Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
“No,” said his brother. “I know what it is best to do; I am older than
you are. This world isn’t for us to live in always.”
That night they camped at a place which the elder brother named
Wélosina. The next morning they climbed a hill, and looking down into
the valley on the other side, saw a great dirt house.
“When shall we get to that house?” asked the little boy.
“It isn’t safe to go there in the daytime,” said his brother. “Old
Yaukùl, the man who lives there, kills people by twisting their wrists;
he has a knife stuck in the ground near the fire, and after he kills a
man he cuts him up and burns the pieces. No one ever comes away from
his house. We will go there in the night.”
“Don’t go to that bad place,” said the little boy.
“If I go, maybe I can kill that man; I don’t think he has the power to
live always.”
The elder brother gathered the strongest wood he could find and made
bones of it. He put the bones into his brother’s wrists and into his
own, and outside of those he put bones made of brittle wood. When night
came, they went to the valley and climbed to the top of the house. Then
they turned themselves into dead coals and dropped through the smoke
hole.
Yaukùl had two servants, Gäk and Gapni. The old man and Gäk were
asleep, but Gapni was awake and he called out: “Something fell in!
Something fell in!” They didn’t hear him; they were sound asleep: he
had to call to them a good many times. Even if dust fell, Gapni heard
it and called out: “Something fell in.” At last they woke up. “What can
you see with your little eyes?” asked Gäk.
“I can see everything in the world, and I can count everything.” Gäk
hated Gapni.
Yaukùl got a torch and looked around the fire. Gäk wouldn’t look, for
he didn’t believe that anything fell in. Gapni kept repeating:
“Dwûhélibina!” (Something fell in).
“I can look through the world,” said Gäk; “I know that nothing fell
in.”
“I know for myself that something came in,” said Yaukùl. He lighted the
fire and hunted. At last the old man was tired; he put his hands on his
knife, leaned on it, and rested. Then the elder brother changed into a
man and stood in front of him.
“Oh, I am glad you have come!” said Yaukùl. (He thought he would have
something to eat.) “Gäk,” said he, “I knew that Gapni didn’t lie; he
never lies, he always tells the truth. He can see farther and hear
better than you can; he shall be chief.”
Gäk was ashamed and mad.
The younger brother then stood up. “I am glad that you have come,” said
Yaukùl. “Gapni was right; he said there were two. What do you want?”
“We came to visit you.”
“Then I will play with you.”
“I am too small to play with such a big man as you are,” said the
little boy. Yaukùl took hold of his wrists. When the brittle bones
cracked, he was glad. “I can kill him easy,” thought he.
“You can’t play with him first,” said the elder brother, “you must play
with me; I am older than he is.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account