Note 380 — MYTHS

Soon the husband called to his wife, “Are you there?” at which the moccasin answered in her voice, “Yes.” After a time he called again, “Are you there?” “Yes,” was again her reply. He was away several days, during which many times did he ask, “Are you there?” always receiving the same answer. When he appeared above the ground and asked, “Where are you, wife, are you here?” a voice answered, “Yes.” Looking around, he could not see her; then suddenly he discovered what had been talking to him. He was very angry and began to search for the woman’s tracks. He followed them to the spring, where they disappeared. After looking for a long time he became discouraged, and calling his dog Onhagwio,380 he said, “You failed to watch my wife while I was gone. Now you must find her.” Then he watched the dog as it ran round and round, coming back to the spring; finally it stopped scenting the ground, and looking into the air, it sniffed. All at once the dog ran off northward, looking up all the time as if it saw tracks (but trailing a faint scent in the air). The man followed. After a while they came to the spot where the arrow fell. There were tracks on the ground. The dog barked and began to run faster, the man urging it on. As they neared the woman, the man who had been at the spring stood before her. He put her again into an arrow, saying, “You will come down on an island in a lake, and you must run across this island in all directions.” When the husband and the dog came to the place where she met the man they lost her track. Again the dog scented, and finding the trail in the air, followed it. When they reached the lake, the man changed himself into a flea, and going into the hair behind the dog’s ear, held on. Then the dog swam to the island, on reaching which the flea turned to a man again. Coming to the spot where the arrow fell, they found her tracks, which they followed across and around the island. As they neared the woman, the man again stood by her, and putting her once more into his arrow, said, “You will come down on the shore of the lake; then run as fast as you can. I can help you no longer, but you will soon reach a village, where you will find some one to help you. You may see now who I am.” As he turned to go away, she saw that the man was a Djondjongwen.381