The knocked-down mouse

A mouse repeatedly slides down a hill, losing its teeth and legs in the process. Eventually, it rolls into a water hole and discovers a house where old women are using its lost body parts as needles. The mouse reclaims its parts, reassembles itself, and escapes, noticing that summer has arrived.

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

Supernatural Beings: The old women possess knowledge or abilities beyond the ordinary, as they use the mouse’s teeth and toe-nails as needles.

Loss and Renewal: The mouse experiences loss through the disintegration of his body but achieves renewal by reclaiming and reassembling himself.

Conflict with Nature: The mouse’s initial playful interaction with the hill leads to his physical disintegration, highlighting a struggle against natural forces.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Kate Phillips

A little Mouse was sliding down hill all day long; and as he slid down, he lost one of his front teeth. And he went up and slid down again, and lost another tooth. He went up and slid down again, and lost one of his legs; and he slid down again, and lost another leg. And so he lost all his legs, and he had not a leg to stand on; and he went rolling down over the ice, and rolled into the water-hole. It was very deep, and there was ice at the bottom; so he rolled out, and went rolling up the path that led to the water-hole, until he heard some one talking. Then he saw a large house, and he rolled up the roof to the smoke-hole, and saw two old women who had his fore-legs, and two other old women who had his hind-legs, and two other old women who had his teeth; and they were using his teeth and his toe-nails for needles. He rolled down off the house and into the entrance, and got his feet and his teeth, and put himself together, and went outside in a passion. When he got outside, he saw that the ice had gone and that summer had come, and he ran away squeaking.

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The hunter and the Bear-Man

A skilled hunter’s wife is left alone daily while he hunts. One day, a tall, dark stranger visits and urges her to leave with him, but she refuses. Later, her children spot a bear near their cache. The wife dresses attractively and leaves. Upon returning, the hunter finds his wife missing and discovers her remains beneath a cache, guarded by a massive bear. He confronts the bear, challenging it to do the same to him.

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

Revenge and Justice: The hunter seeks retribution for his wife’s death by confronting the bear.

Love and Betrayal: The wife’s departure with the stranger can be seen as a form of betrayal.

Conflict with Nature: The hunter’s battle with the bear symbolizes a struggle against natural forces.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Stephen Morton

There was a man who had a wife and two children. This man was a great hunter, and used to go out day by day, and leave his wife and the boys in the house, without company. His wife would sometimes ask him why it was necessary for him to leave them every day. “Stay at home with us today!” she would say, but he would never listen to her. “This is my job,” he would say, “and I must attend to it.” One day, after he had gone out to hunt, as usual, his wife was sitting in the house, sewing, when she heard some one coming outside the door. She thought it was her husband, and went on sewing, but a stranger entered the room. He was a tall, dark man; and after he had spoken with the woman a while, he asked her to go with him. “I cannot do that,” said she. “I have a husband, why should I go away with you?”

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Still he urged her, and still she refused, and at last he rushed out of the house in a passion. After a little, she sent the children out of doors to play, while she herself kept on with her sewing.

As the boys were standing outside the house, they looked across the gorge, where the summer house and the caches were; and the younger one said to his brother, “See that thing under the cache! What is it?” — “It is a bear,” said the older one. “Let’s tell our mother!” said the younger one. “No,” said his brother, “it will frighten her.” So they agreed not to tell her; but when they went into the house, the younger boy forgot himself. Their mother asked them what they had seen outside while they were playing, and the older boy said that they had seen nothing; but a little while afterward, as they were playing about the room, the younger one exclaimed, “My, what a big bear that was that we saw under the cache!” So their mother began to ask them about it. Soon she put away her sewing, and went out to the cache that stood just behind the house, and brought in all her best clothes. After that, she washed her face and combed her hair, and made herself look as attractive as possible. Then she told the children to remain in the house, while she herself went out.

Toward evening her husband returned from his hunting. When he came in sight of the house, he saw no smoke coming out of the smoke-hole. “Surely,” thought he, “there must be something the matter with my wife!” He went up on the roof and took off the curtain. Then he took some of the meat and fat, which he had tied up in a deer-skin, and let it down into the house, calling out to his wife to take it. But his wife did not answer; and one of the boys said, “Mamma is not here.” So he went in and made a fire, and cooked some of the meat, and went to bed, thinking that his wife would soon be back. In the morning she was still missing; and he went out to his cache and got his hollow hunting-club, and melted some deer-fat and poured it into the club, to give it weight, for he had been looking around until he had found the tracks of his wife going down toward the brook, and beside them were the footprints of a man of great size. He followed them across the brook, toward the caches; and under one of the caches he saw a huge bear asleep, lying upon the remains of his wife. He came near to the bear, and the bear rose up to meet him. And the man stood and taunted him, and said, “Do the same thing to me now, that you have done to my wife. You have killed her, kill me too.” Then the bear rushed at him, but he stepped aside; and as the bear passed him, he struck him with his club again and again, until he killed him. Then he cut off the bear’s head and revenged himself upon the body, and began to wail for his wife in long-drawn cries. He cut off his own hair, and mutilated himself until his body was covered with blood. At length he looked, and found that fur was growing upon the back of his hands, and he and the two boys turned into wolves.

Young-Man Wolf and Old-Man Gull

The story follows a young man who awakens fully grown beneath a spruce tree, equipped with a bow, arrows, fire-stick, and hunting knife. He learns to hunt, fashioning clothing from deer hides, and eventually builds a winter home. Curious about others, he embarks on a journey, discovering an old man who reveals he had been anticipating his arrival.

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

Hero’s Journey: The young man’s adventure from self-discovery to gaining wisdom under the mentorship of Old-Man Gull aligns with the classic hero’s journey narrative.

Transformation: Throughout the story, the protagonist undergoes significant personal growth, evolving from an inexperienced individual to a knowledgeable and capable person.

Guardian Figures: Old-Man Gull serves as a mentor and protector, guiding the young man through his journey and helping him overcome various challenges.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Blind Andrew, of the Kuskokwim

There was a young man who was not born, but who found himself full grown, lying under a spruce-tree He sat up, and found at his side a bow and arrows. There were also a fire-stick and a hunting-knife. “How shall I make a living?” thought he. He took up the things that were beside him, and set out to get something to eat. As he went on, he became very hungry, and made a camp, putting spruce-boughs around himself for warmth, and began to think whether he could make a fire with the fire-stick. At last he succeeded in doing this; but still he had no food, and he was hungry. He lay awake all that night, thinking how he should get something to eat. In the morning he took his bow and arrows, and started out ‘to hunt. He climbed a hill; and when he reached the top, he saw that it was a fine place to hunt.

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He looked around and saw some deer; and, although it was the first time that he had ever seen any, he was not afraid, but went straight down to them, without making any attempt to conceal himself. He did not know how to use the bow and arrows, so when the deer ran, he threw down the bow and ran after them, and finally caught one by the neck, and strangled it, and put it on his shoulders and took it to his camp. On his way back, he picked up his bow and arrows and took them along with him. When he reached camp, he cut off the feet of the deer, and stripped off the skin, as one skins a rabbit. Then he tied a string around the ends of the hind-legs, and pulled them on for trousers, and wiggled himself into the skin. Then he ate some of the flesh to satisfy his hunger, but by and by the sun came up, and his new clothes began to shrink and grow stiff, so that he had hard work to keep the joints soft, so that he could move about.

