Post by Okwes on Apr 14, 2008 12:07:16 GMT -5
G€ ¦ÉHA Aids a Deserted Boy - Seneca
[Told by John Jimison]
Characters
G€ ¦ÉHA - Wind
NYAGWAIHE -- The Ancient of Bears
IN a cabin at the edge of a village lived a grandmother and her grandson.
The grandmother was old and the grandson was young and they were so poor
that they ate scraps given them by their neighbors.
Once, when a hunting party was starting off, the little boy followed it. The
hunters traveled five days, then camped and built a bark hut.
The boy was too young to hunt; he went out with the men but never killed
anything. They called him OTHW€ ¦ÉNSAW€ ¦ÉNHDE from the part of a deer they threw
out for him to eat--"the small liver by the side of the large one."
When the hunters were ready to start for home, they agreed to leave the boy,
not letting him know that they were going; they wanted to travel fast.
One day when he came back to the hut, the boy found only the pile of hair
left from the skins they had dressed. The men had taken everything and gone.
The child didn't know the way home.
That night he slept on the pile of hair; the next morning be found the chin
bone of a deer and getting out the marrow ate it. When it was night again,
he heard somebody coming; the door opened, and a man said, "Well,
OTHW€ ¦ÉNSAW€ ¦ÉNHDE, you think you are going to die, but you are not. Get your
knife and put it on the stump outside the door, and in the morning go and
bring it in. You must hunt, to-morrow." The stranger, who was G€ ¦ÉHA (Wind),
went away.
The boy had an old basswood knife; he carried it out and put it on the
stump. Early in the morning he went to the stump and there he found a new
knife. He took his bow and arrow and knife and went into the woods. He saw a
deer, ran after it, overtook it and killed it with his knife. Then he threw
his bow and arrow away and afterward when hunting used his knife. He killed
large game and had plenty of meat.
One night he heard somebody coming, then a man pushed open the door, and
said, calling him by name, "I am here to tell you that NYAGWAIHE is coming
to kill you. To-night put your knife on the stump outside, get it in the
morning and go to the top of the tall elm tree at the end of the hut; hide
in the branches and wait. NYAGWAIHE will climb the tree and look over into
the hut to see if you are there. When he is coming down backwards, stick
your knife into a small white spot in his right hind foot; he will fall to
the ground, dead. Then pile up wood around the body and burn it."
G€ ¦ÉHA went out.
The boy put his knife on the stump and in the morning the old knife was gone
and a larger and longer knife was in its place. He picked up the knife and
climbing the tree hid in the branches. Just at daybreak he heard a terrible
roar, and right away NYAGWAIHE was climbing the tree. When he got to the
top, he looked into the smoke-hole of the hut, and said, "There is a fire;
the boy must be there," and he started down the tree.
The boy saw the white spot and stuck his knife into it; NYAGWAIHE fell to
the ground, dead.
That night, just as the boy was going to sleep, he heard somebody coming.
G€ ¦ÉHA opened the door, and said, "I came to tell you that those hunters who
left you here are starving. Ten days from now they will come back to the
hut. You must be kind to them. Don't feel proud or boast of your swiftness.
You felt proud, that is why NYAGWAIHE came to destroy you, "Don't say that
there is no one who can outrun you, When they come tell them to help
themselves to the meat you have dried. When they are ready to go home, go
with them; tell every man to take as much meat as he can carry. Put your
knife on the stump."
G€ ¦ÉHA went away. The boy put his knife, which was made of basswood, on the
stump. In the morning the knife was shorter and smaller.
During the next nine days the boy killed many deer, The tenth day he stayed
in the hut, watching and listening. At midday the hunters came. When they
saw how much; meat the boy had, they asked forgiveness. He told them to eat
as much meat as they wanted, then take as much home as each man could carry.
They took half of the meat. The boy packed up the other half, shook it till
it was as light a pack as any one of the men was carrying, then started on
behind them.
When they got back to the village, the boy went to his grandmother's house
and threw down his pack. That minute it came to its natural size.
"Oh," cried his grandmother, "I am happy now. The hunters said you were lost
in the woods. But you are back and have brought plenty of meat."
"Go, grandmother," said the boy, "and ask all the women to come and get as
much meat as they can carry away."
The women came and carried away many loads of meat, but the meat in the
house wasn't diminished. There seemed to be as much as before any was taken.
