Story of the puffin

This legend recounts the tale of Ganaxa’hin, where a woman survived a canoe accident, saved by puffins she once admired. Thought drowned, she lived among the birds, transforming partly into one of them. Her father’s lavish offerings finally persuaded the puffin chief to return her, though she retained her connection to the birds. This story is significant to the Ta’qdentan people, symbolized in a house they later built.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The woman’s partial change into a puffin reflects themes of physical and perhaps spiritual transformation.

Supernatural Beings: The puffins exhibit supernatural qualities, communicating and interacting with the woman in extraordinary ways.

Harmony with Nature: The woman’s integration and subsequent bond with the puffins highlight a deep connection and harmony with the natural world.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

There is a place called Ganaxa’ and a creek close by called Ganaxa’hin whither many people used to go to dry salmon and do other work. One day some women went out from there at low tide to a neighboring island to dig shellfish. They brought their canoe to a place where there was a hole in the side of the island, but, when they endeavored to land, a breaker came in, upset the canoe, and drowned all of them except one. In former times, when this woman went by in her father’s canoe, she used to think the birds here looked pretty and was in the habit of saying, “I wish I could sit among those birds.” These birds were the ones that saved her. They felt so happy at having gotten her that they flew about all the time.

Meanwhile drums were beaten at the town to call people to the death feast, for they thought that she was drowned.

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One time a canoe from the village containing her father happened to pass this place, and they said to him, “Look among those birds. Your daughter is sitting there.”

The puffin chief had ordered the lagwa’tc, a bird which lives on the outer islands and is the puffin’s slave, to braid the woman’s hair, and she always sat on the edge of the cliff.

Her father was very rich, so he filled many canoes with sea-otter, beaver, and marten skins for the birds to settle on when they flew out. When they reached the place, however, he could not see his daughter, for they had taken her inside. Then he became angry. They carried all sorts of things out there but in vain.

At last, about four days afterward, the girl’s mother thought of the white hair that had belonged to her grandfather. In the morning she said to her husband, “We have that old hair in a box. What can we do with it? We ought to try a stratagem with it. Suppose we put boards on the canoes, spread the hair all over them, and take it out.” They did this, and, when they got to the cliff where their daughter used to be, they saw her sitting on the edge with her hair hanging over. They went close in. Then all the birds flew out to them, and each stuck a white hair in its head where you may see it at this day. The girl, however, remained where she was.

Then these birds flew in to the puffin chief and told him about the hair. They thought a great deal of it. Therefore the chief told them to carry the girl back to her father. But before she went he said to her, “If you are ever tired of staying with your father, come back to us.” At that time she had a nose just like one of these birds, because she had wanted to be one of them.

The sea gull is also the slave of the puffin. Therefore the Huna people say that when anyone goes to that place it calls his name, because it was the slave of the puffin at the time when this woman was there.

Because some of their people were drowned at that island, all of the Ta’qdentan claim it. Later they built a house which they named after it.

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The brant wives

A Kiksa’di youth marries two mystical brant girls after taking their skins. They grow homesick and return to their brant tribe, leaving the young man behind. He follows, integrates with their bird-like community, and helps the brants win a war against the herons using his bows and arrows. Ultimately, he becomes part of the brant tribe, symbolizing harmony between humans and nature.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The young man undergoes a significant change as he integrates into the brant community, adapting to their way of life and symbolically becoming one with them.

Journey to the Otherworld: The protagonist ventures into the mystical realm of the brant tribe, a world beyond ordinary human experience, representing a journey into an otherworldly domain.

Harmony with Nature: The story emphasizes the unity and harmonious relationship between humans and the natural world, as the young man becomes part of the brant tribe and aids them in their endeavors.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

A Kiksa’di youth lived with his father in a long town. When he was well grown, he went about in the woods hunting with bow and arrows. One time he came close to a lake and heard the voices of girls. When he got nearer he saw two girls bathing there. Then he skirted the shore toward them, and, when he was very close, discovered two coats just back of the place where they were. These were really the girls’ skins. He took them up, and they began talking to him, saying, “Give us those skins.” But he said, “I want to marry both of you.” So he married both of them and took them to his father’s house.

