Koryak Texts

INTRODUCTION.

THE collection of Koryak texts here published was made as part of the field-work of the Jesup North Pacific Ex pedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Since the Museum does not allow sufficient space for the publication of all the linguistic material, which naturally forms one of the most important aspects of the work of the Expedition, the American Ethnological Society has undertaken the publication of part of it.

The texts contained in this volume were collected by me between December, 1900, and April, 1901. While Mr. Waldemar Jochelson, my colleague in the ethnological work of the Expedition in northeastern Siberia, investigated the ethnology of the Koryak, I undertook the study of their language, because my practical knowledge and pre vious studies of the Chukchee language put me in a position to acquire with ease a knowledge of the Koryak, which is closely related to the Chukchee.

I left the Anadyr country in December, 1900, and travelled to the village of Kamenskoye, on Penshina Bay, where I met Mr. Jochelson. I staid with him one month, after which time I proceeded to the southeast, to the eastern branch of the Koryak, and also visited the Kamchadal. I travelled among these tribes for two months, until my return to the mouth of the Anadyr, on April 8, 1901. A considerable part of this time was spent in covering the long distances between the villages, the journey bring made by reindeer or dog sledge and on

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snowhsoes. Some parts of this territory had never been visited by any white man, not even by a single Russian trader, and I met camps and villages the inhabitants of which did not even know the taste of brandy, - - in these countries, the foremost product of civilization, and the first to arrive. The last fifteen days of the journey between the Ke'rek region and Anadyr Bay l were spent in going without a guide through a country wholly uninhabited ; for the Ke'rek, who have but few dogs, do not go very far from their villages on the coast, and are unfamiliar with the hills of the interior.

We travelled up-stream along several small rivers that flow into Bering Sea on the Ke'rek coast, and then, pass ing over the divide, followed the rivers that belong to the Anadyr system, and finally reached the first camps of the Telqap Chukchee. This is the method of travelling adopted by the ancient cossacks, the conquerors of Siberia.

All the time that was not taken up by travel, and that was available for study, was devoted to an investigation of the languages of the Eastern Koryak and Kamchadal tribes. The study of the Koryak was the more extensive, owing to its closer affinity to the Chukchee in grammar as well as in vocabulary.

The Koryak dialects may be divided into two large groups, - - the western branch, which includes the Maritime Koryak of Penshina Bay and also the Reindeer Koryak ; and the eastern branch, which includes the Maritime Koryak of Kamchatka, and also the inhabitants of the villages Reki'nnok, Pustoretzk, and Podkaguirnoye, to the south of Parapolski Dol. These last belong ethnographically to the Kamchatka Koryak, although they are counted by the Russian Administration as belonging to the Gishiga district. The eastern branch includes also the Maritime

1 See map, Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. vii.

Koryak of the villages on the Pacific coast around Alutor Bay, and those of the Pacific villages still farther east. The Ke'rek stand apart, and form perhaps a third dialect, although, on the whole, similar to the western branch.

The most obvious point of difference between the two branches is that the sound r, which occurs frequently in the eastern branch of the Koryak and in the Chukchee, is wholly missing in the western branch, and is there replaced either by y or (less frequently) by /, £, s. The natives are well aware of this difference ; and in the tales of the Penshina Koryak, as may be seen from the texts, the use of r in the pronunciation of certain words is ascribed to evil spirits.

The inhabitants of villages on the rivers Vi'rnik, Poqa'c, and Opu'ka (i. e., between the Alutor Koryak and the Ke'rek), explained to me that, though leading the settled life of sea-hunters, they belong by origin to the Reindeer Koryak. In proof of this they pointed to their pronun ciation. They said, "We say yaya'na (HOUSE), and the Alutor people say rarana"

Instead of the classification "western and eastern groups," we might just as well have said "northern and southern groups ;" but I prefer the former designation, because the pronunciation of the eastern branch is nearer to that of the Chukchee, who live to the east.

The Koryak language, in contrast to the Chukchee, which has almost no dialects, is furthermore divided into several local dialects. Each bay and river, with its few villages, has a dialect of its own, differing from the others in pronunciation and vocabulary ; and a dialect of Kam chatka may in some respects be nearer to a dialect of Penshina Bay than to that of its immediate neighbor.

The following series of texts was collected chiefly in the village of Kamenskoye (Koryak, Vai'kenan), on Pen-

shina Bay, with the help of Nicholas Vilkhin, Mr. Jochelson's interpreter. The correct transcription of Koryak phonetics offered considerable difficulty, since Nicholas Vilkhin, a half-Russianized Koryak raised in Gishiginsk, belongs by birth to the village of Paren (Koryak, Poi'tin). Now, the dialects of Paren and Kamenskoye, though very much alike, present several points of difference. Some of these are, that e of Paren is replaced by a in Kamenskoye ; tk, by ft (cc) ; y, by s. The people of Kamenskoye are well acquainted with the Paren pronunciation, because the intercourse between the villages is considerable. There fore many of them, when talking with the interpreter, would assume his style of pronunciation. I have tried to avoid confounding the two systems of pronunciation, but I am not sure that I have succeeded in doing so in all cases. Besides this, the rules of pronunciation, which are strict and consistent in the Chukchee language, are quite lax in all the Koryak dialects.

The harmony of vowels, which exists in Chukchee, is unstable in Koryak, and often inconsistent. Chukchee has two groups of long vowels, -

i e (a) u e a o (e)

The vowels of the one group cannot be combined with those of the other, either in single words or in compounds such as are in use in this group of languages. The other vowels of the Chukchee are short, obscure, and neutral. Therefore they may form combinations with either group of long vowels. In compounds, the vowels of the first group are replaced by the corresponding vowels of the second group whenever the word contains a single vowel of the second group in any position whatsoever. There are also some stems containing only neutral vowels, which nevertheless require the exclusive use of vowels of the second group in the other parts of the word.

In Koryak, with its constant dialectical changes from a to e, this pair of vowels is excluded from the action of the vocalic harmony just described, and both a and e are considered as neutral. Thus, in the dialect of Katnenskoye, nu' ' tanut (EARTH) changes in the dative to notai'tin. The two remaining pairs (i-e^ u-d) also admit many excep tions, in contrast to the strictness of the rule of harmony prevailing in Chukchee. Owing to the intermarriage between the people of different villages, a, e, a, /, may also be used in the same place by different persons, especially when not under accent ; for instance, nafnako and na'niko. In the same way, uu and oo, aa and #, the verbal suffixes -tin and -ten, interchange ; for instance, some people of Kamenskoye say nuu'wge (COOKED MEAT),

There are also dialectic differences in the use of con sonants ; for instance, intervocalic jy, which is omitted in Chukchee and preserved in the Paren dialect of the Koryak, may be omitted in the Kamenskoye dialects, although it is sometimes pronounced, but less distinctly than in the Paren dialect. The sound c may to a considerable extent be replaced by s, s', t. Chukchee has for this sound two different pronunciations, - - c by men, and s by women. A slight difference in the pronunciation by the sexes exists among the Koryak, but much less strict and regular than in Chukchee. Men use the pronunciation c, while women employ sm or t? The sound-group nni is replaced indi vidually by nni\ q, by k\ wg, by ww or wx\ y, by g\ etc.

1 I use in Koryak, instead of this £, simply c.

2 It is interesting to note that the possessive adjective Quyqimra'quchin, BIG-RAVEN'S (literally, RAVEN-BIG-HIS), has c\ and Miti's-hin, MITI'S (literally, MITI'-HER), has the corresponding s'.

Except when otherwise stated, the texts were taken down in the village of Kamenskoye, from the lips of Maritime Koryak women or girls, as follows: i, 2, 12-14, from Anne; 6, from Yu'lta-na'ut ; 7, 19, 20, from A'qannaw ; 11, from Ai'u-na'ut; 15, from ipifia'.

Text No. 21 is in the dialect of Pa'llan, a large village of northern Kamchatka on the Okhotsk Sea, and was related to me by Basile, a Maritime Koryak man.

Text No. 22 is in the Paren dialect, taken down in the village of Kamenskoye from the words of Nicholas Vilkhin, a native of Paren, Mr. Jochelson's interpreter.

Text No. 23 is in six languages, - - in Chukchee; in Koryak of Kamenskoye, Qare'fiin,1 and Lesna ; 3 and in Kamchadal of the Okhotsk shore and of the village Sedanka (Kamchadal, E'sxlin) in the mountains, the dialect of which has undergone a great change through Koryak influences. The original text is from Kamenskoye, and was dictated by Anne, a Koryak woman of that village. The Chukchee translation was made by Aqan'kau', a Maritime Chukchee man at the mouth of the Anadyr ; the Qare'nm version, by Maria, a Koryak woman of the village Qare'mn ; the Lesna version, by Andrew, a Maritime Koryak man from Lesna ; the first Kamchadal version, by Ivan Kulagin, a Kamchadal man from the village Napana (Kamchadal, Na'pno) • and the second Kamchadal version, by Tatiana, a Kamchadal woman from Sedanka.

Text No. 24 is in three dialects, Kamenskoye,

Paren, and Qare'nm. The original text was recorded from dictation by Pa'qa, a Koryak girl of the village of Kamenskoye. The Paren translation was made by Nicholas

1 Russian, Kapara, a large village in northern Kamchatka on the Pacific coast.

• A village of northern Kamchatka, on the Sea of Okhotsk, called in Koryak Vei'emlm (THAT OF THE RIVER).

