Jji. FI,DSCHE] 



BITE OF VIGIL FREE TBANSLATION. 



309 



Unfold ye, my grandfather; let the front legs be cut. 



4. 

 Unfold ye, my grandfather; let the head be cut. 



5. 

 Unfold 3-e, m.v grandfather; lot the mouth be cut. 



The only intelligible words in the two stanzas of Song 7 are 

 "Hi-tho-to" no"." These words mean the straight or the straight 

 line. The words refer to the acts of the two men ofRciating in the 

 ceremony of the Wa-do'-ka We-ko who are required to cut the skin 

 with the Mystic Knife, placing the tip of the knife at a given point 

 and drawing therefrom four straight lines. These indicate the four 

 winds, or the four canhnal points, a symbol that figures prominently 

 in the religious rites of many of the Siouan tribes. 



The wortls of the two stanzas are the same mth the exception of 

 one word in the third line of the second stanza, "ni-ku," wliich is 

 archaic and has lost its meaning. 



Song 7. 

 (Osage version, p. 496; literal translation, p. 617.) 



M. M J - 88 Transcribed by Alice C.Fletcher 



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ti 



^ 



a * 



m^ 



J J J i. i 



Time beats ' T I 



Hi tho- to" no" no". 



r r r 



hi tho- to" no" no", 



- TTj-^n 



r r 



r 



r r 



nn^j. 



r 



Hi tho-tonno"non, hi tho-tonno"non, Hi tho-to"no" no", 



hi tho- to" no" no", 



r r r 



Hi tho- to" no" no". 



The eighth song also refers to the movements of the two officiating 

 men. The sentences are broken and the words fragmentary, but 

 from two words in the second line of the first stanza, " wa-ha ko"-ha," 

 edges of the skin, the two stanzas may be understood tp mean the 

 trimming of the edges to straighten them. 



The ceremonial acts referred to by Songs 4, ,5, G, 7, and 8 are 

 elaborate and complex in meaning. These will be described in detail 

 in the Wa-do'-ka We-ko ritual to be published in a later volume. 