Both of this man’s wives used to look over his hair to pick out the lice. In the spring, when the brants were coming from the south, the girls sat on top of the house with him and kept saying, “There comes my uncle’s canoe. There comes my father’s canoe.”

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They were beginning to get homesick, and they asked their husband if he would let them go home. When the brants began coming, one would say, “Those are my friends coming up. I am going to ask them to give me something to eat.” So, when they were above the house, she said, “Give me something to eat,” and down came green herbs one after another.

When it was time for the brants to start back south, both of the girls had become tired. They wanted to go home. They knew when it was time for their father’s canoe to pass over, and just before it was due they told their husband to go up into the woods after something.

When he came down, his wives were gone. He said to his father, “Do you know where they went?” but he answered, “No.”

Then the young man said, “I will start down on foot to the place whither I think they have gone.” So he set out, and after he had gone on for some time, he heard people making a noise. It was the brant tribe in camp. On this journey he took a bag full of arrows with mussel-shell points, and bows. For this reason, when he came back of the place where they were, and they caught sight of him, they were afraid and flew away. Then he went down to the place where they had been sitting and found all kinds of green herbs such as brants live on.

After this the girls said to their father, “Let us camp a little way off. He has been with us for some time, and we have gotten his heat. Therefore let us camp near by so that he can come to us and be taken along.” But their father answered, “When he comes behind us again and camps, say to him, ‘Our fathers [meaning their father and his brothers] do not like to see your bows and arrows. Get rid of them.’” They came to him and repeated these words, but he said, “I do not take them in order to do harm to your fathers but to get game for myself. I wish you would tell them that I want to go along, too.” So they told him to come down, and, when he did so, his father-in-law said, “Bring out the best coat. I want to put it on my son-in-law.”

After that his wives said to him, “We are going to start along with you. When we set out, do not think about going back and do not look down.” Then they put a woven mat over him and started. After they had gone on for some distance the man wanted to urinate and dropped down from among them on the smooth grass. The brants did not want to leave him, and they followed. It was quite close to their real camping place. The brant tribe was so large that he felt as if he were in his own father’s house. They would play all the evening, and he felt very happy among them.

When they arrived at their real home, this man took off his bag of bows and arrows and hid it back in the woods so that they could not see it. In the same town were fowls of all kinds — brants, swans, herons, etc. — and by and by war arose over a woman, between the brant tribe and the heron tribe. They went outside and started to fight. The swan tribe was between, trying to make peace. When they came out to fight for the second time, the brant tribe was pretty well destroyed by the heron people’s long, pick-like bills. It was from the herons that the Indians learned how to make picks. This is also the reason why the Luknaxa’di use the swan as their crest, for they are very slow, and the Kiksa’di use the brant as their emblem because they are very lively.

Then the brant chief said to his son-in-law, “Your wives’ friends are almost destroyed. Could you do anything with your bows and arrows to help them?” You could not see whether these were brants or people. They looked just like people to him. When he ran among them to help his wives’ friends, he killed numbers at each shot and made them flee away from him. The heron tribe was so scared that they sent out word they would make peace. So messengers were sent back and forth, and the heron chief was taken up among the brants while the brant chief was taken up among the herons. They renamed the heron with his own name and the brant with his own name. In making peace they had a great deal of sport and all sorts of dances. From that time on the heron has known how to dance, and one always sees him dancing by the creeks. Then the birds began to lay up herbs and all kinds of things that grow along the beach, for their journey north.

Meanwhile the man’s people had already given a feast for him, and he never returned to his father. He became as one of the brants. That is why in olden times, when brants were flying along, the people would ask them for food.

The King’s White Elephant

A group of carpenters living by a forest once helped an injured Elephant by removing a splinter from its sore foot. Grateful, the Elephant assisted them with their work and introduced his white son to learn the tasks. The young Elephant bonded with the carpenters’ children, but was eventually purchased by a king, who cherished and cared for him throughout his life.

