318 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OP GUIANA INDIANS [eth. a.nn. 30 



can, advising him at the same time that he must wait a while, and be patient, because 

 she was sure the girl would make up to him again. A few days later she took her 

 son away to visit an old friend of hers, a man who was very wise in his way. She 

 told this man all her son's troubles, and begged that he would teach him not only 

 how to hunt, but also how to make quakes, pegalls, matapis, sifters, and fans, because 

 it was due only to her boy's ignorance of these matters that he had lost his wife. The 

 old man agreed, for friendsliip's sake, and mother and son remained with him for more 

 than a year, the latter finally becoming quite as proficient in all the manly arts as 

 his teacher. The result of all tliis instruction was that when the two of them, after 

 leaving the old man's place, returned to their own little house, they never experienced 

 those pangs of hunger that they did in the old times. Each day her son brought home 

 something, and the babracote was almost groaning under the load of dried meat that it 

 now carried. It happened that a woman passing that way called in one afternoon, 

 noticed all the smoked game, and accepted a choice piece which the old woman offered 

 her when she was lea^ing. Of course, woman-like, she must needs straightway go 

 and show this very piece of meat to all the inmates of the house where the faithless 

 wife of a year ago was residing, telling her and all her people that her late husband 

 was not such a fool as they had thought; did she not with her own eyes see all the 

 game that he had killed, and all the quakes and matapis that he had made? Of 

 course, conversation of this natme, and lots more of it, only made the late wife more 

 and more anxious to visit the spouse whom she and her father had spiu-ned. And 

 there was good reason for it too. The past year's experience had been a sad one for 

 her: she had discovered too late that her second husband was not only worthless, but 

 in addition lazy, and that all he was now bent on doing was to lie in his hammock 

 all day, and make her work for him. So next morning, she and her mother, telling 

 theii' people that they were going for a walk, set out in the direction that led to the 

 house where lived the master of whose prowess and skill they had heard so much about 

 the day before. They arrived there. The man was lying in his hammock, but his 

 mother received them, placed stools, asked them to be seated, and put cassava with 

 peppers before them. She also took pains to apologize that there was notliing else 

 to offer them, notwithstanding that the babracote with its load of meat was, as it 

 were, staring at them. The \Tsitors gave a significant look at one another, at the 

 babracote, and at the pepper-pot with the cassava and peppers: they now felt so 

 ashamed of themselves at having treated the young man so badly a little more than a 

 year ago that they could not even eat the cassava, and without even toucliing it, 

 told their hostess to ' ' take the pot away. ' ' ' The elder of the two visitors rose to leave, 

 and expected her daughter to do the same, but the latter said, "No! I intend stajing 

 here with my first husliand: whether he beats me or not, I don't care. He has turned 

 out far better than my second one!" So when her mother had got out of sight, she 

 went up to the hammock where the man was resting, and climbed in, saying, "I 

 have come back to you, my sweetheart." He, however, immediately pushed her 

 out, saying, "I don't want you. I am the lazy, ignorant, and worthless man whom 

 yoii scorned a year ago." She tried again to climb into his hammock, but he would 

 not have her: she spoke "sweet-mouth" to him, but he would not listen: crestfallen, 

 she left him, to return to her own people and her second husband, but the first one 

 remained alone in his hammock and was glad to hear her go. 



378A. I have been unable to confirm Brett's statement as to the 

 members of the Demarena, a particular family group, being restricted 

 to connubium onlv with those of the Korobohana family group 

 (BrB, 179); otherwise, all the Guiana Indian tribes are cxogamous 



1 Whenever a visitor comes to a house, he is offered something to eat or drink; to express his satisfaction 

 at having had enough, he informs his hostess accordingly in this terse manner. 



