The Eagle said, "Go to the fish-weir and pretend to be dead, so that they will carry you into the house. I will go, and you shall take some of the fire. Then run away. We will take it back to our home." The Beaver went to the fish-weir. They caught him and carried him into the house. They skinned him. Then one man said, " Look here! There is an eagle. Shoot that eagle." All the men went out, and the Beaver took the fire and ran away with it. The Beaver jumped into the water and swam back. The Eagle flew above him, and they arrived in their country.
The Mouse lived with her children. She swam across the river to steal. She was drowned. Her children took the body back into the house and cried over it. After some time a man came, who said, "Why are you crying?" The children replied, "Oh, we have been crying about what happened in the distant past." Then the children of Mouse laughed.
An old man, his wife, and their infant son lived near a lake. They were poor, and food was hard to obtain. They were almost starving. Every day the man went fishing, and the woman dug sxaie'En-roots.4 She found a few only, and her husband caught only a few small fish about four finger-widths in length. They gave a few roots and one fish to their son for a meal, and they themselves ate each a fish and a half and a few roots. Every day the mother washed her son with water in a basket, and she carried him on her back when she went root-digging. The boy grew very fast, as all children of the ancients did. When four years old, the boy said, "I will no longer be carried by my mother. I will accompany my father when he goes fishing." His father made a line and hooks for him, and took him to the lake to fish. When they reached there, the boy said, "Do you never use the canoe that is here on the lake-shore when you are fishing?" His father said he had never seen any canoe, and looked around. The boy pointed out an old canoe which had almost rotted away on the lake-shore. He said, "Sit in the bow, and I shall sit in the stern, then we will fish." They just sat down in the canoe, which was near the shore, and fished. As usual, the father caught four small fish, while the boy got none. He asked his father to go home, saying that he would continue to fish alone. He caught a fish about half a finger in length. When he came home, his parents were glad to see that he had caught a fish. On the fourth day he told his father again to go home. After his father had gone, the boy caught a small fish, as he had done on the previous days. It was near evening, and he thought he would try once again before going home. He cast his line, and felt a great weight on it. At last he managed to pull it up, and a large tsoqEnnu's-fish came to the surface. Its head was very large, and its body very lean. The fish said, "Let me go!" but the boy answered, "I cannot. We are starving. We need you." The fish repeated the request four times. Finally it said, "If you let me go, you may have anything you wish. As soon as you wish, the object of your desire will appear by your side." The boy said, "'True?" and the fish answered, "True!" They repeated this four times, then the boy let the fish go, which said, "All you have to do is to wish and call my name, which is Skwotilkwola'na. In ten days I shall see you again."
On the following morning the boy said to his parents, "You need not fish or dig roots any more. I shall fish alone, and provide food for us all." He went to the lake and called his helper's name, at the same time wishing for many pi'sul-fish. Great numbers appeared on the surface of the lake. He fished them out, and then went home to ask his parents to carry them away and dry them. He did so every day; and each succeeding day the fish became more plentiful, and easier to catch. On The tenth day he caught so many that he filled the old canoe. Now they had enough fish to last them a long time.
On the tenth day, towards evening, the old fish put its head on the gunwale of the canoe, and said, "If you had not let me go, you would never have caught any fish. I will give you my name and my horse. You will find it ten days from today standing on the far side of the mountain behind your camp. Do not think it is bad. You will never see me again, but the horse will give you advice when you need it. When you want anything, call my name as before. Tell no one our name. I have thus helped you because I pitied you. Meanwhile wash yourself in the water, and run every day for ten days. Do not sleep in your parents' lodge, but build a small lodge near by, and make your bed in it."
1 Collected by Franz Boas. This is a fragment of the story of the theft of the fire (see Thompson MAFLS 6 : 56; JE 8 : 229, 338; Shuswap JE 2 : 669; Fraser Delta, Boas, Sagen 42; Lillooet JAFL 25 : 299, Carrier TCI 5 : 125).
2 Collected by Franz Boas.
3 A composite of a number of European tales. See Bolte and Polivka 2 : 318, 516; Quebec, JAFL 29 : 37, 41.
4 A small variety of edible root used be the Thompson and Okanagon, unidentified.
