swAXTON] TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS 223 



elder sister said to herself, "I wonder if that isn't the man mother 

 was talking about?" Coming closer, they discovered a man with his 

 face painted red. He looked up, saw the girls, and said, "What are 

 you poor girls doing way back here?" Then the elder answered, 

 " Mother abused us. That is why we left our home. She abused 

 us because we ate some tallow. She said, 'You are so fond of eating 

 tallow you better go and marry Mountain Dweller. ' ' ' 



Then Mountain Dweller, for it was he, invited them into his house, 

 and they found it very grand. Another house near by was full of all 

 kinds of meat drying. Seeing that they looked hungry, he gave them 

 some food. Next morning early, when he was getting ready to hunt, 

 he said to them, "Do you see that curtain over there?" In one part 

 of the house a large skin curtain was hanging. "A very bad woman 

 lives behind that. Don't peep at her." 



At their father's village all the people were now mourning for them, 

 and all of their relations had their hair cut and their faces painted 

 black. 



The elder sister was now married to Mountain Dweller, the younger 

 being still a little girl. After a while the former became curious to 

 see the bad woman her husband had told her not to look at, so she 

 peeped at her through a hole. At once the bad woman seemed to 

 feel that some one was looking at her, threw up her hands, and 

 screamed. Then both of the girls fell over dead. 



By and by Mountain Dweller came home from the hunt, saw them, 

 and laiew what had happened. Then he went over to the bad woman 

 and killed her. After that he put eagle down upon the girls' doodles 

 and walked around them several times, shaking his rattle. In that 

 way they were restored to life. 



After the girls had lived there for a long time, Mountain Dweller 

 said, "Don't you wish you might see your father and mother again?" 

 The younger said, "Yes," and the elder also wished it. After that 

 ]\Iountain Dweller hunted a great deal to prepare a quantity of meat 

 for his father-in-law. He said to his wife, "Make a little basket, just 

 big enough to put your finger into." When it was done, he shook 

 it and made it very large. Then he put all kinds of meat and tallow 

 and sacks of grease into this basket. He shook it again and made it 

 small with all of the meat inside. 



Wlien the girls came to their father's house their little brother ran 

 out, saw them, and went in again cr3'ing, "Mother, my sisters are 

 out there." But his mother became angry and said, "Why do you 

 say that? Your sisters have been dead a long time, and yet you say 

 that they are out there." But the boy screamed, "Those are my 

 sisters. Don't I know them ? " " W^ell ! let me see the hair from their 

 marten-skin robes." In those times none but high-caste people such 

 as these wore marten skins, so when he came in again bringing pieces 