Now a chief in the East challenged the chief of the village to run a race;
whichever side was beaten all the men on that side would lose their lives.
The chief called the people together to decide on a runner. The boy said, "I
will run with the man you choose and you can decide which is the better
runner."
The chief was pleased. He chose a man and the two stood apart. Other men
also volunteered to run. The chief raised his hand, then dropped it, and the
runners started, that minute the boy was out of sight, then off at the end
of the opening a small dark object was seen. The other runner was only half
way across the opening when the boy was back at the starting place. Then he
began to boast that nobody could outrun him; he forgot G€ ¦ÉHA's warning.
There was a valley that went across the world; that valley was to be the
race course. At the edge of the world was a rock that stood up like the
trunk of a huge tree. The rock was white flint and it shone brightly; there
was no other rock like it. The runner who reached the rock was to bring back
a chip of it. The runner for the challenging chief was tall and thin. At
midday the sign was given and the runners started--the boy ran on the
ground, his opponent ran in the air.
The boy used his full power and soon came back with a piece of the stone in
his hand. After a long time the other runner came--the challenging chief and
his men lost their heads.
The boy was proud and boastful. That night, just as he was falling asleep,
he heard somebody coming. The door opened and a man said, "Come out, I want
to talk to you."
He went out.
"I challenge you to a foot race," said the man. "You must wager the heads of
all the people of the village, except yourself, against my head. I have no
people. We will start at daylight and run till the sun reaches the middle of
the Blue."
"Very well," said the boy.
The man disappeared. The boy told his grandmother what had happened and she
started off to notify the people that their heads had been put up as a
wager. While she was gone G€ ¦ÉHA came to the boy, and said, "I warned you not
to boast and told you what would happen if you did. Now you must do your
best or you will be beaten. You must help yourself. I am going home."
The people assembled and the challenger came. Just as the sun rose, word was
given and the runners started. As the challenger ran he threw up so much
dirt that the boy was thrown back, and he fell. The people couldn't see the
runner; but off in the distance was a NYAGWAIHE.
As the boy fell, G€ ¦ÉHA was there, and said, "Get up and start! Help yourself
and I'll help you."
The boy ran to the first knoll, looked but didn't see his opponent, reached
the second knoll and saw him on a knoll far ahead, then saw him on the
fourth knoll. Now a Whirlwind took the boy up and, like a flash of
lightning, put him at the runner's heels. He called out, "Hurry, or I'll
overtake you!"
The runner used all his strength and soon was out of sight.
Again a Whirlwind picked up the boy and put him at the heels of his
opponent. He shot twice and called out, "Do your best or I'll beat you!"
The runner couldn't get out of sight, he was losing strength.
Again a Whirlwind came and as it picked the boy up a voice said, out of the
cloud, "This is the last time I'll help you."
Whirlwind put the boy down at his opponent's heels; the runner, now in his
real form, the form of a NYAGWAIHE, said, "You have overtaken me and won the
race."
Exactly at midday the boy cut off the Bear's head, and taking it started for
home. When over three hills he was tired; he hung the head on the limb of a
tree and taking the tongue went on. He went over two other hills and was
tired; he hung the tongue on the limb of a tree and went on over other hills
and knolls. When he reached home and told the people that he had killed his
opponent, they said, "We will go and see the body."
"You'll find it over the tenth hill. I tried to bring back the head, but
seven hills from here I was tired and I hung it on the limb of a tree. I
took the tongue, but when I came to the fifth hill I was tired and I hung
the tongue on the limb of a tree."
It took a long time for the people to get to the first hill. When they had
traveled five Summers and five Winters, they came to a hill. On the top of
the hill was a tree, and on the tree was the tongue of the NYAGWAIHE. The
ground around the tree was trampled down; thousands of wild beasts had been
there and tried to get the tongue, the men looked at it and went on.
When they had traveled two more Summers and two more Winters they came to
the seventh hill and found a skull, all that was left of the head. The
ground around the tree was trampled down: thousands of wild beasts had been
there and tried to get the head.
They traveled three Summers and three Winters, then reached the tenth hill.
For a great distance around the ground had been made bare and hard by the
trampling of wild beasts.
The place where NYAGWAIHE fell had become a deer-lick, not a bone or a trace
of the body was left.
The men were ten years going home. The boy aided by G€ ¦ÉHA had made the
journey between sunrise and midday.