Vilkhin; and the Qare'fiin translation, by Maria of Qare'fiin, mentioned before.

These texts may serve very well for a comparative study of all three languages. I took care to have the translation made as literally as possible, although a few changes were unavoidable. Thus, for instance, the Koryak Quyqmn'aqu'nu, which is simply the plural of Quiqinn'a'qu, is translated in Kamchadal as Klu'txen kH'a'mjanfrcfn (KuTx's MEN). The Chukchee erre'c (Kamenskoye Koryak atlo'l\ which signifies THAT is ALL, in the Qare'fiin Koryak is replaced by tenma'wilen, which signifies THE FINISHED ONE. Ge' tkurli, added in two Kamchatka Koryak texts, signifies DID ALL AT ONCE, and indicates the suddenness of action, etc.

The affinity between the Chukchee and the various dialects of the Koryak is evident ; but in reality it is still greater than it appears after a hasty comparison. For instance, HE BROUGHT HER HOME, in Qare'fiin Koryak, is ganrai' talen ; and in Chukchee, nrai'tannen. The Chuk chee, however, has also the form ganrai' taLen, only it is used syntactically in a different manner.

Free translations of a part of these tales were published in Mr. Jochelson's work on the Koryak ("Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition," Vol. VI), together with other Koryak and Kamchadal tales which I collected without original texts. References to Mr. Jochelson's versions are here given in footnotes to the tales.

A number of tales are given with interlinear translation and free translation ; others, only with free translation. The attempt has been made to render the texts as accu rately as possible ; but it has been found necessary to omit in the translations many of the particles, which are as numerous in Koryak as in Chukchee, and hardly admit of adequate translation.

Words added in translations for the sake of clearness are placed in parentheses. Literal translations of Koryak words or phrases are enclosed in brackets.

The Koryak here given may be compared with the Chukchee texts published by me in Vol. VIII of the "Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition" and in the "Publications of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences." 1

Few Koryak or Chukchee tales are known under definite names. Titles indicating the contents have been added by me. I have transcribed the name of BIG-RAVEN in the form most frequently met with, Quyqmn'dqu, although Mr. Jochelson prefers Quikmn'a'qu. In Chukchee are found the forms Ku'rkil or Ku'urkd\ and in Kamchadal, K!utx. In Koryak I write the third letter as y, because it replaces Chukchee r ; the fourth letter as q, because of the corresponding Kamchadal x. For Eme'mqut, in the English translation, I have retained the Paren pronun ciation adopted by Mr. Jochelson, although in these texts the Kamenskoye pronunciation Ama/mqut was used more frequently.

i. Little-Bird-Man and Raven-Man.1

Raven-Man and Little-Bird-Man wooed (the daughter) of Big-Raven. Big-Raven preferred Little-Bird-Man. He said, "I will give my daughter to Little-Bird-Man." Miti' said, "I will give my daughter to Raven-Man." After that Raven-Man would go out secretly. He would eat excrement and dog-carrion. (In the morning) they would wake up, and several wolverene-skins and wolf-skins would be there. They would ask both of the suitors, " Who killed those?" and Raven-Man would answer, "I killed them."

1 Compare W. Jochelson, The Koryak (Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. vi), No. 82, p. 250.

Then a snow-storm broke out, and continued for a lono-

time with unabated violence. Big-Raven said to the suitors, "Go and try to calm this storm! To the one who calms it, to that one will I give my daughter to wife." Raven-Man said, "I will calm the storm." He said, "Prepare some provisions for me." They prepared several pairs of boots. He went out, and staid near by under a cliff, eating. Little-Bird-Man went out, and there he stood eating of the provisions. Raven-Man gave to Little-Bird-Man a wicked look. Little-Bird-Man entered again, and did not say anything.

Raven-Man staid at the same place. The snow-storm

1 This form is inchoative. It presents a compound of the stem nivo TO BEGIN. It is used quite frequently to express a prolonged action : THEY WERE TOLD ALL THE TIME. Almost the same as the corresponding Chukchee plural form geunno'lenat.

continued with the same vigor, without abating. Oh, at last Raven-Man entered. His boots were all covered with ice, for he would make water in his boots. That is the reason why the boots had ice. He said, "It is im possible ! there is a crack in the heavens." After a while they said to Little-Bird-Man, "Now, then, calm this storm !" He said, "It is impossible. Shall I also go out and make water in my boots, like Raven-Man?" Then Big-Raven said to both suitors, " Go away ! None of you shall marry here." Then Little-Bird-Man said, "All right! I will try." He took a round stopper, a shovel, and some fat, and went up to heaven. He flew up, and came to the crack in the heavens. He stopped it with a stopper, and threw the fat on the heavens all around it. For a while it grew calmer.

He came home, and the snow-storm broke out again. Even the stopper was thrust back into the house. It was too small. He said, "It is impossible. The heavens have a crack." Big-Raven made another stopper, a larger one, and gave it to Little-Bird-Man. He also gave him a larger piece of fat. Little-Bird-Man flew up to the same place and put this stopper into the crack. It fitted well. He drove it in with a mallet. He spread the fat around over the heavens, shovelled the snow around the hole, and covered it. Then it grew quite calm.

He came back, and then Raven-Man grew hateful to all of them. He took a place close to Miti'; and she said to him, "How is it that you smell of excrement ?" -

a Why ! it is because I have had no bread for a long time." She said to him, "Enough, go away! You have done nothing to quiet this storm." He went away.

Summer came. It was raining hard. Then Raven-Man put the sun into his mouth ; so it grew quite dark. After that they said to Can'ai', "Can-ai', go and fetch water!" "How shall I fetch water? (It is too dark)." After a while they said to her, "Why, we are quite thirsty. We are going to die." She went groping in the dark, then she stopped and began to sing. She sang, "Both small

» This is meant sarcastically. Bread is considered a delicacy among the Koryak. The Raven, who eats excrement, pretends to feed on bread.

I?

rivers are stingy (with their water)." Then a small river came to that place, bubbling. She filled her pail bought from the Russians (i. e., an iron pail), and carried it on her back. (Suddenly) a man came to her. She could not carry the pail. He said, "I will carry the pail (for you)." She came home in the dark. The man followed. It was River-Man. They said to her, "Who is this man?" He said, "I am River-Man. I took pity on that singer." They scolded their daughter. Nevertheless River-Man married her.

After that they remained still in complete darkness. They said to River-Man, "Why are we living in dark ness?" He said, "Why, indeed?" He put on a head-

band of ringed-seal thong. He went out (and practised magic). Then at least a little light appeared. The day dawned. They spoke among themselves, "How shall we do it?" Then Yini'a-na'wgut prepared for a journey. She went to Raven-Man and asked, "Halloo! Is Raven-Man at home?" Raven-Woman said, "He is." She said to Raven-Man, "Since you went away, I have been feeling dull all the time." She found Raven-Man, and said to him, "Did not you feel dull (since that time)? Will you stay so?" He turned his back to her, but she wanted to turn him (so that he should look with) his face to her. But he turned his back to her. Then she tickled him under the arms. She put her hands under his armpits. His sister said to him, "What is the matter with you?

Stop it ! This is a good girl." After that he began to make sounds in her direction, "Gm, gm, gm !" She turned him around, and at last he laughed out, "Ha, ha, ha!" The sun jumped out and fastened itself to the sky. It grew daylight.

After that they slept together. She said to him, "Have you a tent?" - "No!" - "Have you a fork?" - - "No!" "Have you a plate?" - - "No!" She said, "Then let us go home ! I have all those things at home." They moved on to Big- Raven's house. She said to Raven-Man, "Oh, you are a good man!" and he felt flattered. After wards she killed him.

Words borrowed from the Russian: na/iaTKa TENT, rape.ixa PLATE, iin/iKa FORK.

Yini'a-na'wgut put Raven-Man's (head) on above. She said, "That spotted palate of yours, let it grow to be a fine cloudless sky!"1

She came home. And they said to her, "What have you been doing?" She said, "I killed Raven-Man. He had the sun in his mouth." From that time on it was quite calm. Raven-Woman said, "Well, now, does my brother remember me? (Probably) he has plenty to eat." She said, "Let me visit him." She visited him, and he was dead. Then she cried (and said), "He caused annoy ance to the other people. (Therefore he is dead.)" She left him there. There was nothing else to do.

1 These words are used also as an incantation against bad weather.

Then those people said to Little-Bird-Man, "Go home, both of you!" They said to them, "Go away with a caravan of pack-sledges!" He replied, "We will go on foot." They went away on foot, and came to a river. Little-Bird-Man said to the woman, "Let me carry you (across)!" The woman said to him, "Do not do it!" He said, "It is all right." He carried her, and in doing so he died. Yini'a-na'wgut slept a night among stonepines and was almost frozen to death. On the following morning it dawned, and close to that place a reindeerherd was walking. All the reindeer had iron antlers. A man was walking there too. He said, "Oh, come here!" She said, "I will not come. My husband has died." He said to her, "I am he, I am your husband/' He took out his gloves. "These you made for me. I am your husband. I am Little-Bird-Man."

