he«^tt] legends 751 



The mother, addressing her daughters, said: "Now, my children, 

 you must go after him to secure him for a husband. And you, 

 tiie eldest, shall be the first to go in quest of him." Then the three 

 daughters commenced to make the marriage liread {dega.nahonsdyff- 

 ffo"). They began their task by preparing the flour corn by boiling in 

 ashes to loosen the husk of the grains, afterwards washing the grains 

 in clean water and pounding the corn into meal in a wooden mortar 

 with pestles of wood. The three sisters imited their labors in the 

 preparation of this bread. The sounds made by the pestles were 

 tu\ fu', tu\ tu\ tw\ It was not long before they had prepared the 

 needed 20 cakes of marriage bread. 



When the bread was ready it was placed in a basket made for 

 carrying by means of the forehead strap. Then the mother said to 

 the eldest daughter : " Come to me." The daughter obe^ved her, and 

 the mother began to comb her hair; she also anointed it with oil of 

 a fine smell. Then she braided her hair, tying it so close with a 

 string that the eyebrows were drawn up to the extent that the eye- 

 sockets had quite disappeared. Then the mother said to her 

 daughter affectionately: "Now, go you to that distant place where 

 Doiidanegeii moves, and I expect that by all means you will bring 

 him back with you. Have courage. Very certainly it is safe, that 

 by which you shall cross this lake." Then she placed the basket of 

 bread on her daughter's back so that it might be carried by means of 

 the forehead strap. 



Thereupon the eldest daughter started away. Having indeed 

 arrived at the settlement in which dwelt Doiidanegeii, she took posi- 

 tion a long distance from his lodge and watched for him a very 

 long time, but was not able to see him. Suddenly, Doiidanegeii came 

 out of his lodge and looked around. The young woman was just 

 a short distance aside, watching him. Then he started on his hunt- 

 ing trip, for he had not detected the presence of the young woman. 

 She kept her eyes on him as he walked away and finally disappeared 

 in the distance. Swiftly now the young woman pursued him with 

 the determination of finding him. She had followed him a very long 

 distance when suddenly, as she kept looking ahead, she saw him 

 climbing a large tree. Going toward that tree undetected, not far 

 from it she stopped still. The raccoons were coming out one after 

 another with great rapidity and verily there was a high pile of 

 bodies. The maiden stood there watching Doiidanegeii at work. 

 Moving up close to the tree, she exclaimed : " Do you come down 

 again from the tree. Perhaps you are now bringing down the last 

 one." But all at once a yellow hammer cried out Kive"\ kwe"\ 

 kwe''\ and she saw it flying along the edge of the forest, crying as it 

 flew. In bitter chagrin the maid exclaimed: "Oh, how provoking 