Seneca Indian Myths, by Jeremiah Curtin; New York; E.P. Dutton & Company
[1922] and is now in the public domain.
[Told by John Jimison]
Characters
G€ ¦ÉHA - Wind
NYAGWAIHE -- The Ancient of Bears
IN a cabin at the edge of a village lived a grandmother and her grandson.
The grandmother was old and the grandson was young and they were so poor
that they ate scraps given them by their neighbors.
Once, when a hunting party was starting off, the little boy followed it. The
hunters traveled five days, then camped and built a bark hut.
The boy was too young to hunt; he went out with the men but never killed
anything. They called him OTHW€ ¦ÉNSAW€ ¦ÉNHDE from the part of a deer they threw
out for him to eat--"the small liver by the side of the large one."
When the hunters were ready to start for home, they agreed to leave the boy,
not letting him know that they were going; they wanted to travel fast.
One day when he came back to the hut, the boy found only the pile of hair
left from the skins they had dressed. The men had taken everything and gone.
The child didn't know the way home.
That night he slept on the pile of hair; the next morning be found the chin
bone of a deer and getting out the marrow ate it. When it was night again,
he heard somebody coming; the door opened, and a man said, "Well,
OTHW€ ¦ÉNSAW€ ¦ÉNHDE, you think you are going to die, but you are not. Get your
knife and put it on the stump outside the door, and in the morning go and
bring it in. You must hunt, to-morrow." The stranger, who was G€ ¦ÉHA (Wind),
went away.
The boy had an old basswood knife; he carried it out and put it on the
stump. Early in the morning he went to the stump and there he found a new
knife. He took his bow and arrow and knife and went into the woods. He saw a
deer, ran after it, overtook it and killed it with his knife. Then he threw
his bow and arrow away and afterward when hunting used his knife. He killed
large game and had plenty of meat.
One night he heard somebody coming, then a man pushed open the door, and
said, calling him by name, "I am here to tell you that NYAGWAIHE is coming
to kill you. To-night put your knife on the stump outside, get it in the
morning and go to the top of the tall elm tree at the end of the hut; hide
in the branches and wait. NYAGWAIHE will climb the tree and look over into
the hut to see if you are there. When he is coming down backwards, stick
your knife into a small white spot in his right hind foot; he will fall to
the ground, dead. Then pile up wood around the body and burn it."
G€ ¦ÉHA went out.
The boy put his knife on the stump and in the morning the old knife was gone
and a larger and longer knife was in its place. He picked up the knife and
climbing the tree hid in the branches. Just at daybreak he heard a terrible
roar, and right away NYAGWAIHE was climbing the tree. When he got to the
top, he looked into the smoke-hole of the hut, and said, "There is a fire;
the boy must be there," and he started down the tree.
The boy saw the white spot and stuck his knife into it; NYAGWAIHE fell to
the ground, dead.
That night, just as the boy was going to sleep, he heard somebody coming.
G€ ¦ÉHA opened the door, and said, "I came to tell you that those hunters who
left you here are starving. Ten days from now they will come back to the
hut. You must be kind to them. Don't feel proud or boast of your swiftness.
You felt proud, that is why NYAGWAIHE came to destroy you, "Don't say that
there is no one who can outrun you, When they come tell them to help
themselves to the meat you have dried. When they are ready to go home, go
with them; tell every man to take as much meat as he can carry. Put your
knife on the stump."
G€ ¦ÉHA went away. The boy put his knife, which was made of basswood, on the
stump. In the morning the knife was shorter and smaller.
During the next nine days the boy killed many deer, The tenth day he stayed
in the hut, watching and listening. At midday the hunters came. When they
saw how much; meat the boy had, they asked forgiveness. He told them to eat
as much meat as they wanted, then take as much home as each man could carry.
They took half of the meat. The boy packed up the other half, shook it till
it was as light a pack as any one of the men was carrying, then started on
behind them.
When they got back to the village, the boy went to his grandmother's house
and threw down his pack. That minute it came to its natural size.
"Oh," cried his grandmother, "I am happy now. The hunters said you were lost
in the woods. But you are back and have brought plenty of meat."
"Go, grandmother," said the boy, "and ask all the women to come and get as
much meat as they can carry away."
The women came and carried away many loads of meat, but the meat in the
house wasn't diminished. There seemed to be as much as before any was taken.
Now a chief in the East challenged the chief of the village to run a race;
whichever side was beaten all the men on that side would lose their lives.