After he had his clothing fixed to his satisfaction, he went off to look for a good place to live, leaving the deer-meat where the camp was made. He went on until he came to a fine river, and ascended it until he found a place which suited him. Then he made a winter house and a cache, and started in to get his living by hunting. He killed deer and bear by choking them to death. He took the meat and the skins to his house; and as his old garments wore out, he made himself new ones. He was an industrious hunter, and got abundance of meat and skins. He remained at this place all winter.

Toward spring he began to wonder whether there were any other people in the world beside himself; and he made up his mind that he would try to find out, and that he would never stop looking until he found some one. So he started off, walking day after day, and camping when night overtook him. One evening, as it was about time for him to go into camp, he came upon a waterhole, and concluded that at last he had come to a place where he should find human beings. So he hid his pack, and followed the path from the water-hole up the bank, and found that it led to a large house, like a kashime. At first he was afraid; but when he went in, he found no one inside. After he had waited a while, he heard a noise outside, and a little old man came in. This man turned and saw the young man; and at first he was surprised, for this was the first time that a stranger had ever come to his house. “My child!” said he; and then he told the young man that he had come because he had been wishing so earnestly for him. He had known of him, and showed the young man that he knew of all his adventures. Then the young man told the older one that he had come to him weeping, for his great desire for human companionship. The old man told him that he was to stay, and the fire should be made immediately. So the curtain was removed from the smoke-hole, but without the agency of hands; and in the same way wood was brought in, and laid for the fire. The young man wondered how this should be, but he said nothing. When everything was ready, the old man told the younger one that he was about to take a bath, and asked him to go out for a while; so he went out, and walked around, but found no house where he could go in and sit down. He looked through the grass that stuck out of the snow at the edge of the bank, thinking that he might find a path, but he found none. Finally, when he thought that the old man had finished his bath, he went back, and found that the coals had been thrown out and the curtain put back; so he went in, and found the old man there.

So they sat down together, and the old man told him all about himself and how he made his living. As they sat talking, the skin that covered the entrance-hole in the middle of the floor was pushed aside, and a delicate, white hand appeared, holding a dish of food, which the young man saw to be fine whitefish. The old man got down and took the dish, and the hand disappeared. The young man found the fish so good, that he ate it all; and then the old man took the dish and set it down again near the curtain, and the same hand appeared and took it away. The two men sat together for some time, the younger one wondering all the time to whom the hand might belong. At length the old man said that he was going out, but that the younger one was to stay where he was. The young man urged the other not to leave him; but the old man said, “No,” that he must go, and that the young man was to stay, but that he would send two children in to stay with him, and that he must never leave them.

So the old man went out; and the young man sat for some time, waiting for the children to come in. At length he heard two children talking together outside, each urging the other to go in first. The house was of the kind that has the entrance in the middle of the floor. At last two beautiful girls came up through the entrance. They had bowls of food; and they went to the young man in the most friendly manner, and offered it to him, and sat down on either side of him. Neither of them said anything; and the young man said nothing, but he thought how kind it was of the old man to send in such beautiful girls, when he had been expecting boys. After they had eaten, they all went to bed.

In the morning they all got up, and the two girls went out; and when they returned, each brought in a dish of fish. When they had eaten this, they said that they would cook some more, and they went out again. While, they were gone, the old man came in and greeted the younger one, and asked him how he had passed the night. “Why,” said he, “I thought that you were going to send two boys in to stay with me. That is why I said that I would stay when you said that you would send in two children.” Then the old man told him that the mother of the two girls would not show herself to him until he. had taken the girls up to his own village and brought them back again. He also told the young man that all he would be expected to do while he remained with them would be to sit in the house and make a fish-net. The young man answered that he could not do this, because he was a hunter, and this was work to which he was not accustomed; but the old man said that he must do as he told him, “for,” said he, “I have given you the two girls. This is the way we live, and you must do as we do.” So he gave him some twine made of willow-bark, and showed him how to make a net, and told him that his own work was to go to the nets and take out the fish, and that he did nothing else from sunrise until sunset.

So after the old man had left to look after his nets, the young man set to work to make a net; but he found it tiresome, and after a little he stopped working and went out to see what had become of the girls. He went all around the place, looking for their tracks; and finally, under some overhanging grass, he found a narrow trail, which led him back, and up a little slope; and there he saw a house, with sparks coming out of the smoke-hole. He was curious to see the mother of the two girls, so he crept cautiously up to the top of the house and peeked down through the smoke-hole. He saw the two girls cooking some fish, and in one corner of the room sat a woman whose hair was so long that it afforded her a cushion. The young man took some snow and wet it in his mouth, and threw it down and struck her. Then he ran down off the house as fast as he could, toward the house where he had been at work on the net; but he heard the roar of water following him, and he kept on across the river, and up a hill on the other side. Still the water followed him up the hill; but just as he reached the top, it stopped, and when he turned around, he saw nothing but water where the houses had been, and three gulls flying around over the place. They flew directly over where he stood; and then he heard the voice of the old man, asking him why he had not done as he told him. Then they flew away, and the young man began to walk around; and soon he found that fur was growing out upon the back of his hands, and he turned into a wolf.

“You Smell of My Wife,” a girl’s adventure in a family of bears

In a village, a rich man’s youngest sister falls into a river after her older sisters reluctantly let her use their swing. The older sisters flee, and one discovers an arrowhead among bear fur. She finds shelter with a man and his two sons, who are bears in disguise. The bear-man accuses her of smelling like his deceased wife, killed by an arrow. Warned by the bear-sons, she escapes, leading villagers to kill the pursuing bear. She reunites with her sisters, realizing the bear’s wife was slain by the arrowhead she carried.

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

Transformation: The bear’s wife transforms into a bear, highlighting themes of physical change.

Family Dynamics: The tale begins with the relationship between the sisters, showcasing sibling interactions and conflicts.

Conflict with Nature: The protagonist’s encounter with the bear and her subsequent flight illustrate a struggle against natural forces.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Julia Longman Cutter

Once there was a big village, and in it there lived a rich man who had three sisters. The two older sisters had a swing; and one day, when they were swinging, their younger sister came out and asked them to let her swing, too. At first they refused; but she begged them to let her swing, and finally they told her that they would put her in the swing if she would hold on tight. Now, the swing was on a high rock at the edge of the water; and she let go her hold and fell into the water, and her sisters were so frightened that they ran away. They ran for miles and miles; and finally the one who was ahead looked back, but she saw nothing of her sister: so she went on, and by and by she came to a heap of bear’s fur. She searched through it, and found an arrow-head, and put it in her sleeve.

