Boas] KUTENAI TALES a9 
(c) YA.UK°E’;KA'M OBTAINS FEATHERS 
Then Ya.uk*e’;ka‘m staid there. He said: “If there were | feath- 
ers, I should feather my arrow.’’ Frog said: ‘‘There are || feathers 
far off. There is a lake, and there are some ducks way out on the 
lake. | They stay there and do not come ashore. Those who go to 
get feathers | just pick them up along the shore. | The feathers are 
there. They come off from the ducks.”’ Then Ya.uk%e’;ka‘m | started. 
When he arrived there, he carried ear ornaments. He discovered 
that his grandmother || had spoken the truth. Way out on the lake 
were some ducks. | It was a large (body of) water. Then Ya.uk*e’;- 
ka'm | went to the shore and sat down. He did not know how to get 
the ducks. | He saw one there swimming not far away; | but many 
ducks were making a noise with their mouths, playing. || One Duck 
saw the man | walking along the shore. Then (Ya‘uk"e’;ka‘m) sat 
down. He was bright red. The Duck had never seen | a man. 
They always went to get feathers on shore. | Therefore the Duck did 
not know (what) a man (was). | Ya.uk"e’;ka‘m said to the one Duck: 
“Come ashore for a while.’”’ || Duck thought: ‘‘He might kill me,”’ and 
did not come ashore. | Ya.uke’;ka‘m said: ‘‘Don’t be afraid of me, I 
won’t kill | you. Iwill make you (look) nice. Youwillbe handsome.” | 
Then Duckcame ashore. Itsawthat the youth looked nice. | He said 
to Duck: ‘Tlltake yourfeathers. When I have taken them, || Pll pay 
you forthem.” Then Duck thought: ‘This youth | is well dressed. 
Maybe he will reward me well.” | He said: ‘Well, take them!”’ 
Then Ya.uk*e’;ka‘m | plucked out the feathers of the Duck. | He 
took them all off. Then Ya.uk"e’;ka°m took the ear ornament 
and stuck it on || where he had plucked off the feathers. He said: 
“Now | go, swim away!”’ Then Duck swam away there, | far out 
tosea. (Ya.uk"e’;ka‘m) said (to Duck): “‘ Well, move your wings!”’ 
Then | the Duck stretched out its wings and moved them. | Its 
feathers looked pretty. Then many ducks saw the man sitting 
there away off. || That one floating about alone started to swim 
ashore. | They knew that the man must have called it ashore. | 
When they saw it coming back, farther out to sea, they saw it 
spreading its wings. Oh, | they were pretty, ha! When (the 
Duck) began to swim back, Ya.uk"e’;ka‘m said to it: | “Go back 
there to your relatives! They shall come ashore. I'll make them all 
(look) in the same way || in which I made you.”’ Then, when (the 
diver') came back | to its relatives after it had been finished by 
Ya.uk"e’ kam, | it-was called Diver. When it arrived back where the 
many ducks were, | they saw how its feathers were. | It had pretty 
new ones. Diver said: || ‘Look at me, how I am!” They said to 
him: ‘You look pretty on account of the things that are on | your 
wings.”” He was told: ‘‘“Go on, move your wings!” | Then Diver 
1The duck had been transformed into a diver called mitsuk, smaller than a loon, with a long slender 
neck, white belly, and dark back, 
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