11. The Story of Nālq

In early times, when the people were multiplying, and lived in the large town on the plains on the upper course of Skeena River which we call now Prairie Town—that is, where the village of our forefathers used to be—the people used to play the greater part of the night in the open air. The young men would play all kinds of games, and they went out night after night to the open space on the level ground behind their houses. There were a great many people, and there was a crowd of young men, of women, and of children. Therefore they made much noise when they were on their playground until late in the night.

One night they went out again, as usual, and began to play before it was dark. They started their first game, and another followed; and when they started still another game, they saw a beautiful plume descending slowly from the sky above them: and they all desired to have it, because it was beautiful to look at. A very tall young man went first, caught it, and put it on his head. As soon as he put it on his head, he was taken up by the plume which had come down from above. Another youth saw his friend hanging by the plume. He stepped up and took hold of his feet. His hand stuck to his friend’s feet, and the plume pulled them up. Another man took hold of the feet of the second one, and his hands stuck fast: and so all the young men stuck by the plume, which pulled them up to the sky.

When the old men who were in the house heard that the children were being taken up by the beautiful plume, they came out, took hold of the heel of the last of the young men, and the old men stuck there too. The women came out, and one of them took hold of the heel of the last one of their husbands, and the women stuck fast. Then the children came out, and they all were taken up by the plume.

Only one princess, the daughter of a great. chief, who had just been delivered of a child, was left. All the people were taken up by the plume; and at last they dropped down from the plume, and all died. Their bodies formed a great pile. The young woman came out, and she wept bitterly over the pile of bodies; and while she was weeping, she wiped the mucus from her nose, and threw it down on the ground; and, behold! there was a baby boy formed from the mucus of her nose. She took a piece of grindstone and put it next to her body, and she took a little branch of a crabapple tree, which she put in her bosom, and also her feather. Then she took a little piece of shell and put it in her bosom: and when she came in, she wrapped the baby boy in marten garments.

Then she took out from her bosom the piece of grindstone, and it also became a baby boy, which she wrapped in a sea-otter garment; and she took out the little branch of the crabapple tree, and it, too, became a baby boy. She took out the little feather, and it became a baby boy. She took out the little piece of shell, and it became a little girl, “Then she gave names to the children. The first one, which originated from the mucus of her nose, she called Nāłq (Mucus). His was the name of the eldest one. The second one she named Little Grindstone; the third one, Little Crabapple Tree; the fourth one, Little Feather; and the fifth one, Knife Hand.

The children grew up; and when they became larger, they began to play in the open air, like the former people. Then they saw large piles of bones on the level ground; and when they came home, they asked their mother what they were. She told them what had jappened to the people—how they had played every night until the chief in heaven became displeased at their noise, and how the chief in heaven let a beautiful plume come down; that a tall young man “took hold of it and put it on his head; and that it wafted all the former people up into the sky, young men, old men, women, and children, She continued, “ And I [am left alone. Therefore I tell you, beloved children, do not play always in the open, lest the Lord of Heaven waft you up, too.”

The young people did not heed heed mother’s warning, and the next morning they played again in the open, as their fathers had done in the days of old. They made much noise. Then the plume descended again from heaven. They stood still, gazing at the beautiful plume which was coming down; and as they looked up with amazement, the youngest brother, Little Feather, took hold of the beautiful plume, which wafted him up. When his elder brother, Mucus, saw Little Feather lifted from his feet, he took hold of him by the heels, and his hands stuck to him. The feather could hardly drag Mucus up, but at last his feet were lifted from the ground. Then the second brother, Little Grindstone, took hold of his brother’s feet, and he became a large rock on the ground. It was hard to pull him up, but at last. his feet were lifted from the ground. Then the third brother took hold of his feet, and he became a large crabapple tree, whose roots were stretched out underground; and it was hard to drag him up, but finally the roots broke in the ground.

Then the girl, Knife Hand, sharpened her hand; and as soon as Crabapple Tree’s roots were lifted from the ground, Knife Hand climbed up her brothers’ heads until she reached the head of her youngest brother, who had first taken hold of the beautiful plume; and she cut the air above the plume with her sharp hand, and the brothers dropped down and were like dead.

Then the girl took the beautiful plume and swung it over her dead brothers’ bodies, and they came back to life. When they knew the powers of the plume, they went to the place where the bare bones were piled up on the ground, and they put the bones together, and joined those of one person to those of another. They put a man’s head on a woman’s body, and they put women’s heads on men’s bodies, and all the bones were mixed together; and they put one leg of a tall man together with another of a short man. So we see now that some men have no beards, for they have women’s heads; and some women have whiskers because they have men’s heads; and some people limp because they have legs belonging to different persons; and many other things besides these happened. Thus they assembled the bones.

