194 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [eth. ANN. 30 



he might be heard by the particular Spirit spokeu about and subse- 

 quently be mysteriously punished.' There are certainly many 

 examples m the Indian folk-lore illustrative of the dire results conse- 

 quent on mentioning either the Spirit's name or his particular origin 

 (Sects. 99, 133, 135, 176). 



125. To munic the sounds of their voices is of course as bad as 

 laugliing at Spirits (Sect. 59) or mentioning their names. 



The Woman Who Mimicked the Bush Spirit (A) 



A man went out hunting one day, taking his wife with him.^ Leaving her one 

 morning at the banab, he warned her that a Yawahu would be passing, and that it 

 would be whistling like a bird, but that she must not imitate the soundtin any way, 

 because if she did each of her feet immediately would be turned into a sharp piece 

 of stone. She had been by herself some time when she heard a bird whistling, and 

 feeling somewhat lonely without any company, thought she would ' ' call "it. No sooner 

 had she imitated the sound than the Yawahu, which it really was, became extremely 

 angry, and changed her feet into two sharp-pointed stones (cf. Sect. 126): more than 

 this, the Spirit changed her heart into stone also, thus making her "wild" toward 

 her husband. The result was, that when her husband joined her in the afternoon, 

 she tried to kill him, but he, recognizing at a glance what had happened, turned 

 on his heels and ran as fast as possible down to the creek, into which he ducked 

 and dived across; coming up on the opposite bank, he rested himself awhile. It was 

 not long before she reached the creek, and failing to see her husband, concluded that 

 he must be in hiding somewhere among the rushes and mtid, which she trampled in 

 all directions with her stony spikes. Stamping here and there, she gave vent to her 

 wrath every now and again, saying: "You brute! Wait till I catch you. I know 

 what I'll do with you." She little Imew that her husband was listening, and 

 smiling at her all the while. And so she continued stamping and swearing until 

 she at last stuck one of her feet into an alligator that was lying there, and hauled it 

 up on the bank, "sticldng" it again and again, in the full belief that it was her 

 husband. Thoroughly satisfied with her work, she now returned to the banab, her 

 man making tracks for home. But when he got there, his brothers-in-law inquired 

 of their sister, and would not believe what her husband said about her ha\'ing mim- 

 icked the Yawahu, and her feet being changed into stone. Finally they tried to kill 

 him. Seeing that they were threatening him, he offered to show them the actual 

 place where it all happened. This being agreed to, they took up their bows and 

 arrows to follow him, and finally reached the banab. No wife was there. So the 

 husband imitated the Yawahu's whistle — now that the Spirit was nowhere in the neigh- 

 borhood and well out of hearing, no harm could follow — and who should come running 

 up but his stone-footed wife, storming with rage, ready to destroy not only her man 

 but her brothers also. The latter, however, being forewarned, put an arrow into 

 her, and she fell dead; they knew now that the man had spoken the truth. 



1 We ourselves are blessed with a corresponding weakness in believing that the best occasion for a real 

 good ghost-story is when gathered around the fireside, and that there is much truth in the old adage, "Talk 

 of the Devil, and He is sure to appear." 



= A man never takes his wife or child with him on the actual hunt, where one or the other would only 

 be in his way. She always accompanies him if he proposes being out some days, when he will leave her 

 during the daytime at the temporarj- shed, or banab, while he himself searches the neighborhood for game, 

 returning to her before nightfall. As a matter of fact , even when men join together on a hunting expedi- 

 tion, and the banab has been made, it is the rule rather than the exception for each to go his own way and 

 thus the better scour the surroundmg coimtry in all directions. It is the wife's business, if present, to 

 erect the babracotc, as well as dry and cook the food. 



