RWAXTOx] TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS 37 



Then Wolverine-man placed the food before his guest, but, when the 

 latter was about to take some, Wolverine-man said something that 

 sounded strange to him. He said, "There he is picking it up. There 

 he is going to eat it." It sounded strange. Then he kept on talking: 

 "He is getting closer to the small bones. He is getting closer to the 

 small bones. He is getting closer to the small brother of the big 

 bone. He is getting closer to the small brother of the big bone." He 

 did not want the man to eat the small bones at the joint, '^ and it was 

 from Wolverine-man that people learned not to eat these. He said, 

 "I am not saying this to you because I hate you. If anybody 

 swallows these, the weather is not clear on top of the mountain. It 

 is always foggy, and one can kill nothing. This is why I am tellmg 

 you." Meanwhile the people in the camps hunted every day for this 

 man but in vain. 



By and by Wolverine-man said to him, "Go around to the other 

 side of the mountain and sit dowTi where the ground-hogs' places are." 

 He went there every day, but always came home without anything. 

 Wolverine-man, however, brought him a great load ever}^ time.* 

 Finally Wolverine-man told him to go and cut off two small limbs with 

 his ax. People generally carried a stone ax when off hunting. With 

 these he made a trap for him and named it Never-lasting-over-night 

 (Lanka'k!ixe). It was so named because it was certain to catch. 



Wlien they went up next day, Wolverine-man said, "I am going 

 this way. Do not set your trap until you see a large ground hog 

 going into a hole. Set it there." Soon after he left Wolverine-man 

 he saw a big ground hog going into its hole. He set up his trap there, 

 stood near, and watched. Soon he heard the crack of his trap falling. 

 He set it up many times, and each time he caught one. He killed four 

 that da}^. That is why the trap is called Never-lasting-over-night. 

 From that time on he increased the size of his catch every day, while 

 Wolverine-man did not catch much. Wlien he got home with all his 

 ground hogs Wolverine-man lay down by the fire and began singing, 

 "Wliat I would have killed has all gone over to a lazy man's side." 



Next morning, when they again started off to hunt, Wolverine-man, 

 instead of continuing on his usual route, came back to see what his 

 companion was doing. Then he climbed into a tree to watch him, 

 began to play around in the tree, and afterwards suddenly fell down. 

 He wanted to deceive the trapper. This tree is a small bushy one 

 called s!ax, and it is Wolverine-man's wife with which he had really 

 been cohabiting. The man, however, observed what he was doing, 

 and returned home at once, upon which Wolverine-man became so 

 ashamed that he lay down and covered himself with ashes. 



After that Wolverine-man told his guest to lie down and cover 

 himself up. Then he took his urinal full of urine, with two white 



a The knee-pan or the ankle and wrist bones. 