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Then she went down the hill, and soon she came in sight of a house. She went in, and found a man and two little boys, who gave her something to eat. When it came evening, they went to bed. In the night she was awakened by something sniffing at her, and she saw that it was a yellow bear. She went to sleep again, however; and when she awoke in the morning, she saw two little bears sleeping together in the room. Then she went to the door, and saw a bear fishing in the stream. She went to sleep again, and by and by the two boys woke her and gave her some fish to eat; and the man looked at her, and said, “You smell of my wife.” The next morning the two boys told her that their father was coming after her to kill her; but they made a hole though the back of the house, so that she could get away, and she escaped. She found, however, that a great bear was following her. She ran very fast, and by and by she came in sight of a village. She screamed, “The bear is coming, the bear is coming!” and the men heard her, and got their arrows and spears and went out and killed the bear, and made a great feast for all the people; and she found that it was her own village that she had run away from; and there were her older sister and her younger sister. And she said to her older sister, “Why did you leave me?” and her sister answered, “I came back home again.”

Now, it seems that the bear had had a wife; and his wife had turned into a bear and had gone up on the hill; and a man who was hunting had seen her and shot her with an arrow, and she had run away and died on the hillside; and the bear had smelled the arrow-head, and that is why he said, “You smell of my wife.”

The Tri’gudihltu’xun and the two bears

In a large village, a woman reluctant to marry joins a berry-picking trip, falls asleep, and awakens to find herself taken as a wife by two men, who are actually brown bears in disguise. They live together, and she bears them three children. Longing for her parents, she expresses her desire to visit them. Her husbands build a sled, load it with provisions, and transport her and their daughter back to her village, instructing her not to look at them during the journey. Upon arrival, she reunites with her family, and her bear husbands depart.

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

Family Dynamics: The story explores the relationship between the woman, her bear-husbands, and their children, highlighting complex family interactions.

Conflict with Nature: The woman’s integration into a family with bear-men represents a union and potential conflict between human society and the natural world.

Journey to the Otherworld: The woman’s life with the bear-men can be seen as a journey into a realm beyond normal human experience, akin to an otherworldly adventure.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There was once a big village where there lived some one who was unwilling to marry. Now, they used to go to get berries; and once they started off, and the Tri’gudihltu’xun went with them in a canoe. At last they came to the path that led to the berry-patch. Now, the Tri’gudihltu’xun did not pick berries, for she was very sleepy; and at length she put down her bowl, and lay down under a spruce and went to sleep. After a while, she felt herself crowded, and awoke, and looked, and saw that it was a brown bear. She went to sleep again, and awoke, and got up, and there were two big men there. “You shall be our wife,” said they; so they took her for their wife. Now, they were always fishing. Day after day they kept at it.

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“Do not watch us,” they said to their wife, and she promised that they would not. So they went out and closed the door, and soon afterward there was a splashing down at the water. At that she made a little opening in the side of the house, and looked; and there they were, standing in the water, throwing out fish. Soon they came up into the house. “Go out now,” they said, “and take a look down there!” So she went down and looked around. There was a great quantity of fish. Then she went into the house.

So then a year passed by, and she conceived a child. Poor thing! She bore him with great difficulty.

Now, they took good care of him; and in the morning one of his fathers took the little fellow and went out of the house with him. He walked around with him outside, and cut up some wood; and at evening he brought him in again, and took him out of his parka, and, lo! he was changed. He sat up and crept about. He grew a little larger. One morning his father placed a big root at the door for him, to exercise with.

So then I don’t know how many years passed, and the woman conceived another child; and this one, too, she bore with great difficulty. They cared for him; and one of his fathers took him, and went out with him, and kept him out a day and came in again. Lo, he was changed! He crept around, and they cared for him, and he grew up.

Again years passed, I don’t know how many, and again she conceived; and this one too, poor thing! she bore with difficulty. Again he took it, and kept it outside a day, and brought it in at evening. He took it out of his parka, and it sat up.

So then it grew a little larger. I don’t know how many years it was after that, when the woman sat one day with her head bowed down. “Eat something!” said they; but she refused. “What is the matter?” said one of them. “I was just thinking of my parents,” said she. So then her husbands said, “We will go to them presently.” In the morning they got up and girded themselves, and went to look for material for a sled. During the day they came back and began to make a big sled. I don’t know how many sleeps passed while they were making it. At last they had it done, and the next day they loaded it. Deer-skins and fat, and skins of various kinds, they put into it, until they had packed it full. At the same time they had made a place for the wife to sit. So the day after they were to start. Then they put the woman into the sled, with her little daughter, and covered them up. They placed food beside them, too, and then they started. “Do not look at us,” they ‘said to her, and she promised not to do so. Then they got into the harness and went off. So here they go. Now, the woman wished to see; so at last she made a little opening, and peeked. Lo, they were changed! Two great bears were pulling the sled. So they went along. “Now,” said they, “get out, for the village is near!” So they got out of the sled, and they put on their best clothes and came to the village. “Yeq!” said they, “the Tri’gudihltu’xun that was lost is coming back!”

So they came into the village, and the Tri’gudihltu’xun saw her father and her mother again. Meanwhile the men had gone down into the kashime; and a fire was made in the kashime, and the bowls were brought in. Then, at evening, the boys went for water, and finally it became bed-time. Then they said to the strangers, “Do you sleep on the other side of the room.” So they lay down on the other side. During the night some one awoke, and on the other side of the room there were some great bears. He lay down again; and when the people woke up in the morning, it was broad daylight. I don’t know how many days they staid there, when one morning they made ready to go away. Finally they left, and passed out of sight of the village, and came to their own village. There they lived during the winter, and for a year more.

Then the Tri’gudihltu’xun’s older brother came over to them. Back in the grass he went, while those two were down at the river. Meanwhile he kept under the grass. There was no way for him to come out into view, because he was afraid. “They will kill me,” thought he. So he gave a whistle. Thereupon the ones who were down in the river thought, “There is an up-the-river man come down here.” They ran up the bank, and went off to the village up the river in the shape of bears. They had become full of rage. At last that woman’s brother went into the house. She said to him, “What made you come from up the river? That means death for the village people up the river. Come,” said she, “go and hide!” So he went out and went up the river.

After that, he was going along. He heard a sound, as though some one were coming. He got under the grass, beside the path. There he waited. Afterwards those men came along in the shape of bears. They were running, and they passed him. Their noses and mouths were covered with blood. He hurried on up the river, and went towards the village. It was gone! He hurried on. There among the houses all was in ruins. The path was covered with men’s blood. Every one had been killed. He climbed up to his cache, looking for a bear-skin. At length he found one, and brought it down, with the teeth that went with it. He dressed it; and when he had finished it, he put it on. It fitted him. The arms and legs were just right, but the neck was a little too small. He searched for a piece for it, and finally found a scrap and brought it down. It fitted exactly. Then he put on the skin, and went out wearing it. He rushed around the village. Then he went away. He came to the village; and there the men were, in the water. He stood looking down upon them, and pushed back the hood. “Come, now,” said he, “kill me also, for you killed all my neighbors!” Then he went up to one of them. They fought together, and at last he killed that one. Then he went to the other. So he killed them both. Then he went up the bank. “Well,” said he to his sister, “I have killed them. Don’t be sorry!”

How long they staid there I don’t know. One day he said to his sister, “Your house is to be out there-,” and he became a fox, and the woman became a mink, and they went into the mountains and made a house. The end.

The young man and the Dog-Sisters

In a village, a young man refused to marry, despite the persistent advances of many local girls. They offered him food and performed chores for his mother, but he remained uninterested, often reacting harshly to their gestures. Frustrated by their persistence, he continued to reject their efforts, expressing his desire to remain single and free from their attentions.