A house was there, also reindeer (for driving). He said to her, "Let us go to Big-Raven! Now let them say again that you have a bad husband!" They went with a caravan of pack-sledges, and they arrived. The people said to Big-Raven, "Oh, your daughter has come with a caravan." Big-Raven said, "Our daughter went away on foot." She said, "Here I am, I have been brought home by Little-Bird-Man." Little-Bird-Man made numerous driving-sledges, all of silver. They lived there

1 Borrowed from the Russian cepeGpo SILVER.

all together, and travelled about in all directions with a caravan of pack-sledges. They lived in joy. They staid there.

2. Big-Raven and the Mice.1

Some Mouse-Girls walked along the seashore. The youngest Mouse also wanted to follow. Her mother said, "Tie her (and leave her) on the seashore." They bound her with two strings of her diaper. She began to squeal, "Pawawawa'!" and they said, "What is it?" - "I have found a genuine small nail." - "Go^to her!" They went to her. " W7hat is it that you have found ?" But it was only a small shell. "Oh, strike her!" They struck her, and she whimpered, "Igigix!"

to strike, she began to cry, "IgigiV

1 See Jochelson, The Koryak, /. c., No. 88, p. 260.

After a while she turned to them again, and began as before, "What is it that I have found? Oh, indeed, it has nails! Oh, indeed, it has eyes! Oh, indeed, it has whiskers!" "Go to her and see what she has found!" They came to her, and really it was a small ringed seal.

Big-Raven said, "Eh, eh! Why are those Mouse-Girls shouting and dancing?" Miti' said, "Oh, leave off! Why do you want to go to them?" But he went to them. "Well, there! Mouse-Girls, what is the matter with you?"

• "Oh, nothing! only this Hairless-One grew angry with us." He said, "Louse me, (one of you!)" One Mouse-Girl said, "I have pricked myself with my father's awl."

and really a ringed seal small.

1 A'ppa^ a' pa in some Koryak dialects, FATHER; in others, GRANDFATHER. Here it is used with both meanings indiscriminately.

One might think she were the daughter of some artisan. He said to another small girl, "Louse me!" "I have pricked myself with my mother's needle." One might think she were the daughter of some seamstress. " O Hair less-One ! louse me." She said, "Eh, all right!" She loused him. (He said,) "Oh, say (these words): 'Grand father's lice taste of fat!'"1

Then he shook his head, and the small mice were scattered in all directions. Some fell into the sea, some into the coast-slime, others into the river, and others again on the pebbles. Big-Raven took the little ringed seal and carried it home. The Mouse-Girls crawled to the shore

1 It seems that the Hairless Mouse-Girl, according to the custom of many native tribes of this country, was killing the lice with her teeth.

• Ma'ma^ probably from the Russian ivtaMa. The proper Koryak term with endearing sense is a'innia.

and asked one another, "Where did you fall?" - "I fell into the sea." "Then you were cold." - "And where did you fall?" "I fell on the small pebbles." - "Then you were pricked." — "And where did you fall?" "I fell into the coast-slime." "Then you were cold." "And you, Hairless-One, where did you fall?" - "I fell on the moss1 spread by mother." "Then you fell easy."

They said, "Let us go home!" They went home and told their mother, "See, mamma! we have found a small ringed seal, but grandfather took it away." "Did he? Then we will fetch it back. O daughters ! go and look

1 Used as a child's diaper. See W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. r., p. 252.

27 -

into his house." They looked in. Then they came back and said. "Eme'mqut is skinning it." - "Now you there, you Mouse-Girl,] go and look in !" She looked in. "Just now they are cooking it." "Now, you there, this one, go and look in there !" She looked in. "Just now they are taking the meat out of the kettle." Mouse-Woman said, "Oh, I wish Big-Raven would say, 'We will eat it to-morrow!' We must find a shaman's small stick (used in magic). Oh, you there, small Mouse-Girl ! take this bundle of grass (on which magic had been practised) and carry it to Big-Raven's house. There drop it through the vent-hole."

They (the Mice) took it and carried it there, and dropped it into the house. Big-Raven immediately said, "Miti',

1 Well to-morrow we will eat it,' Shaman's when we shall find ! Small small stick we had better eat this meat to-morrow." And she said, "All right!" - "Oh, you, small Mouse-Girl! go and look into the house !" - "Just now Miti' is arranging the bed." "And now you, go and have a look!" "Just now they have gone to sleep, they are snoring." "Now, there, let us go!" They took bags and iron pails, went there, and put all the cooked meat into them, also what was left of the broth. They defecated (into the kettle), also filled Miti"s and Big-Raven's boots with small pebbles. Next morning they awoke. "Mitiv, get up! Let us eat!" Miti' began to put on her boots. "Ah, ah, ah! ah, ah, ah!" - "What is the matter with you?" - "Oh, nothing!"

Big-Raven then put on his boots. "Ah, ah, ah! ah, ah, ah!" "And what is the matter with you? You cry now, just as I did." "Oh, stop (talking), bring the cooked meat, heat the broth !" Miti' drank some broth, (and immediately cried out,) "It tastes of excrement, it tastes of excrement!" - "Oh, bring it here!" Then Big-Raven also cried, "It tastes of excrement, it tastes of excrement!" "Mouse-Women have defiled us." - "I will not forgive this. I will stun them with blows. Bring me my big club!" She gave it to him, and he started to go to the Mouse- Women. "Oh, grandfather is coming. Tell him, cEat some pudding of stone-pine nuts!'" "What good are those puddings of stone-pine nuts ! I have no teeth." "Then have some cloud-berry-pudding."

"Yes, I will eat some of the cloud-berry-pudding. " He ate of the pudding-. "Grandfather, lie down on your back and have a nap!" - "Yes, I will have a nap, lying tj>us on my back."

He slept, and they fastened to his eyes some red shreds. "Grandfather, enough, get up!" - "All right! now I will go home." He went home; and when he was approaching, and came close to the house, he shouted all of a sudden, "Miti', tear in twain the worst one of our sons, to appease the fire!" Without any reason she tore her son in twain. "And where is the fire? Just now you said, llt burns.' What happened to your eyes? They have shreds fastened

1 Knlnis chamccmorus.

to the eyelids. The Mouse- Women have defiled you." He said, " Hm ! now at last I grew angry. Bring me my big club. I will go there and club them."

He went there. "Oh, grandfather is coming! Say to him, 'Have some pudding of root of Polygonum viviparum ! '" " What for ?" - " Then have some pudding of berries of Rubus Arcticus? "Yes, I will have some pudding of berries of Rubus Arcticus? He entered, and began to eat the pudding. "Grandfather, lie down on -your side and have a nap!" "All right! I will lie down on my side and have a nap."

He slept, and they painted his face with charcoal. "O grandfather! get up, the day is breaking!" "Yes,

1 A'li'vck, root of Polygonum viviparum.

all right ! I will get up." He awoke. "Grandfather, have a drink from the river there!" "All right! I will drink." He went away, and came to the river. He began to drink, and there he saw in the water his own image. "Halloo, Painted- Woman! you there? I will drop a stone hammer as a present for you." Oh, he dropped it. " Halloo, Painted-Woman ! I will drop down my own body ! Halloo, Painted-Woman ! shall I marry you ?" Oh, he jumped down into the water. That is all.

3. The Mouse-Girls.1

Mouse-Girl said, "Let us play!" They played, and one of them lost a tooth, the youngest one of all. They said to her, "How did you lose this tooth?" She said, "I was

Compare W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. r., No. 97, p. 284.

shot by the Envious-One from heaven. By his arrow I lost my tooth. Now I shall die, how can I live?" They said to her, "Do not stay outside! Let us carry you into the house !" They carried her home. Her mother said, "What has happened to you?" - "I was shot from the sky by the Envious-One with an arrow."

The mother said, "Let us call grandmother!" They called her, they brought her to the house. She began to practise shamanism (in order to find out) where the small daughter got her suffering. She said, " My breath does not fit anywhere. Then she wanted to go to the porch. Ermine-Woman said, "Halloo! I will go to the porch, I will inspect the puddings." The small girl pilfered there, and so she lost her tooth. They looked at the puddings, and saw that one made of stone-pine nuts had been gnawed at. There she left a tooth. Indeed, when pilfering she lost a tooth. Ermine- Woman brought in the tooth. "Whose tooth is it?" Ermine- Woman said, "On which of the small girls shall we try this tooth?"

She said to one of the small girls, "Open your mouth!" That one opened her mouth. She applied the tooth, but it did not fit. In the same way it did not fit any of those small girls. Ermine- Woman said, "Let us try it on the little suffering girl !" She tried it, and it fitted her well. Ermine- Woman said, "She was pilfering." What should she do ?

Her mother scolded her, and said, " Go and die ! Strangle yourself on a forked twig!" She (went, and very soon) came back. She said, "I could not strangle myself on a forked twig." Mother scolded her, and said again, "There, go away !" She went away, and then only she died. That is all.

4. How a Small Kamak was transformed into a Harpoon-Line.3

A small kamak said to his mother, "I am hungry." She said to him, "Go and eat something in the store room behind the sleeping-room!" He said, "I do not want to. I want to go to Big-Raven's house." The mother said, "Do not do it! You will die. You will be

"To the rear (go and) eat some- He said, "I do no want to. To Raven-Big's storeroom thing!"

1 The natives believe that the mice actually commit suicide by strangling them selves in a forked willow-twig (cf. Jochelson, The Koryak, 1. c., p. 285, footnote).

