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

He went back but did not find Skahnowa there, so he took possession. The next day at noon Skahnowa returned just as Doonongaes was ready to eat. “What are you here for?” asked Skahnowa. “I told you to go away.” “Why should I give up my lodge?” asked Doonongaes. “If you do not go away, I will beat you,” said Skahnowa. They began to quarrel, and then, going outside, began to fight, moving along the lake. They fought the rest of the day and all night. The next morning Skahnowa said: “This is a hard task. It may be that he is my master. The only thing that makes me doubt it is that he did not do what I asked him to do. He did not go to my lodge.” Finally he said to Doonongaes: “Let us give up fighting.” “No,” replied Doonongaes, “let us have it out. A man has to be killed, one way or another.” “Very well,” said Skahnowa, so they fought again in good earnest. Being of equal magical strength, they fought day and night for one month.166 Then Skahnowa said: “We would better stop fighting. I think neither of us can conquer.” “Yes,” replied Doonongaes, “it is useless to fight longer; but I want you to promise not to order me out of my own lodge again.” “Very well,” answered Skahnowa, “you may keep the lodge; the owner of it was killed long ago.” Doonongaes asked: “Do you not really know me?” “I know my master is dead,” said Skahnowa.

Doonongaes now went back to the lodge, thinking: “How can I get possession of my lake? I must manage to control it again.” The next night as he lay thinking, he fell asleep and had a dream, and in the dream a man said: “I have come to say that you have been fighting with your servant Skahnowa. We people of orenda, or magic power,167 know immediately what is going on. All the people of magic power are stirred up now, and if you wish to live, you must go to Tsodiqgwadon. All these people fear him. You must get up and go now, for these people will be here exactly as the sun [312]comes up in the east. Start immediately, and try to be there before daylight.” Doonongaes was astonished at his dream, but said, “I want to live, so I will go.” Starting about midnight, and going to his wives, he slept with them. Then he arose very early in the morning and journeyed on. He found Tsodiqgwadon at the same place where he had seen him killing people. He had barely sat down when a man, kicking aside the door flap, asked: “Have you seen Doonongaes?” “What do you want of him?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “We want to have a trial of our orenda, or magical strength,” came the answer. “Yes; I have seen him, but it was a good while ago,” said Tsodiqgwadon. “There are fresh tracks coming here. Why do you try to hide him?” said the stranger. “I am not trying to hide him, and do you go out of my lodge,” replied Tsodiqgwadon. “I want to see Doonongaes,” said the other. “Have I not said that I have not seen him?

Do you understand me?” declared Tsodiqgwadon. “Well, I did not come with any evil intent,” said the other. “But why do you insist, when I tell you I have not seen him?” retorted Tsodiqgwadon. “But the tracks made by him are fresh,” was the other’s reply. “Pshaw,” said Tsodiqgwadon, “do you not know what kind of man I am?” The visitor, who was a Dagwanoenyent,168 ran out, screaming: “Oh! do not touch me. I do not want to fight.” “Well, if you do not, then go home,” said Tsodiqgwadon. The man then started for home.

This man was barely out of sight when they heard a second man coming. Kicking aside the door flap and jumping in, he inquired for Doonongaes, saying, “I will eat him should I find him.” This was Niagwaihe.169 Tsodiqgwadon said, “I have not seen him.” “That is always the way with this man,” muttered the other; “he is always hiding bad people. How comes it otherwise that his tracks are here?” “I have not seen him. What do you come for? I do not want you in my lodge,” declared Tsodiqgwadon. “Why do you hide Doonongaes?” rejoined Niagwaihe. “I told you I have not seen him,” said Tsodiqgwadon. “His fresh trail comes in at your door,” replied the other. “Well, perhaps he came in and went off another way,” said Tsodiqgwadon. The man went out to look; then, coming back, he said, “No; it is as I told you; his trail comes in here.” “Do you want to fight him?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “No; I merely came to see him,” was the reply. “If you do not go away I will kill you,” said Tsodiqgwadon. “You know what sort of person I am; the best way for you and me is to have it out.” Tsodiqgwadon then went outside, whereupon Niagwaihe screamed: “Do not beat me. I did not come with any ill feeling.” “Well, go home or I will fight you,” said Tsodiqgwadon. Niagwaihe disappeared. “Now,” said Tsodiqgwadon to Doonongaes, who was standing just behind him, “come out of your hiding place.” [313]

They had barely sat down in the lodge when footsteps were heard again and Djainosgowa170 rushed into the lodge, saying, “Yes; this is the man for whom I have come.” Seizing Doonongaes by the hair he pulled him out of doors. Tsodiqgwadon followed them. When outside he saw Djainosgowa walking off with Doonongaes on his shoulder. “He has taken away my friend, who came to live with me. Never mind,” said Tsodiqgwadon to himself, going back into the lodge and beginning to smoke. Then he thought: “Perhaps I would better go to help him. They may kill him.” So, following Djainosgowa’s trail, he found him sitting down talking with Doonongaes, and asking, “How did you come to think that you have orenda? Why did you want to kill your servant?” Tsodiqgwadon listened. Doonongaes answered, “Let us have peace. Why should we fight?” “No,” replied Djainosgowa; “I am going to try your strength in orenda.” Tsodiqgwadon was there, but had made himself invisible to them. All at once Tsodiqgwadon seized Doonongaes and, putting him on his back, said, “Let us go home. What is the use of being here?”

