boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 867 



her. She calls him to her grandmother's house, who tells him that his friend is in 

 the Moon's house. She produces food by putting her hand up to her mouth, and 

 gives it to the boy. Then she gives him a spruce cone, a rosebush, a piece of devil's 

 club, and a piece of whetstone to take along Tl 210. The girl's brothers carve a figure 

 which cries, and its voice is different from that of the girl. After several attempts 

 they succeed in making a figure that cries like their sister M 450. 



In the night the father places the wooden image on the roof and escapes with his 

 son. The image does not cry very long. The Stars discover their loss and pursue 

 the boy. The father throws tobacco, red paint, and sling-stones in their way. The 

 Stars pick them up and paint their faces. This accounts for the colors of thfi stars. 

 When he passes the slave of the Stars, he gives him tobacco, and the slave swells up, 1 

 obstructing their way. He goes down the chain of arrows, which he pulls down N 93. 



The friend places the spruce cone on the roof, frees the boy, and they run away. 

 The spruce cone drops down, and the Moon starts in pursuit. Here follows the Magic 

 Flight. The boys reach the old woman's house. They are told that if they want 

 to return to earth, they must think of nothing but their playground. One of them 

 disobeys and thinks of the old woman's house, and immediately they find themselves 

 back there. When they obey, they go to sleep, and on awaking find themselves on 

 earth Tl 211. 



The Masset version is very brief. The Stars pursue the boys and the girl, who 

 pour out some red paint. The Stars pick it up, and they succeed in getting back to 

 the earth M 451 . 



War Between the Dwarfs and the Birds (N, p. Ill) 



This story does not occur independently, but appears embodied 

 in various other tales. It has a peculiar likeness to the classical story 

 of the war between the Pygmies and the Cranes. 



A person carves a sea lion out of wood, which pulls his enemy through the water to 

 a land across the ocean. The man and his companions go ashore, and see a canoe in 

 which a small man is seated . He jumps into the water and clubs halibut under water, 

 strings them on a line, and puts them into the canoe. When he jumps into the water 

 again, the men paddle out to his canoe and steal fish. When the dwarf comes back, 

 he misses two fish that have been stolen. He paddles ashore, asks who has stolen 

 the halibut, and takes the thief by the feet and kills him by striking him against a 

 stone. The dwarf goes back to the village, and the men are invited in. All the 

 people are dwarfs. At one time the people make clubs, saying that they expect an 

 attack by enemies. The next day the Birds come in great swarms to a sandy point 

 below the town. A battle ensues in which many dwarfs are killed. On the following 

 day the men offer their assistance. They run among the Birds and twist off their . 

 necks. The dwarfs are grateful and send the men back to their home. The dwarfs 

 are here called G'ilglna'mgan, a word evidently analogous to the Kwakiutl Gingina'- 

 nEmis (that is, "Children of the Sea") N 111. 3 



Parallel to this is a Newettee story, which also tells of a man who 

 is towed across the ocean by a seal. 



After several adventures, he reaches a canoe which is adrift near a small island. 

 There is nobody in the canoe, but two halibut are in it. A man, A'pol, takes these 

 and goes ashore. Then the dwarf G'ing'ina'nEmis emerges, carrying a halibut in each 

 hand. He shouts, "Who has stolen my halibut?" A'pol becomes afraid and returns 

 them Ne 5.192. 



) requested to assist the ducks in their war against the herons Tl 5G. 