2 Compare W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. ^., No. 98, p. 285.

caught in a snare." She said, "Go to the upper store room (in the porch) and eat something!" He said, "What for? Those provisions taste of the upper storeroom." She said, "Go to the cache and eat something!" He said, "What for? Those provisions taste of the cache."

Big-Raven spread a snare close to his elevated store house (raised on supports). The small kamak ran there, and was caught in a snare. He began to whimper • "Oh, oh, I am caught, I am caught!" Big-Raven said, "It came to my mind to. go and to look at this snare." He came to it, and wanted to enter the storehouse, but stumbled over something lying in the way. "What now, what is it?" - "It is I. I am caught." The small kamak

1 Borrowed from the Russian Ky/iaKTj FIST.

was crying, and brushing away his tears with his small fist. "Stop blubbering! 1 will take you to Miti'." He brought the small kamak to his house, and said, "O, Mitix ! dance in honor of (our) catch!" She began to dance, "We have a small kamak, we have a small kamak !" Big-Raven said, "You dance in a wrong way. Ga'na, step forth and dance in honor of (our) catch !" She came out and began to dance, "We have a small ma'kak, we have a small ma'kak!" Big-Raven said, "Really this is right."

They took him into the house. The house-master said, "What shall we make out of you, a cover for the roof-hole?" — "Not this. If I am made into a cover for the roof-

1 Ga'na mixes up the sounds of the word ka'mak. Still Big-Raven finds it quite right.

hole, I shall feel smoky, I shall feel cold." The house master said, "What shall we make out of you, a plug for the vent-hole?" - - "Not this. If I am made into a plug for the vent-hole, I shall be afraid of evil spirits passing by." The house-master said, "What, then, do you wish us to make of you? Perhaps a work-bag for Miti'." He said, "Not this. I shall feel smothered." The house master said, "We shall make you into a thong." The small kamak began to laugh and said, "Yes!"

They made him into a thong, they cut him duly, then they carried the line out and began to stretch it (tightly). Thus stretched, they (left it there). Big-Raven's people went to sleep. Frost-Man and his people said,

Frost-Man

"Big-Raven has caught a small kamak. They made him into a thong. Let us go and steal it!" They found it, and began to untie it. Then it cried aloud, "Quick, get up! Already they are untying me!" Big-Raven said, "What is the matter with our small line? It wants to awaken us. Quick, let us get up !" They woke up, and said to the small kamak, "What is the matter with you? Why were you crying so loudly?" The small kamak said, "Frost-Man's people wanted to carry me away."

The people living down the coast heard (about the thing), - - how Big-Raven caught a small kamak; and how they made him into a thong ; and how no one succeeded in carrying it away, it was so watchful. Those people began to say, "We will go and carry it away."

to it, matter with thee ? (so loud)?

They said, "Surely we will carry it away." Big-Raven's people went to sleep. The people living down the coast came and took the line. It wanted to awaken the other people, but it was unable to awaken them. "Oh, they are untying me already, they are carrying me away !" Indeed, they untied it and carried it away ; they stole the line.

The others woke up, but there was no line whaterer. It had been taken away. Big-Raven said, "People living down the coast have committed this theft. Indeed, they took it, nobody else." Eme'mqut said, "A very good line was taken away, still we will bring it back." Eme'mqut made a wooden whale and entered it. He went away and came to the people living down the coast. Those people were walking around. They were saying, "This

They untied it, they carried it they stole it. away,

4*

is the first time that such a whale has come near to us. It is a very good whale."

They attacked the whale, came near to it, and threw at it a harpoon with a new line. The small kamak lustily bit into the whale. Eme'mqut said to him under his breath, "Why are you biting me? I have come to fetch you home." Eme'mqut threw into the boat of the whale-hunters some berries of Riibus Arcticus, and they began to eat them. Meanwhile Eme'mqut fled in all haste to his house. He carried away the new line, and took it home. They ceased carrying the line out of the house. They kept it always in the inner room, so the others could not steal it. That is all.

secretly, "What art thou art biting I (come to) fetch-thee." Into the boat doing me?

5. Big-Raven and the Kamaks.

Raven-Big said, "I will slide down hill." [He slid down hill.] He went and found a mountain, which was the largest of all. From that mountain he slid down, and rolled into the porch of the house of the kamaks. There he came in. Small kamaks went to the porch, and said, "Oh, human game has come to us of its own free will!" "I am not human game, I am a man." They took him into the house, and began to eat his body joint by joint. Still he was alive. They consumed Big-Raven. Then he came home, because he was a shaman.

He recovered his senses, and said to his wife, "Cook

1 Evil spirit (cf. W. Jochelson. The Koryak, 1. c., p. 27).

some soup for me !" She cooked some soup, and he ate all alone a large kettleful. Then he said to Miti', "Bring the big hammer !" She gave him the hammer, and he swallowed it. He arrived at to the house of some kamaks, and vomited through the vent-hole. (He filled the whole house) and made- them climb upward. The big kamak was standing in the middle of the house. Big-Raven struck him with the hammer. He killed him. Big-Raven came home. That is all.

6. Kilu7 and the Bumblebees.2

Eme'mqut lived with his people. He married Kilur, but they were childless. One time Eme^qut went into

1 A large stone hammer with a narrow groove for hafting.

2 Compare W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. <:., No 107, p. 294.

the open (country). He followed a river upstream. Then he saw numerous people. Some of them were women. Their bodies were resplendent with the reflection of light. All the men wore jackets of broadcloth, all the women wore calico overcoats. Eme/mqut hurried to them. He fell in love, and began to help those people. They were fishing with drag-nets. Very soon he married a Bumblebee-Woman. Those people were Bumblebee people. His new wife brought forth numerous children.

Then Kilu' became restless, and could not sleep. She came to the river, and followed it up-stream. Then she looked around, and saw those fishermen. Eme'mqut was

1 Borrowed from the Russian ua/ibTo OVERCOAT.

there with them pulling in the nets. Kilu' approached them. She trampled to death Eme'mqut's new wife, who scattered around a large quantity of fly-eggs. All the eggs became Bumblebees. The fishermen also turned to Bumblebees. Eme'mqut could do nothing, so he went home. That is all.

7. Eme'mqut's Whale-Festival.1

Eme'mqut and his people were living. They were hunting whales, and killed one whale. They took it home. Then they arranged a thanksgiving ceremonial. They gathered together all the reindeer-breeding people, also the Magpies (namely, Magpie- Women).

"Magpie- Woman, you dance!" "What shall I sing

1 Compare W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. c.^ No. 89, p. 266.

while dancing? I am unskilful. Vakikikikikiki'. My mother told me, 'Do not leave anything from the other people's wallets!' My grandmother said to me 'Leave something from the other people's wallets!' Vakikikikikiki/ !"

"So it is," said Kilu'. "When we corne to find them, our wallets are (half-)eaten." Magpie-Woman had nothing to say, so she felt ashamed and flew away.

"Oh, you Fox-Woman! it is your turn to dance." She grew excited and sang, " My brother, Pilferer, made a knife with a well-ornamented handle. But with what shall I eat the whale-skin ? I forgot it. He wanted to strap it to my thigh. With what shall I eat the whale-skin, eh?"

Alaitilacnei'-gum. Vakikikikikiki7 !

Unskilful-am-I. Vakikikikikiki' !

'Tu'm-

'From the other wallets men do not leave anything.'

By grand mother

'Gan-

'Leaving to grow excited. "By (my brother) good-ornamented-handle-knife ' he made it. Pilferer

1 Literally, VULPES-HoMO. In Yay'oca-mtlla^n^ -mtllcfin is abridged from oya'mtlwttcfin HOMO. This compound form is used more frequently for the masculine, FOX-MAN; and for the feminine, Yayo'ca-nawgut Fox- WOMAN is used. Still the first form may refer to both sexes, but here it is used exactly for Fox-WoMAN. The same is true in all analogous cases.

The old man Big-Raven said, "Ah, ah! they are singing about their feeding at other people's expense." Still an other Fox- Woman began to sing. She also grew excited. "I am she who eats hard excrements. I am she who gnaws the snowshoe-strings."

Ah, she was brought to shame by Eme'mqut. He said, "Yes, when we find them, the snowshoe-strings are gnawed through." She felt ashamed and went away.

"O, Small-Magpie-Woman! it is your turn to dance." — "What, then, shall I sing? I feel ashamed. Vakikikikikiki'! On the gables of other people's storehouses, with her running and skipping foot, the magpie is striding and

1 This means, that they are exclaiming about (the fact that they are consuming what serves for) the bringing up of other people's (children).

pecking at the food." - "Ah, ah! they are singing about their feeding at other people's expense. O, Raven-Woman! it is your turn to dance." "Caw, caw! my cousin's shadow passes on the water." [Raven-Woman began to dance (and sing) in this manner: "My cousin's shadow passes on the water."] "Caw, caw! Oh, I like you while you pass !"

She finished her dance. Then Eme'mqut went out, and the two (Magpies) were sitting there. "O girl! use your voice! Abuse Eme'mqut!" "He is feeding on dog's inner skin, on reindeer inner skin. (He is con suming) a reindeer-hoof!" "Off! When have we fed on dog's inner skin? Even when wandering in the open we do not eat (reindeer) inner skin. Much less do we eat dog's inner skin." Ah! they felt ashamed and flew away.

