492 THE PAWNEE: MYTHOLOGY. 
horses towater, she meets himand they travel south to heavily timbered river valley, 
where they build grass-house and live alone. She gives birth.to boy and man buries 
after-birth by elm tree. Child grows rapidly. Father goes off to hunt. Woman 
places sleeping childon bed. She hears voices, and strange beings with long spines 
at their joints, and with two eyes, one in front and one behind, enter lodge. She is 
asked to feed them, but is warned that she must not call them names, which she 
does as they are leaving, whereupon they return, kill her, and takeheraway. They 
do not see boy. Father returns, and follows trail of strangers until it is lost in 
timber, but sees grass-lodge and hears voices, so that he knows cannibals are about 
to eat his wife. Heand his child live together. While father is off hunting strange 
boy appears. Boys play together. Stranger disappears as father approaches. 
Boy tells his father of strange boy and he lays plans to capture him, recognizing that 
it is his own son born from after-birth. First he hides, but is recognized by strange 
boy by his odor. Older boy finally captures him by tying his hair with strings, and 
strange boy surrenders. The three live together many years and boys grow up 
and hunt with bow and arrows. They are warned by their father against dangerous 
places. They go to river and get in bull-boat which, when half way across river, 
pitches, whereupon boys fly up as geese, older boy being afraid and requiring urging. 
Next they go to steep bank covered with snakes, which are unable to bite them, for 
one of boy’s feet and legs are covered with flint stones, while other has soles like 
horned toad and his legs are covered with turtle shells. “They kill four largest rattle- 
snakes, skins of which they take home and put at entrance of lodge, to scare their 
father. Next they go to foot of hill and clouds assemble and it thunders and 
lightens. They go to top of hightree, where they find red-painted being, or Thunder, 
which they throw down out of tree. Next they find Lightning, then Loud-Thunder, 
then Wonderful-Lightning. They take them home to their lodge. Father protests 
that they should not molest these heavenly beings, but boy protests that they 
should not live in tree, and causes one of them to fly to west to sound thunder first in 
spring. With him is sent one of lightnings. Other thunder and lightning are sent 
to south, from which point they are to travel to earth and occasionally kill people. 
Father is provoked because they have overcome these heavenly gods and warns 
them not to go to certain place. They go into timber where trees are dead and leaves 
are yellow, and find grass-lodge of sharp-elbowed people who killed their mother. 
They are welcomed and kettle is placed on fire. At proper time boys step upon 
kettle, overturn it, causing steam. Cannibals scald and fight each other, while the 
lodge burns up. Younger brother takes leader and tells him that he and his people 
shall become locust trees. Father, learning of their feat, becomes alarmed and 
decides to run away, fearing for his life. He provides food and water for boys, 
and leaves. Boys, who had become charred leaves and were thus enabled to escape 
from burning grass-lodge, return home.. They go to Wood Rats’ nest under elm 
tree, where the younger brother says that he received his power, and that Wood 
Rats are his grandmothers and fed him, and there it is he says that real lightning 
warned him of beings who pretended to be lightnings, and these were those which 
boys despoiled of their power. Woman feeds boys, and they leave, hunting their 
father, asking animals they encounter if they have seen him. They also ask insects 
and bugs. Finally they return to lodge and Mouse directs them to wooden mortar, 
which, because it helped boys’ father to escape, is again to be used and not to be 
burned in future. In morning they find their father’s trail, and with it they enter 
the underground world and follow trail until they come to village of people. They 