After Tsodiqgwadon had gone a few steps Djainosgowa found, on looking around, that Doonongaes had disappeared. He searched everywhere for him. At last he said, “Pshaw! I think Tsodiqgwadon took him away,” whereupon he started back. When Tsodiqgwadon reached home, he said to Doonongaes, “We will sit right down here. Djainosgowa will be back soon.” Almost immediately Djainosgowa came in and asked, “Have you seen Doonongaes?” “No; you jerked him out of my lodge. That is the last I have seen of him,” declared Tsodiqgwadon. Djainosgowa said, “I believe you are playing tricks on me. Where did you leave him?” “Why do you accuse me? Go home! I am tired of you,” said Tsodiqgwadon. “I want to see Doonongaes,” replied Djainosgowa. “Go out of here!” exclaimed Tsodiqgwadon. “I will not go until I am satisfied,” persisted the visitor. “I tell you to go. Can you not understand?” said Tsodiqgwadon, getting up and going toward Djainosgowa, who jumped out of the lodge, saying, “Oh! do not be angry. I did not come with any bad feelings.” “Go home,” replied Tsodiqgwadon, “or I will beat you.” Djainosgowa had to go, for he was conquered by superior orenda. Then Tsodiqgwadon said to Doonongaes, “What have you done to all these people that they come here after you?” “I had fought with Skahnowa, who had taken my lodge,” replied Doonongaes. “We fought for one month, and because we fought so long all the people having magic power around the world are excited; that is all.” “Let us go to your lodge,” said Tsodiqgwadon. “I should like to see your servant who is so powerful in orenda.” [314]

Thereupon they went directly to the place. Skahnowa was on his daily rounds. “Where has he gone?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “Oh! he has gone around the lake. He will be here soon,” said Doonongaes, who began to cook. Just as they were sitting down to eat, they heard footsteps, and a man sprang into the lodge, calling out, “What are you doing in here? Go out!” “Oh! be quiet,” said Tsodiqgwadon. “Well, what right have you in my lodge?” answered Skahnowa. “Be reasonable,” said Tsodiqgwadon. Skahnowa dropped his head; then, raising it again, he asked: “What are you doing? Are you on some errand of importance?” “We have come to see what you have been doing with your master,” replied Tsodiqgwadon. “It is a great annoyance to have people come to try the strength of Doonongaes since your fight with him took place.” “Is that man there my master?” asked Skahnowa. “Yes; he is,” replied Tsodiqgwadon. “How came he to be alive again?” Skahnowa asked. “That is nothing strange among us people of great magic power—persons who are possessed of potent orenda. We die and become alive again;171 that is the way it was with Doonongaes,” said Tsodiqgwadon. “Now I understand,” said Skahnowa. “I will not quarrel with him; he can have his own lodge. I will never trouble him again.” Tsodiqgwadon said to Doonongaes, “Let us go.”

So they went along the lake shore and were soon at home. The ground about was covered with tracks. Everything had been eaten; not a scrap was left. “What are you going to do now?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “The best I can do,” said Doonongaes, “is to go home with you and you can give me a couple of women to live with. Skahnowa will forget his promise and will attack me if I stay here.” “Very well; come along and I will take you to a woman,” Tsodiqgwadon said, so he brought him to a filthy, ugly-looking creature of the Hanondon172 people. “Here is a woman—I want you to stay with her,” said Tsodiqgwadon. Doonongaes replied, “I want another.” “Well, let us go on a little farther,” declared Tsodiqgwadon. They soon came to a lodge in which was a woman of the Hawiqson(t)173 people, dirty, and so badly deformed that one of her feet was on her forehead. “Well,” said Doonongaes, “I suppose I shall have to live with these women. You are the ruler here.”

Tsodiqgwadon left him. Night came and Doonongaes hung his head, saying: “I think my friend Tsodiqgwadon has treated me badly. I will not stay with these women. I will go away.” He traveled all that night and the next day; he traveled southward 10 whole days and nights. When 10 days had passed Tsodiqgwadon went to the place where the women, Hanondon and Hawiqson(t), lived, saying, “I will see how my friend Doonongaes is getting on.” He asked the women, “Is Doonongaes at home?” “No,” they replied. [315]“Where has he gone?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “We do not know,” said they, “he did not stay here; he went off the first night you left him.” “Pshaw! let him go,” said he, and Tsodiqgwadon went home.

At the end of 10 days Doonongaes came to a large village in which all the people wore feather headdresses. The chief of the village, Gasaisdowanen,174 asked Doonongaes, “What did you come here for?” “To make a visit,” replied Doonongaes. “Who will take this man to his lodge?” asked the chief. “He may go with me,” called out one man, so Doonongaes lived with him. After a few days news came to the chief that the people from the far west were going to make war on him; then a challenge came. The chief asked his people to volunteer to fight the western people. In two days he had 500 volunteers, among whom was Doonongaes. They started, women going with them until the night of the first day. The next morning when the warriors went on the women returned to their homes. The warriors continued their journey until they began to see signs of danger and to hear war whoops here and there in the distance. When they stopped for the night the chief said, “Let one man be on guard all night.” Doonongaes volunteered to do this sentinel duty. He kept the fires burning and watched. About midnight he heard a great war whoop and, saying to himself, “I do not want to die,” he ran off. The western people, who were Dagwanoenyents, came to the spot where the people were asleep and killed and scalped every one of them. After getting away to a safe distance Doonongaes lay down and slept. In the morning he said, “I will go and see what has happened to my friends.” He found them all dead and scalped, whereupon he thought, “I will go to the wives of these men and take them all.”