Yini'a-na'wgut wanted to skin a dog. "Halloo! who will hold it for me?" Raven- Woman said, "I will hold it." They went out and began to skin the dog. Raven-Woman pecked out one of its eyes. "Who pecked out this eye here?" "I do not know." She pecked at the coccyx. "Was it here?"

Then she pierced the other eye, and the liquid squirted on Yini'a-fia'wgut. "Are you now looking for this one? What of that ! I only shut my mouth." But this carcass I will lay aside." She buried it in the ground under a steep river-bank.

Then they finished the thanksgiving ceremonial with the food appointed for distribution. The reindeer-breeding people loaded their sledges quite largely with sole-leather cut out from the middle, and scraped clean of hair, also with thong of the same quality. They tied up their loads (and went away). That is the end.

largely loaded (their sledges) with sole middle, with thong middle. They hairless leather hairless

8. Eme'mqut and ila'.1

Big-Raven was living with his people. Eme'mqut (his son) had no wife. Eme'mqut went out, and found outside an old man who was (busy) making ornamented (tobacco-) mortars. He said to him, "What kind of (tobacco-) mortars are you making?" The other one said, ("Go into the house.) You will find an old woman. (Tell her) to

1 Compare W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. <r., No. 101, p. 289.

cook a meal for you." He entered (the house), and (the old woman) cooked a meal. When she had finished cooking, she took the meat out of the kettle, (and gave it to the guest.) He ate, and soon was through with the meal.

Then the old man went home and gave him the mor tars ; and he said to him, "Take these with you, haul them away, but (in doing so) take care not to look back at them !" He went away and hauled the mortars, but he did not look back; and though the mortars were heavy, he did not stop. At last he saw that a large (reindeer-) herd was passing ahead of him. Then he stopped and looked back. A (young) woman was (sitting) in a covered sledge (driving a reindeer-team). He took a seat (on the same sledge). They two drove home, and lived there in joy.

Then ila' said, "How did you come (by all this)?" The other one then told him, "I found an old man who was working on ornamented (tobacco-)mortars." ila' said, "I understand." He set out and found the same (old man). Then he said (to the old man), "What kind (of mortars) are you making?" (The old man) said, "Go and find the old woman ! Let her cook a meal for you !" He went to her, and she prepared a meal. Then she took (the meat) out of the kettle, and he ate. (The old man) gave him, too, the mortars, and said, "Haul them away, and take care not to look back at them !"

they (two) went, they (two) came they (two) lived in joy. home,

He hauled them away, and every little while he would take a rest. He moved on, and he would make one stride and then he would look back. One time a rein deer-leg appeared out of one of the mortars. But he sprang at it and struck it (in order to break the bone and get the marrow). Another time he looked back, and a (reindeer-)face appeared (out of the mortar). He sprang at it, and struck at the mortar with his knife, and chopped up the (reindeer-)face. Then he came home, and left (his sledge) with Eme'mqut. (There was nothing on it) but the tobacco-mortars. That is all.

He rushed at it with the at the he chopped small the face, he went knife mortar,

9. How Err^mqut became a Cannibal.1 Big-Raven lived with his people. Eme'mqut married

1 Compare W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. r., No. 108, p. 295.

Grass- Woman. Eme'mqut said to his wife, "Let us go out." She said, "It seems that you are going to do wrong." He said, "Why should I? This time I shall not do so." He went out into the open country and came home, having killed wild reindeer. Then he staid for a night in the open. After that he staid for two nights and very soon all the time. Grass-Woman went for a visit to her father Root-Man. She came and looked through the vent-hole, she quietly looked in and saw that just then Eme'mqut had split Root-Man in twain. He was eating his own father-in-law.

Grass-Woman went to her open-country house and he was eating father-in-law his own. him entered it. She put one small louse into the inner room, and another into the storehouse. Then she fled to Big-Raven's (house). She came to Big-Raven's, and said, "I do not know what has happened to Eme'mqut." They constructed a raised platform. Oh, Eme'mqut came to the open-country house, and he called, " Grass- Woman !" and it answered from the house, "Oh!" He came to the storehouse and called again, " Grass- Woman !" and it answered from the storehouse "Oh!" He recognized the voice of those small lice. He said, "The deuce! She is deceiving me!" He said, "Maybe I shall not be able to eat those people!" He came (to Big-Raven's house). The people were sitting on a raised platform. Eme'mqut said, "Maybe I shall not be able to eat them, since they have constructed a platform !"

He approached, and began to lick with his tongue (the supports of the platform). Big-Raven cut at his tongue with a hatchet. He broke the edge of the hatchet ; and when he examined it, it was quite jagged, like the broken gums (of an old man). (He did) the same with an axe ; then he examined it, and it was also all jagged.

Big-Raven said, "Well then, Grass- Woman, give him his own offspring!" She dropped their small son into his mouth, and he spat out mere broken bones. Then Big-Raven said to him, "Well, then listen to me! Since you are like that, listen to me ! Just do try and eat your own body!" Immediately he began to gnaw the points of the nails of his own toes. After that he consumed his legs ; then his body, arms, and shoulders. At last merely the neck was left, merely the throat. Then only did he die. After a while they burned him.

One time they were sitting in the dark. Their fire had just gone out, and Yini'a-na'wgut said to her sister, "Let us go and stop up the smoke-hole!" They stopped up the smoke-hole; and then they began to say, "Those two are coming back ! (One of them) is carrying something on his shoulders. It seems to be Eme'mqut, carrying his little son." (Indeed,) those two came and said, "Bring out the fire!" The women carried out the fire. They fed the fire (with sacrifice). Then only did the new-comers enter.

From that time on he ceased to say, "Let us go to the open country!" They staid at home all the time. They lost all desire to roam in all directions and to all places. They staid at home at the same place. That is all.

10. Eme'mqut and Fox- Woman.1

Eme'mqut married Fox- Woman. He said, "I will go and get some blubber from our summer place." He arrived there. One of the flippers of his blubber-bag was gnawed at by a mouse. The mouse was dead. He found it and said, "What is it, a wolverene?"

He loaded it on his sledge and hauled it home. He came home. Then only he looked back and saw that

1 Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, /. <:., No. 106, p. 294.

the mouse had turned into a wolverene. He looked into the house and said, "Mi'ti, I have killed a wolverene. Let some of you come out."

They took in the wolverene and began to beat the drum. Fox- Woman, the untidy one, was sitting with her boot-strings loose. She was looking for lice. "Oh, you Fox- Woman ! it is your turn to beat the drum." The untidy woman was making leather thimbles. She began to beat the drum, "I am an unskilful one, I am an untidy one! I am eating hard excrement, left outside ! I am eating strings of snowshoes in the brightness of the full moon."

Indeed, they eat them. Whenever we come to look for our snowshoes, the strings are eaten.1

woman am I by the full moon." shining

1 Remark of the narrator.

She felt ashamed and went away, even with untied boot-strings. She went away, and did not come back. After some time Eme'mqut went outside and found her. A number of children were there. He said to Fox-Woman, "Whose children are these?" - "I said to myself, 'Perhaps they will keep me back somehow. I wanted to go away into the open country for my delivery. And I was delivered outside.'" - "Now, at least, stop your clamor! Let us go home !"

They went home. The thimbles which she had made before, and hung up outside, now turned somehow to clothes for her numerous children. The people were asking Eme'mqut, "From where have you brought the woman ?"

to the became somehow. They began to Eme'mqut, "Where from dresses tell

"I brought her from the open country. Long ago she went away to give birth to her children secretly outside. All those together are her children." In truth, she was a skilful seamstress, and had no reason for going away and living in secrecy.

After that they lived in joy. Eme'mqut married Kilu,1 Ilax married Yini'a-na'wgut. When so disposed, they would ascend the river and catch plenty of winter fish. Then they would return to their house-mates. They killed plenty of game. In this manner they led a happy life. What has become of them I do not know. That is all.

1 The narrator seems to have forgotten the marriage of Eme'mqut with Fox-Woman, and their subsequent reconciliation.

ii. Ermine-People. - I.

Ermine-People were living. One Ermine-Man came home, and said, "You are asked to live with Big-Raven's people." He was telling lies. Nothing of the sort was said to him. They came to that house, and wanted to enter. Then they were beaten severely. They went away, and said, "We are rejected here." They came home and began to talk, "Let us go and live in a cave!" They went and lived in a cave. Afterwards they were caught by a flood. They had to climb upwards. That is all.

12. Ermine-People. - - II.

Ermine-People lived. After some time Ermine-Woman brought forth a son. Ermine-Man said, "Ermine-Woman has brought forth a son. [He said,] W7ith what shall we cut the navel-string?" "Writh-Smell-Pusher-Away has an axe." - - "O Smell-Pusher! have you an axe?"-- "No, (I have not.)"

Then he came to WTith-Odor-Pusher-Away. "Halloo! Have you an axe?" - - "No, (I have not,) but With-Odor-Averter has one." He came to With-Odor-Averter. O Odor-Averter ! have you an axe?" "Here it is!"

He took the axe, came home, and only then did they sever the navel-string. They began to arrange the birthfeast. They cooked for this one Ermine-Man. The master said, "Carry some meat to Big-Raven's people!" They carried some meat. (One girl) went and came there They said, "Why did you come?" - "The mother brought forth (a child)." They said, "Why did you come? You smell of excrement !"

