Tcûskai was mad; he began to break off little bits of the bones his mother-in-law had tied in his hair; soon he had a great pile of beautiful beads. Then he took five bites out of his panther skin blanket, and he had five beautiful blankets. He gave the beads and the blankets to the aunt, and she went home. After a day or two, Tcûskai’s wife said: “I’m lonesome here; I wasn’t made to live in the mountains. I want to go home.” Tcûskai and Tskel were mad. Tcûskai said: “Go home and never think of me again. I hope our women won’t be like you and get tired of their husbands so soon.” Skóŭks asked: “Is she going to stay always?” “She will not live long,” said Tcûskai, “and I will not live always; I don’t want a wife.” Skóŭks took a handful of dirt, threw it into the air, and said: “Let her be a bird!” She threw a second handful toward the woman, and she flew off to the mountains, a bird. Then Skóŭks asked Tskel: “Is there anybody who can go to that woman’s village and turn all the people into birds?” “Yes,” said Tskel. “Old man Gäk can do it. He lives on a mountain in the east. He is a great doctor.” Tcûskai went to old Gäk’s house and told him how his wife had treated him. Gäk flew to the village, in the form of a crow. When the people saw him, they called out: “See that great black bird. Maybe he has come to eat dead fish.” Gäk said: “I didn’t come to eat dead fish; I always eat deer meat.” Then he shouted: “Let all these people be birds and creeping things, not be persons any longer.” And so it was. YAHYÁHAÄS CHARACTERS Blaiwas Eagle Tusasás Joker (Skunk) Five Blaiwas brothers started off to hunt for deer. When they got to the top of the first high mountain, they took out their fire-drill to make a fire. As they turned the drill they talked to the mountains, to the trees, to the rocks and the bushes, and asked for good luck, but they forgot to ask the drill to keep Yahyáhaäs away. They made a fire, cooked their meat, and then got ready to hunt. When they were leaving the camp, they hung their dry meat and their seeds on a tree where they could get them when they came back in the evening. After they had gone some distance, one of the brothers said: “That is the place where Yahyáhaäs comes. He starts from the east; when he sees any one he walks slowly, but he can go around and come up in front of a person. He can disappear like a flash. Sometimes his face is painted red, and he carries a red cane with red feathers on the end of it. Maybe he will come while we are gone and will eat our meat and seeds.” The men were sorry that they had forgotten to tell the drill to keep Yahyáhaäs away. Just then one of them looked east, and said: “There he is; he is coming now!” The men were scared; they didn’t dare to run away, so they sat down and waited. When Yahyáhaäs came to them, he said: “Well, well, I thought I would never see people again, but I see them now. I am glad you are here. Why don’t you start a fire?”