228 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. V. 



96. — The Bear who painted Himself/ 



A number of men who were traveling for war went to a certain 

 place to obtain yellow paint. As they were on a high bank they saw a 

 bear at the edge of the stream below them. He was painting himself 

 with yellow paint. He drew streaks over liis cheeks, down over his 

 eyes, and marked each of his shoulders with his opposite paw. 

 Then he looked at himself in the water. . Then he painted his 

 forehead and tEe back of his head, his sides, and his hips ; and then he 

 drew a stripe from his moutfi down his throat over his chest. One of 

 the men cried, "What are you doing, ugly one?" Then the bear cried 

 out like a person, defecated, and ran off. — K. 



97. — The Deceived Bear.* 



There was a war party. As they were leaving a river, they saw a 

 bear coming down the trail towards them. They prepared to ambush 

 him and got ready to shoot. One of the men went back to the river, 

 rubbed himself with mud, and lay down. The bear came, found him, 

 touched his chest, and felt no breathing. He touched his belly and 

 sides, l3Ut the person, did not laugh. He touched his temples, but felt 

 nothing moving. Penem, cum eius caput nudasset, mulcavit, sed etiam 

 tum mollis erat. Postea corpus in os volvit ungulamque in anum 

 oderans inseruit. Just as he was about to drag the body ofiF, the man 

 opened his eyes, seized the bear by the "ears and swung himself about ; 

 the others came shouting, but the bear, excremento in omnis partes 

 eflfuso, fled and escaped, If the man had moved or given a sign of life, 

 the bear would have killed him. — K. 



98. — The Bear and the Skunk. 



One day Bear was going along the road, and met Skunk, loping 

 toward him. Both stopped a certain distance apart. "You may get out 

 of my road, for it is mine," said Bear. "Oh, no ! You had better get 

 out of it, for it belongs to me," said Skunk. "Well ! do you mean to say 

 that I should get out of this road ? Do you know that I am a powerful 

 beast? You are such a small beast to attack me. If you don't want 

 to get hurt, get out of my road," said Bear. "Well, coming to claim 

 this road, you play foul. Understand that I too am a powerful beast, 

 therefore you had better leave this road," said Skunk. "Oh, you are 

 too small to tackle me," said Bear. "Yes, I mean what I said. Get out 



'Informants.]. 

 ' Informants J. 



