90 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. ann. sz 



died their brother got loose and came up to them, and they all 

 rejoiced and then went to their home. 



After the woman had been with them about a year the old man said 

 to his sons: "I think that it is time that this young woman should 

 go home to her mother," and to her the old man said, " You must not 

 do any kind of work — pounding or chopping. You must keep quiet 

 for ten days at your home." 



When the time was up they took her toward home. She thought 

 that they walked along as ordinary people do. AVhen they neared 

 her mother's lodge they told her to do just as her grandfather had 

 requested her to do. She then saw that she was standing in water. 

 A heavy shower of rain had just passed over the earth. Her mother's 

 home was near at hand and, bidding her well-going, they left her. 

 She reached home in due time and her mother was delighted to see 

 her long-lost child. 



She observed her grandfather's injunction for nine entire days 

 without any desire to break his command. But on the tenth day the 

 women of her family urged her to help them in their work. At first 

 she refused, saying that she could not do so. They urged her so hard, 

 however, that finally she struck one blow with the corn-pounder, 

 whereupon the mortar split in two and the corn fell to the ground. 

 The orenda of the Thunders had not entirely left her yet. This was 

 why the old man had enjoined her not to work for ten days. 



5. The Ghost Woman and the Hunter 



Once there was a young man in a village who was an orphan; he 

 had neither relatives nor home. He lived in first one lodge and then 

 in another. 



Once in the fall of the year when warriors were preparing to go to 

 hunt deer the orphan wanted to go but could not get a chance to do 

 so; no one wanted him as a companion. So he was left alone in the 

 village. When all the men had gone he determined to go, too, and he 

 went off by himself. Toward night he came to a sort of clearing and 

 saw a lodge on one side of it near the bushes; he looked into it but he 

 could see no one. In the dooi-yard was a pile of wood and everything 

 inside was comfortable; so the orphan decided to pass the night there. 

 It looked as though the other hunters, too, had passed a night there. 

 He made a fire, arranged a place to sleep, and lay down. About 

 midnight he heard some one coming in and, looking up, he saw that 

 it was a woman. She came in and stood gazing at him, but she said 

 nothing. Finally she moved toward his couch but stopped ; at last 

 she said: "I have come to help you. You must not be afraid. I 

 shall stay all night in the lodge. I know you are going out hunting."' 

 The orphan said, " If you help me, you may stay." " I have passed 



