332 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. V. 



136. — The Porcupine and the Woman who climbed to the Sky.' 



When the father and mother and two sons were living on this earth 

 with other people, the earth was without any object in heaven, and 

 therefore dark. The father decided that they should leave the people 

 below and go above. Then the people were left on earth without any 

 instructions as to how to live. The sun and the moon were the two 

 sons. They discussed to whom they should go for their wives, whether 

 to human beings on earth, or to animals in the water. The moon de- 

 cided to go to the water and procure a wife there. The sun said : 'T 

 think that a human woman would be the proper wife for me because the 

 human body resembles ours." The moon said : "That is good. It 

 will be well for both of us to go together to get the same kind of per- 

 son." The sun said: "No, I was in jest; I was trying to mislead 

 you. I will do what you thought best." Then the moon said : "You 

 may take my former choice. Go to the water for your wife, and I will 

 go to men for mine. You have said that women do not look pretty 

 enough for you because their faces wrinkle when they look at you. 

 Therefore I think it best if I take what you have mentioned, and if 

 you takf my choice." Then both went down to earth. Towards the 

 west there was a camp near a river. Here the moon went. The sun 

 went east, to another camp. The moon went to the edge of the river 

 till he came abreast of the camp. There he sat in the brush waiting by 

 the side of the trail. Two women came. They were beautiful and 

 had long hair and their clothes were fine. As soon as the moon saw 

 them coming he went to a cottonwood tree and sat at its foot on the 

 west side, having the appearance of a large porcupine. To her sur- 

 prise one of the women saw it. She called to the other : "I see a por- 

 cupine. Help me to catch it." Then both of them chased it about in 

 the brush without catching it. At last the porcupine climbed up the 

 tree. The tree had limbs close to the bottom, so that the women could 

 climb it, "Hurry ! It is climbing up and we want to catch it," one 

 of them said. So one of them put her foot on a limb and began to 

 climb. The porcupine climbed to the other side of the tree and up. 

 When the woman rested, the porcupine also stopped ; when she moved 

 on again, it climbed farther up. The woman on the ground said to 

 her companion : "My friend, you are far up. Will you try to come 

 down again, or are you afraid that you are too far up?" The woman 

 looked down and indeed she was high up. The porcupine looked back 

 and said to the woman : "Come with me. I came to get you." She 



' From informant H. 