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

Supernatural Beings: The young man’s wives are supernatural entities, specifically dog spirits.

Love and Betrayal: The young man forms a bond with his wives, but upon discovering their true nature, feels betrayed.

Forbidden Knowledge: The revelation of the wives’ true identities as dog spirits represents hidden truths coming to light.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There was a village where there lived a young man who would not get married. So the girls were all after him, and he kept close to his place at the back of the common room (kashime).

Now, there were some girls living in a big house close to the kashime; and there were so many of them, that the house was full. These girls washed their hair and put on their fine parkas, and put food into beautiful bowls, and took it into the kashime to give to the Tri’gudihltu’xun. One of them went ahead, carrying her bowl, and this one went in first. So then she took it and held it out to him, and he snatched it and flung it back at her, and the food flew all over her.

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The bowl flew up into the air and fell on the ground, and the girl gathered up the food that had fallen and went out crying. Meanwhile the rest of the girls were waiting in the entrance, holding their bowls. One by one they went in to him, but it did them no good. They did the same thing, and at last he had thrown back the bowls of every one of them. They went out crying, and it ended by their going back to their house. Thought the young man, “It makes my head ache to have them act this way. If I were going to marry them, wouldn’t I have married them already?” The men that were in the kashime went out one by one, and at length he was left alone; and then he left too, and went to his parents” house. He went to see his mother; and when he entered the house, he looked, and there were all the buckets and bowls filled with water. Everything was full. It was those girls, who had been bringing water for the young man’s mother. They were so anxious to have her give him to them, that they were ready to do anything for her. He spoke to his mother, and asked her for some water. “There is some,” said she, “out there on the floor. Help yourself.” He went over to get it. “Who brought, this?” said he. “Oh, your little cousins over there brought it for me,” said she. “What did you ask them to do that for?” said he. “I don’t want any of their water. Tell them not to get any more for you.” Then he took the water and threw it over the bank, bowls and all. “Where is the water that you brought?” said he. “There it is, over there,” said she. “Are you sure that this is what you brought?” said he. “That’s what I got today with a good deal of trouble,” said she. So he drank the water; and she gave him some food, and he ate it. “Don’t you think,” said his mother — “Say, why don’t you — Don’t you think it would be a good thing for you to get somebody to help me? You can see that I am getting rather poorly.” “What are you bothering me for?” said he. “I shall do just as I think best. You make me tired.”

So he left the house and went into the kashime, and went to bed. In the early morning he woke up and put on his things to go after deer. He killed a deer, and came back and went into his mother’s house, and she gave him something to eat; and afterward he went into the kashime again, and sat down in his own place. Over in their own house the girls washed their hair and put on their best clothes, and put some food into bowls and went over to the kashime to see the young man. Then one of them went in, and crossed over and stood in front of him with her bowl; and he snatched it away and threw it back at her. She put the food back into the bowl, crying. The rest of them did the same thing. Every one of them went in to him. They went out without his having taken the bowl from any of them. “I don’t like to have them do as they are doing to me,” said he as they went out.

In the course of time the summer came around, and it looked as though the salmon-run was about to begin; and the young man took his canoe and went off for fishtrap material. He put off southward, and paddled a day’s journey down the river. He kept looking toward the shore. He looked, and there was a big drift-log lying in the edge of the water. It was cracked. He got out and went to it, and cut it off with his stone axe, and began to split it. He halved it and began to split up one of the sides, and then took a rest. Then he happened to look toward the root, and there were two masks hanging on it, — two good-for-nothing-looking little masks. Thought the young fellow, “How did those things come to be there?” He went to them; and when he reached them, he put out his hand to take them, when all at once the root vanished.

Then he felt a strong desire to go up the bank, and up he went. And as he was going, lo! down at his feet he saw a path, and this he followed. Back from the river stood a wretched little house. He went towards it and reached the door. Lo! hanging there on each side of the door were those masks, the same that had been hanging on the root down at the river. There they hung on each side of the door. They were the very same that he had seen down below. “Suppose I go inside,” thought he, and he went to go in. He stepped inside, although it was a wretchedly poor house. As he entered, he looked across the room. There was some one scowling at him. He looked across in another direction. There was some one growling at him. Two ragged, dried-up women were there. They were clothed in filthy dog-skins. Their mittens and their boots and their parkas were all made of dog-skin. They wore no fur at all. There was nothing whatever in the house but filth. There was not even clothing”. He went to the back of the room and sat down. There was not even a bowl. “What a miserable place I have gotten into!” he thought. Then from the front corners of the room they spoke to him. “What’s he doing over there?” they said. “It was because of our willing it, that you came to us,” said they. Now you sha’n’t get away from us.” Then they took off the curtain from the smokehole, and made a fire. After that they put a piece of a pot by the side of the fire and put something into it; and after they had done their cooking, they put on the curtain and began to eat. They put some food on a ladle and tossed it to him. “Eat that!” they said. “I don’t believe I want anything to eat,” said he. “Maybe you wouldn’t mind eating what is worse than you are yourselves. What kind of food do you eat, then?” said one of them. “Well, my mother did not bring me up on such stuff as that,” said he. Now, the mess of salmon tails and fins that they had cooked was full of filth and dirt; so he thought, “I might just as well die here.” They said nothing more to him, and he sat still where he was.

After a while the women made ready for the night. They made all their preparations; and one of them picked up her bed and took it over and placed it by the side of the other one. “Come,” said they, “come over here by us!” “I’m not going over by you,” said he. Then all at once they rushed at him and caught him, and threw him down in their place. They tickled him, and he began to scream. When they had finished, he was in pain from the scratching that they had given him; but he got to sleep. So he slept, and at length he awoke. It had been light for a long time, and the women were gone. He tried to get out of the house, but could not. The doorway leading to the outside was closed up. He tried with all his might to push out, but could not. The hole overhead was closed, too. At last he gave it up and sat down. He looked back into the dark corners of the room, and saw quantities of human bones. “This was what my mother warned me about,” thought he. “Well, I’ve done it. I had my own way, and wouldn’t listen to advice.” There he remained until it began to grow dark, and then from the outside there was a sound as though some one had let fall the butt of a tree. The earth shook, and soon afterward the door opened. You see they had put a big root against the door. The two women came in, and, sure enough, both of them were carrying salmon-tails. They made a fire and boiled the tails, and then they threw him some more of the stuff upon a ladle. “Do I eat such stuff as that,” said he, “that you treat me so?” “Is there anything such as you fancy for you to eat?” said they. He sat still without eating, “it will be long enough before the one that talks that way gets anything to eat,” said they. “Did I tell you that I was hungry, that you offered me something to eat?” said he.

