37. The Blind G·it-q!ā’°da

In a camp at the mouth of a creek was a blind man. He used to camp there before he was blind and when he was a hunter. His wife and little son, who loved him very much, were with him. They were camping there, waiting for the salmon-run. They had a good little hunting-hut. They waited there a long time for the salmon, until the fall. Then, when the salmon were in the brook, the woman and her son went up the brook and caught a few salmon, striking them with a harpoon. Then they carried them down to the hut where the old blind hunter was. His was while the leaves were falling and before the wild animals got into their dens.

Early one morning the woman said she would go to gather bark for winter fuel. She did so. She would always go with her little son. Late in the evening they came home. They did so every day. Very early one morning the boy went out: and while he was sitting outside, he looked across the brook, and, behold! a great grizzly bear was coming down to the stream, looking for old dead salmon, which he intended to eat before his long sleep in his den in the long winter. Therefore the boy ran in and told his blind father that a great grizzly bear was coming down on the other side of the stream. The blind man said, ° Take me out!’ So the boy took him by the hand and led him outside. He said again, “Run in and bring my bow and my good arrow!” The boy did as his father had said. He brought him the bow and the good arrow, and gave them to his blind father. Then his father said, “Now take the end of my arrow and point it at the shoulder of that great grizzly bear, that I may hit its heart!” The boy did as his father had told him. He took the point of the arrow and “directed it toward the grizzly bear’s shoulder. Then the boy said, “Now shoot!” The old hunter used all his strength to pull his bow, and he shot it. The arrow went right through the great grizzly bear’s heart, and it lay there dead. The old hunter said, “I killed it with one shot,” for he heard the grizzly bear groan, and after a short time the groan ceased. He said again, “Now it is dead, for I hit the heart.”

Then his wife came out and made fun of him, and said, “Oh, yes! you killed it!’ The blind man said, “Yes, I killed it.” Then his wife laughed at him. The woman knew that he had killed the grizzly bear, yet she did not want to give him any of the grizzly-bear meat. Therefore she said to her blind husband that he had missed it. She thought that if her husband should die soon, she might marry a man better than he.

Late in the afternoon that woman said to her son, * Let us go across, my son, to get bark! We shall be back late in the evening.” Then they went to where the great grizzly bear lay dead: and when they came there, she said to the boy, “Now, my son, don’t tell your father that he killed this grizzly bear! You and I will eat its meat and fat.” Then she cut it up and filled her canoe twice, and late in the evening she came home. She had washed the arrow thoroughly. The blind man asked, “Did you find my arrow, my dear?” The boy said, “Yes, father!”—“Then bring it to me!” Then his wife brought it to him, and said, “Here is your arrow with which you shot the old log over there!” Then the old hunter took his good and successful arrow, felt of it and smelled of it, and said, “Yes, I know that I have killed the animal. I can smell the fat.”

Then his wife was angry. He said again, “O my successful arrow! I have smelled the fat of the great grizzly bear.”

Every morning she went out to gather bark with her son. She built a great fire and cooked as much of the grizzly-bear meat as she wanted, and she and her son ate all they wanted. Late in the evening every day she came home. She told her son many times not to tell his father that he had killed the great grizzly bear, lest he should eat. the meat and it would all be consumed, and they would die of starvation. She continued, “Let him die, for he is old and blind and of no use.”

The boy, however, did not listen to what she told him every day, for he loved his old father very much. He was always with him in his poor bed, and slept with him often. One night they went to bed early, and the boy whispered to his old father, “Father, you killed that great grizzly bear a few days ago. Here is a little meat which I hid behind my ear, for mother does not want me to tell you that we have plenty, lest you eat of the meat and fat. We always eat meat and fat every day. My mother makes a large fire out there, and she cooks the meat and fat, and she said that she would whip me if I should tell you. Here, I will give vou this meat! Eat, my father! I don’t want you to die! Do eat this, father!’

His father, however, refused, and said, “Go on, my dear son, cat it!’ Then the old man began to cry. He cried the whole night, and before daylight he said to his son, “My dear son, I want you to lead me on the trail that leads toward the lake up in the woods.” The boy asked him, “What are you going to do, father?” He replied, “LT will stay there and comfort myself.’ The lad said again, “No, I will not do it, father; you might die!’ but the old man said, “If you love me, my son, do whet I have asked you to,’ and the boy, agreed; but he said, “Only don’t kill yourself!’—* No, no!’ said the old man, “but don’t let your mother know about it.’ They went farther down from the hut and came to the trail which led up to the lake. They went on and on until they arrived at the lake.

