184 ABSTRACTS. 
14. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A STAR. 
Girl says she likes red star and would marry him if on earth. In morning 
girl sees Porcupine and climbs after it in cottonwood tree. Tree grows higher 
and girl reaches another world. Porcupine turns into man and says he is Star. 
She stays with him, but cries every night. She gives birth to male child, who 
has star on forehead. Son warts wild turnips and man tells her not to dig for 
them in valleys. She digs in valley and stick runs through earth. She looks 
down and sees she is far away from her people. Woman tells her to get from 
husband sinews of whole buffalo and she will make sinew string to reach ground 
below. Girl gets sinew from husband, who forgets two sinews in shoulder. Old 
woman makes string and girl also makes long sinew string. They go to valley 
and girl takes child on back under robe, slips down ‘string fastened to stick across 
hole. She reaches height of highest tree from ground. Husband sees her hang- 
ing and kills her with stone. Boy slips out of robe and falls on ground, but is 
not hurt. Boy nurses at dead mother’s breast. He goes to cornfield. Old 
woman catches him and takes him home as grandson. Grandmother scatters 
corn in lodge for blackbirds and places mush behind curtain. Boy calls black- 
birds and kills them all with club. Grandmother brings them to life again and 
tells them to fly all over the world. She tells boy to throw wood into pond and 
next morning finds black bow and four black arrows. Boy sees big serpent be- 
hind curtain and kills it with bow and arrow and serpent slips into pond. Ser- 
pent is grandmother’s husband. Next day old woman tells boy not to go to 
dangerous place. He goes and sees mountain-lion, which obeys him. He leads 
lion to old woman’s lodge. The same‘’occurs with a cinnamon bear. Boy sees 
four wonderful men killing buffalo. They frighten him with foetus of calf. He 
climbs tree and they place foetus in fork. They offer to take calf down if he 
will give grandmother to them. He returns and tells her he is satisfied, but says 
they would have to give him something in return. They promise him bow and 
arrows and old woman tells him to take middle bow of five leaning against wall 
of lodge. Men go to grandmother’s lodge and stay with her. Old woman sends 
boy with flute to play around men’s lodge. Men all scared and close up lodge 
with earth. They die of hunger. Boy goes to den of snakes. Snakes give him 
long gut to eat, but it is snake, and he twists its head off. Snakes go into ground 
and try to get into boy’s rectum, but hit rock on which he sits. They tell stories. 
Snakes all go to sleep on long circular stick around den. Boy with flint knife 
cuts heads on stick, but last one wakes up and disappears in hole. When boy 
sleeps he places arrows so that they can fall on him when Snake approaches him. 
Boy is very sleepy and arrows cannot awaken him. Snake goes into his mouth 
and nestles in his skull, where it remains until boy becomes skeleton. Boy’s 
father sends storm and skull is filled with water, but this does not drive out 
Snake. Father gets Sun to move nearer earth and heats skull until water boils, 
and Snake crawls out. Boy catches Snake by neck, hits its snout with stone, and 
rubs its teeth upon rock. He lets it go on promise not to bother people after. 
Boy returns to grandmother and tells her country is free from wild animals. She 
disappears, and boy goes to village and tells his story. He dies after clearing 
country of all wild animals. 
