106 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. asn. J2 



11. The Snake with Two Heads 



In olden times there was a boy who was in the habit of going out 

 to shoot birds. 



One day in his excursions he saw a snake about 2 feet long with 

 a head at each end of its body. It so happened that the boy had a 

 bird and, dividing it in two parts, he gave a portion to the snake in 

 each mouth. 



The next day he fed it again ; and the youth made up his mind to 

 do nothing but hunt birds to feed the snake. He went out every day 

 and killed many birds and the snake grew wonderfully large. The 

 boy, too, became a very good shot; he even killed black squirrels and 

 larger game to feed the snake. One day the misguided youth took his 

 little sister along with him and pushed her toward the snake, which 

 caught her with one of its heads and ate her up. 



The snake kept growing and ate larger and larger game. It de- 

 voured anything the boy brought to it. At last it formed a circle 

 around the entire village of his people. The two heads came near 

 together at the palisade gate, and they ate up all the people who came 

 out. At last onlj' one man and his sister remained. AVhen the snake 

 had swallowed enough persons it dragged itself off to the top of a 

 mountain and lay there. 



That night the man who was saved dreamed that he must make 

 a bow and arrows and take certain hairs from his sister's person and 

 wind them around the head of each arrow; then he was to anoint the 

 end of each arrow with blood from his sister's catamenial flow. 



When the man arrived near the mountain he shot an arrow at the 

 monster, which struck it and worked into its body; and every arrow 

 that the man shot did likewise. Finally the snake began to vomit 

 what he had eaten. Out came all the people in pieces — heads, arms, 

 and bodies, and wooden bowls — for the people had tried to defend 

 themselves with every kind of weapon that they could grasp. The 

 snake then began to writhe and squirm violently and at last it rolled 

 down into the valley and died. 



12. A Hunter Pursued by Genonsgwa^* 



Among a certain people in times past four warriors decided to go 

 off on a hunting expedition. In order to reach their destination they 

 had to ascend a large stream in canoes. Now, it is said these men 

 were the inventors of bark canoes. 



The eldest member of the party said, "We will go and land at a 

 pomt which is called Kingfisher's Place." They had then been out for 

 several days, and so after he had told them this they felt glad to 

 know that soon they would land somewhere. They entered the 



