MooNKYj ORIGIN OF DISEASE 251 



kill OIK' of tht'iii unless he took ciire to ask their pardon for the oli'ense. 

 They sent notice of their decision to the nearest settlement of Indians 

 and told them at th(> same time what to do when necessity forced th(Mn 

 to kill one of the Deer tribe. Now, whenever the hunter shoots a Deer, 

 the Little Deer, who is swift as the wind and can not he wounded, runs 

 (|uickly n\) to the spot and. hendino; over the hlood-stains. asks the spirit 

 of the Deer if it has heard the prayer of the hunter for pardon. Tf the 

 reply be "Yes," all is well, and the Little Deer goes on his way: l)ut if 

 the reply be '" No," he follows on the trail of the hunter, guided bj' the 

 drops of blood on the ground, until he arrives at his cabin in the set- 

 tlement, when the Little Deer enters invisildy and strikes the hunter 

 with rheumatism, so that he becomes at once a helpless cripple. No 

 hunter who has regard for his health ever fails to ask pardon of the 

 Deer for killing it, although some hunters who have not learned the 

 prayer may try to turn aside the Little Deer from his jnirsuit by 

 building a fire behind them in the trail. 



Next came the Fishes and Reptiles, who had their own comi)laints 

 against Man. They held their council together and determined to 

 make their victims dream of snakes twining about them in slimj' folds 

 and blowing foul breath in their faces, or to make them dream of 

 eating raw or decaying fish, so that the}' would lose appetite, sicken, 

 and die. This is why people dream about snakes and fish. 



Finally the Birds, Insects, and smaller animals came together for 

 the same purpose, and the Grubworm was chief of the council. It 

 was decided that each in turn should give an opinion, and then they 

 would vote on the question as to whether or not Man was guilty. 

 Seven votes should be enough to condemn him. One after another 

 denounced Man's cruelty and injustice toward the other animals and 

 voted in favor of his deatli. The Frog spoke first, saying: " We 

 must do something to check the increase of the race, or people M'ill 

 become so numerous that we shall be crowded from ott' the earth. 

 See how thev have kicked me al)out l)ecausc I'm ugly, as thej- say, 

 until my back is covered with sores;" and here he showed the spots ou 

 his skin. Next came the Bird — no one remembers now which one it 

 wa.s — who condemned Man "because he })urns my feet ott',"' meaning 

 the way in w liich tiie huntci- barbecues birds by impaling them on a 

 stick set over the fire, so that thiMr feathers and tender feet ar(> singed 

 off. Others followed in the same strain. The GrouMd-sijuirri^l alon(> 

 ventured to say a good word for Man. who seldom hurt liini because 

 he was so small, but this made the others x) angry that they fcdl upon 

 the (iround-squiiTel and toi-e him with tlieir claws, and tin* stripes an; 

 on his back tf) this da3\ 



They began tiien to devise and name so many new diseases, one after 

 anoth(>r, that had not their invention at last failed them, no one of the 

 hunian race would have been alile to sur\i\t'. The (irubworni grew 



