Nine sleeps he lay on the knoll, thinking
thoughts of these great waters. Nine sleeps he lay without food, and his
mind was thinking always of one thing: How did this deep water cover the
plains of the world?
At the end of nine sleeps he was changed. He was not like himself. No
arrow could wound him. He was like Great Man for no Indian could slay
him. Then he spoke to Great Man and commanded him to banish the waters
from the plains of his ancestors. Great Man tore a hole in the mountain
side, so that the waters on the plains flowed into Big Waters. Thus the
Sacramento River was formed.
The Fable of the Animals
Karok (near Klamath River,. Cal.)
A great many hundred snows ago, Kareya, sitting on the Sacred Stool,
created the world. First, he made the fishes in the Big Water, then the
animals on the green land, and last of all, Man! But at first the
animals were all alike in power. No one knew which animals should be
food for others, and which should be food for man. Then Kareya ordered
them all to meet in one place, that Man might give each his rank and his
power. So the animals all met together one evening, when the sun was
set, to wait overnight for the coming of Man on the next morning. Kareya
also commanded Man to make bows and arrows, as many as there were
animals, and to give the longest one to the animal which was to have the
most power, and the shortest to the one which should have least power.
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