264 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [eth. ANN. :!0 



daughters strict injunctions tiial they were under no pretext whatever to touclt it 

 during her absence. Directly her back was turned however — and it was not very 

 long before she remembered that she had to go to her field to pull cassava — the two 

 girls wanted to see what their mother had been at such pains to hide from them. 

 They said, "AWiy did mother tell us not to trouble the basket?" and, promptly 

 removing the bushes and leaves, cut open the quake and found a real live man inside. 

 They took him out to have a good look, and the younger sister could not hel]) exclaim- 

 ing, "Oh! what a fine lellow he is, isn't he?" They then a.sked him if ho was a good 

 hunter, and he answered them that he was and would always bring them plenty of 

 game. Both girls therefore fell in love with him, and the younger made him hide 

 in her hammock. Now, when old Nahakoboni returned with her cassava, she busied 

 herself grating it, and it was not imtil everything else was prepared for the feast that 

 she went to the quake to kill Nohi-abassi with a view to eating him. Judge of her 

 surprise when she found it empty! ^\'hen asked about it, the girls admitted that 

 thev had been to the basket and let the captive free, the younger one adding, "and 

 as he said he was a good hunter, I took him for my husband." The old mother was 

 quite satisfied \\dth tliis arrangement, and said: "All right! You can have him for 

 your man, so long as he regularly bring.=! me sometliing to eat, but remember, on the 

 very first occasion that he return.-^ home %vith nothing, I shall eat him." From next 

 day on, Nohi-abassi started going down to the sea regularly to Cirtch querriman [Mvgil 

 brfmUensis] for her. No matter the size of the load of fish he procured, old Nahakoboni 

 would eat the whole lot, except two. Fishing like this day after day soon had its 

 effect upon poor Nohi-abassi, who got heartily sick of the task of having to procure 

 so much food for his mother-in-law. Ilis girl fell in with these views and consented 

 to release liim from so thankle-ss a task by running away with him. So (m the last 

 trip he intended making in the way of brinpng home fish, he left Ms corial, with the 

 catch in it, a little farther out from the l)ank than had hitherto been customary with 

 him; indeed, he anchored it in deep water and told a shark to lurk underneath. 

 When Nohi-abassi reached home he told his wife as usual to inform her mother that 

 he had brought home a load of fish in the corial, and that she must go down to the 

 water-side for it.' So old Nahakoboni went down the pathway, reached the creek, 

 and went into the water to haul in the corial with the load of fish, but as soon as she 

 reached the deep part of the stream, the shark seized and devoured her.- In the 

 meantime, our hero and the younger daughter made preparation for their journey, 

 but the elder one, Ijeginning to feel anxious about her mother staving away so 

 long, went down to the water-side to seek the cause, wliicli she was not long in 

 discovering. She returned in haste, and could hardly .speak for passion. She 

 sharpened her cutlass and slashed a tree with it; the cut reached only half through. 

 She sharpened it again, and slashed another tree-trunk; the blade ctit it clear through. 

 When Nohi-abassi saw what she was doing, he recognized that his sin had been dis- 

 covered, and without further loss of time made all speed with his wife to run away. 

 Now, although they had a good start, Nohi-abassi soon recognized that his sister-in- 

 law was quickly gaining on them. He therefore made for the nearest tree and, telling 

 liis wife to climb quickly, helped her up with an occasional push behind, he following 

 closely at her heels. He had just made his tliird step up when his sister-in-law 

 reached him with the cutlass, and making a slash, managed to cut off a portion of 

 his leg, which stuck upon one of the branches. This leg makes a noise like the 

 "maam" — it is in fact the mother or spirit of the maam [Tinamu-s sp.] [Sect. 9,?], 

 and when people are out shooting this bird, it is tliis same leg which occasionally 

 falls down and kills the hunters. We can still see Nohi-abassi's wife climbing the 



' He could not, of course, speak to the old woman directly, she being his mother-in-law, he himself was 

 precluded from bringing the fish up to the house, as this procedure would spoil his luck (Sect. SU)- 



- In another Warrau version of the same story, Nohi-abassi sets a big cage-trap for the fish, and asks an 

 alligator to remain alongside, for the same purpo.se and with similar results. 



