Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
When the young man saw the pole, he said: “I didn’t know that people
lived up there. I have been on this mountain many times, but I have
never met anybody or seen any house. I will go and find out who lives
there.” As he started, it stopped snowing; he could see everywhere.
When he got to the pole, he found a deer hide on it, and right there by
the pole was something that looked like the smoke hole of a house. He
stood around a while, then he went in. He found a beautiful house with
nice things everywhere. On the north side of the house sat Lok
Snewédjas. She was a good-looking woman; she had long black hair and
bright eyes. The young man sat down on the south side of the house.
Lok Snewédjas got up, took a pinch of yĕlalwek, a sweet seed that
nobody else in the world had, put it in the center of a straw plate,
and set the plate down by the young man.
He thought: “I wonder what I am going to do with that little bit of
seed?” He took up one seed and put it in his mouth. It melted and was
nice and sweet; he thought it was the best thing he had ever eaten. He
kept eating, ate fast, but the same amount of seed was always on the
plate. He was afraid to be in a strange house with such a powerful
woman.
Lok Snewédjas knew his thoughts; she could hear them as well as if he
spoke. She gave him pounded deer meat, and he thought: “Where does she
get this meat?” She laughed, for she heard him think.
When the young man couldn’t eat any more, he rested his elbow on the
ground and put his head on his hand. Right away he was asleep. Lok
Snewédjas thought: “I wonder why he is sorry that he came here;” she
waited to see if he would wake up and go home. When he woke up, he
reached to get a deerskin to put under his head for a pillow. Lok
Snewédjas said: “I have made a bed for you, you must lie on it.” He was
scared, but he lay where she told him to; then she made him go to
sleep. She was afraid if she went to sleep first, he would see her when
she was a bear.
In the night the young man woke up. The fire was burning. He looked
over to where the woman was sleeping and saw a big black bear; its
mouth was open and its long teeth were sticking out. He was terribly
frightened; he wanted to run away but he couldn’t move.
Lok Snewédjas woke up; she knew what the young man thought and she felt
sorry. She said: “I am this kind; I am a woman in the daytime and a
bear at night. I belong to the mountain. The earth is my mother, the
mountain is my father. They give me my food and keep me alive. I have
always seen you traveling around on the mountain. I saw your heart; I
was sorry for you. You felt lonesome; you said you had no kin who cared
for you. I liked you and wanted you to come and live with me.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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