Note 77 — MYTHS RECORDED IN ENGLISH AT WRANGELL (continued 2)

“As Tsᴀgwâˊn was a mischief maker and followed Raven to tell what he had done to his wife, so some man will always follow one up if he doesn’t tell the truth. Formerly, when a man left his wife, a settlement of property was made and, if a man married again before this took place, his first wife made trouble for his second. Since no one wants trouble of this kind, a woman always found out what a man was like before she married him, just as this woman found out about Raven.

“Since Dᴀmnāˊdjî married a woman of higher family than himself and was taunted by the town people, nowadays they tell a young man that, if he marries a girl of higher rank than himself, they will not remain together long, because she will feel above him and want him to please her continually, while she does nothing to please him. As Dᴀmnāˊdjî from being poor became rich suddenly and was very hard on his people till all of his riches were again taken away from him, they say, ‘When you become wealthy after having been poor, don’t be proud or your money will all leave you.’ When a man has had plenty of money all his life and wastes it foolishly, they say of him, ‘He has fallen from the hands of the brant. So a young man nowadays saves up a considerable sum of money before he marries that he may not be made fun of. Perhaps if we had not had this story among the natives of Alaska we would have had nothing to go by.

“The fact that Dᴀmnāˊdjî’s wife’s relations did not insult or maltreat him after they learned how poor he was, shows that they were really high caste. Had they but recently acquired their wealth they would have done so. Therefore people say to a person who speaks before he thinks, ‘Why can’t you be like Dᴀmnāˊdjî’s brothers-in-law? Think before you speak.’ When the village people were making fun of their brother-in-law, his wife’s relations might have done anything to them, for they had wealth in furs and slaves, but they kept quiet because they had too much respect for their sister to disgrace her husband’s village people. It was also out of respect for their sister that, when they found out that all that the poor man had for them to drink was water, they drank it willingly without saying a word, where a low-caste person would have grumbled. Therefore people tell a man who has no respect for his brother-in-law because he is low-caste that he ought to be like these brothers-in-law of Dᴀmnāˊdjî. Because Dᴀmnāˊdjî was lucky twice, the people in olden times used to pray for luck continually. If he wanted to be lucky a poor man lived a very pure life. Those who do not do what is right never will have luck.” (From the writer’s informant.)