23. Fisher's Wife; or Marten and Fisher.
(Lower Uta’mqt.)
(cont.)Crow had taken the paddle with him when he flew away, so she drifted helplessly downstream. She asked feathers of the birds as they flew overhead, and they let them drop down into the canoe; but none of them were stiff enough to paddle with. At last a flock of ducks flew overhead. and she asked them to help her. They let a feather drop, and she was able to paddle ashore with it. She was now a long distance from home, and without food or clothing. Seeing a hole in the ground, she Gathered some moss, and, putting it in the bottom of the hole, sat down on it. Thus she had shelter and concealment. She had not been there long when she saw a deer feeding near by. So she made a snare out of green willow switches, which she twisted to make them pliable and strong, and, setting the snare in the deer's trail, she soon captured it. She split a stone in two, and used the pieces as knives to cut up and skin the deer with. Having thus obtained plenty- of food, she now set to work and made more snares of withes and of deer-hide, and caught many deer. She tanned their skins, and made herself plenty of clothing; she also made kettles and other vessels of bark, and constructed an underground house, in which she took up her abode.
Now, unknown to her there was another underground house at no great distance, which was inhabited by two brothers, - Fisher and Marten.1 The former went hunting one day, and on departing told his brother, who generally stayed at home and did the housework, if he saw any pretty bird or animals approach the house, not to shoot at it. After he had gone, a Woodpecker2 entered the house. When Marten saw it, he said to himself, "Its scalp would make a fine ornament for my brother's quiver.' So he began shooting arrows at it, but he could not hit it, and the bird went hopping away up the ladder and outside. He followed, shooting at it, and was surprised that, although he shot at it so often, yet he could not hit it. It took him away some distance, and then, as he fired the last arrow, it disappeared near the ladder of an underground house. He was astonished to see an underground house at this place, but, as his arrow had struck the ladder, he went up to pull it out. As he was doing this, the woman said from inside, "Come down and see me!" So he went inside. She handed to him, across the fire, a mat with some fat in it, saying, "Here is something to eat! Take a good hold of it in case it falls into the fire." As he took a firm grip of the mat, she jerked it back, and drew him into the fire, where he was severely burned. She carried him outside and left him there. He crawled to the water, and, after washing himself, managed to reach home. When his brother came back, he said, "You see how you have fared through disobeying me", "What shall I put on your burns" He answered, "Put on my marten-skin quiver"
1 Xo'ixa is applied in this story as a personal name for Marten; xo'xoms is the ordinary name for a marten.
2 Timil'psim is a variety of woodpecker with bright plumage.
