hoas] TSIMSHIAN MYTHS 329 



to him, and said, "This is dried human flesh, nevertheless eat it." 

 At midnight he felt sick. Then he called all his relatives, and said 

 to them, "My relatives, I am going to die. After I have been dead 

 for a year, I shall come back to life, provided one of you will come 

 and stand under my coffin to catch me. If you should fail to do so, 

 and if you should be afraid of me, none of you shall be left. Now, 

 who will volunteer?" 



Then all his relatives were speechless. Finally one of his nephews 

 replied, "I will catch you." Thus said his nephew at the end of the 

 shaman prince's speech. 



He asked for his dancing-apron, and his crown, and his rattle, 

 which he had taken from the house of the Ghost chief. He ran around 

 the fire four times, following the course of the sun. At the end of 

 the fourth time he asked for a coffin. They brought to him the square 

 box. Then he went into it and died, wearing his apron, his crown, 

 and rattle, which he had taken from the house of the Ghost chief. 



Now they placed the box on the branch of a large tree just behind 

 the house. His companions watched the coffin night after night. 

 At the end of one year those who were watching the. coffin heard a 

 great noise there. Then all the relatives of the shaman prince 

 remembered the prince's last words before he died. Therefore they 

 assembled under the coffin. It was open, and they saw the shaman 

 prince in the form of a queer-looking ugly owl. They all fell to the 

 ground like dead, for they were much afraid. One of his com- 

 panions, who had always been with him from the time when he first 

 became a shaman, tried to catch him, but the owl refused to let him 

 do so. 



When all his relatives had recovered, his nephew tried to catch him, 

 as he had promised to do before his uncle's death. He went toward 

 the. large, tree ; but when he looked up, he fell back, being afraid . 



When the queer-looking ugly owl saw his nephew fall to the ground, 

 and when he. perceived that all his relatives were afraid of him, he 

 spoke to them: "Not one of you will be left, nor one of the shamans 

 that killed me. I shall take you all to the village of the Ghosts, and 

 also all the shamans that killed me. I will make them my slaves in 

 my house, in the Ghost town, for the Ghosts took me to be their chief 

 in their town. Only my companions who have always been with me 

 wherever I went while I was among them, and who desired to catch 

 me while I was sitting here, they shall succeed to all my supernatural 

 powers. I will help them and look after them right along." 



After he had spoken these words, the queer-looking ugly owl 

 suddenly fell back into the box, and the cover of the box replaced 

 itself. 



