Читать книгу Seneca Fiction, Legends, and Myths - Jeremiah Curtin - Страница 25

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3. Djogeon (Dwarf-man) and His Uncle

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Djogeon lived in the woods with his uncle. When the boy was old enough to learn, his uncle taught him how to shoot; for this purpose he took him out to hunt. When the uncle grew too old to hunt the nephew then went alone.

About noon one day while following an elk, a woman sitting on a log at the edge of an opening in the forest called to Djogeon, saying, “Come here and rest: I know you are tired.” At first he paid no attention to her, but after she had called to him the third time he went to her and sat by her side. She talked to him, and before he realized it she had his head in her lap and had begun searching therein for vermin.

He soon fell asleep, and when she was satisfied that he was sleeping soundly she put him into a basket which she placed on her back and started off with great speed, traveling until the sun had almost set. Then stopping, she put her basket down and roused the young man, asking him, “Do you know this place?” “Oh, yes,” said he, “my uncle and I used to hunt here. I know the place very well.” They spent the night there. [85]

The next morning she searched again in his head until he fell asleep; then putting him into the basket again, she hurried on as before until late in the afternoon. She stopped at a lake and, putting the basket down, she again awakened the young man, asking him, “Do you know this lake?” “Yes; I have fished here many times with my uncle,” replied the young man. Then, taking out of her basket a canoe no larger than a walnut, she struck it with her hand repeatedly until it became large enough to hold both. Then they both boarded it and paddled across the lake. “We will now go home,” said she. “I have a mother and three sisters; all the latter are married and live in the same lodge. We will go to them,” she declared.

Djogeon and his companion traveled on until they reached her mother’s lodge. When they stood at the door her mother saw the stranger with her daughter and cried out, “Welcome, son-in-law. I am glad you have come.” Djogeon became the young woman’s husband, and they lived happily until one night the old woman had a frightful dream, rolling out of her couch and over the floor to the edge of the fire. Then her son-in-law jumped up and asked his mother-in-law, “What is the matter? Are you dreaming, mother-in-law?” She paid no attention to him but rolled about, muttering to herself. Then he said, “I will make her listen,” and, taking the pestle for pounding corn, he hit her a heavy blow on the head. She started up, saying, “Oh! I have had such a bad dream. I dreamed that my son-in-law would kill the Ganiagwaihegowa.” “Oh,” said he, “I will attend to that in the morning. Now go to sleep, mother-in-law.” The next morning the old woman told her son-in-law he must kill the bear and bring it back quickly. So he sought and killed the bear without much trouble and brought it home.

The next night she dreamed that he must make a great feast for the Dagwanoenyent,7 and that he must invite them all to a feast and provide so much food that they would not be able to eat it all. The next day he hunted and killed a great many elk, deer, and bear. There was an abundance of food, the lodge being full of meat, and still there was more. Then he went out and called all the Dagwanoenyent to come to a great feast prepared for them to eat their fill. They answered him, all agreeing to be at the feast. Soon they began to appear, one after another; they came in such numbers that the shelves, the floor, and the seats were filled with them. They began to eat, and ate with a terrible appetite. The old woman went around urging them, saying, “Eat, eat your fill. I want all to have plenty to eat in my lodge.” They ate, and the old woman still urged them, hoping that the supply would run short and her son-in-law would be killed. The son-in-law, with his wife, her three sisters, and their husbands went out to have more food brought in case of need. [86]At last the Dagwanoenyent ate until their jaws could move no longer and their tongues refused to stir. They said, “We have had enough. Mother, mother, enough.” When he heard these words the young son-in-law motioned to the walls and roof, saying, “I want the roof and walls of this lodge to become flint.” The old woman and the Dagwanoenyent, seeing that they were caught, flew around in every direction. The old woman begged for mercy. “Mother-in-law, you had no mercy on me, so I will not let you out,” answered Djogeon. Then he said, “I want this house to become red hot.” As it grew hot the Dagwanoenyent flew about with terrible speed, knocking around the walls and making such a noise as had never been heard in the world before. At last all was still in the lodge.

Then the nephew with his wife and her three sisters and their husbands set out for the lodge of Djogeon’s uncle. They went by the road over which he and his wife had come. When they reached the lake it was covered with thin ice, which could barely hold up a small bird. The young man took eight puffballs from an oak tree and, making himself and his friends small, each one entered a ball; and when the eight balls stood side by side on the ice by the edge of the lake, he said, “Let the west wind blow,” and the west wind obeyed, sweeping them over the lake to the other side. Then they came out of the balls and, resuming their natural size, continued their way until they reached the lodge of Djogeon’s uncle.