844 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ann. 31 



The Geese [Crane Na 5] tell him about the Whale's slave who is splitting wood 

 Mo. He meets the Killer Whale's slave who is splitting wood Ts 5. The slave has 

 three dorsal fins Ts 4 [he is chopping wood with a stone ax Tla; two slaves named 

 Raven and Crow are to cut a dead hemlock tree Ski; he meets a man with a thick belly, 

 called Ix'e'iqt, who is splitting wood with a wedge BC 5.259; a slave chopping wood 

 Na - r >; Killer Whale's slave Big Belly, the red cod, who is splitting wood with the 

 wedge Ri MS; while he is standing by the Geese, three men come and say they are 

 slaves of the Killer Whale Hai 6 ;' by his magic he compels the slave of the Killer Whale 

 to come and gather firewood Se]. The man crawls into the log that the slaves are>going 

 to split Ts 1, Ri MS. When the slave begins to work on the wood, the man bites off the 

 points of the copper wedges Ts 1 [stone wedges Sko; wedge breaks Ts 5; bites off the 

 points of the wedges Ts 4, Ri MS ; bites off point of chisel Se ; breaks off point of wedge 

 BC 5, Na 5; wishes ax to break Tin ; looks stealthily at the slave, thus causing the wedges 

 to break; two persons covered with sores appear. When he looks at them, they say, 

 "Don't tickle us by looking at us!" he heals them by rubbing them with tallow Ska]. 

 Then he comes out, mends the wedges, and gives tobacco to G'ilks-atsla'ntk Ts 1. 

 He mends the wedges and gives tobacco to the slave Ts 4. [He mends the wedges 

 Ts 5, Sk6, Hai 6, BC 5, Ri MS. He spits medicine received from Heron on the wedges 

 Ma; repairs the ax, the only one in town Tla; he mends chisel by magic Se.] The 

 wood is to be used for making the fin for the woman Ts 1, Ts 4, Ska, Sk6. The man 

 then chops up the wood for the slave Sk6. The slave tells him the whereabouts of 

 his wife BC 5. 



In M 421 this incident is only briefly mentioned. 



Now the slaves' wives — Otter Woman and Mink Woman — appear Ts 1 [Otter, Mink, 

 Marten, and Weasel Ts 4]. They come to carry wood, but are driven away by their 

 husband ; they scent the man, but he does not allow them to find him Ts 1 [they scent 

 the man and run to tell about it; but when they reach a sand-bank, they clean their 

 mouths with sand and forget about it Ts 4], 



The Heron shows the house in which the woman is; the man looks in, sees that it 

 has several platforms, and returns to the Heron Ski. Supernatural Being Always In 

 The Cradle is hanging up as in a cradle Ska. The Crane takes him to the house where the 

 woman is warming herself Hai G. The slave tells him that the Killer Whales enslave 

 all men, but that the chief has married her; he takes him to the door and shows him 

 where his wife sits; he looks through a crack and sees that she appears cast down Tic 

 [he looks through the doorway and sees his wife weeping Ska]. The Crane says that 

 they are going to cook and eat the woman Na 5. In the evening the slave lets him in; 

 a stone box stands near the door, in which the fin for the woman is to be steamed Sk6. 



The slave hides the man in a bundle of rotten wood Ts 1 [he carries him among 

 pitch wood into the house Ts 4; puts him into a bundle of wood Ma; he hides in a 

 bundle of wood and instructs the slave to carry him in Se]. The slave puts the wood 

 containing the man next to the door Se. In the analogous stories M 422, Ne 5.175, 

 K 10.332, the man hides in a fagot and is carried in by the girl. He sees the 

 woman in the house with bent back, on which the wooden fin is to be placed Ts 4 

 [they say fins are to be put on the woman Ska; the woman is warming herself by 

 the fire Hai 6]. The slave makes a big fire, so that the man can see everything in 

 the house Se. In the evening the slave (or slaves) is sent for water; he gets back 

 with it and throws it from the top of the ladder into the fire Ts 1 [extinguishes fire 

 Ts 4, Ts 5, Tla, Tic, Ma, Ski, Hai 6, Ri MS, Se, Na 5; he breaks the strings of 

 the box and extinguishes the fire Ska, BC 5; he upsets a kettle over the fire 

 Hai 6]. As soon as the house is full of steam, the man carries his wife away Ts 

 1, Ts 5, Tic, Ska, Ski, Hai 6, BC 5, Ri MS, Se. As soon as the man escapes, 



1 According to Hai 6, one of the slaves hides in a hollow tree, the others go to town, and the sleeper then 

 awakes. In cutting up the wood, one breaks his ax, which the man breaks. This version is evidently due 

 to a misunderstanding. 



