220 BUKEATJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 39 



account of its fresh tracks. They looked into all of the beaver houses 

 they had broken up, liut could not find it. It must have gotten 

 out at the very start and made its escape into the woods. 



Quite a while after this had been done, the people who had killed 

 the beavers walked up to the place where the lake had been. Wlien 

 they got close to the place where they had let it out they heard a 

 woman singing in a beautiful voice: "Why didn't you ask one 

 another to stop, my l)rothers? You begged yourselves to go off, 

 my brothers." She sang thus because all of those who had destroyed 

 the beavers were to die. She was sitting on a ynirt of the broken dam. 

 So, on the way back to their village, all of these people were drowned 

 and only a few bodies were recovered. Those whose bodies were not 

 found had been captured by the big beaver. 



63. BEAVER AND PORCUPINE " 



The beaver and the porcupine (IaIc '.A'tc) were great friends and went 

 about everywhere together. The porcupine often visitetl the beav- 

 er's house, but tlie latter diil not like to have him come because he 

 left quills there. One time, wdien the porcu])ine said that he wanted 

 to go out to the beaver's house, the beaver said, "All right, I will take 

 you out on my back." He started, but instead of going to his house 

 he took him to a stump in the very middle of the lake. Then he said 

 to him, "This is my house," left him there, and went ashore. 



While the ])orcupine was upon this stuiu|) he began singing a song, 

 "Let it become frozen. Let it become frozen so that I can cross to 

 Wolverine-man's ])lace." He meant that he wanted to walk ashore 

 on the ice. So the surface of the lake froze, and he walked home. 



Some time after this, when the tw^o friends were again ])laying 

 together, the porcu])ine said, "You come now. It is my tiu'n to carry 

 you on my back." Then the beaver got on the porcupine's back, 

 and the ])orcu])ine took him to the to]) of a veiy high tree, after wdiich 

 he came down and left him. For a long time the beaver did not know 

 how" to get down, but finally he climbed down, and they say that this 

 is what gives the broken appearance to tree bark. 



64. THE IMAN WHO ENTERTAINED THE BEARS'* 



A man belonging to the Raven clan living in a very large town had 

 lost all of his friends, and he felt sad to think that he was left alone. 

 He began to consider how he coukl leave that i)lace without under- 

 going hardships. First he thought of paddling away, but he said to 

 himself, "If I paddle aw^ay to another village and the people there see 

 that I am alone, they may think that I have run away from my (»wn 

 village, from having been accused of witchcraft or on account of some 



a See story 15. t> Cf. story 21. 



