DORSEX-s WANTON] THE BILOXI AND OFO LANGUAGES 25 



8. e A(2"/ 10. hiye hdP'; 11. hide lia"^. HaP' causes the omission of 

 the ending -di in verbs that it follows, as in edi^ kidedi, kiyedi^ etc. 



11. kiyoxpa {oxpa^ see 8). 



12. eya^hi^-ta. 1st masc. imperative addressed to a male {e). See 

 Xexnanh-ta in line 4. 



16. hyustuJci—Jcustuki (6). Kuweni^ negative of uwe (see wahe, to 

 go into). 



17. hdux-ni^ negative of duti (7). Dutcetcehi^ pronounced dutcetce 

 +A/. 



20. Jcsd^ archaic for the modern word, oye (see xo). 



TRANSLATION 



Once upon a time the Ancient of Brants and the Ancient of Otters 

 were living as friends. One day the Ancient of Otters said to the 

 Ancient of Brants, "Come to see me to-morrow," and departed. 

 When the Ancient of Brants reached the abode of the Ancient of 

 Otters, the latter being exclaimed, "Halloo ! I have nothing at all to 

 give you to eat! Sit down ! " Then the Ancient of Otters went fishing, 

 using a "leather vine," which he jerked now and then in order to 

 straighten it. Many fish were caught, and when he reached home he 

 cooked them. When the fish were done, the Ancient of Otters put 

 some into a very flat dish, from which the Ancient of Brants could 

 not eat. So the Ancient of Brants hit his bill against the dish 

 ("7<?'/"), and raised his head often as if swallowing something. But 

 the Ancient of Otters was the only one that swallowed the cooked 

 fish. Then said he to the Ancient of Brants, "Have you eaten 

 enough?" To which his guest replied, "Yes, I am satisfied." "No, 

 you are not satisfied," rejoined the Ancient of Otters, taking up more 

 of the fish which he set down [in the flat dish] before his guest, and 

 then he, the host, devoured it rapidly. 



When the Ancient of Brants was departing, he said to his host, 

 "Come to see me to-morrow." When the Ancient of Otters reached 

 the abode of the Ancient of Brants, the latter being exclaimed, 

 "Halloo! I have nothing at all to give you to eat! Sit down!" Then 

 the Ancient of Brants went fishing, using a "leather vine," which he 

 jerked now and then in order to straighten it. Many fish were killed, 

 and when he reached home with them he cooked them. When the 

 fish were done the Ancient of Brants put some into a small round 

 dish into which the Ancient of Otters could not get his mouth. So 

 the Ancient of Otters had to satisfy his hunger with what dripped 

 from the mouth of the Ancient of Brants. This the former licked up. 

 Again did the Ancient of Brants swallow the cooked fish. Finally he 

 said to his guest, "Have you eaten enough?" To which the Ancient 