They threw the meat to the dogs, and gave her back the empty dish. She went home again and said, "Oh, oh ! Mitix ate it all herself, (she gave) nothing to the old man." "Poor thing, that old man! Carry again some more meat there." She carried the meat; and they said to her, " Why did you come ?" and again Big-Raven threw her out of the house, together with her dish.

She remained there in a swoon the whole day, only then she came home. "Why did you stay there so long?" • "Eme'mqut held me back all the time, (saying, 'This is a) very good girl.' Moreover, Eme'mqut said, 'Go there, live together!'" - "Oh, but I have just now given birth to a child!" "Have no care. I will carry it wrapped in a coverlet."

They set off, and arrived there. " Why have those Ermine-People come? They smell of excrement." They arrived there, and wanted to enter, but the others began to strike them. "Oh, they reject us!" - "(No,) they bid you wel come. Let mamma enter first !" Again Big- Raven began to strike them with a stick.

The daughter said, "I will go first. Eh, old man, why are you bidding me such a welcome? I can shake (my coat) myself." They were rejected, and went away. After that they said, "Where shall we go? We will go to a cave."

They went to a place rich in edible seaweed. (Ermine-Man) fell down from a cliff and fell in a swoon. (Then he came to, and said,) "Oh, it is a good (cliff), it makes you motionless with pleasure, a very good (place) !" They descended into a cave, and slept there. (Ermine-Man) went out in the night-time to pass water ; and there (on

1 GlwlLe' STONK-FACE. Standing columns of natural rock frequent on the shore cliffs and mountains of these countries, also the large bowlders lying about arc considered by the natives to be human-like beings, petrified, hut still leading a mysterious life of their own (cf. Bogoras, The Chukchec, Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. vii, p. 285). Ermine-Man pretends to have seen one of these beings catching fish in the sea-, but it was only a standing block of ice, too unstable to be considered as a living bring.

the sea), upright blocks of ice were submerged in the water. "O Stone-Face! what success have you had in catching fish)?" He went back into the house, "With whom have you been talking?" He said, "(I inquired) what success Stone-Face has had catching fish with a small drag-net-, and they answered, 'All right !'r She said, "Now we shall eat some cooked fish."

They went to sleep, and in a little while the sea-water came to them. "You have passed water." The other one said, "It is you who have passed water." They looked around, and said, "We are caught by water." They began to climb up the cliff. (Ermine-Woman dragged up) all the children. Even all the straps were snapped (in two). They climbed up. He climbed first; then one of his sides fell down detached.

The others climbed up. "Cook (this meat)!" (Ermine-Woman) said, "Where does it come from?" He said, "The Chukchee passed by and left it." They began to cook it. As soon as the (water in the) kettle began to boil, he felt unwell. The woman said, "What is the matter with you?" He said, "I am unwell." They ate the meat, and he died.

The woman saw that one of his sides was missing. (She exclaimed,) "We have eaten one of his sides without knowing it ! Where shall we go ! To every cache, to other people's caches." They turned into real ermine. That is all.

13. Eme'mqut and the Kamaks.3

Eme'mqut lived with his family. One time he went into the open and found there a house. (A voice from)

2 The Reindeer Koryak and the Reindeer Chukchee call each other mutually by the same name, Ta'nfiitan (cf. The Chukchee, /. c., p. n). :i Compare W. Jochclson, The Koryak, /. r., No. 102, p. 290.

1 Oya'myaii HUMAN GAME is a word used only by the spirits.

• Here a man is spoken of as a "wild reindeer." Tn other tales a man is spoken of as a "little seal."

:? These words are supposed to be in the language of the kamak. They differ, there said, "Halloo, La'wa ! is that you? How are you getting along with your human game?" He said, "Well, we two have killed some wild reindeer. How is (my) wife?" "She has just been delivered of a son. And even we two, staying here at home, have killed one man. Now, La'wa, call to the spirits!" "And where is the drum?" "[What is the matter with you?] (Don't you know?) Of course, it is there on the cross-pole."

Eme'mqut called to the spirits. He put them to sleep,

• the kamak-woman, together with her husband. He revived the other man. They fled in the night-time, together with Eme/mqut. In the middle of the night those sleepers wanted to pass water. They came out, and said, "Our son has become quite light of foot. And how is it? There are two foot-tracks, - - one to this side, and the other to that side.

They entered, and again went to sleep. Then their real son, La'wa, came home. "Halloo, La'wa ! have you come? Not long ago you were here, and now you come back another time." - "When have I been at home? I have arrived just now." "How is your reindeer hunt?" "Nothing killed. We were famishing." - "There, La'wa, call to the spirits!" He took the drum. (It was made of pieces of) skin of women's breasts sewed together. He began to call to the spirits, "Trai, Tiroi, trail" Thus was he singing.

The other man lived with Eme'mqut's family, and mar ried a daughter of a reindeer-breeder. They lived quite happily. They staid there. That is all.

however, from the ordinary Koryak of the western branch by the repeated use of /- instead of y. This makes them similar to the eastern Koryak dialect, and to the Chukchee.

4 Compare the preceding footnote.

14. Eme'mqut and Shellfish-Girl.

1 Acerina ccrmia. This tale was told by a young girl. It seems to be a frag ment of longer and more coherent tale.

14. Eme'mqut and Shellfish-Girl.

Big-Raven lived with his people. Oh, Eme'mqut walked along the seashore, and found some shellfish. He detached one shellfish, and it began to whimper, "IgigiM" He said, "Cease your crying! Yonder among the stone-pine bushes (lies) your detached hood."

Oh, he went and looked for it ! It had turned into a small house. He entered the house and married that Shellfish-Girl. Then he brought her home. They lived there. That is all.

15. Eme'mqut and the Perches.

Eme'mqut went into the open and found a village. They were catching winter fish with drag-nets. The fish were small perches. He dragged a net along that fishingriver, and filled with fish a set of drying-poles. He made such a set. Very quickly he constructed those drying-poles.

After a while they gave him Fox- Woman, and made him marry her. He brought home two small dried perchtails. These he brought home, and hung them on the drying-pole.

They were going to eat these small dried perch-tails, and all at once something happened. (These small tails) turned into small men. They said, "Whose sons are we?" "Say, cWe are sons of Eme'mqut. '"

Then the (two) girls of this place filled with dried meat two bags; one for each [they filled]. They went away in iron canoes, and took the girls along. WThat has become of them I do not know. They went together, (both of them), headlong.

1 Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, /. <:., No. 100, p. 288.

Those (i. e., Eme'mqut and his wife) were sent away by the people, and were given (reindeer with) halters of grass. Then the people ceased to send them away. They ceased to send away Eme'mqut and his wife. They became as natives, and lived in joy. Fox- Woman now was bringing forth mere male children.

Winter came, they were wandering in all directions. At times they visited their neighbors. That is all.

1 6. Miti' and Magpie-Man.1

Big-Raven lived with his family. Oh, Big-Raven said, "I will (go and) fetch some willow-bark." Oh, Miti' went to feed the little puppies. Magpie-Man came to eat there. He pecked at Miti"s face (to indicate his love), and her whole nose was covered with scratches.

Oh, that one (Big-Raven) comes home ! He said to Miti', "What has happened to you? Your nose is scratched all over." She said, "By hitting with my nose against the sharp ends of the dog-shed corner I was scratched thus." Oh, Big-Raven cut away all the ends of the dog-shed corners. Then again he went for willowbark. Miti' went out, perched on the top of the dog-shed, and began to sing, "I am walking along the cross beam!"

Then Magpie-Man came, and said, "Let us enter the sleeping-room ! Big-Raven will not come back soon. He will not catch us."

She took him into (the house). Just as soon as they entered the sleeping-room and began to make love there, then Big-Raven came back, and called out, "Miti', take this load of willow!" Miti' said, "Let the Tkla 2 bring it down ! I am busy trampling a half-scraped skin with my feet." "Nay," said Big- Raven, "I want you to take it

• Small wooden charms of human shape (ef. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. <:., p. 42)-

down." Oh, Miti7 took it, and with a violent pull drew it into the house.

Then Big- Raven entered the house and made a smoul dering fire. He also stopped up the entrance-hole and the smoke-hole, so that the sleeping-room was full of smoke. Then a Magpie's voice was heard from the sleeping-room. That Magpie came out. He escaped through a narrow crack.

"(See) what (this) Magpie has done to me!" The Magpie, however, went home. Miti7 was with child. After some time she brought forth two small eggs. (The two children) grew rapidly, and Big-Raven had a great love for them.

Big-Raven's people were storing their catch of fish. Those two said, "Mamma, we are hungry." She said, "Go out and say to daddy, 'We are hungry.'" They went out, and were given two whole dried salmon. They entered, and nibbled up (the fish). Then they said again, "We are hungry." Miti7 said to them, "Go out and ask daddy (for more)."

They went out. "Daddy, we are hungry!" "No wonder ! Two thievish magpies !" Those two sons began to weep. "Oh, he is reproaching us!" Miti7 said to them, "Go out and tell him, 'Our real daddy is herding reindeer (with the wealthy reindeer-breeders).'" (After that) they entered again, and Miti7 put them into a grass bag, (placing) each in one of the (lower) corners. She went away, and came to Magpie-Man and flung (her bag right in).

