Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
When the old man came, he asked: “Where is the deer?”
“I fell asleep,” said Kai; “the deer passed me.”
“I told you to sit still, and watch for it.”
“I shot at it once,” said Kai. “Maybe I hit it.”
“Where is it?”
Kai told him and he went to hunt for the deer. When he found it, he
felt badly. He tried to look glad, but he didn’t say much. He only
said: “We won’t cut up this deer till we kill another one. There are
five paths here where deer run. I will show you a good place. This time
you must sit still; you mustn’t lie down and go to sleep.” When they
got to the place, Natanatas said: “Sit here and watch; I will go and
scare the deer.”
When a deer ran toward Kai, he hid. The deer looked for him, and the
old man called: “Deer is coming! Deer is coming!” Again little
Góshgoise said, “Pets, pets, pets!”
The deer couldn’t see Kai. Kai shot it in the foot and killed it.
When Natanatas came, Kai said: “A deer ran by. I shot once; maybe I
killed it. We will go and see.”
When the old man saw the dead deer, he said: “It’s almost dark; we will
leave the deer here till morning.”
When they got home, Kai’s wife scolded her father; she said: “You will
kill all my brothers trying to kill Kai, but you won’t kill him. He has
more power than you have.”
The next morning Natanatas said: “My son-in-law, you are afraid of a
deer. He has horns and you think he will hit you. He won’t hurt you.
Sit right still and shoot when you see him coming.”
Kai thought: “This time I will sit where he puts me.”
The deer saw Kai, but Kai shot it in the foot and killed it. When the
old man asked: “Where is the deer?” Kai said: “It saw me and ran off. I
shot once, but maybe I missed him.”
Natanatas thought: “I have only two sons left, but I will try once
more.” Tears were running down his face. He said to Kai: “I have been
running; I am sweating.”
Kai killed two more of the old man’s sons. Natanatas wouldn’t let Kai
touch the deer. He said: “We will come to-morrow and cut them up.” (He
was going to bring them to life.)
Little Góshgoise was getting lonesome; he thought: “If my brother is
going to stay around here, I will go home. He is away every day, and I
am alone all the time.”
The next morning old Natanatas said: “There are big fish in the lake;
we will go and spear one.” (He had turned his sons to fish, and they
were in the lake.)
This time Kai took Góshgoise with him. He knew that his brother was
lonesome.
The old man said to his sons: “As soon as you see Kai’s spear, catch
hold of it and pull him into the water. Then eat him.”
When Kai got to the lake, he was frightened, and thought: “I won’t
spear fish.” Then he thought: “I must do everything the old man tells
me to do.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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