LAFLESCHE] RITE OF VIGIL" — FREE TRANSLATION. 259 



8. Ho! Toward what shall they (the little ones) direct their foot- 



steps, it has been said, in this house. 



9. It is toward a second valley they shall direct their footsteps. 



10. Verily, it is not a little valley that is spoken of, 



11. It is toward the second bend of a river they shall direct their 



footsteps. 



12. Verily, it is not the bend of a river that is spoken of, 



13. It is toward a little House that they shall direct their footsteps. 



14. Toward a House you shall ever be traveling with your little 



wa-xo'-be. 



(Song repeated.) 



15. Ho! Toward what shall they (the little ones) direct their foot- 



steps, it has been said, in this house. 



16. It is toward a third valley they shall direct their footsteps. 



17. Verily, it is not a little valley that is spoken of, 



18. It is toward the third bend of a river they shall direct their foot- 



steps. 



19. Verily, it is not the bend of a river that is spoken of, 



20. It is toward a little House that they shall direct their footsteps. 



21. Toward a House you shall ever be traveling with your little 



wa-xo'-be. 



(Song repeated.) 



22. Ho! Toward what shall they (the little ones) direct their foot- 



steps, it has been said, in this house. 



23. It is toward a foiu-th valley they shall direct their footsteps. 



24. Verily, it is not a little valley that is spoken of, 



25. It is toward the foiu-th bend of a river they shall direct their foot- 



steps. 



26. Verily, it is not the bend of a river that is spoken of, 



27. It is toward a little House that they shall direct their footsteps. 



28. Toward a House you shall ever be traveling with yoiu- little 



wa-xo'-be. 



The path of life, in the Osage rituals, is pictured as crossing four 

 valleys or as following the course of a river having four bends. In the 

 Omaha rituals the path of life is represented as stretching over four 

 hills. (See 27th i\jin. Rept. B. A. E., p. 116.) 



In the Ho°'-ga version of the Ceremonial Approach to the House of 

 Mystery the Xo'-ka, when about to enter, removes from his feet the 

 first pair of symbolic moccasins and puts on the second pair that 

 awaits him at the entrance. The acts of slipping off the first pair and 

 slipping on the second pair are accompanied by a wi'-gi-e which sets 

 forth, in cryptic form, the obligation of the warrior to spare neither 

 the adolescent youth, the adolescent maiden, the valorous man, nor 

 the woman who has given birth to her first child, when battling with 



