248 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ann. 31 



His father, however, refused, and said, "Go on, my dear son, eat 

 it!" Then the old man began to cry. He cried the whole night, 

 and before daylight he said to his son, "My dear son, I want you to 

 lead me on the trail that leads toward the lake up in the woods." 

 The boy asked him, " What are you going to do, father ? " He replied, 

 "I will stay there and comfort myself." The lad said again, "No, 

 I will not do it, father; you might die!" but the old man said, "If 

 you love me, my son, do what I have asked you to," and the boy 

 agreed; but he said, "Only don't kill yourself!" — "No, no!" said 

 the old man, "but don't let your mother know about it." They 

 went farther down from the hut and came to the trail which led up 

 to the lake. They went on and on until they arrived at the lake. 



Then the old man said, "Now go back to your mother, my son, and 

 let me sit down here!" The boy asked to be allowed to stay with 

 him, but his father sent him down to his mother. They were both 

 crying when they parted. The boy went down, and the old man 

 remained sitting there alone, crying. He cried a whole day, and 

 nothing would stop him. After a while, when it was near sunset, 

 he heard a loon crying on the lake. The blind man was still crying. 

 Again he heard the'loon still nearer the place where he was sitting. 

 He continued to cry. He heard the loon a third time quite near to the 

 place where he was sitting, and a little later some one nudged him, 

 and asked him, " Why do you weep ? " He answered, " O Supernatu- 

 ral One! I am in great distress. My wife has used me very badly." — 

 "What do you want me to do for you?" said the supernatural being. 

 The blind man said, "O Supernatural One! restore my eyesight." 

 The Supernatural One said, "Turn toward me ! " Then the blind man 

 hastened to turn toward the supernatural being, who took some 

 rubbish from his right eye and from his left eye. The supernatural 

 being threw this mass on the water. Then he said to the blind man, 

 "Do you see me now?" The blind man said, "I just see a little 

 light." So the supernatural being put out his hands and took some 

 more bad blood out of his eyes, and said, "You are a careless hunter. 

 Why don't you hide your face when bad things pass in front of your 

 eyes while you are sitting down? Now tell me if you can see that 

 place." The blind man said, "It is not very clear." 



The supernatural being did this three times; and after he had 

 done it four times, he vanished from his sight. Then the blind man 

 went into the water, and saw that it was full of all kinds of rubbish — 

 blood, ashes, hair, smoke, steam, dust, and so on. He was very glad, 

 and wanted to know who had opened his eyes. 



On the following morning he hid himself, that his son should not 

 see him if he should come. Early the following morning the boy 

 awoke and ran up the trail to the lake; and when he came to the 

 place where his old blind father had been sitting, no one was to be 