Source:
Jataka Tales
by Ellen C. Babbit
The Century Co., New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Harmony with Nature: The bond between the carpenters and the elephant illustrates respect and cooperation between humans and animals.

Cultural Heroes: The white elephant, revered by the king and the people, becomes a symbol of virtue and generosity, embodying the qualities of a hero.

Moral Lessons: The tale teaches kindness, reciprocity, and respect for life, emphasizing the rewards of good deeds.

► From the same Region or People

South Asia
- India
  - Buddhist Lore

Learn more about Jataka Tales

Once upon a time a number of carpenters lived on a river bank near a large forest. Every day the carpenters went in boats to the forest to cut down the trees and make them into lumber.

One day while they were at work an Elephant came limping on three feet to them. He held up one foot and the carpenters saw that it was swollen and sore. Then the Elephant lay down and the men saw that there was a great splinter in the sore foot. They pulled it out and washed the sore carefully so that in a short time it would be well again.

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Thankful for the cure, the Elephant thought: “These carpenters have done so much for me, I must be useful to them.”

So after that the Elephant used to pull up trees for the carpenters. Sometimes when the trees were chopped down he would roll the logs down to the river. Other times he brought their tools for them. And the carpenters used to feed him well morning, noon and night.

Now this Elephant had a son who was white all over–a beautiful, strong young one. Said the old Elephant to himself, “I will take my son to the place in the forest where I go to work each day so that he may learn to help the carpenters, for I am no longer young and strong.”

So the old Elephant told his son how the carpenters had taken good care of him when he was badly hurt and took him to them. The white Elephant did as his father told him to do and helped the carpenters and they fed him well.

When the work was done at night the young Elephant went to play in the river. The carpenters’ children played with him, in the water and on the bank. He liked to pick them up in his trunk and set them on the high branches of the trees and then let them climb down on his back.

One day the king came down the river and saw this beautiful white Elephant working for the carpenters. The king at once wanted the Elephant for his own and paid the carpenters a great price for him. Then with a last look at his playmates, the children, the beautiful white Elephant went on with the king. The king was proud of his new Elephant and took the best care of him as long as he lived.

The fugitive women

Two women, quarreling with their husbands, fled to live alone at Igdluqdjuaq. There, they built a sturdy house of whale bones, sod, and turf. Sustaining themselves by trapping foxes, scavenging seal carcasses, and fishing, they thrived without men. Their fathers eventually found them but left, marveling at their independence. The house remains a testament to their resilience, giving the place its name, “The Large House.”

Source:
The Central Eskimo
by Franz Boas
[Bureau of American Ethnology]
Sixth Annual Report
Washington, 1888

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Authority: The women challenge traditional gender roles and societal expectations by leaving their husbands and choosing to live independently.

Community and Isolation: The narrative explores the women’s transition from their community to isolation, highlighting their ability to create a self-sustaining life apart from society.

Harmony with Nature: The women demonstrate a deep connection with their environment, utilizing natural resources for shelter and sustenance, embodying a harmonious existence with nature.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Once upon a time two women who were with child quarreled with their husbands and fled from their families and friends to live by themselves. After having traveled a long distance they came to a place called Igdluqdjuaq, where they resolved to stay. It was summer when they arrived. They found plenty of sod and turf and large whale ribs bleaching on the beach. They erected a firm structure of bones and filled the interstices with sod and turf. Thus they had a good house to live in. In order to obtain skins they made traps, in which they caught foxes in sufficient numbers for their dresses. Sometimes they found carcasses of ground seals or of whales which had drifted to the shore, of which they ate the meat and burnt the blubber.

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There was also a deep and narrow deer pass near the hut. Across this they stretched a rope and when the deer passed by they became entangled in it and strangled themselves. Besides, there was a salmon creek near the house and this likewise furnished them with an abundance of food.

