48. The Salmon Sack

48. THE SALMON SACK

A small boy whose father was dead lived with his mother at the town of ÂsnA'xk! on the Queen Charlotte islands. The other town people were continually bringing in halibut and a salmon called îcqê'n, but he and his mother could not get one piece and were very hungry. One day he begged to accompany some people who were going out, and they consented. When he got to the fishing ground, he had a bite and began to pull up his line very rapidly. As he did so numbers of salmon tails began coming up for some distance around, and the people started to put them into the canoe. They did not know what it meant. When he got it up they found that it was a very large sack full of salmon with just their tails sticking out, and they completely filled their canoes, for the salmon extended all about them. Then they carried these ashore and had so many that they began making oil out of some. With this oil and the dried salmon the people of that village had plenty to eat.

Years ago it always happened that the poor people to whom others were unkind brought luck to the village. They were so unkind to this boy that they did not give him any halibut, and that is why it was through him that they had plenty to eat.