Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
When Wus was on the way home, his mother saw a big fire on the top of
the mountain. It looked as if it went way up to the sky. Wus didn’t
build that fire; the mountain built it to show his mother that Wus had
been there. She thought he had gone off somewhere else.
When old Djáudjau knew that Wus was near home, he heated stones and
sweated; then he went to meet him. He said: “If you dreamed anything
bad, you must tell it; but if you dreamed of the mountain talking to
you, you mustn’t tell the dream. The mountain talked to me when I was
young. It said that I should never die, that my spirit would live
always, that I should live among the mountains—but I shall not have
this form much longer.”
Wus was changed. He didn’t look as he did when he went away; he looked
better and stronger.
The old man said: “You mustn’t eat meat for ten days. If medicines
appeared to you in your dream, you mustn’t eat meat for twenty days.”
“I don’t know about any of the medicines that travel around on this
earth,” said Wus.
The old man said: “After ten days I want you to try and get one of
those nice-looking Wálwilégas girls for a wife.”
When the ten days were over, Wus sweated, then Djáudjau painted his
face and body red and gave him nice clothes. The old man was glad that
Wus was the Mountain’s son. He said: “Take your bow and arrows and
shoot birds. Don’t pick up the first one you shoot; don’t pull the
arrow out; leave the bird right there, as if you threw it away.”
Wus killed a yellow-footed duck and left it on the ground; then he
killed other ducks and took them home. The old man had deer meat ready
and Wus ate. He was glad to eat; he hadn’t eaten anything since he
started to go to the mountain.
When he had eaten enough, he said: “I want to go and see people.” He
started out but hadn’t gone far, when he saw a crowd of Wálwilégas
girls; they were washing roots in the creek. He watched the girls a
long time, then he said: “How beautiful those girls are. They are too
small, but they are beautiful. I don’t know which one I like best.”
The girls were on each side of the creek; some of them saw Wus and
called out: “There is Wus. He is coming here!” Others said: “No, that
isn’t Wus.” The nicest-looking one of all the girls said: “No, that
isn’t Wus.” Another girl said: “Yes, it is the same old Wus, but he has
been on the mountains; that is why he looks differently.”
Wus went to the bank of the creek and sat down among the girls. That
minute all the youngest and nicest-looking girls got up and went away.
One of the largest and oldest called out: “Why do you go away? Why
don’t you stay here and finish washing your roots?” But they had
scattered and gone.
Wus was mad in his heart; he got up and started for home. On the road
he came to a house and went in to see who lived there. He found Gíuwas
and his wife. They were glad to see him. The woman was kind. She asked:
“Have you had anything to eat?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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