|"/JS] FICTION 115 



16. Ohohwa (the Owl) and the Two Sisters 



Two sisters of a tribe lived near the edge of a village clearing. 

 The chief dwelt near the center of it. The mother of these two sis- 

 ters was accustomed to pick up deer droppings to put into the hominy 

 instead of venison or fish. This was a custom practiced only by 

 widows and by families who from some misfortime were too poor 

 to obtain meat or fish. 



One day one of the sisters asked her mother to let her have some of 

 the droppings to mix with the hominy which she was preparing. 

 Her aged mother, who was a widow, replied, " You should be ashamed 

 of yourself to ask for such things, for you are a fine-looking woman 

 and should marry the chief's son; then you would not be obliged to 

 seek such things for meat, for you would have a good hunter to pro- 

 vide you with all the meat and fish you required." 



Somewhat abashed, the daughter answered, " Well, if my sister 

 will go, I will go; and if he will take us both, it will be well." So 

 they set to work and prepared the usual marriage bread, and when 

 they were ready to start they asked their mother how the young man 

 looked. She replied : " He is a handsome man, with a hooked nose. 

 Beside the fire he has two deer heads, which are alive and open and 

 shut their eyes whenever fuel is placed on the fire. This young man 

 is very strong in magic — is possessed of potent orenda, and so he has 

 many wild deer around his lodge. You must be very careful lest j'ou 

 be deceived by his uncle, who also has a hooked nose and very closely 

 resembles his nephew. He will attempt to seduce you on the way. 

 The first large lodge you see is the one to which you must go." 



So the daughters started and went along slowly. At last they saw 

 a man running around old stumps trying to catch something. He did 

 not see them coming. Shortly after they came in sight of him he 

 stood up — protruding from his mouth was the tail of a mouse. 

 Seeing the girls, he said, "Ho, ho, where are you two going? " " We 

 are going to propose to the chief's son," they replied. " Well, what is 

 his appearance? " was his next question. "Our mother said that he 

 had a hooked nose," came their answer. The wily old man said, 

 " Look at me I Is not my nose hooked ? " " Yes," said the elder sister, 

 " perhaps this is the man." So they went to his lodge, which was an 

 old, ugly-looking place. He said to them that he had to get his deer 

 heads, so he got some old heads which his nephew had cast away. 

 His mother and his little boy sat by the fire. He told them to keep 

 quiet and they would have bread shortly. The child cried out, 

 " Father, give me some bread." The old man said, " Why do you not 

 call me brother? I am your brother." The-n the old man shoved the 

 little boy aside and sat down near the girls. One of them said, " We 

 want to see the live deer you have around the lodge." So they went 



