650 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS Ieth. anj(.32 



heard one woman addressing another : " What do you think of this 

 matter? Tlie man who dwells with us is very ill; truly he is in a 

 wretched condition, and he lacks care and attention." Then he heard 

 the reply : " It is befitting, it would seem, that we assist him at once 

 to recover his health, for we know that while he enjoyed good health 

 it was customary for him to respect and honor us in his travels. This 

 is, indeed, what he was wont to do : In whatever place he was travel- 

 ing, on finding along the trail one of our sisters who had strayed 

 or become lost, and so had become the victim of want, he would 

 take her up and speak to her words of pity, saying: 'Thou art in 

 need and in distress; thou art lost on thy way, and there is no possi- 

 bility for anyone except me to have mercy on thee.' Then he would 

 care for her. For this reason we should now repay him for all these 

 acts of kindness by aiding him, since now it is he who is forsaken 

 and in need of care." The man who was ill now sat up with un- 

 covered head, thinking, " I shall see them ; I shall have a look at the 

 two women who are conversing." But he saw no one, and so was dis- 

 appointed. For several days he overheard these two women talking, 

 but he was not able to see any person around him. 



There came a night, however, when the ill man had a dream, in 

 which he saw a woman of low stature but of fine appearance, with 

 beautiful long hair. In the dream she said to him : " I have been 

 requested to come to you (do you know it?) to tell you that we will 

 now aid you in your illness. We desire to have you stop thinking 

 that you are about to die and that you are poor and wretched because 

 you have no kindred or friends. Moreover, be of good courage, for 

 you shall be well again before long, and shall again travel much. 

 This, too, shall come to pass: A shower of rain shall come, where- 

 upon you must arise and place some receptacle where the raindrops 

 may fall into it, and all the water that falls into this receptacle you 

 must drink. This shall suffice to cure you of your illness. It is we 

 who are making a repayment of an obligation which is due you from 

 us. We are merely doing our jjart in aiding you at this time, because 

 you have so many times had compassion on us during the long time 

 you have been traveling over the earth. For it was your wont when 

 you were traveling on whatsoever paths they were, when you saw 

 lying on the trail ' Corn,' ' a Bean,' or the ' Seed of the Ancient 

 Squash' — we are of course sisters — to take her up and have pity on 

 her, saying, 'Thou art lost and forsaken even on the trail.' It is for 

 these acts of kindness that we shall now, I say, repay thee.**^ 



" Moreover, it shall come to pass that you will hear us when we 

 sing and dance the Corn dances to give thanks that you are again to 

 travel over the earth, for such is, indeed, our custom when we are 

 happy. 



