848 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ann. 31 



midnight the man enters, goes to his mother's bed, and asks her if any one comes to 

 visit the young woman Ts 1, Ts 5 [he lights a torch before going to his mother N ; the 

 brothers send the youngest one to speak to their mother Ska]. The mother does not 

 know Ts 1 [she says the prince from the other village comes to the house Ts 5, N]. 

 He tells his mother about the death of the eldest one, and asks her not to cry Ts 1, 

 Ts 5, N [when the mother cries, he tells her to stop Ts 5, Ska]. Her daughter-in-law 

 [people Ts 5, Ska] asks her why she cries; she replies that she dreamed that her son 

 had been killed Ts 1 . The young man then lights a torch, goes to the bed of his sister- 

 in-law Ts 1, N; knife in the right, torch in the left Ts 1. He sees her with her arms 

 stretched out and under the neck of the youth Ts 1 , N . He puts down the torch Ts 1, 

 N. The youth had large abalone ear-ornaments N [abalone ear-ornaments and orna- 

 ments of killer-whale teeth Ts 1]. [The young man lies down flat near his mother; 

 at midnight he hears a man talking with the young woman; when they are asleep, he 

 goes to their bed Ska. After speaking to the mother, the youth goes back to report. 

 He disguises like the eldest one , ties dried leaves around his legs so that they look 

 swollen, supports himself with a cane, the mother recognizes his voice. He does not 

 go to the fire, but to the mother. He does not allow the young woman who believes 

 him to be her husband to touch him. He stays near his mother's fire, a board in front 

 of him. Through a knot-hole he sees a stranger come in at night and go to his sister- 

 in-law. When all are asleep, he takes off the leaves, lights a torch, and goes to her 

 bed ; he recognizes the chief's son from the other village Ts 5. He finds some one with 

 the woman Sk6.] He takes the youth by the forehead and cuts off his neck Ts 1 [he 

 cuts off the head Ts 5, N, Ska, Sk6; he goes out home, takes the head along Ts 5, N]. 

 When the blood runs over the bed, the woman's child begins to cry Ts 5, Skfc [when 

 the people ask why the child cries, she says that it soiled the bed Sk6; blood streams 

 over the bed N]. When cuttingoff the head, thearm of the woman is wounded Tsl. 

 The woman buries the body Ts 1, N [digs a hole for the body Sk6] and lies down again 

 N. The youth goes back. He does not say anything, but hangs the head up over 

 the body of his brother. One of the other brothers sends his boy, who sees the head 

 Ts 5 [after killing the youth, the man awakens his wife Sko]. The brothers return 

 and tell of the death of the oldest one Ts 1, N, Sko [they bring the body home N; 

 they act as if nothing had happened Sk&J. They hang up the head over the doorway 

 (all versions) [on the beam over the doorway Ts 1; the youngest one hangs it up, and 

 blood is oozing out of the head Ska]. 



Closely related with the part of the Gau'o story here discussed is 

 the introduction to the Wa'walis legend, which is known particu- 

 larly in the region between Bellabella and the central parts of eastern 

 Vancouver Island. (Versions: H 5.234, BC 5.257, Ri MS, K 5.162, 

 K 9.487, Chil 44, Chippewayan 7.407. See also Ts p. 756.) 



Wa'walis's slave disobeyed him, and for this reason he berrt him. The slave cries, 

 "Don't beat me! Rather beat your wife's lover." Thereupon Wa'walis pretends 

 to go out hunting or getting firewood , and gets seals. In the evening he returns home . 

 By means of his magical staff he makes the whole village sleep, and goes to the outside 

 of his house, to the place where his bed stands. He scratches the wall, and hears his 

 wife say to her lover, "I wish that mouse would eat Wa'walis's face or stomach." 

 Then he moves his staff toward the house, and all the people are asleep. He goes in 

 and cuts off the head of his wife's lover. He takes the head away. A child which 

 is sleeping in her mother's bed begins to cry, and the woman's mother calls her. 

 When she finds her bed full of blood, she wraps up the body in a bear skin and deposits 

 it in front of the house of her lover's parents BC 5.257. 



In the Rivers Inlet version Wa'walis lives in one village; Maqwa'ns, the father of 

 his wife's lover, in another village. The story then continues, telling of the pursuit 



