530 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. ANN. 32 



to that lodge to see what I may find. My elder brother has gone 

 there." 



When he reached the lodge the young man came to a halt, hut he 

 had no sooner done so than he heard the voice of a man inside say 

 to him: "Oh. my gi'andson I come in; you have visited my lodge at 

 this time." Accepting this challenge, the young man entered, where- 

 upon the old man said to him : " I am thankful that you have now 

 paid our (two) lodge a visit.'' In front of him the young man saw 

 a young maiden seated on a couch, weaving a forehead pack strap 

 from slipperj'-elm-bark fiber. Then the old man said to her: " Make 

 room on your mat for our visitor, for you and he are to become 

 husband and wife. I am so delighted by this visit, for we two hvc 

 to be pitied, living alone in this lodge, I and my granddaughter." 

 Obeying her grandfather, the young maiden made room on her mat 

 for the young man. Next the old man said to the young man: 

 " You have come here looking for your elder brother, Honenhineh. 

 He passed here. Yonder, not far away, stands another lodge. There 

 is where your brother has gone; he will return soon, I think." Turn- 

 ing to his granddaughter, the old man said : " Oh, granddaughter ! 

 prepare food for our visitor; he is perhaps hungry, having come a 

 long distance. You must pound up dried green sweet corn and 

 diied venison, and place these in a pot to cook, to make corn soup; 

 and you must put into the pot also maple sugar and bear's grease. 

 AVhen the soup is cooked, place a bowlful before our visitor and let 

 him eat his fill." 



The maiden set to work preparing the corn soup, as she had been 

 instructed to do. First she pounded up dried sweet green corn and 

 then dried venison. Then, having placed a large clay pot over the 

 fire with water in it, she put in the dried corn and venison, which soon 

 began to cook. Presently she added maple sugar to her soup. While 

 tiiese were cooking, the old man got for her some bear's grease, 

 which he brought to her in a bowl, saying: "Oh, granddaughter, 

 put this also in the pot of soup." When the soup -.vas cooked, the 

 maiden removed the pot from the fire and the contents were, then 

 placed in bark bowls to cool. When ready, the young woman placed 

 a large bowl of the soup before the young man, telling him to eat 

 his fill. When he had eaten what was set before him he thanked the 

 old man, his " grandfather," who acknowledged the compliment by 

 saying, " My grandson, you were to be pitied, for you were very 

 hungry when you visited my lodge." 



It was not long after this that night came. Before night had 

 fully settled down the old man said : " Let us retire to sleep. Our 

 visitor has come to us very tired, I suppose. You should prepare 

 a separate couch of bark. I am very anxious concerning the prob- 

 able return of his elder brother tonight. At all events, I suppose 



