boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 789 



The woman who has received the meat gives a little to her husband and to her chil- 

 dren. The child chokes. The slave-woman can not reach the meat, but the chief- 

 tainess, who has slender fingers, takes it out of the child's mouth. The chieftainess 

 smells of it, and notices that it is whale meat. Then the slave-woman is compelled 

 to tell where she got the meat Ts 229. The slave takes a piece of meat under his cape. 

 In the evening the slave-woman gives it secretly to her child; and when the child 

 chokes, she says that it cries because it soiled its bed. The chieftainess, however, 

 pulls out the morsel and discovers what has happened Ts 5.303. The slave living in the- 

 corner of the house gives a slice to his wife and child, and the same happens as before 

 N 182. The incident isalso introduced in the GunaxnesEmg'a'd story in Ts 5.298. The- 

 head slave gives some to his child, who chokes. The chieftainess pulls out the fat,, 

 puts it on a hot stone, and it sizzles. Then the slave has to tell Sk 357. 



The child of the head slave chokes, and the chieftainess linds that it is eating: 

 fat. The slave then tells what has happened to the prince Sk 183. The incident 

 Sk 289 is presumably the same, although it is merely said that the slave hid food, 

 under his tongue for his child. 



A slave, his wife and child, arrive from Skeena River and are given seal meat. They 

 are not given anything to take back and are forbidden to tell what they have seen. 

 At night the slave child sucks the seal blubber and chokes. It cries, "Fat, fat!'' 

 The slave pretends that it is crying for milk. Then the slaves tell M 472. 



In the Tlingit version the introduction to this incident is slightly different. The 

 slave has obtained the meat in another way. He hides it, and in the evening shows 

 it to his children. One of them cries, " Little fat, little fat! " On being questioned, 

 the slave says the child cried for the inside of a clam. The chieftainess sees that the 

 mouth of the child is greasy, and it is discovered that the slave has some fat TI 264. In 

 the Bellacoola version the incident refers to the Dog children. The old woman who 

 had taken pity on the Dog mother receives a piece of seal blubber, which she gives to 

 her daughter, who chokes. The chief pulls out the morsel, and it is discovered that 

 the old woman is in the possession of blubber BC 5.264. 



The setting in the versions from Vancouver Island is somewhat different. The 

 old woman who has been given the meat is mending a mat; and while she pre- 

 tends to bite the cedar bark, she bites off a piece of the meat. A child observes her, 

 and it is discovered that she has meat Ne 5.181, Ne 9.259. A child observes the old 

 woman eating secretly, and speaks to her about it until she gets angry and tells that she 

 obtained food K 5.133. The flea discovers that the old woman is eating fat secretly, 

 Tlaamen 5.93. Theold woman shows the meat and tells what the bird said Nu 5.115. 

 The old woman roasts the herring secretly, and after doing so three times she is dis- 

 covered Cow 5.53. The Crow disgorges the herrings and gives them to the boy's 

 grandmother, who roasts them secretly. The children see her, the chief questions her, 

 and she tells what has happened Squ Hill-Tout 3.535. A similar incident relating to 

 Crow occurs in Sh 684. In Sh 5.10 and Sh 711 the children are overheard when 

 they quarrel over the food. 



It is very remarkable that the northern version reappears on the 

 western coast of Washington. 



The Crow takes back food for her children. One of them chokes and coughs it up. 

 In this way it is discovered that they have meat Quin 128. The Crow gives her 

 children whale meat. One of the children chokes, and Bluejay discovers it Chin 53. 



The position of these incidents is not quite the same in all the ver- 

 sions of our story. In the version Tsa the incident of the choking 

 child follows immediately the incident of the bird carrying food to 

 the child's grandmother. In all the other versions it follows the 

 visits of a number of slaves who are sent to inquire into the fate of 

 the deserted prince. 