A large number of bones covered the plain; and after they had gathered the bones, Nāłq took the beautiful plume and waved it over the bones where they were lying on the ground. The first time he moved the beautiful plume, behold! there was a noise; the bones shook and came together. He waved it a second time, and, lo! sinews and flesh came to be on the bones. He waved it a third time, and skin covered the flesh, but there was no breath in them. He waved it a fourth time; and while he thus swung the beautiful plume the fourth and last time, he said, “Let air from the four winds come and breathe upon these bodies, that they may come to life again!” Then the four winds blew hard, and breath came back into the bodies, and they were alive, stood up, an exceedingly great multitude.

Then the four young men went home to their mother. Their mother scolded them for having taken hold of the beautiful plume, and the young men were ashamed on account of the scolding they had received. Therefore they left home, and left their sister with their mother. They were about to travel over the whole world, and they went on and on until they arrived at the foot of a high, steep mountain. Behold! there was a blind man, with a bag net, sitting on a platform at the foot of the mountain. When they came near, Nāłq said, I will touch his bag net, and see what he is going to do with it.’ He touched the net, and the blind man pulled it up quickly. When he had hauled in his net, he said to himself, “Oh, dear! I have lost “Nāłq.”” Thus he said. Then they laughed, because the blind man knew them. His blind person caught people, whom he ate.

They traveled on, farther and farther away. After some time they met a raccoon who was holding a little piece of wood in its mouth. The youngest brother, Little Feather, killed the poor little raccoon and threw it away from their trail.

They went on and soon they came to a hut. Behold! a middle-aged woman came out and made them welcome. She invited them into the house. She was very kind to the young people, and gave them to eat. She said, ‘Stay here a while and refresh yourselves from your long journey!’ While they were eating, the woman asked them, “Did you meet my granddaughter on your way here? She went out to get chips for a fire.” The four brothers replied that they had not met her; that they had seen only a raccoon on their way, which they had killed.

Then the wrath of the old woman was great. She said, ‘Oh, oh, oh! Let every hole close up! Let the door close up! Let the smoke hole close up!” And all the openings of the house began to close up, and the heat began to increase, and the four brothers felt the heat like that of an oven. However, before the smoke hole had closed, the youngest. brother, in the form of bird’s down, ascended with the smoke through the smoke hole; and when he was outside, he ran quickly toward the raccoon which he had killed. He found the place where it was, wafted his beautiful plume over the body of the raccoon, and it came to life again. Then he helped the Raccoon to gather wood.

The three others, however, were dying of the heat in the house. Little Feather returned quickly with the Raccoon; and as soon as they reached the door, the Raccoon called her grandmother, and said, “Grandmother, open the door for me and let me in!’” As soon as the old woman heard her granddaughter’s voice, she said, ““Let the door open, and let all the holes open! Let the smoke hole open!” And they all came out of the house safely.

They continued their journey, and went on farther until they came to a large lake. Behold! there was beautiful green grass, and a variety of sweet-smelling flowers were around the lake. They went around the lake, and, behold! they saw a hut before them at one end of the lake with the beautiful sweet-scented breeze. When they came near the hut, a kindly old woman came forth to meet them. “Come in,” she said, “and refresh yourselves in my house, for you have made a long journey. Take a rest for a while.” The men all went in, and the old woman was very kind to them. She gave them good clean food, and they ate. Before nightfall she showed them the place where to lie down in her hut, and she let them have her good warm blankets. She also told them that no danger would come near them as long as they were in the house. Before they went to bed, she gave them food again, so that they should take a good comfortable rest. and sleep well. Soon after they had their meal, they were ready to sleep, and they immediately went to bed.

The eldest brother, Nāłq, whispered to his brothers, “Brothers, don’t take too much sleep tonight, lest misfortune befall us and we all perish. Let some of us sleep, and others keep watch during the night!” They did so. Two of them went to sleep, and two of them kept watch. Before they were in bed, Nāłq saw four poles standing behind the old woman’s bed, and around the end of each of these shredded cedar bark was wrapped.

The old woman watched until her guests were asleep. At midnight the men seemed to be asleep, but. Nāłq did not sleep. He was watching her, and he saw sparks coming from her mouth. The brothers were asleep and snoring: and when she heard that they were fast asleep, she arose gently from her bed, walked toward her guests, and took one of the poles with the shredded cedar bark at its end. Then she placed the cedar bark a little over the first one to catch his breath, and then she went to the other one, and to the third one. At last she went towards Nāłq, and placed the cedar bark over his mouth far longer than over that of the others. Then she went back to her bed. Nāłq saw all that she was doing. Then she placed the pole at the foot of her bed. The cedar bark at the end of it was quite wet from the moisture of the breath of the four brothers. Then she lay down, and was soon in a deep sleep. As soon as she lay down, sparks came forth from her mouth; but when she was in a deep sleep, only a few sparks came from her mouth. Nāłq watched her; and as soon as the sparks ceased coming from her mouth, he arose from his bed and went up to her. He took one of the poles with the shredded cedar bark at its end, and held it a little above her mouth; and he held it there a long time, until the cedar bark was quite wet from the moisture of her breath. Then he put the pole at the foot end of her bed, and took away the pole in which she had caught the breath of her guests. Then he lay, down again.

