Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/245

 Rh said the youngest lad, who knew him to be an idle boaster. "Oh, I am a very great man," said Cayote; "and I eat nothing but the bodies of men. I have just finished eating a man." "If that is so," answered the lad, "you can easily prove it by disgorging your dinner." "Oh! that is quite easy," said Cayote. "Shut your eyes, and I will vomit you up a piece of a man." "But if I shut my eyes, I cannot see you do it," said the boy. "If you are such a great man, surely it will make no difference whether I shut my eyes or not." "Oh, well! I must shut mine if you don't; now, look, I am going to show you," and with that he began to work his stomach violently up and down in his efforts. After a great deal of exertion and fuss, he brought up a little saliva. "Where is your man's flesh?" scornfully asked the boy, as he pointed to the saliva on the ground. Cayote having opened his eyes, was a little abashed at the results of his efforts, but still keeping up the character of a man-eater, replied that he could do nothing because the other kept his eyes open. "Very well,' said the boy, "I will shut my eyes now, and you try again." Cayote consented, and tried once more. Thinking he wanted to trick him, the boy kept the corner of his eye open as the man tried again to produce his dinner of man-flesh. After many violent efforts and contortions, all he was able to disgorge was a little frothy swamp-grass. At the sight of this, the boy called to him to desist from his efforts, saying that he knew him to be only an empty boaster. He then transformed him into the animal which now bears his name, taking his human nature from him as a punishment for his deception and boasting.

Passing on from there, they at length came to the Thompson River, where two old witch-women were spearing salmon. They had made a strong wicker dam across the stream, which, being too high for the salmon to leap, prevented the fish from ascending the river; the consequence of which was that all who lived above got no salmon. The boys stopped awhile to watch the women at work, and after observing their tactics, the youngest, who by this time was known by his name of Sqaktktquaclt or Benign-face, asked the women why they kept all the salmon from going up the river beyond them. "We do not care about the people up the river, we want the salmon for ourselves," said they. "We have 'medicine' here which enables us to keep off all who would interfere with us." "What sort of 'medicine' have