Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
“Maybe I can kill one,” said the sister. She got her brothers’ bows and
tried the strings to see which string was the strongest. She put down
one bow after another, saying: “That isn’t strong.” The strings had
been strong enough for her brothers, but for her they were weak. She
took the bow that belonged to her youngest brother, pulled the string,
and said: “This will do.”
When she started for the pond, one of the brothers watched her, he
said: “Now she is near the pond; now she is sitting down on the bank!”
She drew the bow, and when he thought she had missed the swan, he
nearly fell, he was so sorry. He didn’t look out again. The arrow went
through both swans.
The sister brought the swans home and left them outside; she took the
bow and arrow in and put them away. Her brothers felt badly; they were
disappointed. When she asked: “Shall I cook them in the house?” they
were glad. They tried to get up, but they couldn’t stand on their feet,
they were so weak.
The girl cooked the swans and gave her brothers some of the meat. She
said: “Eat a little at a time, so it will last longer.” She saved the
fat and rubbed her brothers with it, to heal their sores.
“Now I am stronger,” said the eldest brother. “Give me my bow; I feel
as if I could shoot something.” Each brother said the same.
When the people at the foot of the mountain heard that the five
brothers were sick, they were glad and sent a young man to find if it
were true. He came back, and said: “They are sick and are going to
die.”
When the sister had gone for wood, the eldest brother said: “I know
that somebody is coming; I want to be strong.” They all had the same
feeling, and each one tried his bowstring. When the sister came back,
the eldest brother said: “You must roll us up in our blankets, and tie
them around us as though we were dead. Put our bows and arrows and
beads near us.”
When she had done that, she went off to the mountains, for she felt
badly and didn’t want to stay with her brothers; she didn’t want to
live any longer.
The brothers waited for her, and when it was dark and she didn’t come,
one said: “Our sister is always talking about dying; maybe she is
dead.”
Now the people at the foot of the mountain sent a little boy to see if
the five brothers were alive. He crossed the pond in a canoe; he rowed
the canoe by saying: “Peldack! Peldack!” (Go fast). When the boy saw
the men tied up in their blankets, he went back, and said: “They are
dead. In their house there are bows and arrows and nice beads. You must
go and get them.”
The chief said: “Get ready; we will go and scalp those men, and take
their things.”
When the brothers saw the men coming, they said: “We will lie here as
if we were dead, and when they pack up our things and start away, we
will spring up and fight them with knives.”
The men came into the house. They unrolled the brothers and kicked them
around; they took their blankets, bows, arrows and beads, took
everything they could find, and started off.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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