When Doonongaes returned to the village he called the women together, and said, “I wish to tell you that your husbands are killed, and that I will marry all of you.” After talking the matter over all the women except one were finally willing to accept the proposal. Doonongaes said, “Very well; I will settle with the unwilling one.” He stayed one night at each woman’s lodge. When he came to the unwilling one he said, “If you do not marry me, I will cut your head off.” “Well,” she answered, “you will have to overpower me first.” She was a great woman; her name was Diagoisiowanens.175 Doonongaes continued, “I am magically the most powerful man in the world,” referring to his orenda, or magic power. “Well, you must try me,” said she. Thereupon he went out, saying, “I will be ready in the afternoon,” but he never returned.

Going southward, Doonongaes traveled until evening. That night he spent in a hollow tree. He went on for eight days. The ninth night he said, “Diagoisiowanens thought she could overpower me, but I am too far off now.” He was just going to sleep [316]when he heard someone walking on the leaves who, coming to the opening of his camp, said: “Doonongaes, are you here? What would you do if Hononeowanen176 should come here?” “Oh! I should like it,” answered Doonongaes. The man went off, as it seemed, and soon a great noise of falling trees was heard—a terrible noise—the earth was torn up on every side. When Hononeowanen reached the tree he said, “Come out!” Turning himself into a snake,177 Doonongaes went out. When the other one saw him, he said, “Why, you are one of my people.” “Yes, I am the chief of our people, the most powerful person on earth,” was the reply of Doonongaes. “I think not,” said Hononeowanen. “Yes, I am. In the west lives a man of our kind, pretending to be the most powerful person magically in the whole world. I met and overpowered him (Doonongaes lied; he meant Tsodiqgwadon). “Well,” said Hononeowanen, “that man has more orenda than I, so if you have more orenda than he, I do not want to meddle with you, so I will go away.” So saying, he went off. Doonongaes stood a while thinking: “Why did Hononeowanen come over here? I suppose he forgot that I am second in magic power among my people. Well, I will go back to my wives, but there is no use in doing that, as Diagoisiowanens might kill me. I will go southward.”

Doonongaes then walked two nights and days without sleep, until he came to a great plain on the eastern side of which there was smoke arising. Thereupon he turned himself into a man.178 Soon he reached a village, but he saw no one, though smoke was rising from every lodge. Entering a lodge, he found a kettle full of meat over a good fire, but there was no one at home. Going around the village, he waited. Just at noon he thought, “I would better go again and see whether anyone has come back.” He found no one. “This is very mysterious,” said he. “I will go away—perhaps this is a place of the arts of sorcery.”

Doonongaes next went westward. In the evening he saw another “opening” and smoke arising, as before. “If I do not find anyone here,” said he, “I will go back to the two women whom Tsodiqgwadon gave me.” He reached the place, where he had been but a short time when he saw coming toward him a splendid-looking man with great feathers on his head. This was Hostoyowanen,179 the chief of the village. Doonongaes greeted him with, “Do you know the village off there in the east? Where have all the people gone?” “They are dead,” answered the man. “Niagwaihe has eaten them all. Tomorrow, perhaps, he will come here and destroy us.” “I should like to stay here a few days,” said Doonongaes. “Very well,” replied the chief, “tomorrow I will show you my village.” The next day they went all around. Doonongaes saw that the people had beautiful [317]things—wampum, shells, and valuable skins; there were many people and lodges. After they had seen all the village, Hostoyowanen said: “Now, you must not stay any longer. I do not want you to die here. Run southward and you may be saved.” The chief went home and Doonongaes went southward. He ran fast, and when night came he slept in a hollow tree. The next morning he said, “I am going westward. I do not mind what that chief said.” Toward midday he was hungry. He said: “Oh! my neck is sore; it has been sore for a long time and feels as though something were in it. How can I cure it?” Having found a spring, he lay down to drink from it, but saw the reflection of someone in the water. “Oh! that looks like my wife, Hawiqson(t).

Why is her face reflected in this water? I am far from her now. This is strange,” mused Doonongaes. Being frightened, he did not drink but, jumping up, he ran toward the south, forgetting which way he was going. He ran all night. Just at daylight he fell down from weakness. “Why,” thought he, “am I getting so heavy and weak? Is it because I am hungry?” He lay there and could not rise; he was too hungry, for he had not eaten anything for a whole year.180 He thought: “Well, there is no need of my standing up. I am a snake.” Changed from a man into a great snake, he went on, saying, “Well, I am traveling again.” At noon, coming to a village, he went into the last lodge, in which lived an old woman and her granddaughter, who were very poor. “I want to stay with you a few days,” said Doonongaes. “I have nothing to eat,” answered the old woman. “I want merely to sleep; I do not care for eating,” Doonongaes replied. “Then you may stay,” said the old woman. The next morning, before she was out of bed, Doonongaes asked, “Had you a family long ago?” “Yes,” she answered, “a long time ago I was married and had a large family, but only two are living now.” “Well,” said Doonongaes, “you must have kept a bow and arrows.” “Look around,” said the old woman to her granddaughter, “and see whether you can find a bow and arrows.” After hunting for them, at last she found a bow and arrows. Doonongaes straightened the arrows and strung the bow. Then he shot through the smoke hole, saying to the arrow, “Go for a large bear.”

