The Girl who Stepped on the Snake

p. 126

THE GIRL WHO STEPPED ON THE SNAKE ¹⁰

The People were living in Sacred Embroidered Manta Village. Powĭshka girl lived there. A snake said to its mother, "I am going to have a little walk." "I am afraid to have you go out, my child, for Powĭshka might hurt you. She has hurt many snakes." "I'll be careful." "All right." Snake went out. The mother kept looking out to see if it were safe. Snake was gone a long time, and the mother thought, "Perhaps my child was hurt."

Powĭshka girl said to her mother, "Mother, may I go to the fields? It looks so nice in the fields." "I am afraid to have you go out, for you might do some harm." "No, I won't; I'll just keep walking along the road." "Be careful." She started out and met the snake. Snake said to himself, "I am afraid; here comes Powĭshka." He got out of her way but she had seen him. She picked up some stones and Snake began to cry. She came near him and hit him with a stone. She didn't kill him, but she left him hurt. "She has broken my back," thought Snake, "How can I get home?" He began to sing--

Bowlegged Powĭshka girl,
Powĭshka, Powĭshka girl;
She kicked me, she broke my back,
Hi! Hi! Hi! (Exclamation of distress.)

The mother was still watching. She heard her cry and thought, "I am afraid. I think Powĭshka girl hurt my child. She. is crying that her back is broken." She went to look for her child. On the way she heard him singing--

Bowlegged Powĭshka girl,
Powĭshka, Powĭshka girl;
She kicked me, she broke my back,
Hi! Hi! Hi!

When the mother got to the place where the snake was, she said, "You paid no attention to what I told you. Powĭshka girl has hurt your back." So the mother put her little snake on her back and went home. She said, "I shall go and tell her mother about it. She never gives her daughter advice." She went to the house of the girl's mother and told her that her baby snake was hurt. She said to her, "You must tell your daughter not to do that any more." The mother answered, "Why, she never pays any attention to what I say." Powĭshka girl never came back to her house, but that did not cure the little snake.

p. 127

VARIANT ¹⁷

A snake was in the road. Powĭshka woman was travelling, and she stepped on it. Snake cried, and sang--

"Crooked legs,
Crooked legs,
You stepped on me,
You broke my back,
Ai ya! Ai ya!"

She got home, her mother said, Why are you crying as you come along? What happened to you? "Why shouldn't I cry? Powĭshka stepped on me." "You don't watch when people are coming. That's why you get stepped on." "But she just came along and stepped on me, that crooked legs!" "I've told you not to go right in the road. People are always going along the road." Powĭshka, said, "I didn't see her. She was lying in the road."

Footnotes

126:10 Informant 2. Notes, p. 231.

127:17 Informant 1.