In winter their fathers came in search of their lost daughters. When they saw the sledge coming they began to cry, as they were unwilling to return to their husbands. The men, however, were glad to find them comfortable, and having staid two nights at their daughters’ house they returned home, where they told the strange story that two women without the company of any men lived all by themselves and were never in want.

Though this happened a long time ago the house may still be seen and therefore the place is called Igdluqdjuaq (The Large House).

How the caribou lost their large eyes

The Eskimo tell of a time when caribou had large, keen eyes, making them savage and difficult to hunt. After seeking help from their Torngak, one thoughtful caribou sewed up the corners of its species’ eyes, using a bone from its foreleg, to appear less fierce. This act made caribou tamer and easier to hunt, providing the Eskimo with sustenance and materials for survival.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The story explains why caribou have smaller eyes, attributing it to a deliberate change to aid human hunters.

Cunning and Deception: The caribou’s act of sewing their eyes to appear less fierce involves a form of self-deception to alter their behavior and relationship with humans.

Harmony with Nature: The tale reflects the interdependence between humans and animals, highlighting how changes in animal behavior can lead to a balanced coexistence.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

When the caribou were first found by the Eskimo, they had very large eyes. They could see a long distance and were very savage. So the Eskimo found it exceedingly difficult to get near enough to shoot them with their bows and arrows. Consequently they often went hungry. They asked their Torngak to help them, and to make the caribou tamer. One of the caribou grew very thoughtful. He said to the others, “I wish our eyes were not so large, then we should be better looking.” So the other caribou said, “Sew our eyes up then.” So the thoughtful caribou took a little bone out of its foreleg and a piece of sinew and sewed up the corners of their eyes. The caribou became tamer and could not see so quickly, and the Eskimo were able to take them more easily.

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The Eskimo say that it is because the Torngak of their forefathers helped them that the caribou are not so savage and cannot see so far, and they are able to kill them and eat their meat and wear their skins for clothing. They always show the bone in the foreleg that was used by the caribou that their Torngak made thoughtful, when they tell the story. It is a bone in the ankle that seems to be loose under the skin.

Origin of the winds and rain

A giant spirit in the north breathes violent snowstorms, while spirits in the east and west bring soft winds and warm weather. Female spirits in the south send flowers and summer rain, storing water in sky bags. When they run, the water escapes as rain, and thunder echoes as the sound of their movements across the sky.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The story provides a rich explanation for natural phenomena like snow, wind, rain, and thunder, rooting them in a spiritual framework.

Supernatural Beings: It highlights the spirits as powerful entities controlling the weather, bridging the natural and spiritual worlds.

Harmony with Nature: The tale reflects an intrinsic understanding of and reverence for natural forces, showing humanity’s connection to and respect for the environment.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There is a giant spirit who lives in the north. When he blows his breath, violent snowstorms occur.

Other spirits live in the east and west. They breathe soft winds and summer weather. Female spirits dwell to the south. They send the flowers and summer rain.

They live up in the sky and keep the rain in big bags. When they run across the sky the water escapes.

The thunder is the noise of their running across the sky.

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The Boy and the Violin

A lonely boy inherits a violin, pouring his soul into its music. His melodies draw forest creatures into a whimsical, dancing procession, eventually reaching the land of giants. The spectacle makes the sorrowful giant princess laugh for the first time, fulfilling the king’s challenge. Rewarded with half the kingdom, the boy becomes a prince, his enchanting music ensuring harmony among the giants and beasts alike.

Source
Tales of Giants from Brazil
by Elsie Spicer Eells
Dodd, Mead and Co. – New York, 1918

► Themes of the story

Quest: The boy embarks on a journey that leads him to the land of giants, culminating in a significant achievement.

Harmony with Nature: The boy’s music creates unity among various animals, showcasing a deep connection with the natural world.

Transformation through Love: The boy’s melodies bring joy to the sorrowful giant princess, indicating a transformative power of emotional connection.

