boas] APPENDIX I NOOTKA TALES 921 



and laugh. That made the old man angry; and he said to himself, 

 ' ' I will tell my chief all about this now, for his wife is helping his 

 rival." As soon as the chief came to him, he said, "Sit down here 

 close to me, for I have something important to tell you!" This was 

 before Hekwatses's wife woke up in the morning. The old man said, 

 "I did not want to tell you about this matter, but I could not help 

 it, for I am sorry for you. Now, these two nights, while you went 

 to bathe to get good luck against your rival, instead of your wife 

 trying to help you, she let your rival Ya'loV come and sleep with 

 her." 



Then Hekwatses said to the old man, "Don't tell any man what 

 you. have told me about this matter, for I will let him know that I 

 know something about it tonight." This he said as he went and lay 

 down in the corner of his house. 



After a while his wife came out of the bedroom and sat down along- 

 side of the fire. She began to get something ready to eat for herself. 

 Then she began to eat; and after she had finished eating, she went 

 into her bedroom again and went to sleep, for she had not had any 

 sleep in the night. All the time she was eating, however, her hus- 

 band had been watching her movements; and she looked as if she 

 were sleepy. 



When night came again, Hekwatses got up from the corner and went 

 to his little hunting-box and took something out of it. Then he went 

 out of the house, and all the people of the house went to bed earlier 

 than thej- usually did. Then Ya'loV, the head chief, came into the 

 house as soon as he saw that they had all gone to bed; and he went 

 into the bedroom of Hekwatses and his wife. As soon as Hekwatses 

 saw Ya'loV go into his house and into his bedroom (for this time he 

 did not go to the lake; he merely staid outside of his house to see the 

 chief go in), he went to the rear of his house and listened to his wife 

 laughing with Ya'loV, his rival; and for a long time they were 

 playing together. After a while he heard them go off to sleep. Very 

 soon they were snoring. .Then he said to himself, "Now, I will go 

 in and see them." Then he went into his house, for the doors of the 

 first people never used to be shut at night. He went into the bed- 

 room, and there he saw that his wife had her naked arm round the 

 neck of Ya'loV. Then Hekwatses touched his 'wife's arm, but she 

 did not move. He had in his hand a sea-otter spear {ak'.aak') ; and 

 with this he poked into Ya'loV's right eye, and dug it out of its 

 socket: he took hold of it and pulled it out. Then Hekwatses ran 

 out with the ball of Ya'loV s eye in his hand; and Ya'loV also ran 

 out, for he was screaming with pain. He went into his house and 

 staid inside for four days. He was ashamed to go out, for he had 

 been a handsome man, but now he had only one eye. After he had 

 been four days in the house, he sent for a wise man whose name was 