The chief called the people together to decide on a runner. The boy said, "I
will run with the man you choose and you can decide which is the better
runner."
The chief was pleased. He chose a man and the two stood apart. Other men
also volunteered to run. The chief raised his hand, then dropped it, and the
runners started, that minute the boy was out of sight, then off at the end
of the opening a small dark object was seen. The other runner was only half
way across the opening when the boy was back at the starting place. Then he
began to boast that nobody could outrun him; he forgot G€ ¦ÉHA's warning.
There was a valley that went across the world; that valley was to be the
race course. At the edge of the world was a rock that stood up like the
trunk of a huge tree. The rock was white flint and it shone brightly; there
was no other rock like it. The runner who reached the rock was to bring back
a chip of it. The runner for the challenging chief was tall and thin. At
midday the sign was given and the runners started--the boy ran on the
ground, his opponent ran in the air.
The boy used his full power and soon came back with a piece of the stone in
his hand. After a long time the other runner came--the challenging chief and
his men lost their heads.
The boy was proud and boastful. That night, just as he was falling asleep,
he heard somebody coming. The door opened and a man said, "Come out, I want
to talk to you."
He went out.
"I challenge you to a foot race," said the man. "You must wager the heads of
all the people of the village, except yourself, against my head. I have no
people. We will start at daylight and run till the sun reaches the middle of
the Blue."
"Very well," said the boy.
The man disappeared. The boy told his grandmother what had happened and she
started off to notify the people that their heads had been put up as a
wager. While she was gone G€ ¦ÉHA came to the boy, and said, "I warned you not
to boast and told you what would happen if you did. Now you must do your
best or you will be beaten. You must help yourself. I am going home."
The people assembled and the challenger came. Just as the sun rose, word was
given and the runners started. As the challenger ran he threw up so much
dirt that the boy was thrown back, and he fell. The people couldn't see the
runner; but off in the distance was a NYAGWAIHE.
As the boy fell, G€ ¦ÉHA was there, and said, "Get up and start! Help yourself
and I'll help you."
The boy ran to the first knoll, looked but didn't see his opponent, reached
the second knoll and saw him on a knoll far ahead, then saw him on the
fourth knoll. Now a Whirlwind took the boy up and, like a flash of
lightning, put him at the runner's heels. He called out, "Hurry, or I'll
overtake you!"
The runner used all his strength and soon was out of sight.
Again a Whirlwind picked up the boy and put him at the heels of his
opponent. He shot twice and called out, "Do your best or I'll beat you!"
The runner couldn't get out of sight, he was losing strength.
Again a Whirlwind came and as it picked the boy up a voice said, out of the
cloud, "This is the last time I'll help you."
Whirlwind put the boy down at his opponent's heels; the runner, now in his
real form, the form of a NYAGWAIHE, said, "You have overtaken me and won the
race."
Exactly at midday the boy cut off the Bear's head, and taking it started for
home. When over three hills he was tired; he hung the head on the limb of a
tree and taking the tongue went on. He went over two other hills and was
tired; he hung the tongue on the limb of a tree and went on over other hills
and knolls. When he reached home and told the people that he had killed his
opponent, they said, "We will go and see the body."
"You'll find it over the tenth hill. I tried to bring back the head, but
seven hills from here I was tired and I hung it on the limb of a tree. I
took the tongue, but when I came to the fifth hill I was tired and I hung
the tongue on the limb of a tree."
It took a long time for the people to get to the first hill. When they had
traveled five Summers and five Winters, they came to a hill. On the top of
the hill was a tree, and on the tree was the tongue of the NYAGWAIHE. The
ground around the tree was trampled down; thousands of wild beasts had been
there and tried to get the tongue, the men looked at it and went on.
When they had traveled two more Summers and two more Winters they came to
the seventh hill and found a skull, all that was left of the head. The
ground around the tree was trampled down: thousands of wild beasts had been
there and tried to get the head.
They traveled three Summers and three Winters, then reached the tenth hill.
For a great distance around the ground had been made bare and hard by the
trampling of wild beasts.
The place where NYAGWAIHE fell had become a deer-lick, not a bone or a trace
of the body was left.
The men were ten years going home. The boy aided by G€ ¦ÉHA had made the
journey between sunrise and midday.
Seneca Indian Myths, by Jeremiah Curtin; New York; E.P. Dutton & Company
[1922] and is now in the public domain.