254 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS tBxn. i.vN.sz 



uncle separated the parts of every bone, and after wiping them, put 

 them aside, cleaned; and he thought, "My luck is hard. I am alone 

 here; my friend is gone. That must have been very painful." After 

 every bone had been wiped and put in place, the old man said to the 

 one yet unchanged, " Now, be ready." Then he blew through his 

 hands on the head of the skeleton with force sufficient to send the 

 skeleton a long distance. Thereupon the skeleton again became a 

 man, ready for the as.sembly. Th'is was the way in which each man 

 had to be purified. 



The second nephew, not wishing to be treated in that manner, did 

 not go forward willingly. But when the uncle was ready he gave 

 the word, when it seemed that the nephew could not hold back. 

 Lying on the bark, he was treated as his friend had been, while the 

 latter in turn looked on. Because he was not so willing to submit, 

 the body of the second youth was more difficult to clean. The old 

 man washed and wiped each bone. The flesh remained in a heap by 

 itself. The uncle took more uncleanness from this nephew than from 

 the first. After he had finished the cleaning, he put the bones in 

 place again, and saying, " Take care," blew on the skull with such 

 force that the skeleton was shot off a long distance, becoming a 

 beautiful young man. The uncle said : " Sit down. You are now 

 transformed. Now let us go outdoors and I will try you." 



Going outside the lodge, the three stood in the clearing. At that 

 time a deer was feeding on the grass, and the uncle told one of the 

 young men to catch it, while to the deer he called out, " Be on your 

 guard; my nephew is going to kill you." The deer sprang oil', but 

 had made only a few bounds when the young man seized it. Seeing 

 how he caught the deer, and knowing that if he could catch a deer 

 he was fit for any race, the uncle said, " You are now ready to join 

 the people of this world." Then he told the second nephew to catch 

 the deer, at the same time calling to the deer, " Look out ! if you 

 are caught, you will lose your life." The deer sprang off, but the 

 young man, soon overtaking it, brought the animal to the old man, 

 who said: "You also are ready. You can now go to this great 

 assembly and see what you can do." 



They started b>it had not gone far when they saw a man approach- 

 ing. They saw him go down into a little hollow ahead and come up, 

 walking very fast. As they met he said to them : " You have come, 

 brothers, and the object of your mission shall be accomplished. Your 

 Elder Brother wished you to come, so now you shall go with me to 

 this great assembly. He who has charge of it is the same person who 

 made the lower world, from which you have come. As you can not 

 well go alone, I have been sent to conduct you." They went at what 

 seemed to the young men incredible speed. Soon they could hear a 

 noise as of a great many voices, which increased continually. The 



