i™,^:,-] LEGENDS 415 



home. too. And all the evil people who die shall come to me and I 

 shall torment them because I could not make a human being." 



If one who is good shall die, he shall go to the elder brother, in his 

 home in the sky. 



75. The Two Brothers and the Mice Fetishes 



In times past there lived two brothers in a lodge which was built in 

 a secluded place in the forest. 



Most of the time the elder brother was hing down in order to 

 mature some design which he was developing in his mind. From 

 time to time he jvould say to his brother: "Now, my younger 

 brother, be very careful of everything, and be on your guard against 

 the evil that others may try to do us. Whenever some person comes 

 here to see us, remember what I am now telling you. And do not 

 forget that under my bed, in a secret place, are a human skull and 

 some other sacred things, which it is not proper for you to show any 

 other person." 



Some time afterward two young women came to the lodge of the 

 two brothers to look around in order to learn what the two young 

 men had. After showing them many things, the younger brother 

 said, '' I must tell j'ou that there are some things which are sacred, 

 and which, therefore, I cannot show you." But after a while, as 

 the two women appeared to be so kind and agreeable, and so much 

 pleased with what they had seen, and as they shyly pleaded to be 

 shown the things which the j'ounger brother said he was not at 

 liberty to show, at last yielding, he brought out the human skull. 

 Snatching it out of the young man's hands, one of the young women 

 flew away quickly, while the other followed her at once. Thereupon 

 the elder brother said, " Now, you must chase these women with the 

 corn-pounder and see whether or not you can overtake them." So he 

 ran after them with the corn-pounder, and soon overtaking them, 

 pounded them to death; then he carried the skull back to his elder 

 brother. The latter asked him, ''Have you recovered the skull?" 

 The younger brother replied, " Yes, and I have also killed the 

 women." 



Not long afterward, two other young women came to the lodge to 

 see what the brothers had that was curious. The younger brother 

 .showed them various common articles, but the women said that 

 these were not the articles they wanted to see. Finally he showed 

 them the human skull, at which one of the women, snatching the 

 skull away from the young man, flew out of the smoke-hole, the other 

 woman following her at once. When the younger brother cried out at 

 what they had done, the elder brother told him to bring his bow and 

 quiver of arrows. The younger instantl}' obeyed, whereupon the 

 elder brother shot an arrow up through the smoke-hole. 



