Page:Kutenai Tales.djvu/242

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Boas]
Kutenai Tales
227

The two-year-old Buck sang. He said to his wife: | "The Wolves are mad at us." He dug a hole, | and let his wife and his son go in. Then | the many warriors arrived where the young Buck was sitting. || Because he was working his manitou power, he had become a deer, | 15 and he became what his name was. He went up a mountain. | He went up there to the top. Wolf | killed all the people. He looked for his brother-in-law. Where those who had been killed were piled up, I he did not see his brother-in-law. He knew that he had manitou power. II He thought: "I shall not be able to kill him." He went | 20 to his seat and sang. Then he became a wolf. | He looked; and because he was working his manitou power, he saw | the tracks of his brother-in-law. Then he went that way. | He looked, and saw him on top of a mountain. || His brother-in-law was standing there, facing 25 this way. Wolf went up. Then the one | who had become a young buck saw him. Wolf started to go up to him. | He just began to go up; and when Wolf arrived, there was another high mountain. | He went down, and went up toward the top. | When Wolf was going down, at the place where his brother-in-law had been standing, there were his tracks. || He saw another high mountain on the other side, and he 30 was standing on top. | Again Wolf went up. The Buck saw | the Wolf starting, and went down to a river. | He thought: "I'll go to my father's mother, Fish."[1] Fish's | tent was on the other side of the river. When Wolf stepped || down to the place where his brother-in- 35 law had been standing, he was not there. | He saw his tracks going down. He followed them. Wolf thought: | "Fish is bad. Maybe he will not give him to me. If I | do not catch him, and if he enters his grandfather's tent, I shall not be able to get him." | He started. When the Buck arrived and went in, Fish was sitting inside. || Fish 40 was told by his grandson: "Put me somewhere. | Wolf is pursuing me." Fish did not look at him. Buck spoke again. | Fish did not look at him. | He said while he was smoking: "Sak, sak, sak, sak, sak!" | (Buck) said again: "Hurry up! The Wolf is close by. He is coming along." | Fish said: "What you say is bad. He is | your brother-in- 45 law. You loved each other. Why is he angry at you?" | Buck said: "Hurry up! Wolf has almost arrived. | He'll bite me." Fish said: "Is he a wolf?" | Buck said: "Yes, he has become a wolf." || Fish 50

said: "Can you transform yourself into a deer?" | Buck said: "He is just outside. I became | a man again when I came in." Fish said: | "Lie down there!" The Buck lay down. | Fish touched his


  1. Species unknown; a small fish with large head and small tail.