After a while they got ready for bed; and, just as they had done the day before, they threw him down in their place, and tickled him again. When they had got through, he was covered with blood. So he woke up the next day, but there was no getting out. Already the door and the window were closed. SQ he spent the day there. Three days he spent there without anything to eat or drink. There he was all day, when the root that covered the smoke-hole slid aside, and a stunningly pretty woman in a fine marten-skin parka put her face down inside the hole. “Is your breath in you still?” said she. “Yes,” said he. “I thought perhaps it was all over,” said she. “You ate their food, perhaps?” — “No,” said he. “Well, if you had eaten their food, you would not have been seen on the earth again,” said she. “It was because they did not like the idea of giving you up, that they kept you four days; and it is because I do not like the idea of giving you up, that I have told you about it.” Then she reached down a little bowl with some water in it. “Here,” said she, “drink this!” Then she took it back, and reached him down a little slice of meat and a little fat. “Here,” said she, “refresh yourself with this! Now, when they come back, if they ask you whether you have been talking with anybody, tell them that there is no one but rats in the house to talk with. Tell them like this, too. Tell them that when you and your little sister used to go around the edge of Ti’gutruxa’n’no’, you used to get ripe dewberries. Now it’s time for them to come, and I am going.” Then she threw down the big root upon the hole, and turned away and vanished.

He waited there, and by and by the ground shook, and the two came in. There they were, with their salmon tails. “It looks as though some one had been talking with you and telling you something,” said they. “Why should I have any talking to do,” said he, “that you say that to me? What is there for me to talk about when I am all alone?” “It looks as though you had been talking, though,” said they. “Well, then, you blatherskites, all I said was for you to let me alone.” “Ah!” said they. Then they took off the curtain and made the fire, and put the pot to boil. Afterward they covered up the smoke-hole and began to eat. They tossed him some food on a ladle. “I’m not going to eat,” said the young man. By and by he said, “Whenever I used to go around Ti’gutruxa’n’no’ with my little sister, we used to get ripe dewberries.” “How did he find out what you are talking about?” said they.

Those women were angry. They got ready for bed, and they almost killed the young man. His body was all covered with blood. So then he went to sleep. He slept; and when he woke up, they were gone. Now, they say, he was all bones. He arose, but he had no strength. There he staid that day; and by and by there was a jarring-sound overhead, and at the great root that covered the hole a woman put her face down, the same one who had appeared the day before. “Is your life in you yet?” said she. “Yes,” said he. “Well,” said she, “when they bring you the dewberries, eat them, and afterwards say this: ‘These Ti’gutruxa’n’no’ berries that I am eating, I wish I could have some more of them tomorrow evening.’ They will barely spare you one night, and the next day at evening they will kill you.” So then she reached him down the little bowl of water, and a little meat and fat. “That is the way that they always do,” said she. “They always catch men and kill them. Some they spare a couple of days. It was because they did not like to give you up, that they kept you four days. I must go,” said she, and she disappeared.

There he remained; and when it grew dark, the two women came back. When they came in, each was carrying a bowl. Again they did their cooking, and afterwards they put on the curtain and began to eat. Then they took the berries over and gave them to him, and he ate them. When he had finished, he gave them back the bowl. “I tell you,” said he, “I wish that I could have some of the Ti’gutruxa’n’no’ whitefish to eat tomorrow evening! If I had, I could get to sleep.” It made them angry because he said that, and they jerked their shoulders. So they got ready for bed, and they nearly killed him. He slept and woke up, and they were gone. There he remained that day, and he heard -a noise overhead. It was the same woman. “It is a sure thing that they are going to kill you this evening,” said she. “I am going to save you, because I am sorry for you. Am I doing it to you for any one else? It is for my own sake that I am doing it to you. Come,” said she, “hurry!” At that he climbed up to her, and she took hold of him and pulled him out. Then she took him by the waist and whirled around with him; and he lost his senses, as if he had fallen asleep.

Now he hears something. He hears something, and it seems to him as if he had made a leap and landed somewhere. When he could see, the sun was shining. He looked around. What a quantity of meat he saw! That woman came over to him. There was a pond, with many villages at its end. They came to the woman’s village. There they saw a medium-sized baidara turned upsidedown. She undressed and bathed him, and put on him a change of clothing.

Now, at dusk, they say, those two creatures came home. They entered, and looked for him, but he was gone. Then they began to search for him. “You ought to have staid with him,” they said to each other. Each one said that the other should have staid. They began to cry and scream. They did not finish fighting until both were covered with blood, because they wanted the man so badly. One of them started southward, and the other northward, looking for him. They made this agreement. “You shall sleep twice, and I will also sleep twice -, and then, if we find him, we shall meet on the same day.” Thus they said to each other. So the one who spoke turned to go, and the other one also, and they were gone.

It had been agreed at last that it was to be four nights before they were to meet. Then the day arrived when they were to meet, and they stood face to face, and came to themselves. “He is “gone,” they said to each other. Again they began to fight and drag each other around by the hair. “Come, let us look for him again!” they said to each other. One said, “I will look for him down in the earth.” The other said, “I will look for him up in the sky. Let it be four days again; and if he is still lost on the fifth day, we will meet again,” they said to each other. So one was lost to view in the earth, and the other in the sky.

At last the four days were gone that they were to be away; and on the day when they had agreed to meet, they came home. Still they could not find him. So then each (?) one of them went looking for him, back from the river. As one of them was going along, she came to a pond. Right there was a medium-sized baidara turned bottom-up. She broke into a run and set up a scream. “Even though they lived a long way off, they are the ones that we have been hunting for very hard, the ones we have been looking for,” said she. So the two went toward the house. They reached it, and said, “What did you take our husband away from us for?” and they began to fight with the woman. When they had begun to fight, she banged them together. Then they began to fight with each other of their own accord. They came to their senses a little, and there they were fighting together of their own accord; while the man and woman were laughing instead of fighting, because they were such a funny sight. At last the woman became angry and killed them, and put them into the fire; and there that couple lived, summer and winter.

So, then, at last that is fenced off.

Wolverene and her brothers

In a secluded mountain village, five brothers lived with their sister, Tuitdjyak. As she matured, they warned her to remain indoors during their hunting trips. Curiosity led her outside, where she heard distant singing calling her name. Terrified, she donned a wolverine-skin parka and teeth, transforming into a wolverine. When five wolves approached, she fled, climbing a spruce tree to escape as they circled below.

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

Forbidden Knowledge: Her curiosity leads her to defy her brothers’ instructions, resulting in unforeseen consequences.

Family Dynamics: The relationship between the protagonist and her brothers highlights themes of obedience, protection, and familial roles.

Conflict with Nature: The protagonist’s transformation and subsequent interactions with the wolves reflect a struggle between human and animalistic instincts.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Simon’s mother. The narrator says that this is a coast legend, and that she had it from her grandmother, who was a woman of Piamute.

There was once a little village in the mountains where there lived a single family of children, — five boys and their little sister. They did nothing but hunt deer. Fish they knew nothing about, for they were Wolf men. Outside the house, on poles stretched across the racks, how many deer-skins were to be seen, so many deer did they get! Neither did they eat anything but deer-meat. Meanwhile their younger sister was growing up, and in time she became a large girl, and finally she came to maturity. Then her brothers said to her, “Now, while we are off hunting, do not go out of the house. Only when we are in the house do you go out walking, and get the water also,” said they. “Now, Tuitdjyak, while we are away, don’t go out,” said they; for it was the time of her seclusion.

By and by winter drew near. All winter long they spoke to her in the same way, and she began to think it over. “Why do my brothers tell me this?” she thought.