Soon they heard the sound of approaching footsteps and then of something falling in front of the door, at which the old woman said: “I think that man Dagadiye has come again, for he is always rushing through the village. He does not kill, but he chases our people.” Doonongaes laughed at her words. “Why do you laugh?” asked the old widow. “I laugh at what you say,” replied Doonongaes. “Well, what do you think the noise was?” she asked. “I do not know,” said Doonongaes. “Go and see.” Going to the door, she exclaimed, “Hwu! Hwu! There is a great bear here!” The old woman made a hole under the jaw of the bear and, putting her [318]thumb into the incision, she tore off the skin. Then cutting open the body, she took out the intestines, after which she hung up the meat. Then she began to think: “Why did this bear come? Who sent it?” Finally she asked, “My grandson, can you tell me why this bear came?” Doonongaes said, laughing: “Did you not see me shoot? I told the arrow to bring a bear and the bear came.”

Doonongaes staid there all day, while the grandmother cooked. The next morning he heard a noise. A messenger came in, saying: “I have come to notify you that the daughter of our chief, Deyenegonsdasden,181 is to be married to the man who can shoot the black eagle perched on the top of a pole that reaches to the clouds; the shooting begins at midday.” Doonongaes said, “I can marry the chief’s daughter, for I can kill any one of the eagles, even when flying high.” He straightened his arrows and strung his bow as he lay by the fire. Looking through the smoke hole, he could see the eagle on the pole.182 At midday all the people were around the pole, when the chief said, “Now, do you begin.” Doonongaes saw through the smoke-hole how the arrows flew. Each man tried twice, but none of the arrows went near the target. He watched until night, and then the chief said, “Tomorrow we will try again.” The next morning Doonongaes said, “None of these men can kill that eagle.” Stringing his bow, he shot an arrow through the smoke-hole, which he saw go straight to the eagle and pierce it. The eagle fell, while the arrow transfixing it stuck into the ground, taking root so deep that no one was able to pull it out. Every man said, “I did it.” But the chief replied, “Then take the arrow out.” Each tried but could not draw out the arrow. Now Doonongaes said to the old woman’s granddaughter:183 “Go after my arrow. Somebody may break it.” She went to the place, saying, “A man at our lodge sent me to get his arrow.” Thereupon, taking hold of it, she pulled it out easily.

“My daughter is married now,” said Deyenegonsdasden, so he sent two men for Doonongaes. They found him by the fire at the widow’s lodge. When they told him to come to the chief’s lodge, he asked, “Why does the chief send for me?”184 “He wants you to marry his daughter, for you killed the black eagle on the top of the pole,” he was told, “Oh! I do not want any more wives. I have more than 100 now,” returned Doonongaes. They insisted, but he refused. On their return this was told to Deyenegonsdasden, who said, “Now let 8 or 10 of you go, and if he won’t come willingly, tie him and bring him here.” Going back, they said, “You must come.” “I will not,” replied Doonongaes; “I am not going there for nothing,” declared Doonongaes. “Well,” answered the men, “it is not for nothing. The chief wants you to marry his daughter.” “Is she good looking?” asked Doonongaes. “Oh, yes! she is very beautiful,” [319]the men replied. “Well,” said Doonongaes, “it would be a shame for me to marry her; I am too nasty a man.” They tried hard to persuade him, but he would not go. Then they tried to tie him, but he hurled them away. Even after trying all day they could not bind him. When night came they said, “We might as well give up and go home.” When they went back they told the chief, “We can do nothing with him.” Then the chief said to his daughter, “You must go to him.” As her father told her that she must go, the girl went. She entered the old woman’s hut, but Doonongaes paid no attention to her.

After a while she said, “I came to stay with you.” “Where do you live?” asked Doonongaes. “I live in the center185 of the village,” the girl replied. “Who is your father?” he asked. “The chief,” she said. “Oh! I will not marry you,” said Doonongaes. “Are you sure you will not marry me?” asked the girl. “Yes; I have too many wives,” he replied. “Are you married at home? Where do you live?” she inquired. The reply was: “Sixteen186 days’ journey from here I have more than a hundred wives. Farther on I have two more.” “Where did you come from?” she continued. “I think you know the place,” he said; it is called Dedyosdenhon.”187 “Yes,” he replied, “I know where that place is; it is far away, near the end of the earth. I suppose you will not go back there. It is too far, and you will marry me.” “No, I am not looking for a wife here. Such people as you are188 would not help me.” The beautiful girl began to cry. Doonongaes, looking at her, asked, “What is the matter?” Whereupon she cried harder and harder. Now Doonongaes himself began to cry. The old woman asked: “What is the matter? Why do you cry?” No answer. Then she herself began to cry. Her granddaughter, coming in and seeing that all were crying, began to get lonely and to cry, too. Now all were crying, and they cried louder and louder. Just as it became dark the chief heard the sound of crying, and sent men to find out where it was. They went through the whole village, but found no one crying. At last one said, “Let us go over to the old widow’s hut.”

On nearing it they heard the sound of crying, so they returned to the chief and said, “The crying is at the lodge of the old widow, Deienensowanens.”189 Hearing this, the chief said: “My daughter is at that lodge. I must go over there.” When near, he, too, heard the sound of crying, at which his heart grew weak, and he thought to himself, “I can not go into that poor hut.” So he remained outside, and soon he also began to cry, and he cried until he forgot everything. When he came to his senses he was sitting at the side of the old widow, “Broad-Shoulders.” He did not know where he was. He was not crying, merely thinking why the others were crying. After a while he said, “Let us all be of good cheer and stop crying.” Now the [320]old woman thought, “Who said that?” and, on looking up, she saw the chief of the village, whereupon she asked, “Why are you here? I never saw you near me before.” “I came to cheer you up,” he replied. “Very well,” said the widow, “but tell your daughter to stop crying. I thought it was the rule to cry, for when she got here she began to do so.” The chief said to his daughter: “Stop crying! It is not right for you to cry. If you do not stop, I will cut your head off.” Being afraid, she stopped. Doonongaes cried on as before until finally the old woman said, “My grandson, every one has stopped crying; so do not cry.” He paid no heed. The chief tried to stop him, but he cried the more, and continued to cry until morning. He was sitting on a block with his elbows on his knees and his head resting on the palms of his hands.