Big-Raven said, "I feel lonely. I will go to Miti7." He went and came there. (The people said,) "Miti7, come out! Your old man has come to you." Miti7 said, "Has he no legs? Let him enter of his own accord!" He entered, and she gave him food. He began to eat, and was choking. Then he ran out of the house.

Miti7 called to him. She said, "Big-Raven!" - "Oi!"

17. How Big-Raven's Daughter was swallowed by a Kamak.1

1 Compare ]ochelson, The Koryak, /. f., No. 103, p. 291.

Then he could not help himself, and shouted, "Oi!" The piece that choked him flew out (of his mouth, and fell clown) at a great distance. Then Big-Raven went home. That is all.

17. How Big-Raven's Daughter was swallowed by a Kamak.1

Big-Raven was living with his people. One of his daughters was (almost) eaten by lice. They shook her combination suit, and found there one small louse. (Big-Raven) said to his wife, "What shall we do with it?" The woman said, " What will you do ? Why, you will kill it." He said, "(No,) we will make it into a drum."

They made it into a drum. They looked at it, and the small louse turned into a drum. Big-Raven immediately began to act as a shaman. The news of this was carried everywhere, to all the villages • and the people began to talk, (and say,) "Big-Raven has become quite a shaman, but he has grown old without having any spirits. What un known kind of drum has he made?"

Big-Raven's daughter was living in secrecy. She did not appear openly. All the neighbors gathered as suitors. He said, "Whosoever can state rightly the material of which my drum is made, to him I shall give my daughter." They named all kinds of sea-game. One said, "Of whale;" but Big-Raven said, "Not of that." Others also said it was of wolf-skin, of reindeer-skin. They named every living thing; but he said, "Not of that." They could not describe it properly.

Then from the fire crept out an evil spirit, with no clothes on, with only a cap (on his head). "I can tell of what your drum is made. It is made of a chambervessel." — "Not of that." — "It is made of a kettle." —

1 Borrowed from the Russian Kopona, THE cow; -pel is the suffix of the diminutive.

• Borrowed from the Russian Kapiviain> THE POCKET.

3 The ka'mak turned into an ordinary human being; namely, into a woman, who was assisting them in their work.

"Not of that." - "Then of a small louse." Miti' said, "That is right! Now we must give our daughter to the Kamak."

They brought out the daughter, and began to prepare her for the journey. Then only, for the first time, was she seen. The daughter began to cry. They arranged for her three lines of sledges. One was hauled by whales ; another, by reindeer ; the third one, by white whales. All three kinds were alive. In the end they brought a small cow. The girl mounted it. She put on a large knife in a bandoleer, and also put a comb into her pocket. They set off. The girl was crying very hard.

They came to the kamak's house, and the other kamaks went out and ate all the reindeer, "N'am, n'am, n-am!" Only that cow was left. Then the girl began to kill the kamaks with her knife. At last only one was left, - the first one, with no clothes. Then she threw down the comb, (and it grew quite large.) She climbed to the top of it ; but he could not climb it, and so the evil spirit could not eat her.

He said, "Though at a future time you will marry a certain man and have two children by him, just then I shall eat you." Then the evil spirit went away. She married a reindeer-breeder. After a while she brought forth a child, and then another. Again she began to cry. She said, "The kamak is going to eat me!"

One time her husband had gone out, and then the kamak came and ate her. She had concealed about her at this very moment her woman's knife, and with that knife she ripped open his body (insides). The evil spirit died, and she came out. The next morning, when they awoke, a woman was busying herself around their house. (The mistress) said, "Who are you?" "I (am the one who)

ate you yesterday."

So

1 Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, /. <:., No. 105, p. 293.

• Compare p. 68, footnote 3.

3 Mlnawaco'mik^ literally LET us ACT WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. The word an- a (GRANDMOTHER) is used also for DIVINING-STONE (cf. W. Jochelson, The Koryak, /. c., p. 44)-

Meanwhile her sons became (grown) men. One son married that woman. Just then her husband came. They went to Big-Raven's people. Another son also married. They came to Big-Raven's people. The people said (to Big- Raven), "Your daughter is being [brought] here!" He said, "The evil spirit took her away. What (kind of a) daughter may come from there ?" She looked into the house. "I am here, I have come!" They went out (to meet her), and all entered. From that time they lived together and grew rich. That is all.

1 8. The Kamak and his Wife.

Some people lived in a certain place. One day a kamak and his wife looked down (through the entrancehole). They said, "Halloo! have you not some blubber?" • "There is some in the cache." They entered the cache, and began to eat blubber. Then they sang, "It tastes well. W7e are eating blubber." The next morning it was the same. "Halloo! have you not some blubber?" "There is some in the porch." "It tastes well. We are eating blubber ; but when you have no more blubber, [to-morrow] we shall eat you."

They fled upwards in the night-time. They threw an arrow (upwards), and it became a road. They fled along this road.

Those came again. "Halloo! have you not some blubber?" But there was no answer. "Let us jump in! They are hidden somewhere." They entered, and searched in all the corners. There was nothing.

They said, "Let us try the divining-stone !" 3 (The

The reason is probably that divination with stones is chiefly practised by women, and that the divining-stone, though usually a round pebble or a piece of bone ornamented with beads and tassels, represents a female guardian of the family.

S3

kamak-woman) made (her husband) stand with his legs apart. She used his penis as a divining-stone. "If they have fled to the morning dawn, we shall follow them. If they have fled to the sunset, we shall follow them. To the seaside also we shall follow them. If they have fled upwards, what then ? God would not treat us very pleasantly. How can we follow them?"

He began to sway his penis. "Shall we go out through the same opening without any fear.1 Let us go out through the vent-hole in the roof of the porch !" The kamakwoman said, "Take me on your shoulders!" He took her on his back. "Oh, you are strangling me!" (His head) thrust itself into her anus. "Oh, you are playing mischief!"

Finally they both died, and lay there. His head slipped into her anus. After a while (the fugitives) §aid, "Let us visit the house !" They visited it, and dragged out his head with an iron hook, and his head had become (quite) hairless.

"Oh, oh?" They threw them into the direction of the sunset. Then they lived and were happy. They were not (molested) by spirits. That is all.

19. Gull- Woman and Cormorant- Woman.

Gull-Woman lived with a companion, who was her female cousin. They sat sewing. Cormorant-Woman (i. e., the cousin in question) said, "While no one comes to the cave, I will go and prepare my sinew-thread." At the same time Big-Kamak said, "I will walk along the shore." He walked along the shore. Then he said, "What is there, that shows so white?"

1 Literally, WITHOUT SHAME. SHAME for FEAR is used also in the Chukchee (Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. viii, No. 10, p. 63, foot note i).

§4

1 Compare p. 68, footnote 3. .

He came (nearer, and it was) a Gull ; and, [even] without chewing, he swallowed her. Then Big-Kamak came home, and said, "I am unwell." [He came home,] and as soon as he lay down (to rest), that Gull-Woman, with her woman's knife, ripped open his body (from the inside). Oh, he said to his wife, "Cheer me up (by some means)!" "Without collar-string, without nostrils!"

Big-Kamak died. That Gull- Woman came out (of his insides). She began to jump up on the cross-pole above his pillow; but she could not fly up, because she was all covered with slime. She flew up again, and fell down and thudded against the ground. His wife lay flat in the corner (from sheer fright). Nevertheless she flew up again, and was on the house-top.

She came home, and said, "Big-Kamak swallowed me, I nearly died." That one, Cormorant- Woman, said, "I also will make something. Let him also swallow me!" The other one said, "Don't do it! You have no woman's knife." "Here are my nails. I will rip him open- with my nails. If it were done, I should feel elated."

That one (Kamak-Woman) passed by, but she could not talk to her. She went to the cave and staid there. That Ka'mak- Woman, indeed, was often passing by, but she could not see her. That Cormorant-Woman began to cough, and to say, "Here I am!" but how could she see her in the dark?

She said, "Here I am! Swallow me!" But she could not find her. Indeed, she almost stepped over her. "Where is she?" Oh, she found her! She said, "I will swallow you!" The other one said, "Do swallow me!" She swallowed her, also, without chewing, gulped her down. Oh, she came home. And again she said, "I feel unwell!" She said to her husband, "Cheer me up!" "Without collar-string, without nostrils !"

1 The respective roles of Big-Kamak and his wife are evidently confused in this tale'. Thus the husband, killed not long ago, would seem to be alive again. Similar confusion is met in several other tales, Chukchee and Koryak (cf. for instance, Bogoras, Chukchee Mythology, Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, vol. viii, part ii, No. i, pp. 15, 19).

She killed her again, and tore the old scars1 with her nails. This one died. Again she came out. [Cormorant-Woman came out,] and cut her way through several mounds of drifted snow.

Oh, she came home. (The kamak) said, "I have enough of these [former] doings." They have punished their own bodies, and ceased to walk along the stone.3 That is all.

20. Yini'a-fiawgut and Kilu's Marriage with Fish-Man.3

Big-Raven lived with his family. K'flu' said to Yini'afia'wgut, "Let us go for a walk!" They went out walking, and they took a fish-head for (travelling-)provisions. They came to a certain place and began to eat. (Kilu') threw at her (cousin) the cheek-bone of a fish. She sped away, and said, "Yi'ni has become a kamak." That one said, "I have not become a kamak." "Enough, indeed, you have become a kamak !"

