Sacred Texts Native American Southeast Index Previous Next
A hunter had a little boy who stayed at the hunting camp. When he went off his boy said to him, "Make some arrows for me." He made arrows for him but the next time he went off again the boy again said, "Make some arrows for me." "How does it happen, said his father, "that you use up so many arrows?" and the child answered, "A boy comes around and we shoot together and bet and he wins all from me." "If that is so, when he comes back you must catch him. I will sit watching and when you seize him I will run up and tie him." Then he made the arrows and left, but he stayed near by watching and when the boys were playing about his son caught the other and they fell about wrestling. The second boy tried to run away but the father caught and tied him.
After he had sat tied for some time the strange youth quieted down and the man untied him, left the two together and started off hunting. "To-day some one will call toward the west to be ferried across in a canoe. It is not a human being. It is Old-woman-who-sticks-to-one and you must not set her across. When someone toward the east shouts, that will be a human being. You must set that one across." He said this to them and started off.
Not long afterwards some one toward the west shouted and the strange boy said, "Let us go and set her across." The other answered "I think he said, 'Do not set that one across. It will not be a human being,'" but the first replied, "If you will not do it I will hack you with father's big ax." So the other became frightened and they went along together. Old-woman-who-sticks-to-one was standing by the bank and they put her across. After they had done so they jumped back. They jumped back across the creek quickly but Old-woman-who-sticks-to-one jumped back after them and fastened herself upon them. They could not get rid of her in any way, until finally they killed her and heated water and poured it over her, when she came off. They cut off her nose and made a pipe out of it. "It will be good for our father to use when he smokes," they said.
While they were sitting holding this their father came home. He said, "Have you been right here all the time?" "We have been nowhere else," said the boys. "We have made a pipe for you," they said, and they gave it to him. He put tobacco into it, lighted it, and smoked. When he pulled at it hard, it made a noise, lā+k. When he pulled at it still harder it made a noise, tlāk. Then he said, "Didn't you do what I told you not to?" His child answered, "We put that one across and jumped back but she also jumped back and stuck to us. When we could do nothing else with her we killed her
and poured hot water on her, and she came off. We cut her nose off and made a pipe out of it for you."
When he was about to start out to hunt again he said, "If you want to go in swimming you must not swim in the creek toward the west. You must swim toward the east. You must not swim toward the west because there are lots of leeches in the creek there." Then he set out.
Not long afterwards the boys said, "Let us go in swimming," and they swam eastward in the creek. When they came back the strange boy said, "Let us go in swimming to find out about the leeches of which he spoke." "I think he forbade us," said the other. The strange boy replied, "If you do not agree I will hack you with father's ax," so he became frightened and they set out. They went in swimming. When they came out, leeches were all over their bodies. Then they wallowed in the sand and mashed them. When their skins got dry they made a noise, "tsågāk tsågāk," and the boys danced in order to hear the noise.
When their father came home he said, "Have you been right here?" and the strange boy answered, "We have been nowhere else." But his own child said, "We went in swimming where you said, 'Do not swim there,' and when we came out leeches hung all over our bodies. We rolled in the sand and mashed them, and when their skins were dried they made a noise and we danced."
Then the boys said to each other, "When he leaves this time we will follow him. Let us make many arrows." So they made them and hid them away where they would be ready and the next time he went out they followed. He opened a low mountain, a deer came out, and he shot at it and killed it. Then he shut the mountain, laid the deer on his back and started to return. They concealed themselves and waited until he had gotten away, but when he was a considerable distance off they opened the door. Deer came out and ran off; also turkeys and bear. They shot at them until they ran out of arrows. Then they shut the mountain and ran off. They got home first and sat down, not intending to tell what had happened.
When their father came back he said, "You have not been off anywhere?" and they answered, "We have been right here all the time," so he thought everything was all right. But presently the deer meat gave out and he again started off. He could find nothing and so came back. "Well then," he said, "you are also the ones who did that. There is nothing to be had. Now, let us go back to the place from which we came. That food was for us to live upon. Let us start away," and they set out.
When they got to the place he said, "I want to reconnoitre," and started off. In the evening he came back and said, "I am going to a council meeting," and he set out again. Then the boys followed
him stealthily. People were gathering at the council house and when it became dark they entered. "I wonder what they are talking about in there," said the boys, so they crept under the floor and listened. As they sat there they heard that they themselves were being tried, and they were convicted. It was agreed to kill them before morning.
Then the two boys went out and started off. They collected guards to protect themselves, placing ducks in the outermost row. As a protection they put bumblebees into a hollow cane and stopped it up. In the same way they put hornets into a hollow cane and stopped it up. They stationed geese as guards in the next row. They also put yellow jackets into a hollow cane and stopped it up. They stationed sandhill cranes as guards in the, third row. Then they put wasps into a hollow cane and stopped it up. In this way they collected all kinds of stinging things. In the last row they put quails on guard. They themselves went into a small corncrib standing on the trail along which the enemy were to come.
While the boys were sitting in the corncrib the ducks came flying past making a noise. "I think they are coming," they said as they sat there. After a while the geese also went by. "They are getting nearer," they said. After another interval the sandhill cranes also passed. "They are getting close," they said. After still another interval the quails flew past making a thundering noise, and they said, "They have come." So they opened the hollow canes and threw them outside, and, when the people came to fight, these stung them. Then they began to fight. As more and more stinging insects came out they began fighting one another in fighting the stinging insects. They struck and killed one another.
Toward daylight the shouting and tumult quieted down. The stinging things rose upward humming. "What has happened?" said the boys, and they went out. Their enemies all lay about dead. "Father is lying among them somewhere," they said, and they hunted for him. After they had hunted about they found him barely alive lying with his backup. "Do you think we had better let him die for good?" said the strange boy to the man's son. When he asked this question the latter answered, "He shall always stay in the fields and steal garden vegetables and people shall chase him." Then the strange boy made a little bow and scraped the string over the man's buttocks. He stopped, and when the man tried to speak he said, "gāx, gāx, gāx, gāx." He turned into a crow and flew away.
"What shall we ourselves do?" they said as they stood there. "We will go into the ground," they said. "No, for we can never see each other," they concluded. "Let us wade into the water," they said, but they concluded, "If we do that we shall again be unable to see each other." Then they said, "If we go above we can arrange
to see each other, talk together, and travel together." "I will go toward the west to live," said the strange boy, and the man's child went eastward. They made it thunder and lighten. A cloud separated them.