In the morning his companions saw a great pile of wampum in front of him. All his tears were beautiful wampum. The chief asked: “What are those things? Are they not good for something?” “Yes,” replied Doonongaes, “if they are strung together. If a man is sad and cries, and a string of them is given to him, all will be well again.” Doonongaes had now stopped crying. The chief said, “I want you to be the chief of this place, and I will be the second, or vice, chief.” Doonongaes sat with drooping head for a while, after which, looking up, he said: “I do not want to be a chief. I am great enough now. I am known everywhere. I am second in magic power in the entire world—that is enough for me.” The chief asked, “Do you know who is first in magic power in this world?” “I do,” he replied. “Who is he?” was the next question. “Tsodiqgwadon, who lives at Dedyosdenhon,” he answered. “Very well,” said the chief, “I can say no more. I will go home, taking my daughter with me.” “Yes; go! I do not want you here,” Doonongaes added.

The chief and his daughter then returned home, whereupon Doonongaes began to laugh. The old woman asked, “Why do you laugh?” “Oh! I am laughing at the chief, for his daughter very much wants to get married.” The old woman replied, “You would better stop laughing and appoint some one to marry her instead of yourself.” “Well, grandmother, you must go and find some poor man to marry her,” said Doonongaes. “Very well, grandson. I will go to a ‘Shabby Man’ who lives on the other side of the village and speak to him about it.” When she got to the place she said to the “Shabby Man,” “I have come to have you marry?” “Who would marry me? Nobody wants me,” said the man. “Oh, yes! I can find you a wife, a beautiful one, too,” was her answer. The “Shabby Man” said, “All right,” and went home with the old woman. Doonongaes asked: “Are you the man? Do you want to marry?” “Yes. I should like to marry, if anybody would have me,” replied the man. Doonongaes said to the widow’s granddaughter, “Go to the chief and [321]say that Doonongaes will marry his daughter now.” So she told the chief what he said. “Very well,” he answered, sending his daughter to the old woman’s hut. Doonongaes asked her, “Do you want to marry me?” “Yes; for you killed the eagle,” she replied. “Would it please you if I should appoint a man to marry you?” Doonongaes added. “Yes,” was the girl’s answer. “This is the man I appoint,” declared Doonongaes. Turning to the “Shabby Man,” the girl said, “Come, we will go home to my father’s lodge.” At this the man laughed for gladness.

Doonongaes spent a whole year with the old woman. One morning he said: “Now, I am going to the southern end of the earth. I want to know how things are there.” “Very well,” replied the grandmother. “Come in on your way back,” she said. “I will,” said Doonongaes. He left all the wampum with the old woman, for if he wanted any he had only to cry in order to get it. After traveling all day and all night, in the morning he came to a great opening in the woods. As he stood looking around the place, he saw some dark object in the west. Looking very sharply, he said: “What is that dark thing? Is some one watching?” He stood there a good while. Just at midday, seeing that the object was lying down, he thought: “What can that be? I must go there and see.” He ran thither as swiftly as he could, and on coming to a piece of smooth ground, there he found one of the Djainosgowa family. The one that had been standing up was the old man who guarded the opening; he was now lying down to sleep, for it was just midday. There were two old Djainosgowa persons and five children. Doonongaes, frightened, ran into the woods, thinking: “I must go home. I do not want these Djainos people to kill me.”

So Doonongaes ran a whole month, day and night, until he reached the lodge of Tsodiqgwadon, whom he found sitting by the fire with his head hanging down. When he looked up and saw Doonongaes he said, “Oh, my friend! are you alive?” “Yes; I have been traveling,” said Doonongaes. “Why did you leave your two wives?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “Oh! I do not think those women good enough for me; they are too ugly,” was his answer. “Why did you tell me you wanted them?” he was asked. “I did not want them. I wanted good-looking women,” he said. “Well, you can not have two beautiful women,” declared his questioner. Soon they heard a noise, at which Tsodiqgwadon said, “Sit down behind me.” A stranger, entering, asked, “Have you seen Doonongaes?” “I have not,” answered Tsodiqgwadon. “Well, I have tracked him to this lodge,” came the reply. “What of it? I have not seen him,” was the reply. “You must have hidden him,” persisted the stranger. “No; I tell you I have not seen him.” The stranger, who was Djainosgowa, and [322]who had followed Doonongaes from the great opening, now said, “I must go home.” “You would better do so,” replied Tsodiqgwadon. As he started off, Tsodiqgwadon said to Doonongaes: “Come out here. I want you to go to the northern end of the earth and see how my father is getting on. He lives at the edge of the earth. Ask him if he will not come here. Tell him we are to have a great council at Broken Land. All the people of the world are to meet there.” “What is your father’s name?” asked Doonongaes. Tsodiqgwadon said, “Deanohdjes.190 He is of the Geia191 people.”

