23. The Hero From Under the Water

23. THE HERO FROM UNDER THE WATER

Six Indian brothers lived under the water. The youngest was unmarried. All of the older brothers had wives; he was the only one without. Women wanted to get him, but he did not want any of them. He thought, "I will wander off somewhere and die." So he traveled

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on until he heard some one chopping wood. He went on and when he came to the place he found a girl there chopping wood. When she saw the man, she said, "They make me, stay here and watch the field lest raccoons steal some of the corn. Will you stay here and comfort (i. e., marry) me?" And they stayed there together.

By and by she said to him, "Let us go to see my uncle; he lives not far away." "My father," she said, "lives at a distance." So they set out to see the girl's uncle. When they got to the place he looked out and said, "Ohoho' ho", my niece, that is a good young man." He said, "Let the young man who has just come kill some ducks for me." He gave him a strong cord, and he took it and went on. When he got to the water he took off his shirt. There were many ducks on the water, and, taking his strong cord, he dived under, reached them, and diving about he tied up their feet and brought them back. While he was on the way and before he had gotten back the old man looked out and said, "Oho, go back!" Then he went back and disappeared under the water. Upon this his wife wept, ran to the water, jumped into it, and disappeared.

She went weeping to him and stayed there. He could not get out but his wife came up, tied his clothes together and carried them back. When she got to her house she wept all day. She wanted very much to see him and at night when she lay down to sleep she did not sleep much. During the day, while she was sitting down, she would think she saw a person coming but when she looked all around it was nothing. It was that way all of the time, until on the third day when she was lying down she dreamed that she should cook. She finished cooking and placed the food on the table, and sat looking down (toward the river). She thought something in the shape of a man was coming but when she looked out nothing was there. That was the way it continued always. When night came and it was dark she lay down but slept little, and in the early morning while it was still dark she started off. She went straight on, took off her clothes, and jumped into the water. She dived until she reached the bottom. He was lying inside of a locked trunk, and she stayed there a while feeling of it and then went back out of the water and came home.

She sat down on one of two cane scaffolds which were near the house, looked about, and thought she saw a man coming. In a little while she wanted to look out, and at noon she thought a man had come. She looked around and her husband sat on the platform. When she saw that he had returned, she was very happy. And they ate together.

They lived there for some time and after many days he made a club. He made a red club. Next day he said, "Let us go to see him." He teased very hard until he persuaded her and they set

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out. Arrived at her uncle's house, he struck him, knocked him down, and killed him, and he flayed him. After he had flayed him he threw his bones into the water. His skin he carried down and filled with white tree moss, and when it was done hung it in the sunshine until it was dried. When it was completely dry he said to her, "Let us go to visit your father."

They set out. He took the skin and went on and when they were nearly there he put on the skin of the old man and took a walking stick and his wife walked on ahead laughing. When they got to the place they looked at him and said, "Ohohō, I thought he was a young man; he is a very old man." "Is he not really a young man?" they kept saying to her. Her husband had charged her, however, to say that he was an old man.

After some time they said, "Let the man who has just come kill squirrels for us to eat." So they loaned him a gun, he got into a canoe, crossed, and traveled along on the other side. Presently he came back and recrossed the river. He said, "A red-tailed hawk killed some squirrels and brought them to me and I put them into the canoe. Tell them to go down and look." So they went to look and when they got to the canoe they found that it was full of squirrels. Then they gathered them up, carried them home, cooked, and ate them and were very glad to have them. After they had eaten all of the squirrels, they said, "Let him go to kill deer next." Again he got into the canoe, crossed the river, and started off. After he had hunted all about he came back and said to them, "A panther killed the deer and brought them to me and put them into the canoe. Let them go and look for them." They went there to look, and the canoe was full of deer which they took and brought up to the house, cooked, and ate.

By and by he said to his wife, "Let us go back home." Then they questioned her about the man. "Is he not a young man?" they said. "Yes," she said to them. Upon this he took off the skin and threw it away. After that his wife's brothers wanted to play ball and took him along to help them. When they began to play he stood helping them but he did not want to catch the ball. By and by, when the other side had half won, he caught it and threw it a long distance. He kept throwing it in this way until his party won. Then he stopped and came back home.

After that the man went back to the place from which he had first come. His wife wept and wanted to give him food for the journey but he refused it. He took only his clothing, set out, and disappeared. This was because she had let them know that he was a young man.