coming, and she sighed deeply. She saw another flock coming; and she said, “I wish that I had some goose gizzards to eat!” and as she said this, she fell through the smoke-hole into the bowl of water that she had left on the floor, and was drowned.
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Dreamtime Whispers 