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“I wonder what will happen to me if I go out, that they say this to me!” thought she. “Every day they tell me this,” thought she. At last she thought, “I will go out.” Her brothers went out on another trip. As she sat sewing, she put down her work and went out. She went out to the door, and stood there. “So,” thought she, “I have come out, and here I am, all right.” She went in and sat a while. Then she went back again outside, and listened. And then far away she heard the sound of singing. At that she went down into the house, and thought, “I wonder if this is why my brothers warned me!” and her heart beat fiercely for terror. She went out again and listened. Sure enough, there was singing. There! She heard her own name. “Tuidjyak, go in!” she heard. At that she climbed up into the cache. Bundles of wolverene-skins — many bundles she caught up, and looked through them, and took the good ones with long fur, and with the white parts very clear. She took them into the house, and wet them with warm water, stretched them, and went out again. When she had gone out, she looked up her brothers’ trail and saw five wolves. Sitting there, they sang, “A-yeq-ya, ya-yaq-ya, ho. Teen, Tuitdjyak, it-ka, ho.” She ran in, afraid. She put on the wolverene-skin like a parka, and pulled it around herself; and at the throat it was too short. Then she searched through her work-bag, and got a striped piece, and sewed it on; and again she pulled it around herself, and found that it was large enough. Again she searched in her work-bag, and found some beautiful wolverene’s teeth, and put them in her mouth. She took off the wolverene parka and the teeth and ran out. There they were, coming, close by. They saw her and sat down, and sang their song again. She ran in and put on the wolverene parka again, and put the teeth in her mouth. Then she rushed around the room in the shape of a wolverene. Up to the top of the house they went, and ripped it up with their teeth. Meanwhile the woman was running around as a wolverene. The wolverene made a dash among them, and ran along their trail. They looked, then they too went after her there. While she goes bounding along, over here, close after her they follow. Beside the path stood a great spruce. She caught it and scrambled up. They ran around underneath her, but they could only look up. Then she pushed back her little hood. “My brothers,” said she, “whenever you kill a deer, won’t you please leave the entrails for me?” Then they went off and left her; and the woman came down, and she too went away.

Wolverene

A hunter’s wife urges him to stay home, fearing visitors, but he dismisses her concerns and leaves. While alone, she encounters a mysterious man who offers her beads and asks her to accompany him, but she declines. Upon her husband’s return, he discovers the beads, becomes angry, and destroys them. The woman later meets the stranger again, who restores the beads and takes her to the moon. The distraught husband searches for her, finds no tracks, mourns, and transforms into a wolverine.

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

Love and Betrayal: The wife’s interaction with the stranger and her subsequent departure can be seen as a form of betrayal, leading to the husband’s sorrow.

Divine Intervention: The visitor’s influence over the wife and his otherworldly nature suggest intervention by a higher power.

Loss and Renewal: The husband experiences the loss of his wife and undergoes a personal transformation, symbolizing a form of renewal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

A married couple lived by themselves, and they had a cache and a house. The husband hunted, both with marten-traps and with arrows. “Well,” said he one day, “I must go to my marten-traps;” but the woman was unwilling (to let him go). “No,” said she, “why should you? Come,” said she, “stay here today! Perhaps there will be strangers along.” But the man said, “Who can there be to come? There is nobody around. Mine are the only tracks there are.” And he went off, dressed for the trail. Meanwhile his wife began to cry while she sat sewing in the house. At noon, outside the house, she heard some One brushing the snow off his boots, and another than her husband came in at the door. Then the woman drew her hair over her face, and put some meat and fat into a bowl and gave it to him.

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“Won’t you have something to eat?” said she. “Why, no,” said he, “I’m not hungry. It’s you that I came for. Come with me!” But she refused. Then he gave her some beautiful beads, and put them upon her neck, and went away. Then she made a fire and cooked (supper), expecting her husband, thinking that he would be hungry. By and by he came back, and they ate (supper); and he put on the curtain, and they went to bed. She undressed; and her husband saw the great (string) of beads, and scolded her angrily. “Who gave them to you,” said he, “when there is nobody here?” and he smashed the beads with a big maul, and put them on a snow-shovel, and threw them out at the smoke-hole, and lay down. Then the woman began to cry. “Come,” said her husband, “do your crying outside. There’s no sleep (to be had here).” So she went out and began to cry outside. Then it was dark with the woman, and she looked for the moon. There he was, in it. That man was in the moon. He (looked at her and) laughed, there, in the moon. Then he went toward her. He came to her side. “What say you?” said he. “Oh,” said she, “he smashed the beads.” Then the man went up on the house and took the beads again, and they were whole; and he put them upon the woman’s neck again. Then he took her, and went with her to the moon. Meanwhile her husband roused up, and went outside. His wife was gone. All around the place he went (looking for her); but there were no strange tracks, only his own. Then he began to cry, and burned his parka, hair, and back, and went off as a wolverene.

A young man in search of a wife

A young man paddles along a river, encountering various female figures who claim not to be human. Each time he approaches, they transform into natural elements or animals—a birch tree, a rabbit, and a goose. Frustrated, he finally meets a shaman who, along with his companions, transforms into aquatic creatures, prompting the young man to become a hawk and fly away.

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

Illusion vs. Reality: Each encounter challenges the young man’s perception, as what seems to be human women are illusions masking their true forms.

Quest: The narrative follows the young man’s journey and efforts to find a wife, leading him through various encounters and challenges.

Cunning and Deception: The beings deceive the young man by presenting themselves as potential partners, only to reveal their true, non-human nature upon closer interaction.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

A young man is paddling along. As if expecting to hear something, he turns his head and listens. Hark! Some one is singing. It is a woman singing. “Ya-xa-nna,” she says, they say. Thereupon he disembarks. A woman stands on the beach. She has long hair, which she is washing in the current, and she is singing. He goes quietly up to her and catches her by the waist. “I’m not human, I’m not human!” says the woman. The man shuts his eyes tight (as she struggles). There is nothing but a birch lying in the water, the current flowing among its branches. The man is holding the birch. Angrily he got into his canoe and paddled off. Again he paddled along, and turned his head as though he expected to hear something, and listened.

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Hark! There is singing again, like another woman. “Another, the same as (the one who sang) just now!” he thinks. “Good enough!” he thinks. “Is it a woman, for sure, that is making this noise?” he thinks. Again he sees some one singing under the bushes. “A-ha-yu-ha-ha,” she says, they say. He gets out of the canoe. What a beautiful woman (he sees), girded with a deer-tooth belt, gathering willow-bark! He grasps her waist. “I’m not human, I’m not human!” she says.

He let her go. “Seems to me you are human, you make so much noise with your songs,” (said he.) She bounded away in the shape of a rabbit. Angrily he went off in his canoe. Again he listens. There is shouting. In the direction from which it comes he disembarks. Under the bushes he goes. What a crowd of people are here! They are playing ball upon the beach. What fine-looking people, men and women together! He keeps (out of sight) in the grass, (and) looks at them. “If they throw (push?) a woman upon me,” thinks he, “I will catch her.” At length they push one upon him. In a twinkling he catches her. He jumps up. “I’m not human, Tm not human!” says the woman, (as) she struggles. He lets her go. A Canada goose, she runs screaming away. The players became geese (and) flew away. Angrily the man got into his canoe. He went on, and again he listened. He hears a sound of men’s voices (and) disembarks. Back toward those who were speaking he went, under the bushes. There is a pond. Here are many men in the water, (and) some one is conjuring, a big man, a huge old man, a shaman, in an otter-skin parka. “Right here,” says he, it seems that you are now to perish.” “Nevertheless,” said they, “notwithstanding what you have told us, let us settle here.” Out of the grass bounds that young man. Down to the side of the shaman he bounds. The shaman became an otter. He dove and swam around; and all the men dove in the form of animals, mink and muskrats and divers and loons, and staid down at the bottom, while the young man became a hawk and flew off.

