swAXTON] TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS 201 



had for their supper. When he reached the place and saw the devil- 

 fish sitting outside of its hole he became frightened, yet he thought 

 that he would try to kill it. Now he went up to the creature and 

 turned his bracelet around twelve times, wishing that it become small. 

 It did grow small, and he killed it easily and dragged it home on his 

 stick. Reaching the house, he pushed the door open and threw it 

 right in front of his uncle, where it reassumed enormous proportions. 

 Then his uncle was astonished to see him and began screaming 

 loudly, begging the boy to take the devilfish out at once. So he took 

 it out and threw it down upon the beach. Afterward he looked back 

 at it, and it had become the same big devilfish again. 



Now the boy remained with his uncle for a very long time, and his 

 uncle's wife thought a great deal of him, while his uncle seemed to do 

 so too. One day, however, he saw his wife talking to the boy and 

 again determined to kill him. Then he put something sharp pointed 

 on the ground, took the nephew up to the top of a very high tree and 

 crawled up after him. The boy, who knew what was going to happen, 

 began singing and turning his bracelet round slowly at the same time. 

 Just as he had turned it for the fourth time his uncle reached him and 

 pushed him over. When he landed upon the ground, however, there 

 was nothing to be seen but a ball of eagle down. 



His uncle saw this, and, feeling that he could not kill his nephew, 

 treated him well for a very long time, but watched him closely. 

 His wife said to the boy, ''Your uncle is flunking a great deal because 

 he can't kill you." But all that the boy would answer every time 

 she said this was, "Only a ball of eagle down." She did not know 

 what he meant. 



One day the uncle thought that he would deceive liis wife and 

 nephew, so he told the latter that he was going back into the woods 

 and started off. Instead of going away, however, ho went back of 

 the house, looked through a hole at them and listened. Then the 

 boy came to his wife and sat do^vTl close to her, and she said, ''Let 

 us run away. I am afraid of your uncle." He answered that he 

 would if he could get a canoe, and she told him of a i:)lace where there 

 was a canoe, some distance from the toA\Ti. Then the uncle came 

 right in and wanted to kill liis wife on the spot but was so fond of 

 her that he could not. The boy sat perfectly still, moving his bracelet. 



That night the uncle treated his nephew very Idndly^and began 

 telling liim all kinds of stories, until at last th.e boy fell asleep. 

 Tliis was just what he wanted. Then he tied the boy to a board, 

 tliinking, "I am going to get rid of him this time. The feathers 

 will get wet, and he will be drowned." So he took him quite a 

 distance out to sea and set him adrift there. It was very stormy. 