Early the next morning she awoke, and arose without noise. Nāłq also arose secretly. He stood at the door, which was half open, looking on at what she was doing. She went down to the beach and shouted. She shouted four times. Then the water of the great lake began to heave, and, behold! a large Frog came up from the water. It came toward the old woman. When the large Frog was near her, she said, “Open your mouth, and I will feed you with four young men who staid in my house last night.” Thus she said to the Frog. Then the large Frog opened its big mouth wide, and the old woman threw her pole with the wet shredded cedar bark into it; and the large Frog swallowed it and went home.

Before she re-entered, Nāłq went to his bed and snored loud. The woman started her fire and called her guests, and she prepared their breakfast. She was a witch, who had killed many people that traveled past her house. Now, she had fed her supernatural power, the Frog, with the moisture of her own breath; and while her guests were taking their breakfast, she felt pain iA her stomach, and became worse and worse. She began to groan, and said to her guests, “I have brought misfortune on myself, great Nāłq?’ But the young man did not mind what she said. Soon her breath became less and less until she died.

They went on their journey; and before they had gone far they saw another house. When they opened the door, behold! there were many bodies of killed people hanging about inside the house. Some of them were only bones. The young men put them on the ground near the beautiful lake: and after they had put them in good order, Nāłq took the beautiful plume and waved it over the bodies, as he had done with his own people on the plain: and those who had been killed all came back to life after Nāłq had waved his plume over them four times. When they were all alive again, Nāłq asked them what had happened to them or who had killed them, and they replied that they had died in the house of a kindly woman on the other side of the lake. Then the four brothers told them that she had killed them with her supernatural power. Nāłq told them that there was a large Frog at the bottom of the lake. Thus he said to the men who had just come back to life.

They traveled on and on until they came to a place between two mountains. They went on through the valley; and as they went along, the passage became narrower, until they saw that way off the two mountains formed a cave. They went on toward the cave until they came near it, and there they stopped. Nāłq asked his brothers, “Dear brothers, which way shall we go?” and his three brothers replied, “Let us pass through the cave!” And while they were still speaking, the cave closed four times, like the twinkling of an eye, and it remained closed behind them, and they had no way of escape from it. The only way they could get out was under the twinkling cave. They counted the twinkling; and after they had counted four times, the cave opened slowly. Then Nāłq tried to go through first. He had three more steps to take, when the cave twinkled, and killed him there. Next) the second brother, Little Grindstone, made ready. After he had counted four, he quickly went through; he had two more steps to take, and the cave twinkled again, and killed him also. Then the third brother made ready. They counted four. The cave opened slowly, and Little Crabapple Tree went through quickly. He had one step more to take, and the cave twinkled, and killed him also. Then the last brother made ready. He held the beautiful plume in his hands. He counted four, and the cave opened slowly. Then Little Feather flew through the cave, and took with him the crushed bodies of his brothers. He laid them out in good order, took his plume, waved it over them, and they came back to life.

The brothers went on their journey, and soon arrived at the city of the Air. One of the Air chiefs, North Wind, invited them in, and gave his daughter to Nāłq to be his wife. Then another chief, South Wind, invited the other three brothers in, and gave his daughter to Little Grindstone to be his wife. Then another chief, East Wind, invited the two remaining ones in, and gave his daughter to Little Crabapple Tree to be his wife; and another chief, a beautiful man, invited Little Feather in, and gave him his daughter to be his wife. Now they were married.

On the following day North- Wind Woman said to her husband, “Let us travel about!’ Nāłq made ready to go with his wife, and it was not long before the north wind blew hard. Nāłq went along with her. He felt cold, and mucus came from his nose. It fell on the water and became ice, and therefore ice goes along with the north wind. On the same day the South-Wind Woman asked her husband to travel with her. Little Grindstone was ready to go, and the south wind blew very hard. Then Grindstone, who followed her, let the water collect in his mouth, and blew it out up into the air, and it came down like rain. Therefore the rain goes with the south wind, and the people use water whenever they sharpen anything on a grindstone. Now, the following day East-Wind Woman asked her husband to journey with her, but Little Crabapple Tree was too lazy to go out with his wife: therefore the east. wind blew harder and harder, trying to move her husband, but the roots of the Crabapple Tree spread out under the ground. Then the whirlwind blew with the east wind, and Little Crabapple Tree’s roots gave way, and he went along with his wife. Therefore whirlwinds come with the east wind.

Again the followmg day the West- Wind Woman asked her husband to journey with her; and before they started, Little Feather said to his wife, “Don’t blow so hard, lest you fall behind me, for I am faster than you!” and the west wind blew gently. She went along with him all round the world; and therefore the west winds blow gently now, for she is afraid of falling behind her husband, Little Feather: and these four brothers help the four winds now and for all time to come, and we are always reminded of the deeds of these four brothers.. That is the end.