Story of a young man who was purified from sin

The narrative follows two young chiefs in a large village, focusing on their hunting practices and daily routines. One chief habitually rises early to hunt deer, while the other sleeps in. The early riser discovers a mysterious house on the tundra, leading to events that explore themes of purification and transformation.

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

Transformation: The narrative centers on the young man’s purification from sin, indicating a profound personal change.

Quest: The young man’s journey to the mysterious house on the tundra represents a pursuit of understanding or redemption.

Sacred Spaces: The fine house with the bellying curtain on the tundra serves as a spiritually significant location where the young man’s transformation occurs.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Blind Andrew. This story is from the Kuskokwim River. Such stories, according to the narrator, are told in camp, and bring success in hunting.

There was once, they say, a large village where there lived two young chiefs. There they lived, they say, in a large village. Always, they say, they hunted game. And, they say, these two young men had not yet taken wives. So there, they say, they lived. And they say one of the two used always to go to sleep first. Afterward the other one would go to bed. Thus, they say, they always did. And they say that when it began to grow light up at the curtain, he who was the last to go to sleep, taking his arrows, would go back upon the mountains and shoot deer. He skinned them also. (After one of these excursions) he came into the kashime. His partner, they say, was not there. He waited some little time, and the other came in where he was. And they say, said he, the last one who had come in, — and they say, said he, “Well!” he said, they say. “Cousin!” he said, they say, “so then you have come back, have you?” he said, they say. “Yes,” he said, “I am back here. Come, let us make the fire!” said he.

► Continue reading…

So they split some wood and took off the curtain and made the fire. Afterward they covered up (the smoke-hole). Then the bowls were brought in also. After they had finished with the bowls, they remained seated. At the back of the room, in the middle, where they were accustomed to sit, they remained, while the men of the village went out to their own houses. So of all the young men, only they two did not go out, but always remained in that place. Then the one who used to go to sleep first, that one went to sleep again; and the one who yesterday was the last to go to sleep again sat up. That one who was the last to go to bed shines at night, they say. Yes, they say, he always does so, because he tries to govern his temper; while the other one does not shine. So then his partner went to sleep; and a long time afterward he too went to sleep, but only for a little while. And he watched for it to grow light up (at the smoke-hole), and by the time that it was growing light he was dressing. And then again he returned to that mountain and ascended it again. It is the same mountain whither he always went since the time when he was a boy.

So he looked around. Lo! they say, where he had been accustomed to get deer, there were none to be seen. Meanwhile it grew light. He looked in both directions. To the southward there was a great tundra. On the other side, mountains were to be seen. The sun was about to rise; and out on the great tundra, a little to one side of the middle, lo! suddenly he saw a fine house, with the curtain bellying out. Was he not looking just now, and there was nothing there!

The young man thought, they say, “I believe I will go to it.” Then he put down his arrows, and his pack also, and went out to the place. So he came there. What a fine house it was! He went and stood in the doorway, and looked around outside. He looked, but there was no cache to be seen. He looked for tracks also, but there were no footprints. He turned it over in his mind. “I wonder,” thought he, “whether there are any people where I am going!” So he went in. Down into the entrance he went, and pushed aside the curtain. Lo! they say, a sudden burst of light. So he went in. There was a very small room. He crossed it. On the other side he turned and looked around. On the opposite side, toward the front of the house, on the platform, sat a beautiful woman, sewing. Without looking up, she pushed her sewing (into the corner) toward the front of the house, and said, “It is because of my intention that you came here. Though I have been looking all over the world,” she said, “I could see no one but you. You only could I see upon this world,” she said. “Because you were pleasing to me have I showed you my house,” said she. Then the woman went out, and was gone for some time. Finally she came in. What a fine, clean bowl of food it was that she brought in, steaming, from the pot! So he began to eat; and when he had finished, he gave her back the bowl. After she had been gone a while, she came in again, bringing great back-strips of deer-skins. She took them directly over to him, and said, “These are for you to lie upon.” He took them from her and put them on the platform. She also gave him a martenskin blanket for his bed. So he lay down, and they went to sleep. The next day also they woke up. So, for two days and two nights he remained in the house, and meanwhile he did not even see the outside. Then, as they arose, she went out. She came in, bringing meat, which she gave to him, and he ate. Then he concluded that he would stay another day also. Then, as it grew dark again, the man said, “Am I still to stay here in this house?” “Yes,” said she. Then said the man, “What a long time it is that you bid me stay in the house!” “Yes,” said she, “what is wanting that you can go and get, that you should say that? Why, already you have become part of my life,” said she. So she gave him to eat, and they finished eating and went to bed. Then the young man lay awake, while on the other side of the room the woman was beginning to go to sleep. And the young man thought, “Can it be that I am destined always to live here in this way? Why,” he thought, “did she show her house to me? I believe,” he thought, “that I will go (over) to her.”

So he arose and left his place, and went out in front of her. Suddenly, they say, he lost consciousness. While he was going out there in front of her, this befell him. He could not tell where he was. Presently, they say, he seemed to himself to wake up; and he sat down again there, in his own place. “What am I doing here?” he thought. “What is this that she is doing to me? I supposed that I was going across to her, but I was asleep.” Meanwhile, on the other side of the room the woman was snoring. Again he thought, “I wonder whether it is I that am doing this, (or whether some one else compels me!) I believe I will go over again.” So he left his place again, and went over to where her head was. Again he seemed to go to sleep. Here he is as if asleep, they say. Then again he seemed to wake; and there at his place he lay, as he became conscious. “Why,” thought he, “I supposed I crossed the room to her head. Sakes alive! what ails me?” Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, the woman was sleeping. “I don’t know what to do here,” he thought. “I believe I’ll try again.” So here he goes to get to the platform beside her head. Thereupon the back end of the room suddenly opened at the middle. At that a great fright seized him. Then from some source of light there was a great illumination. Beside that, from the direction where he turned himself some one laughed. From within, where it is all clean, a woman is laughing at him. Before he could recover himself, the woman said, “Why, what are you about? That is my mother.” Then the man became ashamed. “Come!” she said, and he went to her. Then said the woman, “It is because you pleased my mother that she showed you our house.” She then led him inside and took off his parka and the rest of his clothes, so that he was naked. Then she placed warm water by him, and shaved deer-fat into it. Then she bathed him, and furnished him with clothes. She dressed him in fine clothes. After she had dressed him, she said, “Come, sit down! Come,” she said, “let me have your hand!” From where he sat he held out his hand to her. She took it and put it into her mouth, and sucked it until her mouth was full. When her mouth was full, she emptied it into the water in which he had washed himself. Twice she did the same thing. Then she put his feet also into her mouth. At length it was full, and she emptied it into the water in which he had washed himself. Twice she did the same thing. Then she said, “Come, look at this!” So he looked, and saw that the water in the vessel was as black as coal. Then said the woman, “This is the evil that you have done since the time that you began to grow up. Come, see here your sin!” she said. Then the man spoke, and said, “Yes,” he said, “that is it. It is a great benefit that you have done me; for that I am deeply thankful to you.” And the man threw everything that he had been wearing into the water that he had bathed in.

