142 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ann. 31 



to one another, "Let us go down and camp in these houses!" for it 

 was near the end of the day. 



So they slid down on their snowshoes, and soon came to the end 

 of a village. The people came out to meet them when they came down, 

 and each family invited one of the strangers into their house. They 

 said, "We are told that ten brothers with their wives have arrived, 

 and the youngest brother has a young wife with a child." 



The chief of the village invited the youngest one into his house, 

 and also his young wife with her child. When the chief gave them 

 their supper, and while they were eating, the child began to cry. 

 The mother was very hungry, and did not mind the crying of the 

 child. Therefore a middle-aged woman who was seated on the other 

 side of the fire asked the young mother to let her have the child while 

 she was eating, and the young woman 'gave her the chdd. 



The cluld kept on crying and screaming. Therefore the old woman 

 put her mouth to the baby's ear and sang this song: "A, a, a, ye! 

 A, a, a, ye! " Thus sang the old woman into the baby's ear. Then 

 the child began to cry less and less until it stopped. 



The child's mother always looked over to her clrild while she was 

 eating; and after she had finished, she went over. She thought her 

 child was sound asleep. Soon after her meal she saw that her child 

 was hanging on the arm of the old woman. She took her child from 

 her, and, behold ! it was dead in the amis of the old woman. 



The young mother did not cry, but only wrapped the child in her 

 marten blanket, and saw, when she examined it, that blood was 

 oozing out of the baby's ear where the old woman had put her mouth. 

 Therefore the young woman told her husband, "My dear, the inhabit- 

 ants of this village are not real people; they are strange beings. 

 Go to your brothers, and tell them what has happened to our child 

 while we were eating our meal." 



So the young man went to his brothers and told them what had 

 become of their little child, and gave orders to his brothers not to 

 sleep, to avoid danger. He said, "While these people are asleep, let 

 us escape the same way that we came sliding down!" 



Late in the evening the people of the village went to bed. The 

 two young people were full of sorrow on account of the death of their 

 child. Not long after the people had gone to bed, the chief arose 

 again, and crept toward the young couple. Then they made a noise, 

 and coughed when the chief was close to the place where they lay; 

 and when the cliief heard the coughing, he ran away and lay down 

 again in his own place. 



After a while another man in the house arose and came toward them. 

 When he was near by, they coughed, and the man crept away from 

 them. Thus it happened with all the brothers and their hosts. 



