Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
Old Leméis’ daughter was meaner than her brothers. The belt around her
waist was made of men’s bones; she killed men by making them put on
that belt. As soon as the belt was around a man’s waist, the bones
pressed together until they cut him in two. She handed the belt to
Tskel and told him to put it on.
He said: “I will put on your belt, if you will put on my cap first.”
She put the cap on. It pressed her head and almost froze her to death,
but she snatched it off and ran out of the house. She was scared.
Outside old Leméis and his wife were crying with cold. The eldest of
the five brothers came with two men in his belt. His father said:
“There is somebody in our house who is stronger than we are.”
“There is nobody in the world stronger than I am,” said the young man.
“I will kill the man who is in there.” He put one foot on the ladder,
but sprang back and began to scream.
The second brother came with dead men in his belt. He said he was the
strongest person in the world, but the minute he put one foot on the
ladder, he sprang back, crying with cold.
The third brother put his foot on the second rung of the ladder, then
he turned back. He roared terribly; he tried to frighten Tskel, but
Tskel wasn’t afraid.
The fourth brother came with four dead men in his belt; one was kin to
Tskel. He went down four rungs of the ladder, then sprang back; the
dead man who was kin to Tskel slipped out of his belt and fell inside.
Tskel made that so by thinking. Then he brought the dead man to life.
When the youngest and strongest one of the brothers came, he got down
the ladder into the house, but he was out as soon as he was in. Just at
sundown Kaiutois came with a deer on his back. Tskel took his cap off
and Tcûskai put on his cap made of South Wind’s head. Right away all
the ice was gone.
Now the Leméis brothers came inside. They built a big fire and heated
rocks, put the rocks in a basket of water, and boiled pieces of the men
they had brought home. Kaiutois roasted deer meat and gave it to his
brothers-in-law. Gäk and Káwhas ate the meat old Leméis gave them. That
is why crows and blackbirds eat any dead thing they can find.
After eating, everybody lay down. The five Leméis brothers lay in a
row; they were watching, for they wanted to kill Tskel.
Káwhas had bright eyes; when he was asleep the Leméis brothers thought
he was awake. Tskel made the five brothers go to sleep. They had long
hair and Tskel tied one brother’s hair to another’s, till he had the
five tied together. He did this so that when they woke up each one
would think that his brother was pulling his hair, and all of them
would get to fighting. Tcûskai, Tskel, Gäk, Káwhas, Kaiutois and his
wife went outside. Tskel hired Galaíwa to fill all the holes in the
house with pitch and pile pitch wood up around it; when that was done
he set fire to the place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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