boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 809 



full of smoke, which clears away when the Smoke Eater swallows it ( 'hiii 56. In the 

 Thompson tale of the cannibal Lice mentioned before, the visitors are subjected to a 

 smoke test before being baked in ashes Ntl Teit 3.364. 



(9 6) Burning-Food Test 



I L version: Sk 240) 



He Who Got Supernatural Power From His Little Finger is called out by his father- 

 in-law. He is given berries and grease. Flames come out of them. He swallows 

 medicine, and is able to swallow the burning food, which passes through him without 

 harming him Sk 240. 



(9 c) Swallowing Red-Hot Stones 



(2 versions: Sk221; Co 5.66) 



Supernatural Being Who Went Naked is given four hard white stones that have 

 been made red-hot. He swallows medicine, and is aide to swallow the stones, that 

 pass through him and burn through the floor planks Sk 221. The son-in-law is given 

 a red-hot stone to eat. He jumps up, and the stone falls right through him Co 5.66. 



This incident occurs frequently in other connections, particularly 

 as part of the story of Raven who kills Grizzly Bear (see p. 682). 



(10) Poisonous Food 

 (2 versions: Sk221; K 5.136) 

 The father-in-law gives to the young man food that looks like five black cods. His 

 wife warns him, saying that it is poison, and he does not eat it. After that he is gh en 

 real cods Sk 221. Dza'wadalalis gives his son-in-law meat of the double-headed ser- 

 pent. It looks like salmon. The youth hides it under his blanket. Next he gives 

 him eggs of the double-headed serpent K 5.136. 



Tins incident occurs more frequently in connection with contests 

 between a host and his visitor, or with visits to a country in which 

 human eyes, snakes, or frogs are the regular food of the inhabitants. 



Visitors are offered human eyesH 5.239, 240; Ri 5.220. These are the erabapples of 

 the people Ri 5.218. Frogs and snakes are offered to visitors in Xu 5.120; fat of the 

 double-headed serpent Co 5.S8; dried meat of the double-headed serpent K 9.3. 



(11) The Murderous Woman (Vagina Dentata) 



(22 versions: BC 5.266; BC76;Chill3; K9.171; K9.459; K10.96; Nell.238; Coo 66; 



Sts5.24,30;U221;NtlTeit3.339,306; Shoshoni; Dakota; Arapaho; Pawnee; Maidu; 



Wichita; Jicarilla Apache: Chukchee; Koryak. 1 See also M 349; Co 5.69; Ainu, 



Pilsudski 85; 2 Ainu, Chamberlin. 3 See pp. 604, No. 63; 614, No. 12; 773, 



In connection with the tests, wo find very often the idea that the 

 girl whom the young man marries kills all her husbands. In the 

 most characteristic versions her vagina is set with teeth, which are 

 then broken out by means of a wedge or stone; or, in place of the 

 teeth, a rattlesnake head is found. This form is characteristic of 



1 See references in T. T. Waterman's article (Journal of American Foil-Lore, vol. xxrn [1914], p. 49). 

 ' Bronislaw Pilsudski, Materials for the Study of the Ainu Language and Folklore, Cracow, Imp. Acad. 

 Be, 1912, p. 85. 

 a Basil Hall Chamberlin ( Folk-Lore, 1888). 



