486 IROQUOIAN COSMOLOGY [eth ann. 43 



grow shall bear fruit, and those things shall make glad the mind of 

 human beings who will dwell as people here on the earth." 



Then at that time again she heard the other person say, "Now 

 then I will ask thee what things wilt thou do when thou and I are 

 born?" Then this other person said, "I will make the attempt too, 

 even " me, also to do thus as even thou art about to do. If I should 

 not be able to do thus, I will make the attempt in some other way. 

 It must be that I too will have something to say on this earth." 



Then at that time she heard them talking together. One of the 

 male persons kept saying, "What thing will come to pass, for now, 

 behold, the time has come that thou and I will go forth hence. Who 

 shall take the lead?" At that time then she heard the other male 

 person say, "Do thou just take the lead; now as to me, I will just 

 go straight through here; here verily there are light spots showing 

 through. I myself will go forth that way." Then she heard the 

 other male person say, "It will not result in good that thou shouldst 

 do thus as is thy intention. Verily thou wilt kill in that way our 

 mother." Then she heard him say, "Now as to even me, I will go 

 forth." Now then that one was born. It was not a long time after 

 that the other male person came forth through her armpit. Then 

 at that time as she gave birth to the children she herself died. Then 

 the Elder Woman took up the two male children and also attended 

 to them. Under the couch she placed them. Then at that time 

 she gave attention to the flesh body of her late daughter. And there 

 in the entrance of the bark shelter of the two women, there she laid 

 the flesh body of her late daughter. At that time the Elder Woman 

 said, "At the end of 10 days then she will arise again." Her children 

 then were all right and they were large in size. 



These two male children continued to grow very rapidly. In a 

 few days it was already possible for them to converse with the Elder 

 Woman, their grandmother. Then this Elder Woman said, "Do 

 you two know from whence you two have come? Also, to what 

 place will you two go at what time soever you two will depart from 

 this place?" 



Then one of the male persons replied and said, "I myself know the 

 place whence we have come. And that is verily from the sky, from 

 the earth situated on the upper side of it. I myself then will not 

 forget that. I myself will continue to grasp with both hands the 

 place whence I came. So that when the time will come when I shall 

 depart from this place I shall just go back there to the place whence 

 we started." 



At that time his grandmother said, "It is true, verily, that you 

 know the entire matter. And that then verily I will name you 

 De'hae'"hiyawa"kho'" (he grasps the sky with both hands). And 



See note on p. 609. 