Doonongaes immediately started on the journey. He traveled day and night for a whole year,192 but could not reach the northern end of the earth. One morning he said, “I do not believe I shall ever get to the place where Deanohdjes lives.” Sitting on a large stone he wondered what he should do. At last he thought, “Well, I must go on; if I do not Tsodiqgwadon may kill me, for he is greater in sorcery than I.” So he traveled on for another whole year. Then he thought again: “How much farther must I go? I am very far away from Hanging Rock.” (Tsodiqgwadon was so magically powerful that he caused Doonongaes to lose his course, and hence to go round and round without ever drawing nearer the place to which he was sent.) One morning Doonongaes heard a voice from some village near by. There sat Tsodiqgwadon, who turned, and, looking at him, asked, “Well, have you come back?” “Yes,” said Doonongaes. “Have you seen my father?” continued his questioner. “No; I could not find his lodge,” replied Doonongaes. “Well, you have been gone a long time. Where have you been?” said Tsodiqgwadon. To this Doonongaes rejoined: “I thought I was on my way north, and that I was a great distance from here, and I wanted to know how far I was from your father’s lodge.” Tsodiqgwadon began to laugh and to make sport of him, saying, “I want you to go straight ahead this time, not in a circle.”

Doonongaes now set out the second time. He traveled northward for 10 days and nights, when he came to a narrow opening which was so long that he could not see the farther end. This was called Nitgendasadieha.193 He started to cross this opening. At night he slept soundly on the grass. The next morning he traveled on. He was 10194 days in crossing this opening. Going on farther, he came to a second opening, through which he saw a lodge at the farther end. Peeping through the cracks in the wall, he saw sitting inside by the fire with his head down, smoking, an old man. The old man, who was of the Osigweon195 people, raising his head, said: “I smell a human being. My nephew must have come. Well, nephew, come in. Why do you stand outside?” Thereupon Doonongaes, thinking, “How did he know I was here?” went in. The old man continued: “I have been wishing for a long time that you would arrive, for I knew [323]you were coming. Now, nephew, I have a game which I always play when anyone visits me—it is a foot race. We run from one end to the other of the narrow opening.” “I have nothing to bet,” replied Doonongaes. “Oh!” replied the old man, “bet your head.” “Very well,” said Doonongaes. “Wait a while,” said the old man; “I will tell you when I am ready,” and he went into another room. Doonongaes, making himself invisible, followed him. The old man had a bark canoe there, in which was a living thing that seemed to be without bones, being a mass of flesh about 2 feet long, in the shape of a lizard.

As the old man rubbed his hand over it, a fluid resembling milk came out of the living object, with which the old man rubbed his hands and his whole body. Doonongaes also rubbed himself with the juice before going out. Then the contestants placed themselves at the end of the opening, whereupon the old man said, “I will start just as the sun comes to the middle of the sky.” They stood watching until the sun was exactly in the middle of the sky. Then they started. The old man, throwing out his arms, pushed Doonongaes far back. The latter, springing up, however, soon overtook the old man, and catching him by the neck, threw him back, saying, “That is what I do when I want to win.” They ran on until the middle of the afternoon, when they reached the other end of the opening. At sunset Doonongaes was back at the starting place, where he staid all night. In the morning the old man came, and Doonongaes said: “I have won. Now I will take off your head.” “Well,” said the old man, “I will have a smoke first.”196 “Oh, no,” said Doonongaes, cutting off the old man’s head at once.

Then Doonongaes continued his journey northward, traveling for two days and nights. When he tired of walking he turned into a long horned snake. Soon, seeing a great black cloud coming with rain and thunder, he thought, “Hinon197 wants to kill me”; hence he went down into the earth so far that Hinon could not reach him. After staying there a good while, he said, “I must go on”; so he changed himself into a man again on account of his dread of Hinon. He soon came to a river, on the bank of which he stood, wondering how he was to cross. He went along the bank to the point where the river entered a lake. There he thought, “I must change myself into a snake and go into the water.” After crossing he became a man again so Hinon would not pursue him.

Doonongaes journeyed on a whole month. One morning he came to an opening called Gendagwen(t),198 where he saw nothing. Having passed through this he saw a woman. He ran forward swiftly, but could not overtake her. She went with such speed that they were the same distance apart at night, when he thought, “I can not catch her, so I may as well camp.” Picking up some dry sticks, he made a fire. On looking around he saw that the woman had camped just [324]ahead. “Oh, pshaw!” thought he, “I will go there.” He started, but as he advanced so did she. When he came to her fire there was no one there, so he said, “I will stay here.” Soon he saw another fire ahead, which he knew to be the fire of the woman whom he was following, whereupon he said: “I am ashamed to stop here, so I will go on.” He reached the second fire, but no one was there. Then he said, “I will go back to my own fire and stay there.” When he reached his camping place the woman was back again at her first fire. He followed her all the next day, always at the same distance. On reaching an opening she went into a lodge. Following, he found her sitting on one side of the fire, and an old man on the other side with his head bowed. Seating himself near the woman, Doonongaes asked her, “Do you not want to marry me?” She made no reply. He asked again, “Will you marry me?” He asked three times, but received no reply. Then the old man, who was a Dagwanoenyent (i.e., Cyclone), raising his head, said to the girl: “You have brought home game. Wash my big kettle, granddaughter, and boil some water, and I will kill the game.”

