810 IROQUOIAN COSMOLOGY |eth. ann. 43 



wilt thou confirm the proposition that thou shalt remain here alone, 

 while your companions return to their own homes? If thou wilt 

 be willing to agree to this proposition, I will, furthermoi'e, give thee 

 a new name, and this shall be the name by which they shall hereafter 

 habitually call thee, namely, Daga'e°'da' (i.e., The Thaw, or the 

 Warm Spring Wind)." 



Thereupon, this member of the party of De'hae'"hyo'we'"s replied, 

 "I willingly agree to this proposal; I am quite willing to be an assist- 

 ant to them in their work." And the old woman answering, said, 

 "I am much pleased that the matter is now settled. We, indeed, 

 have become of one opinion, having one purpose in view." 



At this time De'hodya'tgae'we"' interrupted by saying, "Now, 

 then, do bring his person (body) into this room, and let him at once 

 be prepared for his duties." 



Then, the old woman addressing the visitor, who had consented to 

 remain, said, "Come. The time has now arrived for doing what you 

 have agreed to do for us, for doing what you require to fit yourself for 

 your new duties." 



Then the man who had consented to remain entered the room in 

 which abode De'hodya'tgae'we"'. As soon as he had entered the 

 room De'hodya'tgae'we"' said to him, "Here stands the mortar. 

 Thou must place thyself in it. Now, verily, thou shalt change thy- 

 self, thy person, as to the kind of its flesh and thy life." Obeying his 

 instructor, the man at once placed himself in the mortar, that is, 

 in the hollowed end of the mortar wherein the grain was usually 

 pounded, and then De'hodya'tgae'we"' drew near and taking up 

 the pestle pounded him in the manner in which corn is pounded, 

 striking three several blows, and he then said to the visitor, "Thy 

 flesh has now changed in kind. The task is now accomplished. So 

 now you may sing to try your voice." 



The transformed man began to sing, and De'hae'"hyo'we°'s and 

 his one remaining friend heard the singing, which sounded to them 

 e.xactly like the voice of appi'oaching Thunder, only that its volume 

 was somewhat less, as they heard it. And they said, one to the other, 

 "Now, it is known that he, Daga'e'"da', is approaching," and, 

 shortly, their transformed friend re-entered the room. 



In a short time thereafter the old woman said to the men of the 

 lodge, now including the newly transformed person, "Furthermore, 

 you shall now start on your journey, and you shall now l)egin again 

 to make mellow and wet anew all the things that are earth-products, 

 growing on the earth beneath. And this, moreover, shall be done. 

 Dagae°"da' shall take the lead. And so it shall be he whom they 

 who dwell on the earth below shall name first in the Spring of the 

 year. Of course the human beings will say, 'Now, the Warm Wind 

 of Spring has come down; now the hot spring wind blows again. 



