Note 382 — MYTHS

The dog arrived at the place where the tracks disappeared on the ground; here he found the woman had crossed the lake. Again the man turned to a flea and the dog swam with him to the shore. Having found the woman’s footprints, they followed them. As they were getting very near, so near that she could hear the dog bark, she came to a lodge in which a man was sitting, making flint arrowheads. His name was Hathegwendonnis.382 The woman asked him to help her. He said. “Go on as fast as you can; the man in the next lodge will help you. I, too, will do all I can to aid you.” When the dog and man came to the lodge, Hathegwendonnis threw toward him a handful of flint. The flint flew in every direction; wherever it struck it tore up trees and earth. But the dog ran at Hathegwendonnis and, seizing him by the back of the neck, shook him until he was dead. The woman reached the second lodge, where she found a man making nets. His name was Hadaeonnis.383 To him she said, “I am running away; can you help me?” He answered, “Go on as quickly as you can; you will soon come to a cabin, and the people who live there can help you. I will do all I can.” When the man and dog came to the lodge Hadaeonnis threw his net, which caught them, winding round and round them. For a long time they struggled; at last, breaking through the net, the dog ran at Hadaeonnis, seizing him by the neck, and shaking him until he was dead. In the third cabin the woman found four men. When she had asked them for help, they began chopping down great dry trees, which they piled on her tracks. Soon they had a high pile, and setting fire to the wood, they stood waiting, two at each end. When the dog and the man came to the fire, the dog wanted to go around, but the man, seeing that the tracks led into the fire, said, “No; you must go through.” When they came out on the other side, both dog and man were nearly dead. The eldest of the four men said, “We will shoot and kill them,” but they found shooting had no effect. Then the older man said, “We will catch them and pull out their hearts.” Having caught and killed them, they pulled out their hearts; these they put into a red-hot kettle, which the old man had heated over the fire. The hearts flew around and around in the kettle trying to get out, but the men shot them until they were dead and burned up.