At this he began to sharpen his flint knife, whereupon Doonongaes ran out, with the old man following him. Doonongaes mused: “What trouble comes to me: I shall die now. This is because I tried to catch the girl.” The old man was close upon him now, and as he lifted his knife to strike, Doonongaes stepped aside, so the old man cut his own knee. He fell down on account of the pain, but spitting on his hands, he rubbed the wound, thus curing it instantly. Then springing up, he ran on. All day he followed Doonongaes. Many times he cut himself as he did the first time, but always healed the wound with spittle. At sunset Doonongaes said, “What a shame! I ought to kill that man.” Turning himself into a snake, he tore him to pieces. As he threw off the legs, he said, “I want you to become owls,” and away they flew, owls. He made the old man’s flesh into all kinds of birds.199

Then he said, “Now, I will go back to the girl; it may be that she will marry me.” Reaching the lodge just at midnight, he went in and said to the girl, “Your grandfather is dead.” “Is that true?” she asked. “Yes, I have killed him,” said Doonongaes. “Well, what do you want?” she demanded. “I want to live with you,” said Doonongaes. “Very well,” she replied; “I was afraid of the old man—this is why I did not answer your questions at first.” Doonongaes stayed with Ganos,200 for that was the girl’s name, a whole month. Then he said one morning, “I must continue my journey.”

So Doonongaes set out, and after traveling northward for 16 days and nights, he came to the edge201 of the earth. It was very cold there. As he looked around, he saw a lodge in which he found a very old man with white hair reaching to the ground all around him as he [325]sat there. Doonongaes said, “I have come to visit you.” The old man did not hear. Thrice Doonongaes spoke but received no answer. Then he looked for a club. Finding one, he hit the old man on the top of the head, saying, “Do you not hear me?” The old man never moved, but muttered, “Mice must have fallen from above my head. No matter.” Doonongaes, thinking what kind of man is this, struck him again. Thereupon the old man, lifting up his hair and tying it back so that he could see, asked, “What are you here for?” “I came to visit you,” said Doonongaes. “I do not want a visit from you. Be off!” he commanded. Doonongaes, who was nearly freezing to death from the extreme cold, retorted: “Be quiet! do not get excited.” “Oh! I do not care for other people,” said the old man. “What did you come here for?” “I came to ask a question. Do you know where Deanohdjes lives?” asked Doonongaes. “Yes; he lives in the middle of the ice lake over yonder,” said the old man. “Do you know whether he is at home today?” said Doonongaes. “Oh, you could not go to him today; it used to take me 10202 days and nights to go to his place,” said the old man. “Is there a trail?” inquired Doonongaes. “Yes, you will find my tracks,” said the old man, who was a white bear.

Now it grew colder and colder while Doonongaes traveled half a day before he reached the place where Tsodiqgwadon’s father lived. He found an open space in the ice. After standing there a while he saw a man with great teeth rising from the water. The man said to Doonongaes, “What do you come here for?” “Your son sent me. There is to be a great council at Broken Land. All the people of the world will be there,” answered Doonongaes. “What is the council for?” asked Deanohdjes. “I do not know; your son has not told me,” replied Doonongaes. “Well, I will start in 20 days from now,” rejoined the elder man.

Trembling with cold, Doonongaes turned back without delay. In 10203 days he was at Hanging Rock. Tsodiqgwadon asked, “Have you seen my father?” “Yes,” replied Doonongaes. “Well, what did he say?” was the next question. “He said that he would start in 20 days,” answered Doonongaes. “Let us go to Broken Land,” said Tsodiqgwadon. They started, but as they had 10 days’ time and it was only one day’s journey to Broken Land, they went southward to look around. The next day near sunset they saw a man coming toward them. “Who is that coming?” asked Tsodiqgwadon; “he looks like a chief. What a great headdress he has! [He had long feathers and much wampum.] He looks like a great man, for his face is painted red and black.” Doonongaes said, “Let us chase him.” “What shall we do with him if we catch him?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “I will take hold of his head and you of his feet, and thus we will stretch him,” answered Doonongaes. “Very well,” [326]said Tsodiqgwadon. When they met, Doonongaes asked the stranger, “Where are you going?” “To the north, to see the place where White Hair lives,” was the reply. “What would you do if I should wrestle with you?” inquired Doonongaes. “Oh! I should like that,” he said. So they began to wrestle. Doonongaes threw his adversary; and then, taking hold of his head and Tsodiqgwadon of his feet, the two began to pull, and they pulled until his legs and arms were stretched out to a great length. Thereupon Doonongaes said, “We will call you Gaisonhe.”204

Leaving him, the two traveled on. The second morning they saw some one ahead, an ugly-looking man who had a great deal of wampum wound around his body. He was shooting arrows as he sat on a stone. Doonongaes and Tsodiqgwadon looked in the direction his arrows were going and saw many deer standing there, but they noted that his arrows never struck one of them. Going up to the man, Doonongaes asked, “What are you doing?” “I am trying to kill deer. I have tried all the morning, but I can not kill one,” said he. “Such a shot as you are can never hit anything even if he were to shoot 10 days,” said Tsodiqgwadon, adding, “I will help you.” As the man shot, Tsodiqgwadon blew on the arrow, which went into the ground, at which Tsodiqgwadon said, “You will never see that arrow again.” Immediately it took root and turned to Ohohwa Ohnoh.205 Tsodiqgwadon changed the man into an owl, after which they went on.

