65. Money-Spitter

p. 213

65. MONEY-SPITTER (77)

An old woman was living with her only daughter and a grandchild. One time she said to her grandchild, "Go to hunt for the hogs." "What kind of bread shall I make to carry along?" "Make white cornmeal bread, and put it into a sack." So she put the bread into a sack and started out. On the way two old women met her and took the basket. "Where are you going?" they said. "I am going in search of hogs," she answered. "The hogs are down by the creek," they said, so she set out after them and presently found them. Then she started to drive them back. On the way one of them ran off and she pursued it. While she was doing this she coughed and coughed out a nickel. She drove them on again and presently coughed again. She kept coughing until she had brought up a dime. Again she had a coughing spell and this time coughed up a quarter. She kept on doing this and got home quickly. As she coughed she said to her grandmother, "Look here," and spit up some money. Her grandmother was very glad. She took a box and set it down before the girl and let it remain there until it was full. She brought out another and filled that. She brought out still another and filled that.

When another old woman saw that the girl had traveled about and found something, she said to her daughter, "You also go and hunt." Then she put wheat bread in a sack and dragged it along. After she had gone on for a while the same two old women met her. They said to her, "Where are you going?" "I am going to hunt hogs." "The hogs stay down there by the water," they said to her. So she started on and after a while found them. She went along driving them. After a while she became tired and coughed, and she coughed up a little frog. Going on again, she coughed and spit up two frogs. Still doing this she arrived home. She lay down there and kept coughing up frogs until she died. ¹

The white men heard of that first girl who spit out money, came to the place where she lived, and tried to get hold of her. At first the old woman did not want to let them have her, but they kept on teasing until they overcame her with their entreaties and she gave her to them. Then they took her and went on and shut her up in a house. They brought all kinds of things to her. Then she sat down inside of the house and spit up money. But the old woman had nothing. She went and asked the girl for some wheat flour. But she would not give wheat flour to her; she gave her only cornmeal.

Footnotes

213:1 In this version of the story the point that power to spit money came as the result of generosity is lost.