278 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS Ibth.ann.3J 



you not dancing behind the tree? Why do you go so far away from 

 the lodge? You sliould have your dance right liere in this lodge. 

 Why should you go oif alone? " " You do not know the tune I sing, 

 and so I must sing alone," was the answer. The elder brother re- 

 plied, " I should learn the tune, too, so that I could take part in the 

 singing of the song." " No," declared the younger brother, " I 

 know the tune, and if you want to take part with me, you may 

 dance." The elder brother rejoined: "No; it is not right that I 

 should dance while I have no feathers in my headgear." Answering, 

 the brother said : " Y'ou may ciiange places with me if you wish. 

 Then you shall hunt the smaller game. I kill birds, and it is from 

 them that I learn the songs. The animals which you hunt and kill 

 do not sing; but, perhaps, I could not kill the large game because I 

 am so small, and it may be that you could not kill the birds because 

 you are so large." " Well," replied the elder, " you may have it all 

 to yourself, and I will merely v.atch you sing and dance." 



So the elder brother continued to hunt large game, and at times 

 he would hear the singing and tlie dancing as he came near their 

 home. When the younger brother would hear him approaching he 

 would pretend to be doing something quite different from dancing 

 and singing. This conduct caused the elder brother to wonder and 

 to fear that something peculiar was about to happen to both of them. 

 Often he would say to his brother: ""Why did you stop hunting? 

 You do not go to hunt any more." The younger brother answered : 

 ^I listen to the singing of the birds and so learn their songs; this 

 is why I do not shoot them." " It is well," rejoined the elder brother, 

 who continued to hunt such game as he required. But one day his 

 younger brother said to him, " My feathers are nearly worn o>it, and 

 I want you to kill another turkey for me." So the elder bi-other 

 killed the largest turkey he could find, and then said to his brother, 

 " Skin this turkey instead of plucking its feathers." He did as re- 

 quested, and the elder brother having made a pouch of the skin, 

 asked his brother, " Do you like this robe ? " "I like it very much, 

 and I am thankful to you, brother," was the answer. As the skin 

 of the turkey began to dry, the younger brother, getting into the 

 pouch, would walk around looking just like a turkey, and he seemed 

 to enjoy greatly this new form of dre.ss. When he walked into the 

 lodge, he would come out of the skin, which he would hang up among 

 his belongings. The elder one said to him: " Brother, you must not 

 go far from the lodge: it will not be safe for you to do so." "No," 

 said the younger brother, " I will stay at home and take care of our 

 things." ilatters continued thus for .some time. 



One day the younger brother said : " You must stay at home, not 

 going to hunt today. Instead, you must learn to sing my songs. 

 What I do now shall be the practice of our people hereafter, if we 



