boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 767 



He lights a fire, quiets the Bear, who wants to jump down. Fox tells him to wait a 

 while in order to strengthen the color. The Bear's hair is singed, and for that reason 

 they have retained this color. 



In a version from Esthonia, Wolf meets Fox, who says that he has tried to change 

 his color by the fire of a haystack. Wolf desires to have his color changed too, and is 

 told to jump through the fire. His hair is singed, and for this reason the wolf smells 

 like singed hair. 



Krohn mentions also the following African tale, according to Bleek: l 



Jackal has caught plenty of fish. He invites Hyena to participate, but he eats 

 the whole supply. A Guinea Hen comes, and Hyena admires her color. Jackal 

 pretends that he has made them, and at his request promises to paint Hyena too. 

 He orders Hyena to bring white paint and a sharp knife. He holds down Hyena 

 and cuts his back. Owing to this incident, the hyena has the marks on its back. 



25. The Princess who Rejected her Cousin 

 The story of the princess who rejected her cousin occurs among 

 the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian in almost identical form. The 

 principal point of the story is that a girl induces her cousin to dis- 

 figure himself and rejects his approaches. He is made beautiful by 

 a supernatural being; and when he returns, he, on his part, rejects 

 the girl. She goes to be made beautiful too, but instead she is dis- 

 figured by the supernatural being. The tale may be related to a 

 southern story told on the Gulf of Georgia, which deals with the 

 experience of a young man who had his head changed because it was 

 displeasing to a girl whom he loved. 



(a) Northern Versions 

 (5 versions: Ts 185; Ts 6.37; Tl 243; M 654; Sk 354) 

 A princess refuses to marry her cousin. One day she pretends to be kind to him, 

 and tells him that she will marry him if he makes a deep cut on his cheek. He does 

 so and is laughed at. After some time the same happens, and she tells him to make 

 a cut on his left cheek. A third time she asks him to cut off his hair. \Vhen he sends 

 a messenger to ask her in marriage, she says that she does not want to marry a bad- 

 looking person like him, and one who cut his hair like a slave. The youth is ashamed 

 and leaves the village. He reaches a small hut, and sees a woman sitting inside, who 

 says, "Come in, if it is you who has been rejected by his own cousin!" "When starting, 

 he was accompanied by four friends, three of whom had gone back. The woman 

 whom he visits tells him that he will reach the house of Chief Pestilence, and advises 

 him'what to do. Before crossing a brook the prince orders his last companion to stay 

 behind. He runs into the house of Chief Pestilence, which is full of maimed people, 

 among whom there are many good-looking women. They call and beckon to him, 

 but, following the instructions of the old woman, he remains standing in the doorway 

 until Chief Pestilence comes forth from his room, accompanied by his daughter. He 

 is asked to sit down next to him, and Chief Pestilence boils him in his tub. The 

 skeleton is laid out on a board. Chief Pestilence's daughter jumps over it. He 

 revives and is very beautiful. The chief combs his hair with a comb of crystal, and 

 the hair becomes red, reaching down to his loins. He stays there for two years, which 

 seem to him like two days. He goes back, finds his friend dead, and carries the 

 skeleton to the chief, who revives him, as described before. He gives long hair to him 

 also. The two youths return home, and the girl who has rejected him makes him 



1 Reinekc I urhs in Afrika, p. 83. 



