'I know what has happened,' said he. 'And you will suffer for it. If I
had married your daughter, you would have had a great name in the world,
but now your daughter will marry someone whom no one ever heard of, and
if they speak of you among men it will be as The-Chief-with-no-name.'
When he heard this the chief trembled, for he knew it would be shameful.
So Raven left him and continued his journey till he reached the house of
an old man who lived alone.
'Do you know the young daughter of the chief who lives not far from
here?' he asked.
'Yes, I know her.'
'Well, why don't you marry her?'
'Oh, it is quite impossible that I should marry her, so I don't see the
good of trying.'
'Don't be so faint-hearted,' said Raven, 'I will give you a medicine
which will cause her to fall in love with you.'
'But I have no slaves, and she will expect slaves,' said the old man.
'Oh no, she won't,' answered Raven, 'she will take a liking to you and
no one will be able to help it. She will marry you, and her father will
lose half his property.'
And Raven kept his word and his medicine made the old man look young
again, and Raven bestowed feathers on him to put in his hair, and a robe
of marten skin to throw over his shoulders. When he was dressed the man
looked very handsome and was greatly pleased with himself. But his face
fell when Raven said to him:
'Remember you are not going to be like this always; it is only for a day
or two.'
Then the man got into his skin canoe and paddled over to where the girl
lived, and he did not go to ask her father's consent but sought her out
when she was alone, and she fell in love with him although she had
refused to listen to many other men besides Raven, and this was Raven's
revenge.
'Yes, I will marry you,' she said, 'and I will go with you, even if my
father kills me for it.'
So she married him, and after that her father and mother were told of
it. But the chief, instead of being unkind to his daughter, gave her
rich fur robes; 'for,' said he, 'if she is already married there is no
use in my being angry; and besides, her husband is a handsome fellow and
is plainly of high birth.' And he and the husband talked together of his
daughter's suitors and especially of the man who had been cruel to his
first wife, but the husband did not know that the chief meant Raven.
* * * * *
The new husband was anxious to get back to his own home, as he was
afraid that his fine clothes might drop off him on the way. Therefore he
lost no time in saying, 'My father told me I was to return at once in my
canoe; let us hasten, but do not you, my wife, take any furs with you
except those you want to keep you warm on the journey, for I have more
than enough in my house.' The wife obeyed him, and only took with her a
marten skin and a fox robe.
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