^'^l^^i] LEGENDS 667 



his younger sister, it is said. He took a seat by her side as she sat 

 on her bed and embraced her, whereupon she said to him : " What 

 has happened to you ? " He made no reply but attempted to throw 

 her backward on the bed while he tickled her. At this she ex- 

 claimed: "You are abusing me: you have never before acted in this 

 manner:" and she struggled with him as he continued to grapple 

 with her, until at last he went out of the lodge. 



Not long after this episode her brother entered the lodge. Having 

 been injured, she was weeping. Her brother said to her: " What has 

 happened to you? Are you, perhaps, ill? " She made no reply and 

 woul(J not give him any food. Then she spoke to him, saying: " It is, 

 indeed, an awful thing, the manner in which you have abused me, 

 your own sister." He answered: "What have I done to you? " She 

 replied: "You abused me and tickled me, and desired to throw me 

 on my back. This is the reason why my mind is troubled." Answer- 

 ing, he said : " Xot in the least could I abuse you, for I have too 

 much compassion for you." But she did not believe him. Then 

 he continued, saying. " Now, it is, perhaps, my friend who has 

 visited you and who looks exactly like me. having hair like mine, of 

 which half is red." Then she said: "That is not true; at all events, 

 it was you who came into the lodge." Thereupon he added: "My 

 friend made this visit, because you have now arrived at womanhood. 

 Not far away stands the lodge where mother and son live: the son 

 is my friend." She told him that she would not believe a thing he 

 had said to her. He answered that whatever happened to him hap- 

 pened also to his friend. 



The brother himself warmed up some food and ate his meal. In 

 the morning his sister would not arise, for she was still very angry 

 with him ; so he himself prepared his morning meal and ate it. When 

 he had finished eating it he went out to hunt. Before going, he said 

 to his sister: "Do not think hard of the conduct of my friend, for 

 lie only desires to marry vou." 



Just after the brother had left he (as she supposed) returned and 

 seized her as she was walking along, and they struggled desperately 

 in the lodge. She succeeded in scratching him in the face, where- 

 upon he left the lodge and fled. 



When the sun was nearly set her brother returned to the lodge. 

 He said to his sister: "Oh, my younger sister! I fell among thorns 

 and briers — that is why I am all scratched up." She was indeed 

 astonished at what he had told her, for had she not herself scratched 

 him in the face ? So she replied : " I for my part can not believe what 

 you say." Then she began as usual to weep. 



Finally, the brother said : " My sister, you believe that it is I who 

 act thus, but it shall be made evident that it is not I who am doing 

 this. To-morrow as soon as I depart the man will return and will 



