boas] CONCLUSION 877 



induces him to cheat people and to steal then- provisions, is an ever- 

 recurring theme, the point of which is regularly the attempt to induce 

 the people to run away and leave their property. Mink's amorous- 

 ness has led to the development of a long series of tales referring to 

 his marriages, all of which are of the same type. The strong influence 

 of a pattern of thought on the imagination of the people is also illus- 

 trated by tales of marriages between animals and men or women and 

 a few other types to which I referred before (p. 875). 



The artistic impulses of a people are not always satisfied with the 

 loose connection of stories, brought about by the individuality of 

 the hero, or strengthened by the selection of certain traits of his 

 character illustrated by the component anecdotes. We find a num- 

 ber of cases in which a psychological connection of the elements of 

 the complex story is sought. An example of this kind is found in 

 the Raven legend, in which a number of unrelated incidents are 

 welded into the form of an articulate whole. The adventures of the 

 Steelhead Salmon, the Grizzly Bear, and Cormorant, are thus worked 

 into a connected series. Raven kills Steelhead Salmon because he 

 wants to use it to deceive Grizzly Bear. He holds part of the salmon 

 in front of his body, so as to make the Bear believe that he has cut 

 himself. Thus he induces the Bear to imitate him and to kill him- 

 self. Finally he tears out the tongue of Cormorant, who had witnessed 

 the procedure, so that he may not tell. Another excellent case in 

 point is the story of Raven's son and Thunderbird. He has seduced 

 a girl, and their son is stolen by Thunderbird. In order to take 

 revenge, he makes a whale of wood, then kills Pitch in order to calk 

 the whale, and by its means drowns the Thunderbird. Among the 

 southern tribes the same tale occurs in another connection. The 

 animals have a game, and Thunderbird wins. The defeated guests 

 are invited, and the host's wife produces berries by her song. Then 

 the Thunderbird abducts her, and the revenge of the animals by 

 means of the whale follows. In the northern group of tales the 

 death of Pitch is brought in, which ordinarily occurs as an independ- 

 ent story. 



In these cases we find the same incidents in various connections, 

 and this makes it clear that it would be quite arbitrary to assume 

 that the incident developed as part of one story and was transferred 

 to another one. We must infer that the elements were independent 

 and have been combined in various ways. There certainly is nothing 

 to prove that the connection in which an incident occurs in one story 

 is older and nearer the original than one in which it occurs in another 

 story. 



The distribution of plots and incidents of North American folk- 

 lore presents a strong contrast when compared to that found in Eu- 

 rope. European folk-tales, while differing in diction and local color- 



