250 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. ann.»2 



Traveling on, Ganyadjigowa came to the lodge of Gaasyendiet'ha, 

 in which he saw an old man asleep. Ganyadjigowa went in. The 

 old man, waking up, began to sing, " Now he has come." Ganyadji- 

 gowa thought, " Why docs he sing about me? " Gaasyendiet'ha said 

 to himself: "Oh! I have the backache. AVhy have I got it? Where 

 is my friend, Ganyadjigowa? I would like to see him^he is such a 

 strange fellow." Ganyadjigowa looked around the room, and seeing 

 a nuiUet, began to hit the old man on the head with it. The latter 

 said, " I believe mosquitoes are biting my head," whereupon Ganya- 

 djigowa hit him again. " Well, it seems to me I hear Ganyadji- 

 gowa talking," said the man. He turned over — sure enough there 

 was Ganyadjigowa. The old man said: "Wliat are you doing to 

 my head? Why did you hit me? Do you suppose I will let you 

 pound me?" "Oh, no! I did not strike you. I will call you my 

 grandfather, and we will be good friends," said Ganyadjigowa. 

 "Very well; sit at the other end of the fire and be quiet," replied 

 Gaasyendiet'ha. Ganyadjigowa sat down. After a while he asked, 

 "Do you know who planted the trees?" "Yes; the man in the 

 blue sk}'," was the reply. " Oh, no ! I planted them all," said Ganya- 

 djigowa. The men talked along as they had done the first time at 

 Gaasyendiet'ha's house. At length Ganyadjigowa asked, " What can 

 kill you ? " " Oh ! a flag stalk that grows in swamps. If you strike 

 me with that it will kill me," answered the old man. Ganyadji- 

 gowa went out to hunt for the flag and found a stalk. When he 

 came back, the old man was eating wild cranberries. Ganyadjigowa 

 hit him with the flag, which he thought went into his body, for the 

 old man's face was all red from the cranberries. Turning, Gaasy- 

 endiet'ha asked: "Why do you strike me? You hurt me." Ganya- 

 djigowa, laughing, said, "The old man's mouth is all bloody." 

 Thereupon he ran away because he thought the old man was going 

 to die. 



Soon Ganyadjigowa saw a lodge in the side of a high rock. He stood 

 before it, thinking, " How can I throw that lodge down ? " Soon 

 the man living there came down and they greeted each other. Gan- 

 yadjigowa asked, " W^hy do you live in the rock? AVill it not fall? " 

 " No," the man replied. " What would you do if a hard rain should 

 come? Can you live on the level land?" was Ganyadjigowa's next 

 query. "No; I always live on the rocks. When I talk everybody 

 hears me," said the old man. " Go up and let me hear you talk," 

 commanded Ganyadjigowa. Going up, the man said, Wiahah. 

 Ganyadjigowa replied: "That will do. Come down. I am travel- 

 ing and giving names. I will give you one, so whosoever speaks of 

 you hereafter will call you Gwiyee."' Now I want you to be (]uiet 

 and not chase the people." This is why Gwiyee never chases others. 



