352 THE ¢EGIHA LANGUAGE—MYTHS, STORIES, AND LETTERS. 
TRANSLATION. 
There were some villages which were very populous. The chief’s sons were un- 
married, and his daughter was a virgin. There were two sons. They surrounded the 
herds of buffaloes. They used to kill the buffaloes. One of the sons of this chief 
attacked a buffalo when far apart from the rest. Very soon he shot at it. The buffalo 
had gone out of sight into the ground. The man and his horse, too, went headlong; 
but the buffalo went down first. The father sent out criers. ‘He says that his child 
intercepted the buffaloes, but he has not reached home. He says that you who have 
seen him will please tell it,” said the criers. One man said that he saw him. “I saw 
him very distinctly. He went in pursuit. Perhaps he went headlong into a sunken 
place, for when he was on very level ground he disappeared altogether. I did not see 
him a second time,” said he. The father commanded him to join him in seeking his son. 
When the man who saw him said, “It was just here,” the people scattered far and wide, 
seeking him. All the people sought him. Behold, he had gone down the pit some 
time before. The buftalo had gone, having kicked off a piece of the soil. The horse, 
too, had gone, having kicked off a piece of the soil. There was no trail beyond the pit. 
And all the people went directly to it, without hesitation. The pit was very large, and 
extended far downward. The father spoke of removing thither suddenly. There they 
approached and camped; they camped around the pit. The father implored the young 
men and those who had been his friends. If there was one man who was stout-hearted, 
and who had a firm heart, the father wished him to enter the pit and go after the young 
man, and so he implored them. At length one rode round and round the village. He 
promised to enter and go after the missing one. “Tell his father. He must collect 
cords,” said he. Having cut buffalo hides in strips, he collected the cords. “ Please 
make a round piece of skin for me, and tie the long line of cord to it,” said he. And 
they finished it. ‘Now it matters not to what place I go, I will put the body in the 
skin-bucket. I go to take hold of him, and when I reach the ground at the bottom, 
I will pull suddenly on the cord. When I pull on it repeatedly, you will draw it up,” 
said he. At length he reached the ground inside the pit. It was very dark. When 
he felt around in the dark, the buffalo was lying alone, being killed by the fall; the 
horse, too, was lying by itself, having been killed by the fall; and the man lay apart 
from them, having been killed by the fall. Having taken this body of the man, he 
put it in the hollow skin. But, strange to say, when he went down he did not ask any 
favor for himself. And they rejoiced because he put the man in the vessel. And 
having taken the dead one, they forgot the living. Yet though he sat waiting for the 
skin-bucket to appear again, he was not drawn up; so he continued crying. The chief 
had induced him to undertake this by promising him his virgin daughter. “If you 
bring him back, you shall marry her,” said he. The young man wandered about in the 
darkness. At length, when traveling in the path, he came suddenly upon an old woman. 
He petitioned to the old woman. ‘Venerable woman, though this land is very difficult 
to reach, I have come hither. Icame to the hole in the ground up above. One person 
came hither, having fallen from a height into this pit. I came to take him back. They 
have not drawn me up; and I have no way of going back. Venerable woman, help 
me,” said he. “There is nothing that I can do to help you. A person is in that place 
out of sight. Go thither. He is the one that will do it for you,” said she. He went 
