892 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [bth. ask. 31 



the Elk man began to sneeze. He took up a stick and poked it 

 into his nose, for he thought he could kill the little man inside; 

 but he made a mistake, for, as soon as he finished poking the stick 

 up his nose, Wren jumped out, covered all over with the great man's 

 mucus; and all the people laughed at the great man because he was 

 overcome by so small a man as Wren. 



After this the great man said, "I did not think you could over- 

 come me." Then they were friends again, and they began to speak 

 about the sun box. 



Now, Wren, the wise man, lay down on his back, as he always 

 did when he was thinking, and covered his face with his blanket; 

 and everybody was suggesting a different plan to get the sun box. 

 After they had all spoken, Wren uncovered his face and sat up, 

 and said, "Friends, listen to my plan! I think that if we promise 

 our chief that whenever any of us catch fish or clams, or game, we 

 will give him one of each kind before we take ours out of the canoe 

 (for we will treat him like a chief) — I think he ought to be pleased 

 with this, and I think that he will let us see the sun." 

 . The people agreed. They sent four speakers in a canoe to tell 

 the chief what they had decided to do. He replied, "I will let the 

 Sun go up to the sky now, and tell him to travel from one end of 

 the world to the other. Then we shall have the clay to go about in, 

 and the night to sleep in. Now I will go home with you." 



When they came to the beach of the village, he lifted the box- 

 cover, and the Sun went up to the sky, where he is now. The people 

 were well pleased, for now they had daylight; and every man went 

 out, some to get fish, some to get clams and other kinds of food; 

 and as soon as they came home, they called Raven to pick out 

 the best of each; and he would go down to the beach wherever there 

 was a canoe with fish, and pick all the eyes out. He never took 

 anything else. He took the siphons of the clams, and he took the 

 eyes of the deer. His people were much pleased with him, for 

 he did not take the body of anything. For this reason ravens, 

 whenever they see any animal lying dead on the beach, pick out 

 the eyes first. 



2. The Origin of Fresh Water 



Once upon a time there lived a woman at T!aci' s ls whose name 

 was Crow (K"!e' c tniqas). She was the only one who possessed fresh 

 water. If any one wanted to drink, he had to pay for it. Some of 

 the chiefs of the Ma'tclath* used to give slaves to her for four drinks, 

 and even their canoes for a few drinks. Therefore the chiefs com- 

 plained against her, and many died with thirst. 



Then Raven thought, "I will call all the tribes into my house, and 

 speak to them about this woman." He sent out some of his friends 