► From the same Region or People

South America
- Brazil

Learn more about Brazilian peoples

Once upon a time there was a man who had an only son. When the man died the son was left all alone in the world. There was not very much property–just a cat and a dog, a small piece of land, and a few orange trees. The boy gave the dog away to a neighbour and sold the land and the orange trees. Every bit of money he obtained from the sale he invested in a violin. He had longed for a violin all his life and now he wanted one more than ever. While his father had lived he could tell his thoughts to his father, but now there was none to tell them to except the violin.

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What his violin said back to him made the very sweetest music in the world.

The boy went to hire out as shepherd to care for the sheep of the king, but he was told that the king already had plenty of shepherds and had no need of another. The boy took his violin which he had brought with him and hid himself in the deep forest. There he made sweet music with the violin. The shepherds who were near by guarding the king’s sheep heard the sweet strains, but they could not find out who was playing. The sheep, too, heard the music. Several of them left the flock and followed the sound of the music into the forest. They followed it until they reached the boy and the cat and the violin.

The shepherds were greatly disturbed when they found out how their sheep were straying away into the forest. They went after them to bring them back, but they could find no trace of them. Sometimes it would seem that they were quite near to the place from which the music came, but when they hurried in that direction they would hear the strains of music coming from a distant point in the opposite direction. They were afraid of getting lost themselves so they gave up in despair.

When the boy saw how the sheep came to hear his music he was very happy. His music was no longer the sad sweet sound it had been when he was lonely. It became gayer and gayer. After a while it became so gay that the cat began to dance. When the sheep saw the cat dancing they began to dance, too.

Soon a company of monkeys passed that way and heard the sound of the music. They began dancing immediately. They made such a chattering that they almost drowned the music. The boy threatened to stop playing if they could not be happy without being so noisy. After that the monkeys chattered less.

After a while a tapir heard the jolly sound. Immediately his threetoed hind feet and fourtoed front feet began to dance. He just couldn’t keep them from dancing; so he, too, joined the procession of boy, cat, sheep, and monkeys.

Next the armadillo heard the music. In spite of his heavy armour he had to dance too. Then a herd of small deer joined the company. Then the anteater danced along with them. The wild cat and the tiger came, too. The sheep and the deer were terribly frightened, but they kept dancing on just the same. The tiger and wild cat were so happy dancing that they never noticed them at all. The big snakes curled their huge bodies about the tree trunks and wished that they, too, had feet with which to dance. The birds tried to dance, but they could not use their feet well enough and had to give it up and keep flying. Every beast of the forests and jungles which had feet with which to dance came and joined the gay procession.

The jolly company wandered on and on until finally they came to the high wall which surrounds the land of the giants. The enormous giant who stood on the wall as guard laughed so hard that he almost fell off the wall. He took them to the king at once. The king laughed so hard that he almost fell off his throne. His laugh shook the earth. The earth had never before been shaken at the laugh of the king of the giants, though it had often heard his angry voice in the thunder. The people did not know what to make of it.

Now it happened that the king of the land of giants had a beautiful giantess daughter who never laughed. She remained sad all the time. The king had offered half his kingdom to the one who could make her laugh, and all the giants had done their very funniest tricks for her. Never once had they brought even a tiny little smile to her lovely face. “If my daughter can keep from laughing when she sees this funny sight I’ll give up in despair and eat my hat,” said the king of the land of giants, as he saw the jolly little figure playing upon the violin and the assembly of cat, sheep, monkeys and everything else dancing to the gay music. If the giant king had known how to dance he would have danced himself, but it was fortunate for the people of the earth that he did not know how. If he had, there is no knowing what might have happened to the earth.

As it was, he took the little band into his daughter’s palace where she sat surrounded by her servants. Her lovely face was as sad as sad could be. When she saw the funny sight her expression changed. The happy smile which the king of the land of giants had always wanted to see played about her beautiful lips. A gay laugh was heard for the first time in all her life. The king of the land of giants was so happy that he grew a league in height and nobody knows how much he gained in weight. “You shall have half my kingdom,” he said to the boy, “just as I promised if any one made my daughter laugh.” The boy from that time on reigned over half of the kingdom of giants as prince of the land. He never had the least bit of difficulty in preserving his authority, for the biggest giants would at once obey his slightest request if he played on his violin to them. The beasts stayed in the land of the giants so long that they grew into giant beasts, but the boy and his violin always remained just as they were when they entered the land.

