746 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ann. 31 



a chink and sees the figure of a woman carved of rotten wood. After a while the 

 owner comes home, finds her; she tells him who she is, and he marries her. When 

 she says that her elder sister has gone into another house, the man informs her that 

 Panther lives there, who kills everybody. The elder sister escapes, and the man 

 marries both of them and bums his wooden wife. Then follows a story that relates 

 how Panther kills the sisters and how they are revived Nu 5.112. 



Sia'latsa has a wooden figure of a woman, which is carved so that it holds a spindle. 

 Two girls come to the house, look through a chink, and see the figure. They eat the 

 food placed in front of it. When the house owner returns, he thinks that the figure 

 has come to life. On the following day the girls burn the figure. One of the girls, a 

 chief's daughter, puts on her clothing. In the evening, when the man finds her and 

 sees that the figure has been burned, he is first angry, but then he marries the girl. 

 The other girl, who is a slave, is given to one of Sia'latsa's men Cow 5.49. 



The Tlingit have a story of a wooden wife, which, however, is 

 somewhat different in type. 



A Haida chief's wife dies. A wood-carver makes a figure of his deceased wife and 

 dresses it. The widower pays him for it. One day he feels the image move. After 

 some time it gives forth a sound like the crackling of wood. Then the man knows 

 that the figure is ill. When it is removed, a small red-cedar tree is found growing on 

 the floor. It becomes very large, and for this reason the cedars on Queen Charlotte Islands 

 are good. The figure begins to move about, but never learns to talk. Through his 

 dreams the man knows what the figure wants to tell him Tl 181. 



In all probability these stories of the wooden wife are related to 

 the stories of Coyote's wooden wives, which will be found discussed 

 on p. 609. 



18. Plucking Out Eyes (p. 154) 



(3 versions: Ts 154; Tl 173; Tl 292. See also Tl 368; Sk 111; Skg 143) 

 The Tsimshian and Tlingit stories are practically identical. 

 A youth does not want to marry, because he is in love with a lake woman. The 

 lake woman appears whenever he shouts four times. He spends the nights in the 

 lake with her. They have a child. A friend of the youth observes secretly what he 

 is doing. One night while the youth is asleep, his friend goes to the lake, shouts, 

 visits the lake woman, and carries away the child, which gouges out the eyes of all 

 the people and thus kills them. Only the youth and his sister, who has given birth 

 to a child, survive. The lake child drags along a string of eyes. The youth takes it 

 back to the lake and throws it to the lake woman. The youth receives from her 

 gambling-sticks which are to make him wealthy. He travels south, The sister, who 

 carries her child on her back, is given "a garment of wealth," and it is ordained 

 that whoever hears her child cry shall become rich. The lake woman goes into the 

 ocean and becomes Hakhtla'q Ts 154. 



A youth discovers the lake woman, who has two children. He takes one of them 

 and carries it to his village. The child gouges out the eyes of the people. There is 

 a woman who has given birth to a child. The child enters her hut and roasts the 

 eyes. It tries to attack the woman too. She, however, drives it away with a cane. 

 She finds all the people dead, takes a copperplate on each side, puts the child on 

 her back, and becomes the spirit of wealth, the Llenaxxi'daq. If any one sees her, 

 he becomes rich. The story ends with an account of a man who sees her, takes her 

 child, is scratched by her, and is given wealth. When he gives a scab from the 

 wound to any one, that person becomes rich Tl 173. In the version Tl 292 the woman 

 kills the child with her cane. Another encounter with her is told in the story Tl 368. 



