o^BRECHTs] THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 267 



Now, then! Ha, now thou hast finally come to listen, thou White 

 Kingfisher; near the edge of the water thou art staying; thou power- 

 ful wizard! Perhaps a speaker of incantations has caused it; now 

 thou hast come and pulled it out. Relief has been caused. Sharply! 



This is the medicine whenever they have pains (shifting) about. 

 They should be rubbed in different places. 



EXPLANATION 



This formula is for the same purpose as No. 44, page 235. 



According to an expression repeated in every paragraph, the 

 sickness seems in this case to be caused by the [incantations of a] 

 witch, who maybe has, by magical means, shot some invisible 

 sharpened stick, a pebble, or some similar small object into the 

 body of the victim. The pain shifts about as the intrusive object 

 moves from place to place. The ailment is probably connected with 

 rheumatism or pleurisy. 



The animals invoked to pull out the disease are all of the class 

 designated in the fonnulas as "penetrators," from their manner of 

 seizing and holding their prey, or sucking its life blood. The weasel 

 and the leech are put into the same category. The otter seems 

 to be regarded as the chief of these, on account of its diving ("pene- 

 trating") abilities, combined with its extreme bloodthirstiness and 

 its real or fancied cunning. The "penetrators" are commonly 

 invoked in aye-'hao-'ci or witchcraft diseases, to pull out the intrusive 

 object which has been shot into the body of the patient. 



The treatment consists of simply pressing the sore spot with 

 the warm hand or thumb, according to the size of the place. The 

 medicine man recites the first paragraph while warming his [right] 

 thumb over the fire, occasionally rubbing it in the palm of his left 

 hand, after which he presses it gently upon the seat of pain. The 

 same ceremony is repeated with the other paragraphs, the medicine 

 man eventually following up the pain as it moves about from place to 

 place, until, according to the theoiy, he finally chases "the important 

 thing" out of the body. 



67 



!t'a' Di;*^natso-'wal9"'ne'9"'[.i ^*] a'Da*n9''wo*tT 



this wheni'ver they have it to euro anyone 



aloiig both sides with 



sGe" I no-'Gwo" 'a't'oija-'m-Ga' y9"'wi o""naG€''*' u'so'uJt 



Now, then, now thou hast come human black Night 



to listen being 



tso'tlt'o't'sti I ylsGe-'no u'sony'li Dotsu-'l€'ne-''^.i | t*'n9 



thou art staying it important quiclcly he arose fi-om there, far 



facing us, App. 



G^'le'H Dt'Duhlc'DZa i;*lsGe-'D8 



he standing he has spolien it important 



yonder 



^* Emendation by editor. 