A Story of the Creation

Adam, lonely in the garden, received a rooster, then a dog, but remained dissatisfied. God created Eve from Adam’s rib. A snake split its skin trying to climb the garden wall, marking snakes’ lifelong shedding. After leaving the garden, Adam struggled to clear land but feared bleeding trees. God’s messenger helped, planting maize and other crops through divine effort, establishing sustenance for humanity.

Source
Ethnology of the Mayas of
Southern and Central British Honduras
by John Eric Thompson
Field Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Series, Pub.274, Vol.17.2
Chicago, 1930

► Themes of the story

Creation: The narrative describes the origins of humanity, the formation of Eve from Adam’s rib, and the establishment of agriculture, detailing how the world and human life began.

Origin of Things: The tale explains natural phenomena, such as why snakes shed their skins, attributing it to the snake’s attempt to climb the garden wall and splitting its skin in the process.

Harmony with Nature: The story emphasizes the importance of understanding and working with the natural world, as seen when Adam learns to cultivate the land with divine guidance, leading to a fruitful and sustainable existence.

► From the same Region or People

Central America
- Maya Lore

Learn more about Maya people

At first Adam was alone in the garden. He was lonely and wanted a partner and asked God for one. God gave him a rooster, but Adam complained that the rooster was never there. Then God sent him a dog. Adam still was not satisfied, saying that the dog could not talk except by wagging his tail. Then when he was sleeping, God took out one of his ribs and made Eve. There was a wall around the garden, and the snake, trying to get over the wall, split his skin. From that time snakes have always cast their skins. Adam and Eve left the garden and found a large stone house, where they lived. They had no machetes, and the only food to eat was tsib. Adam wanted to make a plantation.

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The messenger of God gave him an axe and a machete, telling him to fell the four trees that stood at the four corners of the plantation. When he went to cut down the first tree, the tree called out to him, “Don’t cut me down.”

Adam made a small cut, and blood started to come out of the tree. Adam was afraid and went away. Later the messenger came and asked him why he had not cut down the four trees. Adam told him what had happened, and that he was afraid, but the messenger replied, “That is the way all over the world.” The messenger then chopped down the four corner trees, one cut to each side of the trunk. When the four corner trees fell, all the other trees in the plantation fell as well. When the plantation was dry, Adam burnt it off, but he had no seed to sow. The messenger of God promised to sow it. He took a stick and sharpened the point. He took corn in one hand, and thrust the stick into the ground. He was sweating, so he took the sweat and threw it into the hole. Then he placed a little earth on top of the hole. In this way he made holes at all four corners of the plantation, and one in the center. At the end of a week the field was full of maize, beans, squashes and all the fruits of the world.

The Mam

A hunter neglected to pray or offer copal to Mam, the guardian of animals, wounding many creatures. Summoned by Mam, he was tasked with tending the sick animals and taught sacred practices, including prayers to the Morning Star, Xulab, and burning copal. The hunter learned farming skills and received seeds before returning to earth, where he prospered by honoring Mam’s teachings and rituals.

Source
Ethnology of the Mayas of
Southern and Central British Honduras
by John Eric Thompson
Field Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Series, Pub.274, Vol.17.2
Chicago, 1930

► Themes of the story

Divine Intervention: The Mam, a guardian spirit, directly intervenes in the hunter’s life to correct his neglectful behavior towards sacred rituals.

Sacred Objects: Copal, used in rituals taught by the Mam, holds significant spiritual importance in the story.

Harmony with Nature: The tale emphasizes living in balance with the natural world, as the hunter learns to respect and care for animals and the environment.

