546 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. anu. 32 



of a marriage proposal. Coinplotely baffled by the attitude of the 

 youth and enraged by his conduct in refusing to gratify her desire, 

 she returned at hist to her own couch with a heart filled only with 

 bitter thoughts of revenge on him. Then, in order to make her con- 

 templated story appear true, she lacerated and bruised her neck and 

 face and breasts and arms with her own hands and fingernails, in 

 order to support her intended accusation against the youth of an 

 attempted assault upon herself. 



When the other members had returned to the lodge in the evening, 

 and after they had eaten their suppers and had retired for the night, 

 the young bride again told her husband with much simulated emo- 

 tion that his recluse brother had made that day another attempt to 

 assault her when the other occupants of the lodge were absent, show- 

 ing her lacerated neck and arms and face in corroboration of this 

 false sfory. Still the husband made no response to her accusations 

 against his youngest brother. The ne.xt day, however, when he was 

 out in the forest hunting with his other brothers he related to them 

 the story which his bride had told him. They, too, received this 

 information in silence. 



On the third day after the arrival of the young woman in the 

 family she still had hopes of entrapping the recluse by inducing 

 him to share her bed with her. In fact, she had been sent by her 

 notorious mother, Gaho°'dji'da''ho"k, to marry this youth, not be- 

 cause the mother tliought he w-ould make her daughter a suitable 

 husband, but rather because she wished to get him into her power, 

 for, on her own account, she feared to allow him to grow to man- 

 hood without an attempt to destroy him, knowing well that all wlio 

 were regarded as deanod'do^'' *-' were possessed of most potent orenda 

 (magic power), which they would put into use as soon as they at- 

 tained manhood — at the age of puberty. The recluse youth had 

 foreseen for many months the events which would come to pass after 

 the arrival of this dutiful daughter of Gaho"'dji'da"ho"k. He knew 

 well that the great witch had sent her for the express purpose of 

 getting him into her power in order to destroy him before he could 

 develop into manhood. Hence, he sturdily resisted all the wiles of 

 the daughter to get him to embrace her. as he knew that such action 

 would place him at the mercy of her mother. He feared being be- 

 witched; he realized that he must exert to the full his orenda against 

 that of the great witch, for he was aware that the penalty for being 

 defeated was death. In order to carry out her scheme the young 

 bride arose on the third day when all except the recluse and herself 

 liad left the lodge, and going over to the bedside of the youth, again 

 entreated him tearfidly to come to her couch. But he was obdurate, 

 rudely repulsing her advances, until finally she returned to her own 

 side of the fire. Despairing of accomplishing her purpose by gentle 