Then she started to take the water out. “Empty it far away,” said he. Then she took it a long way off and emptied it, and threw away the bowl with it. Then she came in and gave him food, and he ate. After that he made her his wife. So he remained there, living with her.

One day she said to him, “Let me show you this house of mine!” And when he saw it, what a fine house it was! Their house was full of every kind of skin that there is upon this earth below. That was a rich woman indeed. The man said to her, “How did you ever come by this?” The woman said, “I shall not even yet tell you all about it. In time you will find out.” So he continued to live with her there. Neither, while he lived with her, did he go out of doors, or know how his food was cooked. Always the mother, when she goes out, sits close by the house, and brings in what is cooked. Thus they always do. At length the man’s wife gave birth to a baby, a boy, and they brought him up. In time he began to walk. One day the man said, “Am I always to live here in this fashion?” The woman said, “What are you thinking of? What can you do, that you should say that?” “What a long time it is that I am keeping to the house!” said he. The woman answered, “Tell me what is wanting, that you can get by working for it.” That was what she said to him. So then they continued to live there. It came to be a long time after she had said this to him, when she said, “Come, and I will show you from whence I have such an abundance. Come!” she said, and he went to her. He went to her, and they went to the back of the room, at the middle. Then she caused the ground to open, and said, “Come, look down!” So he stooped and looked down. How many were the animals that he saw as he stooped and looked down! How many of the animals of the earth! “Say, then, do you see it well?” she said. “Yes,” said he; and she closed it up, and they returned to their places. Then the man thought, “It must be these people’s doings, that there were no deer where I used to go to hunt.”

He thought this; and his wife said to her husband, Why do you think evil within yourself? Ever since the time that you came here,” she said, “ever since that time I have been able to see plainly what was going on in your mind.” And she said to him, “It is because you were pleasing to us, that we revealed our house to you.” Then the man said to her in answer, “I am thinking about my parents. I wonder somewhat whether they are still living.” “No wonder,” said his wife. “It is now four seasons since you came here.” “What!” said he. “What now? I supposed that I had been here only four days.” — “Because you did not know how the year passed outside,” said she. “This is now almost the end of the fifth year. It is now nearly winter, as it was when you came to us.” — “Is that so?” said he. “How could I tell how the time passed, since I never went outside?” “Do you wish, then, to take a look outside?” said she. “Come, go out!” Then he went out and looked, and, sure enough, the autumn was past. So he went into the house. “I want to go and see how it is with my parents,” said he. “Yes,” said she, “early tomorrow morning you must go and get material for a sled.” So early the next morning he went to get wood to make a sled. He got the wood in a short time, and returned with it to the village, and immediately set at work whittling. That wood that he had brought he whittled out hastily. On the second day he had finished it. The day after he began, his wife said to him, “I should like to go with you.” “Just as you please,” said he. So he loaded up the sled and packed it full. Then said the mother of the woman to the man, “Perhaps, now, she would not care for the society of mankind.” “Perhaps not,” said the man. “It would be well,” she said to them, “that you should spend only four days.” “Yes,” said he. Then she spoke thus to the man. “When you get down to the village, that fellow who used to be your partner — beware of him! When your wife warns you that there is danger, if she tells you that a certain thing is wrong, — if you should do that concerning which she gives you warning, you would be doing wrong,” said she. “Now, I doubt whether your wife will care for the society of mankind,” said she, “for she is not of humankind. Now,” said she, “when you two leave here, when you are not far from this house, be sure to look for this house.” So they left, and they put that little child of theirs into the sled. So they left. The husband pulled the sled, and his wife pushed. So they left; and they looked for the house, but it was gone. They made camp on the way down; and on the next day they went on, and the village appeared in sight. The young men of the village shouted, saying, “The one who was lost is bringing some one with him!” So then they arrived at the village, and went up. They went to the house of the man’s mother. “My child,” they said, and caressed him. His wife also they caressed. The people who lived there were ready to do anything for love of them. The mother made ice-cream and gave it to them. Meanwhile the woman had said to her husband, “I do not feel at home in the society of men.” Bedtime came; and the man said, “Lie down here in my mother’s house, for my cousin has asked me to sleep with him in the kashime.” But his wife was unwilling to let him go. Her husband, however, said that he wished to go to the kashime, and at length she told him to do as he pleased. So he took his bedding and went into the kashime. He lay down by his cousin, head to head, in the middle of the room. Then they fell to talking all night long, telling each other what had taken place. At length the one who lived there said, “Come, go in to my wife yonder, and I also will go in to your wife!” but that one of a good disposition said, “That one with whom I live is not a human being.” His partner, however, kept on urging him. Still he said, “I am not willing.” Still he urged him and at last he said, “Just as you please,” So then the one who lived at the village went to the wife of the one who had come. So then he went in to his (partner’s) wife, also. Then the one who went in to the wife of the one who had come, crept into the entrance and down inside the house. There at the back of the room the woman was sleeping. He approached her, and went to the side of the platform. Then he pushed her, and the woman was greatly frightened. As he pushed her again, she vanished. Then he went out and entered his own house. The one who had come to the village also entered the house, and he told him what had happened. Thereupon he put on his parka and went out. He went over to his mother’s house and entered, looking for his wife; but she was not there. Then he left the house and ran (after her); and as it grew light, [whither he goes,] behold, his wife had gone back. There were her tracks. Behold, where she went along back, she had thrown the mucus from her nose! Plainly, she had been crying as she went back there. Then her husband, too, became sad; and he too returned to that dwelling. He would have gone in; and as he was going in, he came back into the entrance. And, they say, there his feet stuck. How in the world was he to get free? As he stood there, he began to cry. “Ah! therefore it was that I warned you,” said the woman’s mother, speaking to him. “Come, stop that and let me in!” said he. “No,” said she, and he began to cry again. He cried, they say, until the night was past, and the next day also. At last, they say, his foot was freed. Down into the entrance he went also, and again his foot stuck fast. “Do let me in!” he said; but she said, “I will not let you in. Only on condition that you never again see (the village) down (there) will I let you in,” said she. “You shall never see your father and your mother again. Only on this condition will I let you in. Ah! you did very badly by me,” she said. “My child is very greatly downcast on your account. I pity you,” she said, “therefore I will let you in.” Then she let him in, and he went back to where his wife was. She, too, how the tears stream down her face!” What is it that you have come back here for?” said she. “What about that woman that you went in to? Do you intend to live with her?” “Was it of my own accord that I did it,” said he, “that you should say that?”

So, then, there he lived with them; and he went nowhere else, but began to stay there for good, and the mother concealed the house. And year in and year out the man never went to his mother’s to see his relatives. So, then, the story is finished.