Just at midday the two came to a cliff. As they stood on the edge, looking down, Doonongaes said, “It seems as if some people live down there.” Tsodiqgwadon replied: “I think so. Let us go down.” When they reached the bottom, they saw that under the cliff was a plain, or opening, with the cliff hanging over one side of it. The plain had three points—a northern, a southern, and an eastern. At each point there was a lodge. Doonongaes went south and Tsodiqgwadon went north. Looking into the lodge that stood on the southern point, Doonongaes saw an old man working at something. “What is he doing making such a noise?” thought Doonongaes. The old man, looking up, said: “This odor is like that of a man. How could anyone get in here, for my master guards the entrance to the cliff?” The old man, who was of the Odjieqda206 people, was making a wooden bowl. He went to work again, saying, “I will not waste time smelling.” Doonongaes heard him, and, saying “I will make him waste his time,” he thrust his horns under the lodge, and, lifting it into the air, threw it down so that it broke into pieces. The old man, however, still sat on the ground in the same place. Doonongaes laughed. The old man thought to himself, “Who is that laughing?” and, looking up, he said: “Oh! that is Sʻhodieonskon.207 Well, I will not do anything. I will go and tell my [327]master”; with this remark he started toward the entrance, while Doonongaes hurried off to the lodge at the eastern point of the opening.

There he heard the sound of pounding, and peeping into the lodge, he saw four Odjieqda women pounding Odauhdjah208 in stone mortars. The eldest asked, “Do you not smell the flesh of man?” “Yes,” replied the others. “Well, hurry up, take your clubs and try to kill him,” she continued. Doonongaes ran off, frightened. The women came out, but could see nothing but tracks. The old woman, whose name was Deiehnies,209 said, “Never mind; he will come back.” “That is a strange place,” thought Doonongaes; “I will go back and see what they will do”; so saying, he returned to the lodge. The women immediately knew of his return, and old Deiehnies said, “Make haste, my daughter, and kill the game.” When they came out they saw a man standing near the lodge. Then the old woman changed her mind, saying: “Do not bother him. It must be that he wants to marry—that is why he comes.” One of the girls added, “Yes; let him alone,” but the eldest said, “No; let us kill him.” The two younger girls returned to the lodge, but the eldest, running up to Doonongaes, lifted her club to hit him; he dodged, however, with the result that she struck herself210 on the knee, whereupon she fell down crying. At this the old woman came out, and taking hold of her by the hair, shook her, saying: “What are you doing? If you want to kill the game, run after it.” Then the old woman ran up to and struck at Doonongaes, likewise hitting her own knee and falling down crying. Doonongaes now went to the lodge where the two younger girls were and they stood up near him, for they liked him.

As old Deiehnies and the eldest girl came in, the women began to fight. Going outside, Doonongaes watched the fight. They fought long and hard, but had not finished when Doonongaes set fire to the lodge; before the women knew it, the flames were so fierce that they could not escape, so all were burned to death. Thereupon Doonongaes said to himself: “Why did they try to kill me? They did not know what kind of a man I am. Everyone ought to be kind when I come. I will go to find Tsodiqgwadon.”

Doonongaes now went to the lodge in the north, but he found no one. He heard, however, a sound as of ball-playing. Following the sound he came to an opening, where he saw his friend playing ball with two old men of the Dagwennigonhge211 people. It was a close game, and Doonongaes stood watching it. Soon they ran past him, and Tsodiqgwadon called out, “Why do you not help me? There are two against me”; so Doonongaes joined in. The old men played well, but Doonongaes and Tsodiqgwadon won. Then Tsodiqgwadon said, “Take the wager. Cut their heads off.” “Very well,” replied Doonongaes, “that is what I like.” So he cut off their heads, and throwing them into the lodge, then burned it up. The heads burst and [328]Dagwanoenyents212 rushed forth. Now the cliff began to crumble, at which Doonongaes exclaimed: “Let us go quickly! This cliff may fall and bury us under it.” Doonongaes and Tsodiqgwadon ran out as quickly as possible and were barely outside when down came the cliff. Doonongaes said, “The man from the first lodge ran out at this opening.” As they stood there looking carefully around they saw a lodge, in the doorway of which sat a man, whereupon Tsodiqgwadon said: “That man’s name is Hahnyusdais.213 He is the master of the dwellers under the cliff, and he kept them as prisoners.” “Let us go up and see the fellow,” answered Doonongaes. When they went to the lodge, Hahnyusdais asked, “What did you come here for?” “I came to ask you a question,” retorted Doonongaes. “Well, wait until I smoke,” Hahnyusdais replied, and taking out a stone pipe, he began to smoke.

Doonongaes continued, “I came to ask you what has become of the men you had under the cliff which has just fallen in?” “I will go and see,” replied Hahnyusdais. As the place was full of earth he could not look in, and he said to Doonongaes, “Do you not belong to the Dagwennigonhge people?” “No, I do not,” was the answer. The old man then inquired: “Why is this place full of earth? I went in some time ago, but I can not go in now. A man named Deagonstwihes214 came out of here a little while ago and then went back. I suppose he was buried in there.” Doonongaes began to laugh at what he had done, saying to Tsodiqgwadon, “Let us chase and catch Hahnyusdais.” “What shall we do with him?” asked Tsodiqgwadon. “Oh! stretch him,” came the reply. Thereupon they caught him, and Doonongaes taking him by the head and Tsodiqgwadon by the feet, they pulled in order to stretch him out. Hahnyusdais screamed: “Oh, stop! I do not want long legs. I want to be as I am.” But they only pulled the harder, Hahnyusdais growing longer and longer, until Doonongaes said, “This man now belongs to our people; he will be Haunhdji.”215