G. DIRTY-BOY.
(Continued)Their blankets consisted of old mats and pieces of old robes; and their kettles and cups were of bark, poorly made. Star had assumed the form of a decrepit old woman dressed in rags; and Sun, that of a dirty boy with sore eyes. On the following morning the women of the camp1 saw the lodge, and peered in. When they returned, they reported, "Some very poor people arrived during the night, and are camped in all old mat lodge. We saw two persons inside, -- a dirty, sore-eyed boy; and his grandmother, a very old woman in ragged clothes."
Now, the chief resolved to find husbands for his daughters. He sent out his speaker to announce that in four days there would be a shooting-contest open to all the men, and the best marksman would get his daughters for wives. The young men could not sleep for eagerness. On the third day the chief's speaker announced, "Tomorrow morning every one shall shoot. Each one will have two shots. An eagle will perch on the tall tree yonder; and whoever kills it shall have the chief's daughters." Coyote was there and felt happy. He thought he would, win the prize. On the following morning an eagle was seen soaring in the air, and there was much excitement as it began to descend. It alighted on a tree which grew near one end of the camp. Then the young men tried to shoot it. Each man had two arrows. The previous evening Sun had said to Star, "Grandmother, make a bow and arrows for me." She said, "What is the use? You cannot shoot. You never used bow, and arrows." He replied, "I am going to try. I shall take part in the contest tomorrow. I heard what the chief said." She took pity on him, and went to a red willow bush, cut a branch for a bow, and some twigs for arrows. She strung the bow with a poor string, and did not feather the arrows.
Coyote, who was afraid some one else might hit the bird, shouted, "I will shoot first. Watch me hit the eagle." His arrow struck the lowest branch of the tree and fell down, and the people laughed. He said, "I made a mistake. That was a bad arrow. This one will kill the eagle." He shot, and the arrow fell short of the first one. He became angry, and pulled other arrows from his quiver. He wanted to shoot them all. The people seized him, and took away his arrows, saying, "You are allowed to shoot twice only." All the people shot and missed. When the last one had shot, Sun said, "Grandmother, lift the door of the lodge a little, so that I can shoot." She said, "First get out of bed." She pulled the lodge mat aside a little, and he shot. The arrow hit the tail of the eagle. The people saw and heard the arrow coming from Dirty-Boy's lodge, but saw no one shooting it. They wondered. He shot the second arrow, which pierced the eagle's heart. Now, Wolf and others were standing near Dirty-Boy's lodge, and Wolf desired much to claim the prize. He shouted, "I shot the bird from the lodge-door!" and ran to pick it up; but the old woman Star ran faster than he, picked up the bird, and carried it to the chief. She claimed his daughters for her grandson. All the people gathered around, and made fun of Dirty-Boy. They said, "He is bedridden. He defecates and urinates in his bed. He is lousy, sore-eyed, and scabby-faced." The chief was loath to give his daughters to such a person. He knew that Dirty-Boy could not walk. Therefore he said, "To-morrow there shall be another contest. This will be the last one, I cannot break my word. Whoever wins this time shall have my daughters." He announced that on the morrow each man should set two traps for fishers, an animal very scarce at the place where the camp was located. If any one should catch a fisher one night, then he was to stay in the mountains another day to catch a second one. After that he had to come back. Those who caught nothing the first night had to come home at once. Only two traps were allowed to each man; and two fishers had to be caught, --one a light one, and one a2 dark one, -- and both prime skins. When all the men had gone to the mountains, Sun said to his sister, "Grandmother, make two traps for me." She answered, "first get out of bed!" However, she had pity oil him, and made two dead-falls of willow sticks. She asked him where she should set them;3 and he said, "One on each side of the lodge-door." On the following morning all the men returned by noon, not one of them had caught a fisher. When Star went out, she found two fine fishers in the traps. Now the chief assembled the men to see if any one had caught the fishers. He was glad, because he knew that Dirty-Boy could not walk; and unless he went to the mountains, he had no chance to kill fishers. Just then the old grandmother appeared, dragging the fishers. She said, " I hear you asked for two fishers; here are two that my grandson caught." She handed them over to him, and then left.
Coyote had boasted that he would certainly catch the fishers. When he went up the mountain, he carried ten traps instead of two. He said, "Whoever heard of setting only two traps? I shall set ten." He set them all, remained out two nights, but got nothing. He was very angry, and called Dirty-Boy "Defecate-in-Bed" and " Urinate in Bed."
The chief said to his daughters, "You must become the wives of Dirty-Boy. I tried to save,you by having two contests; but since I am a great chief, I cannot break my word. Go now, and take up all your abode with your husband." They put on their best clothes and went. On the way they had to pass Raven's house, and heard the Ravens laughing inside, because the girls had to marry Dirty-Boy. The elder sister said, "Let us go in and see what they are laughing about!" The younger one said, "No, our father told us to go straight to our husband." The elder one went in, and sat down beside Raven's eldest son. She became his wife. Like all the other Ravens, he was ugly, and had a big head; but she thought it better to marry him than to become the wife of a dirty, sickly boy.
1 Or some women gathering fire-wood.
2 Some say two dark fishers evenly matched.
3 Some say she carried Dirty-Boy up the mountains to set them.
