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Source: Myths and Tales of the
Southeastern Indians, By John R. Swanton, 1929
An old woman was living in a certain place. One time, when it was
raining, she found a little blood in the water, laid it aside carefully
and covered it up. Some time afterwards she removed the cover and found a
male baby under it. She started to raise him, and when he was old enough
to talk he called her his grandmother.
When the child was 6 or 7 years old his "grandmother" made a bow and
arrows for him and he began going out hunting. The first time he came back
from the hunt he said to her, "What is the thing which jumps on the ground
and goes flopping along_"
"It is a grasshopper," she said. "Go and kill it and bring it to me,"
and he did so.
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The next time he came in from hunting he said, "What was the thing
I saw flying from tree to tree_"
"It is a bird. Go and kill it and bring it to me to eat," she said.
Next time he returned from hunting he said, "What is the shiny thing with
long logs and slender body which I saw run away_"
"That is a turkey," she said. "Go and kill it and bring it to me. It is
good to eat."
Next time be said, "Mat is the thing with a woolly tail which I saw
climbing a tree_"
"It is a squirrel. It is good to eat," she said, so he killed it and
brought it in.
The next time he said, "What is the thing with long legs, short body and
tail, a blackish nose and long ears_"
"It is a deer. Go and kill it and bring it in. It is good to eat." This is
how he found out the names of all these creatures.
The next time he returned from hunting he said, "I saw something with big
feet, a big body sloping forward, and big round ears but looking as if it
had no tail. What is it_"
"It is a bear," she replied. "Go out and kill it and bring it in, for it
is good to eat." And so he did.
The next time he said, "I saw a big thing which has long hair halfway down
the shoulders but nowhere else except at the end of the tail. It had its
head close to the ground and when it raised it I saw that it had short
horns and big eyes. What is it_"
"That must be a bison," she said. "Go and kill it and bring it in. It is
good to eat." So he killed it and brought it in.
After that he stopped questioning his grandmother regarding the animals
because he had learned about all of them, and he could now hunt by himself
and so make his living. He went out hunting all of the time.
The old woman warned him, however, not to go to a big mountain which they
could see in the distance.
The old woman provided corn and beans for them but did not tell him where
she got them and after a while he became curious. One time when she was
out of corn and beans and he was about to go hunting she told him that she
would cook sofki and blue dumplings against his return.
He started off but instead of going hunting slipped back to the house and
peeked through a crack. Then he saw his grandmother place a riddle on the
floor, stand with one foot on each side of it and scratch the front of one
of her thighs, whereupon corn poured down into the riddle. When she
scratched the other thigh beans poured into the riddle. In that way the
orphan learnedhow she obtained the corn and beans.
Afterwards the orphan went off hunting, but when he came back he would not
touch the food. His grandmother asked him if he was in pain or if anything
else was the matter with him, urging him to eat. When she could not
persuade him, she said, "You must have been spying upon me and have
learned how I get the corn and beans. If you do not want to eat the food I
prepare, you must go away beyond the mountain which I forbade you to
pass."
Then she told him to bring her some live jays and some live rattlesnakes
with which she made a kind of headdress, and she also made a flute for
him. As he walked along wearing the headdress and blowing upon the flute
the birds would sing and the snakes shake their rattles.
Then his grandmother said to him, "Now, all is ready for you start along
on this trail, but before you leave lock me up in this log cabin and set
it on fire. After you have been gone for some time come back to look at
this place, for here you were raised." She had provided in advance that he
was to marry the first girl whom he encountered.
The orphan did as his grandmother had directed, and when he reached the
other side of the mountain he came upon numbers of people playing ball.
When they saw him all were pleased with his headdress of jays and
rattlesnakes and stopped to look at him.
Rabbit was among these people, and when he saw how all were attracted by
the orphan he wanted to be like him, so he persuaded the orphan to let him
travel along in company. Before they had gone far they came to a sheet of
water, and Rabbit said, "There are many turtles here. Let us go down into
the water and get a lot of them."
The youth agreed and Rabbit said, "When I shout 'all ready' we will dive
in." But, at the appointed word, instead of diving into the water, Rabbit
went to where his companion's headdress and flute were lying and prepared
to run off with them.
Before he could get away, however, the youth came out and called, "Why are
you doing that_"
"It is so pretty that I was just looking at it. When I say 'Ready' let us
dive again." The youth did as had been agreed, but Rabbit jumped out of
the water, seized the headdress and flute and ran off with them.
The youth collected many turtles and started on carrying them. Presently
he came to a lot of people who liked him as well as those he had met
before he lost his headdress and flute and they treated him well. After he
had spent some time among them he traveled on until he came to a house. He
put his turtles into a hole in the ground and then approached the house.
He found a young woman living there whom he married. Then he said to his
mother-in-law, "There are some turtles outside in a hole in the ground.
Bring them and cook them for us." So she went to the cavity and found it
full of turtles which she brought back with her.
After they had finished eating, someone came to them and said that Rabbit
had been arrested for stealing the youth's property. The youth went to the
place and as soon as he came up the jays and the rattlesnakes, who had
been absolutely silent while they were in Rabbit's possession, began to
make a noise, the jays to sin and the snakes to rattle. He put on his
headdress once more, took his flute, and started home, the birds and
snakes singing and rattling for joy at being restored to him.
The people who held Rabbit threw him down among a lot of dogs but the dogs
were asleep and he ran off. The dogs awoke at once and began smelling
around but they could not catch him.
After the youth had gotten home he said to his wife, "Let us go down to
the creek. I want to swim. By crossing four times I can poison all of the
fish there." His wife told him to do so and, as he was able to accomplish
everything which he undertook, he performed this feat also. He killed all
of the fish in that stream. Then he told his wife to call all of the
townspeople, and they came down in a crowd and had a great meal off of
fish.
After the youth and his wife had gotten home the former said that since he
was feeling happy she must wash her head and comb her hair and part it in
the middle. When she had done so, he told her to go into the house and
stand perfectly still in a window looking out. Thereupon he seized an ax
and struck her in the parting, splitting her into two women who looked
just alike.
When Rabbit heard what the other man had done, he wanted to imitate him,
and said to his wife, "Let us go down to the creek. I want to swim and
when I cross four times the fish will come to the surface."
"Well, go and do so," she said. So Rabbit swam across four times. When he
dived he struck a minnow and stunned it, so that when he came out he found
it mulling about as if it had been poisoned. He told his wife to call all
of her people down to get fish. She did so, but, finding only one minnow
lying at the edge of the water, they became angry with Rabbit and went
home.
As soon as Rabbit and his wife returned from the creek, Rabbit said, "Wash
your head, part your hair and stand in the window." She did this; he
struck her on the parting with an ax and killed her.
Some time later the youth said to his wife, "Let us go over to the place
where I grew up, for I want to see it." They went there, and when they had
arrived found that all sorts of Indian corn and beans had grown up in it.
That was where the corn came from. So the corn was a person, that old
woman, and if it is not treated well it will become angry. If one does not
"lay it by," i. e., heap up the soil about it in cultivation, it calls for
its underskirt. The laying by of the corn is the underskirt of old lady
corn.
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