13. The Cannibal

13. THE CANNIBAL (56)

A cannibal found a large number of ducks swimming about in a certain lake or river. Then he procured a great quantity of hickory bark, dived under water toward them, and when he was among them he stood with his nose sticking out of the water and tied the ducks to his body ¹ one after the other by means of the bark, until all of it was used up. Afterwards he dived under water again, came to the surface a short distance away, and began singing. He thought that they could not fly. He sang, "Agū'shuwe'bångini, Agū'shuwe'bångini Adā'gītsā'gītsåk a'tsågā'gitsågītsåk," meaning that he had tied the ducks up and that he had tied them to himself. Then the ducks said, "What is he singing?" After a while he sang the same thing again. "Agū'shuwe'bångini, Agū'shuwe'bångini Adā'gītsā'gītsåk a'tsågā'gitsågītsåk." The ducks said to one another, "He has tied the strings to his body," and all flew off up into the air carrying him with them, singing. As he went up he kept catching at the strings, but they flew on until at last his member broke off and he fell down, landing in a hollow tree. After he had sat inside of this tree for seven days a woodpecker began pecking at it. Then he told this bird to collect the rest of the woodpeckers and cut the tree down, saying, "I shall be very thankful to you all." Presently a flock of these birds came, settled around the tree and began pecking at it. As they pecked they sang, "Tom`shilho'nho'nōgua shū'uhuts gaī'tsiī nī'yi ni dogotilū'shik" (meaning that they were pecking at a hollow tree in which was a cannibal). They repeated this over and over and shouted again and again until they had pecked the tree down. Their song and the clamor they made over him had made

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the cannibal angry, so, as soon as he had gotten out, he sat down on a log and said to them, "Just now I cannot reward you in any way. But gather near and I will tell. you something strange." So all collected close to him, and when they had done so he suddenly seized them and ate a great number. Some of them flew away, however. When he had finished he said, "Now let them shout and carry on." Then he left that place.

By and by the cannibal heard someone ahead of him singing in a low voice, "Tom`shīlhônhô'nogua dahåbā'li gabī'shgua gåbukta'" (meaning, "Kill that cannibal and let us eat him"). "What is that?" he thought. Then he went into a little bushy place from which the sound came and found a redbird's nest with a number of young ones in it with their feathers just starting out. He seized it and began eating them, nest and all. Then he said, "Sing on. Sing on again." Then he started on westward once more. ¹

Footnotes

241:1 In the manner indicated in the last paragraph of Koasati 10, p. 170.

242:1 Evidently this is incomplete.