168 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 39 



him because her mother nagged him continually. She talked more and 

 more of her spirits all the time, and the high-caste people invited to 

 their feasts spoke very highly of them. She would sing how high her 

 spirits were, and the village paid her a great deal of attention. But 

 she called her son-in-law Sleeping-man. She gave him to eat only a 

 few scraps left over, and w^ould say to the people, "Leave some scraps 

 there for Sleeping-man." 



Next morning she found a sea lion which her son-in-law had caught 

 that night, and again she felt very proud. Her son-in-law kept say- 

 ing to his wife, "Always listen for the ravens. If you hear the ravens 

 before I come you may know that something has happened to me. 

 If you hear one before I come get right out of bed." When his 

 mother-in-law invited all the people for this sea lion the people would 

 say, "It has been this way from olden times. The chiefs in a village 

 are always lucky." Then the woman acted like a shaman and said, 

 "The people of the village are not to go over that way for wood, but 

 over back of the village." Although she had not a single spirit she 

 made the people believe she had them. 



Next morning the son-in-law went out again, caught a whale, and 

 left it in the usual i)lace. The village people were very much sur- 

 prised when the chief's wife found it, and she was very proud. She 

 filled a large number of boxes with oil from what was left over after 

 the feast. She had boxes full of all kinds of food, which the town 

 people were buying. They looked up to her as to a great lord. 



But her son-in-law said to his wife, "Don't help yourself to any of 

 that food. Wliatever she gives us we will take." She was treating 

 him worse every day. The son-in-law also said to his wife, "If you 

 see that I am dead in the skin I have, which has been bringing us 

 good luck, do not take me out of it but put me along with the skin in 

 the place where I used to hide it, and you will get help." 



This went on for a long time, but he thought he w^ould not get 

 another whale because he had had such a time with the first. Mean- 

 while his mother-in-law continued to say spiteful things about him, 

 things to make the village people laugh at him, and now that she 

 had spirits she was worse than ever. Quite a long time after this, 

 however, he did catch two whales and tried to swim ashore with 

 them. He worked all night over them, and, when he got near the 

 place where he used to leave things on the beach, the raven called 

 and he died. 



Wlien his wife heard the raven's cry she remembered what he had 

 said, and began dressing herself, crying as she did so. Still she 

 remained in doors, knowing that the whole village would go down to 

 see the monster. Then her mother walked out as usual and saw two 

 whales lying there with a monster between them. It had two fins 

 on its back, long ears, and a very long tail. All of the people went 



