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A YANKTON LEGEND. 307 
mw éga? gi¢ingd-biaméa. Wakan’dagi ¢inké wa¢dte wa‘t té ¢atd-bajf- 
one they became without Water-deity the one food he gave the did not eat 
theirs, they say. who 
biama, mi™jifiga aka; dda™ ni”ja a¢i” akfi-biama. a™ja wakan'da Aji- 
they say, girl the there- alive having they reached home, hough deity another 
(sub.); fore her they say. 
biama a¢i” aka, ki cinuda®™ ska’ diba ‘fi yi’ji wéi ‘{¢a-biama. 
they say he who had jek and dog white four they if to give he promised, they 
gave him her back Bay. 
NOTES. 
355, 5. ¢ega™ aja™ x1, when he lay thus on it, 7. e., with his cheek on the palm of 
his hand. 
355, 9. quba-bi, a-biama, “they said that they were sacred (qube),” and as this was 
reported, qube is changed to quba-bi. 
356, 1. The Indians think that there are water-deities or wakandagi under the 
water. A wakanda loved the child and had taken it, as his wife had no children, and 
wished to keep this one. 
356, 5. aliga¢i® afgag¢e ta-bi. As the message or command of the father is 
repeated, “tai” is changed to ‘“ta-bi” in the report. 
TRANSLATION. 
A man and his wife had only one child, whom they prized. He used to go playing. 
He fell into the water. His father and mother, and even all his relations, were crying. 
His father was very much distressed. He did not sleep within the lodge; he lay out 
of doors, without any pillow at all. When he lay with his cheek on the palm of his 
hand, he heard his child crying; he heard him as he lay beneath the ground. All of 
his relations having assembled, the father spoke of causing them to dig. He spoke of 
digging into the ground. His relations collected horses to be given as pay. They col- 
lected goods and horses. And two men said that they were sacred. They promised 
to seek for the child. An old man went to tell the father. He brought the two men 
to the lodge. The father filled a pipe with tobacco, and gave it to the sacred men. 
“Tf you bring my child back, I will give you all as pay.” 
They painted themselves; the one made his body very black, the other made his 
body very yellow. Both went into the deep water. And these two men arrived there. 
* They talked to the water-deity. The child was not dead; he was sitting alive. Said the 
men, “The father demands his child. He said that we were to take him back with us.” 
“Though you shall take him homeward with you, when you reach the surface of the 
water with him, he shall die. Had you taken him back before he ate anything, he might 
have lived. He will desire the food which I eat; that being the cause of the trouble, he 
shall die. Begone ye, and tell those words to his father.” The two men went. They 
arrived at the lodge. ‘We have seen your child; the wife of the water-deity has him. 
Though we saw him alive, he had eaten part of the food which the water-deity eats; 
therefore the water-deity says that if we bring the child back with us out of the water, 
he shall die.” © Still the father wished to see him. ‘If the water-deity’s wife gives you 
back your child, she desires a very white dog as pay.” The father said, ‘‘I will give her 
the white dog.” Again the two men painted themselves; the one made himself very 
black, the other made himself very yellow. Again they went beneath the water. They 
arrived at the place again. ‘The father said that we were to take the child back at any 