Then the old man said, “Now go back to your mother, my son, and let me sit down here!” The boy asked to be allowed to stay with him, but his father sent him down to his mother. They were both crying when they parted. The boy went down, and the old man remained sitting there alone, crying. He cried a whole day, and nothing would stop him. After a while, when it was near sunset, he heard a loon crying on the lake. The blind man was still erying. Again he heard the loon still nearer the place where he was sitting. He continued to cry. He heard the loon a third time quite near to the place where he was sitting, and a little later some one nudged him, and asked him, “Why do you weep?” He answered, ‘O Supernatural One! I am in great distress. My wife has used me very badly.”— “What do you want me to do for you?” said the supernatural being. The blind man said, “O Supernatural One! restore my eyesight.” The Supernatural One said, “Turn toward me!” Then the blind man hastened to turn toward the supernatural being, who took some rubbish from his right eye and from his left eye. The supernatural being threw this mass on the water. Then he said to the blind man, “Do you see me now!” The blind man said, “I just see a little light.” So the supernatural being put out his hands and took some more bad blood out of his eyes, and said, “You are a careless hunter. Why don’t you hide your face when bad things pass in front of your eyes while you are sitting down? Now tell me if you can see that place.” The blind man said, “It is not very clear.”

The supernatural being did this three times; and after he had done it four times, he vanished from his sight. Then the blind man went into the water, and saw that it was full of all kinds of rubbish— blood, ashes, hair, smoke, steam, dust, and so on. He was very glad, and wanted to know who had opened his eyes.

On the following morning he hid himself, that his son should not see him if he should come. Early the following morning the boy awoke and ran up the trail to the lake; and when he came to the place where his old blind father had been sitting, no one was to be found; and he began to cry and call his beloved father, but nobody answered. He saw blood in the water, and thought some wild animal had eaten him in the night, and he felt very sad. He went down the trail, crying and calling. His mother heard him when he came down the trail crying. She awoke, and wanted to know who was there. Behold! the boy was coming along crying, and said, ‘Some wild animal has devoured my poor father!”

The boy’s mother was angry with her son, and said, ‘Stop crying! Let us be glad that your father is dead. Come and eat this rich meat! Stop at once, or I shall whip you!” The boy was afraid of her, and stopped crying; but he did not eat much, because he was thinking of his father.

After they had eaten, she said to the boy, “Let us go to get bark!” The boy, however, lay down on his old father’s bed, weeping, and his mother went alone. She followed the trail; and when she reached the place, she saw something that had been dragged down into the water, and she saw blood mixed with rubbish, and she believed that her husband was dead. She was glad. She went a little farther down along the trail, and saw a large pile of thick bark some distance away from the trail. So she went toward it and piled it up.

Now the man went down another way when he heard his wife singing happily instead of singing a mourning-song. He passed her, and went right down to the hut. Behold! there was his son lying on his bed crying. He said to his son, “My dear son, I am still alive, and my eyes are open again! I can see clearly. Do not cry! Come, let us close up every hole in this hut, and I shall shut the door. Let your mother stay outside this night!” After they had eaten their supper, he went to bed with his beloved son.

Late in the evening the woman came home, and the door was shut against her. She knocked at it, and said, “My dear son, did your father come home, or are you still alone?” and there came no answer. She said to her husband, “Take pity on me! I feel very cold out here.’ Still no answer came from them. She felt very cold, and said, “Do open the door for me, my dear son Her voice was shaking on account of the cold. She said, “Take pity on me, lest I freeze to death!”

Before daylight she was transformed into a hooting owl. Then the man ran out and opened the door. He saw an owl flying away. It alighted on a tree that stood near the hut, and hooted. So the man said, “Go away into the woods, owl!” and he became again a great hunter.

Not many years passed, and he went alone into the mountains. He had often heard an owl hooting since his wife had been transformed into an owl; and one night when he was alone in the mountains, he heard again the hooting of an owl; and he said, “You foolish woman, go away from me! I don’t want you to come near my camp!” Then the owl] stopped hooting when she heard what her husband said, and the man forgot that he had been talking to the owl. He went out of his hut, and the owl flew just above his head, and he fell dead right there.