Seneca Fiction, Legends, and Myths Thirty-Second Annual...

Once there was a man who went hunting every autumn. In order to have better luck he was in the habit of taking medicine and emetics for 10 days before he started. The medicine he employed was made from the bark of various trees. Notwithstanding this long preparation by fasting and medication, he was not a successful hunter. For this reason he was accustomed to carry a heavy load of parched cornmeal, so that if he killed no game he would at least not starve to death.

When starting out one day he passed on the outskirts of the village a lodge in which an old woman and her granddaughter lived. As he passed, the granddaughter was standing outside the lodge, and when she saw him coming she shrugged her shoulders, saying, “Hu, hu! there goes a poor hunter.” Running into the lodge she told her grandmother that “All-kinds-of-trees” had just gone past, giving him a nickname which derided his medicines, which were made from the bark of “all kinds of trees.” But the grandmother chided her, saying, “Why do you make fun of him? He is a good man—the best in this village. He keeps on hunting, no matter whether he kills anything or not. I wish he were your husband.” The young woman answered, “If you say so, I can go with him.” Her grandmother told her that she would better go. So they made bread in great haste, and when it was ready they put it in a basket, which the girl placed on her back; then she followed the trail of the man. When night overtook her she lay down beside a log to sleep. She had not been there long before she heard some one at a distance calling in a pleasant voice. As the sound of the voice approached the girl became [453]frightened. Shortly Djogeon came up to her, saying, laughingly, “Ha, ha! There is Gadata374 sleeping, and she is following the trail of a very poor hunter. Get up. Do not sleep. Your man is near here, and you should go to meet him.” But the girl, covering her face, kept quite still. He shook her, called her names, and teased her in all manner of ways to seduce her, but without result.

When daylight came he ran away. Thereupon Gadata arose, and after making a cold bite do for breakfast, she again took up the trail. Just as she had been told, she found the camp of the hunter not far from the spot where she had slept the night before. When the hunter saw her, he said to her, “Are you following me?” She replied, “Yes. My grandmother told me that I should try to become your wife, as she said you are a good man.” He then welcomed her, and they went on together. At midday he ate some of the bread which the young woman had brought, and in the afternoon he killed a deer. After this he had very good luck at all times, for he had a wife.

One day while he was hunting he saw a small lodge, whereupon he said to himself, “How strange it is that I never before saw this lodge.” On entering a small woman welcomed him and gave him a bowlful of fine green-corn hominy. While he was eating it he saw a wee, tiny baby. Seizing the infant and placing it in his bosom, he ran away with it, the little woman pursuing him. Immediately there was a tempest. The wind twisted trees and tore them up by the roots, sending them flying through the air in every direction. Gripped with great fear, the hunter now thought that he was surely about to die. As he was running past a fallen tree a small man, springing upon it (it was he who had tormented Gadata), called out to the hunter, “You have stolen my baby. Give it back to me at once.” The hunter stopped, saying, “Yes, I stole it because I never saw before anything so pretty. Here it is—take it.” So saying, he handed it back to the little man, who was Djogeon. Then Djogeon carefully unwrapped the baby, and taking a tiny arrow from among its wrappings, gave it to the hunter, saying to him: “Take this and keep it. It will bring you good fortune and success in all your undertakings—in hunting, in warfare, or in any other pursuit.” As soon as the hunter had returned the baby, the tempest ceased and the winds calmed down. Then the hunter returned to his home with his wife and always after this episode had the best of fortune.