► From the same Region or People

Central America
- Maya Lore

Learn more about Maya people

Once there was a man who never burnt copal or prayed to the Mam when he went out hunting. He was a bad shot, and many of the animals at which he shot ran off wounded. Mam was vexed about this, so he sent a boy to summon the man to his presence. The boy found the hunter in the forest and made him shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself in the presence of the Mam. The Mam asked him why he wounded so many animals and did not burn copal or pray to him. The man said that he knew no better. As a punishment the Mam made the man live there with him and tend to the sick and wounded animals. Where the Mam lives in the middle of a mountain, there are a number of pens in which the wild animals are kept.

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There is one pen for the small deer, another for the large deer, and yet another for the peccary. In short there is a special pen for every kind of wild animal.

One day while the man was there, curing the sick animals, two other humans were brought up to Mam for not having burnt copal. The Mam kept them there in his house during the night. Early the next morning he took all three of them and showed them a hunter on earth who was offering copal to the Morning Star and the Mam. In this manner they learnt what they must do to get plenty of game.

When they had learnt, the Mam sent the two back to the world, but first he asked them what game they wanted. Then the Mam sent the third man to the pens and told him to release two peccaries and three curassows. As soon as the two men got back to earth and opened their eyes, they saw the two peccaries and the three curassows, and shot them. The other man remained with the Mam, curing the sick and wounded animals.

The Mam taught him how to pray and burn copal. First, he must pray to the Morning Star as it comes up above the horizon; for the Morning Star, Xulab, is the owner of all the animals. Further, when the man goes to the forest, he must again pray and burn copal to the Mam; for the Mam look after all the animals for the Morning Star. The Mam taught the man how to work a milpa, for before this the man had not known how. The Mam also taught him how to pray and burn copal so that he might get a good crop. The man tired of living with the Mam, and wanted to go back to earth and his family. The Mam wanted him to stay, but the man was so anxious to go home that the Mam consented. However, before the man went, the Mam gave him the seed of all the plants he wanted to sow, beans, maize, cassava, and others. When the man got back to earth, he remembered all that the Mam had taught him, and consequently his milpa always yielded abundantly. Whenever he went out to shoot, he always got plenty of game as he knew exactly how to pray and burn copal. Now it is said that the Mam used to wear sandals of moleskin, and his seat was the shell of an armadillo.

H’ab Sliman

A tale of jealousy and resilience unfolds as a young girl, betrayed by her stepmother, suffers blindness and exile. Transformed into a pigeon by magical crows, she returns to expose the truth. Her suffering inspires nature’s upheaval, compelling the community to seek justice. Through poetic vengeance, harmony is restored, showcasing themes of injustice, transformation, and eventual triumph over cruelty.

Source
Moorish Literature
   romantic ballads, tales of the Berbers,
   stories of the Kabyles, folk-lore,
   and national traditions
The Colonial Press,
   London, New York, 1901

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The young girl’s metamorphosis into a pigeon, facilitated by magical crows, symbolizes resilience and the potential for change in the face of adversity.

Divine Intervention: The crows’ intervention to restore the girl’s sight and transform her underscores the influence of supernatural forces in guiding and correcting human affairs.

Harmony with Nature: The connection between the girl’s emotions and the environment reflects a deep bond between humans and nature, emphasizing how personal suffering can resonate with the natural world.

► From the same Region or People

North Africa
- Berber Lore

Learn more about the Berber peoples

Translated by J. Rivière
and Chauncey C. Starkweather

A man had a boy and a girl. Their mother died and he took another wife. The little boy stayed at school until evening. The school-master asked them:

“What do your sisters do?”

One answered, “She makes bread.”

A second, “She goes to fetch water.”

A third, “She prepares the couscous.”

When he questioned H’ab Sliman, the child played deaf, the master struck him.

► Continue reading…

One day his sister said to him: “What is the matter, O my brother? You seem to be sad.”

“Our schoolmaster punishes us,” answered the child.

“And why does he punish you?” inquired the young girl.

The child replied: “After we have studied until evening he asks each of us what our sisters do. They answer him: she kneads bread, she goes to get water. But when he questions me I have nothing to say, and he beats me.”

“Is it nothing but for that?”

“That is all.”

