Note 84 — Raven Traveling

When he was going on from there he came to a town in which the chief’s son, who was the strongest man, had had his arm pulled out. A shaman came to try to cure him. The chief’s son was the strongest man. In trying strength with people of all ages by locking hands with them he could beat them. By and by, through the smoke hole came a small pale hand, and [they heard its owner] say: “Gū′sg̣a gᴀ′msiwa” (Tsimshian words meaning “Let us have a try”). And he put his fingers to it. It pulled off his arm. They did not know what it was. And he (Raven) alone knew that one of Gū′g̣ał’s84 sons had pulled his arm off. Then he flew to Gū′g̣ał’s town, went to an old man who lived at the end of the town and asked him: “Say, old man, do you ever gamble?” And he said he did. “They say they pulled off the arm of a chief’s son. I wonder where the person who did it belongs.” And he said: “Why, don’t you know? It was done by the one of Gū′g̣ał’s sons who is always doing those things. The chief’s son’s arm is in a box behind the screen in his father’s house.” And he (Raven) said: “Well, although everybody knows those things, I was asking this.” Then he pulled off his (the old man’s) skin and entered it. And next day he took a gambling-stick bag and walked with a cane to the middle of the town. When he sat down he heard Gū′g̣ał’s sons say: “You are always on hand, old man; we will gamble with you.” The eldest wagered him his hair ribbon, and they gambled with him. They lost the ribbon to him. Then it was too late to go home, and he said: “I will stay right in your house.” And they said to him: “All right, old man, sleep in our house so that we may gamble with each other in the morning.” Then he entered, and they seated him near two good-looking women. They gave him something to eat. “Old man, you are always ready,” they said to him, and they went to bed. Then he broke wind. The women laughed at him every time as they whispered together. By and by, when they were asleep,85 he flew lightly toward the screen and felt of the chief’s son’s arm which was in a box. Then he waited for daylight and flew over it. As he did so the ends of his claws touched the top of the screen. It sounded like a drum. Then he lay down quickly. “Alas! it is the one who is always doing such things. Does the old man lie there as before?” And the women said: “Yes; he lies here. He has been breaking wind all the time. Now, he is snoring.” And he asked again: “Is the chief’s son’s arm in the box?” And the women said: “Yes; it is here.” Then when they were asleep again and day had begun to break he flew up easily behind the screen and seized the chief’s son’s arm in his mouth. And when he flew away with it the ends of his claws touched the top of the screen. When it gave forth a drumming sound all looked up. He flew through the smoke hole. The chief said: “Alas! it is he who is always doing such things.” Then he came flying to the chief’s son’s father’s town and began to act as shaman around the chief’s son. He washed the arm, which had begun to smell badly [from decomposition]. Then they handed him a new mat [and he laid] the chief’s son’s arm in place under it. At once his arm was restored. They gave many things to him and much food as well.