She tried to detach it, but could not do it, so she fell asleep. K'flu' said, (when) she came home, and they said to her, "Where is Yi'ni?" (She said, "Yi'ni) became a kamak." Then Yini'a-na'wcrut awoke. There was Fish-

*?

Man combing his hair, and a load of winter-fish was (there also).

He said to her, "Enough, wake up!" She got up. He married her. They lived there, and caught plenty of fish. After some time they came home to Big-Raven's house. "They brought your daughter." - "Which daughter may come here? Our daughter became a kamak." "Here I am ! I came."

'2 Both Kamaks seem to have revived after having been killed. 3 Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, No. 109, p. 296.

Kill/ began to envy (her cousin on account of) her Fish husband. (She said,) "Yi'ni, how did it happen to you?" "You did this thing to me." "But your hus band is a good one."

"Can'ai', let us go out for a walk!" They went out, came to a place, and began to eat. They also took a (fish-)head for (all) provisions. "Can'ai7, throw a bone at me!" The other one said, "I will not [throw]." (K'ilu') said, "(Do it!). We shall gain much by it."

She threw the bone at her, but it did not stick (to her face). She took it and glued it on with her saliva. At last it was (sticking) all right. "O Can'ai' ! leave me (alone)!" She left her (and went away). "Catrai', I did not become a kamak." (The other one) again came back. She said again, "Leave me (alone)! Go home and say, 'She has become a kamak!"1

Big-Raven said, "It is her own mind. Let her be (wherever she desires)." Kilu' [falsely] pretended to be crying, then she fell asleep. She also woke up-, and there was Fish-Man. He said, "Enough, it is all your pretensions." She got up, and Fish-Man married her. They also staid there and caught plenty of fish.

After some time they went home, to Big-Raven's house. People said, "They have brought Kilu'." - "Our Kilu' became a kamak." She said, "I am here, I came! Fish-Man married me." There (both Fish-Men) lived. They were quite successful in catching fish. Yini'a-na'wgut and her cousin brought forth sons. They bore some male children. That is all.

2i. Big-Raven and Fox. Dialect of Pa Han.1

See p. 6. '* The fox, in the Koryak and Chukchee, is usually a female, Fox-Woman.

2i. Big-Raven and Fox.1

Big-Raven walked along the sand-spit, and found a small ringed-seal. He said, "It seems that if it were a good catch, it would not lie so far (from the water)." He kicked it, and threw it into the sea. He walked farther on, and found a spotted seal. He said as before, "It seems that if it were a good catch, it would not lie so far (from the water)." He kicked it into the sea.

Then he found a thong-seal, and kicked it into the sea. He found a white-whale, and threw it into the water. He found a whale, and another whale, quite big (bowhead whale), and he threw it in still farther. He walked on, and found a striped whale. (Then he said,) "Here is a good whale !"

Then he called aloud to the neighboring people. A number of Chukchee rushed for the whale, knife in hand. They were approaching. He looked on them and felt frightened. So he entered the mouth of the whale. There he began to suck in the whale-oil. He filled his mouth full, then he jumped out and flew away.

A fox2 saw him. "Where do you come from?" "From the whale." She says, "What?" He says, "From the whale." She said again, "What?" "From the whale !"3 Then the oil dropped down directly on her (back).

"That is good. I gathered some oil." She wrung out her coat in a dogs'trough. Big-Raven also gathered oil (for himself). Then the small fox prepared a cake of (berries and other) vegetable material, and sent it to Big-Raven to show her gratitude. With these returnpayments, however, she killed him.4 It is finished.

•* The first two answers are given by Big-Raven with mouth closed 5 the third, with mouth open. They are also imitative of the cry of the raven. 4 Evidently by poison mixed with the berries.

22. Eme'mqut and Envious-One. Dialect of Par en}

1 See p. 6. This is evidently a fragment of a larger tale, but the narrator knew no more.

22. Eme'mqut and Envious-One.1

The next morning Eme'mqut saw Envious-One, and he said to him, "Where did you see him? Let us go and visit him." Again they visited him, and said to him. "Oh, wait! we are going to roast the omasum on a flat stone." Then Eme'mqut left Envious-One.

He began to busy himself with the omasum, and to roast it. He finished this. Then he went away. After some time he took a fine girl for a wife. Envious-One brought to his home his former (wife) Little U'wen. After a long time they said to each other. "Come here! Let us compare the beauty of our wives!"

Envious One said, "All right! I will bring her." After that every time again he rushes at his wife. She had an overcoat fringed with reindeer-mane. He took her along. While on the way, he washed her quite frequently* with (liquid from) the chamber-vessel, and (by rubbing) forced the blood into her face.

Then those two came. Eme'mqut's wife was hidden. They were going to bring the wives. Envious- One fed his wife sumptuously, giving her plenty of whale-blubber. "Let us compare the beauty of our wives!"

They brought them in. "Ah, but she has long lashes! She has large buttocks!" All the time he kept jumping over to his wife and re-arranging the parting of her hair. "Oh, surely she will came out the victor!" Then they brought forth Eme'mqut's wife. Envious-One swooned at the first look.

He had a diarrhea from that whale-blubber.2 They took away the woman. Then he recovered his senses. He said, "I have slept." And really he began to eat

2 It seems that he had eaten some whale-blubber with his wife.

That vomited matter, which he tried to swallow came out again. They took her away. He recovered his senses, and ate a^ain that matter vomited from his insides. Then

(he said), "I do not want it. Go away! I have had enough!" The end.

23. Big-Raven and Fish- Woman.1 (In Six Dialects^)

Big-Raven lived with his family. They had nothing to eat. He went to the sea, and found there Fish-Woman.2 He brought her home. She cast forth spawn and they ate it. Then Big-Raven married Fish-Woman. Miti' grew jealous. Big-Raven went into the open. Then Miti7 struck Fish-Woman and killed her. She cooked her flesh and ate of it. Some of it she left for her husband.

Then Big-Raven came home. "Fish-Woman, come out." Then that one who was just cooked, stepped forth from the rear storeroom. ' He came in and she gave him food. Then she said to him, "Just now Miti' has killed me, and cooked my flesh." The next day he went away again. Miti' again attacked Fish- Woman. She wrung her neck (and thought,) "This time I have killed her." Big-Raven came back and she revived again and gave him food.

1 Compare Jochelson, The Koryak, /. c., No. 104, p. 292.

Literally, Piscis-HoMO. More frequently used for the masculine (cf. No. 20, line 1 6).

After that Fish-Woman went away. (She said,) "Miti7 some day will make an end of me." Big-Raven came back, but she was not there. He came to the sea-shore and called out, "Fish-Woman, come here." - "I shall not come. Miti7 will try to kill me again." So he could not call her out. That is all.

i Aqan-qau', the Maritime Chukchee man, who made for me the Chukchee translation of this tale, though a native of the Pacific coast, pronounced not Ku'urkll, but Ku'rkil as do the people on the Kolyma (cf. Bogoras, Chukchee Mythology, /. ^., vol. vii, p. 315, footnote 2).

2 The first line of text is Kamchadal of coast ; the second line, that of Sedanka.

1 All these words and forms are borrowed from the neighboring Koryak (eastern branch).

Nusn inux

Then nimcx. himcx."

Woman!"

5 humnen." hum."

kill me." Altogether to call her he could not.

24. Kilu' and Monster-Man. (In Three Dialects?)

and her sister went out for a walk. Yini'a-na'wgut looked ahead and espied something-. u What is there? Look at it!" KnV looked, and it fell down. "Just now you said, 'What is coming there ?'r And it fell down again."

They came home and made a fire. Then there was a clattering at the entrance, Monster-Being came there. He sat down on Kili/'s side. Oh, she pushed her cousin toward him. "You saw him first! Then be at his side!" As soon as her cousin went to sleep (with him), KnV ran away out of the house. Even all her clothes were torn to shreds. They caught on the trees, and she pulled at them with violence. So, when she came to the river, she had on no clothes at all. The trees were catching even at her eyes. She pulled with violence, and even bled from the nostrils.

Then she came to the village, and the people laughed at her. "What has happened to you?" "Indeed a kamak came and devoured my cousin. It was she who saw him first." • "Let us go and look at her!" They set off and moved on. They came and saw those two walking together. (The new-comer was) a very good young man. They said to K'ilu', "If you had not run away, he would have married you."

Then Kilu' began to boast, "The suitor came first to me!" though it was not true at all. She envied Yini'ana'wgut because of her husband. He entered, (and proved to be) a very good young man, and Kilu7 envied her sister to a great extent. Her cousin was married, (and not she). Oh, that is all.

APPENDIX I.

SONGS. l i.

It seems that I am going' to sing of Qutx and his family. I have a wife Alfiatva'gal I will sing of the people of Ye'jmel.

I shall recover my senses, I shall have rest. Simply with fly-agaric (I have stunned myself). I shall recover my senses, then I will simply run to my sweetheart. I will sing of my bad children.

1 These two songs were written down from the phonographic records of Mr. Jochelson (No. 2 and No. 7 on his list). The first is in Koryak of Kamenskoye; the second is Chukchee in grammar and phonetics, and Koryak in vocabulary. It was obtained from an old Reindeer Chukchee of Parapolski Dol, who had lived for a long time among the Reindeer Koryak.