“Well,” added the young girl, “the next time he asks you, answer him: ‘This is what my sister does: When she laughs the sun shines; when she weeps it rains; when she combs her hair, legs of mutton fall; when she goes from one place to another, roses drop.'”

The child gave that answer.

“Truly,” said the schoolmaster, “that is a rich match.” A few days after he bought her, and they made preparations for her departure for the house of her husband. The stepmother of the young girl made her a little loaf of salt bread. She ate it and asked some drink from her sister, the daughter of her stepmother.

“Let me pluck out one of your eyes,” said the sister.

“Pluck it out,” said the promised bride, “for our people are already on the way.”

The stepmother gave her to drink and plucked out one of her eyes.

“A little more,” she said.

“Let me take out your other eye,” answered the cruel woman.

The young girl drank and let her pluck out the other eye. Scarcely had she left the house than the stepmother thrust her out on the road. She dressed her own daughter and put her in the place of the blind one. They arrive.

“Comb yourself,” they told her, and there fell dust.

“Walk,” and nothing happened.

“Laugh,” and her front teeth fell out.

All cried, “Hang H’ab Sliman!”

Meanwhile some crows came flying near the young blind girl, and one said to her: “Some merchants are on the point of passing this way. Ask them for a little wool, and I will restore your sight.”

The merchants came up and the blind girl asked them for a little wool, and each one of them threw her a bit. The crow descended near her and restored her sight.

“Into what shall we change you?” they asked.

“Change me into a pigeon,” she answered.

The crows stuck a needle into her head and she was changed into a pigeon. She took her flight to the house of the schoolmaster and perched upon a tree near by. The people went to sow wheat.

“O master of the field,” she said, “is H’ab Sliman yet hanged?”

She began to weep, and the rain fell until the end of the day’s work.

One day the people of the village went to find a venerable old man and said to him:

“O old man, a bird is perched on one of our trees. When we go to work the sky is covered with clouds and it rains. When the day’s work is done the sun shines.”

“Go,” said the old man, “put glue on the branch where it perches.”

They put glue on its branch and caught the bird. The daughter of the stepmother said to her mother:

“Let us kill it.”

“No,” said a slave, “we will amuse ourselves with it.”

“No; kill it.” And they killed it. Its blood spurted upon a rose-tree. The rose-tree became so large that it overspread all the village. The people worked to cut it down until evening, and yet it remained the size of a thread.

“To-morrow,” they said, “we will finish it.” The next morning they found it as big as it was the day before. They returned to the old man and said to him:

“O old man, we caught the bird and killed it. Its blood gushed upon a rose-tree, which became so large that it overspreads the whole village. Yesterday we worked all day to cut it down. We left it the size of a thread. This morning we find it as big as ever.”

“O my children,” said the old man, “you are not yet punished enough. Take H’ab Sliman, perhaps he will have an expedient. Make him sleep at your house.” H’ab Sliman said to them, “Give me a sickle.” Someone said to him: “We who are strong have cut all day without being able to accomplish it, and do you think you will be capable of it? Let us see if you will find a new way to do it.”

At the moment when he gave the first blow a voice said to him:

“Take care of me, O my brother!”

The voice wept, the child began to weep, and it rained. H’ab Sliman recognized his sister.

“Laugh,” he said. She laughed and the sun shone, and the people got dried.

“Comb yourself,” and legs of mutton fell. All those who were present regaled themselves on them. “Walk,” and roses fell. “But what is the matter with you, my sister?”

“What has happened to me.”

“What revenge does your heart desire?”

“Attach the daughter of my stepmother to the tail of a horse that she may be dragged in the bushes.”

When the young girl was dead, they took her to the house, cooked her, and sent her to her mother and sister.

“O my mother,” cried the latter, “this eye is that of my sister Aftelis.”

“Eat, unhappy one,” said the mother, “your sister Aftelis has become the slave of slaves.”

“But look at it,” insisted the young girl. “You have not even looked at it. I will give this piece to the one who will weep a little.”

“Well,” said the cat, “if you give me that piece I will weep with one eye.”