704 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [bth.ann.31 



(6) He Pushes Deer over a Precipice 



(6versions: BC 92; BC 5.245; Ri 5.212; EC9.492; Nu 5.105; Co 5.77. Seeal8oTlo9; 



T16 107) 



The group of stories of Raven killing the Deer found south of 

 Bellabella are quite different in type. They always end with the 

 incident of Raven pushing the Deer down a precipice and then eating 

 him. There is a very decided relation between this story and the 

 story of Eagle (or Butterfly) and Raven, in which it is told that a 

 bridge is put across a chasm, and Raven's companion is caused to 

 fall down and is then eaten by him. Two of the northern Deer 

 stories belong to this group Tier, Tib (see p. 691). The quarrel about 

 the greatness of Raven's and Deer's ancestors recalls the correspond- 

 ing incident in the story of Txa'msEm and Lagobola' (p. 666). 



Deer's child is killed by Wolves. Raven says he will mourn with him. They sit 

 down near a precipice, and Raven sings, "Deer, you have no flesh on your legs!" 

 Then they quarrel. Wolf throws Deer down and carries the body home, assisted by 

 his sisters BC 5. 



He asks Deer, "When are you fattest?" Deer replies, "After the fish have been 

 dried." Then they sit down near a precipice to talk about their ancestors. Raven 

 says, "How long your forelegs are!" Deer: "How gray your nose is!" — Raven: 

 "How long your nose is!" Then Deer inquires, "How long have you been in this 

 world?" Raven: "Before the mountains began to rise." Deer: "Before the Sun 

 shaped the world." Then Deer says, "How ugly is your foot! How full of scars!" 

 Raven pushes him down the precipice and eats him BC. 



Great Inventor (Raven) asks Deer, "When are you fattest?" Deer: "In summer, 

 when there are plenty of berries." Great Inventor asks him to wail with him. Raven 

 says, "My father gave away as many blankets as there are stumps of trees in the 

 world." Deer: "My father gave away as many blankets as there are leaves on trees, 

 and shells on the beach." Then Raven pushes him down and eats him Ri 5. 



Canoe Calking and Deer mourn Great Inventor (Raven). Canoe Calking (Raven) 

 sings. "He was as great as the sand of the sea." Deer sings, "He was as great as the 

 needles of a cedar tree." Canoe Calking says, "That is too much." pushes him 

 down a cliff, and pecks at him. Both become rock K 9. 



Raven asks Deer to mourn with him. Deer replies that all his relatives are well. 

 Raven: "Let us wail for our ancestors! Let us sit on a precipice, so that our tears 

 may fall down!" Raven wails, "O great-grandfather! you died before I was born." 

 Deer does not wail properly. Raven asks him to shut his eyes and lift his head. 

 Then he pushes him down and eats him Nu 5. 



Raven stands on a cliff over the sea and calls one Deer after another. He smells 

 of them and sends them off when they are not fat enough. When a fat one arrives, 

 he says, "Let us tell of olden times!" Deer asks him to begin, and Raven sings, "I 

 have as many blankets as there are needles on the trees!" The Deer sings, "I have 

 as many blankets as there are sands on the beach! " Raven says. "You are bragging," 

 and pushes him down. Meanwhile people arrive, butcher the Deer, and leave only 

 the intestines. When Raven arrives at the bottom of the rock, he has to be satisfied 

 with these Co 5. 



The question asked of Deer— " When are you fattest? "—occurs in BC 92, Ri 5.212, 

 Co 5.77. Analogous incidents occur in H 5.233, Sk/133, Ntl Teit 3.342, Chin 119. 



In a few of the northern versions an incident of the Spring Salmon 

 story is introduced. After Raven has killed the Deer, he cooks him 

 in a hole, and a stump sits on it and eats the meat. 



