The girl enticed to the sky.
text courtesy of Native Languages.org.
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Start of Story
There was a camp circle. A party of women went out
after some wood for the fire. One of them saw a
porcupine near a cottonwood tree and informed her
companions of the fact. The porcupine ran around the
tree, finally climbing it, whereupon the woman tried to
hit the animal, but he dodge from one side of the trunk
to the other, for protection. At length one of the women
started to climb the tree to catch the porcupine, but it
ever stopped just beyond her reach. She even tried to
reach it with a stick, but with each effort it went a little
highter. "Well!" she said, "I am climbing to catch the
porcupine, for I want those quills, and if necessary I will
go to the top."
When porcupine had reached the top of the tree the
woman was still climbing, although the cottonwood
was dangerous and the branches were waving to and
fro; but as she approaced the top and was about to lay
hands upon the porcupine, the tree suddenly
lengthened, when the porcupine resumed his climbing.
Lookind down, she saw her friends looking up at her,
and beckoning her to come down, but having passed
under the influence of the porcupine and fearful for the
great distance between herself and the ground, she
continued to climb, until she became the meekest
speck to those looking up from below, and with the
porcupine she finally reached the sky. The porcupine
took the woman into the camp circle where his father
and mother lived. The folks welcomed her arrival and
furnished her with the very best kind of
accomodations. The lodge was then put up for them to
live in. The porcupine was very industrious and, of
course, the old folks were well supplied with hides and
food. One day she decided to save all the sinew from
the buffalo, at the same time doing work on buffalo
robes and other things with it, in order to avoid all
suspicion on the part of her husband and the old folks
as to why she was saving the sinew. Thus she
continued to save a portion of the sinew from each beef
brought in by her husband, until she had a supply
suitable for her purpose. One day her husband
cautioned her that while in search of roots, wild turnips
and other herbs, she should not dig and that, should
she use the digging stick, she should not dig too deep,
and that she should go home early when out for a walk.
The husband was constantly bringing in beef and hide,
in order that he might keep his wife at work at home all
the time. But she was a good worker and soon finished
what was required for them.
Seeing that she had done considerable work, one day
she started out in search of hog potatoes, and carried
with her the digging stick. She ran to a thick patch and
kept digging away to fill her bag. She accidentally
sturck a hole, which surprised her very much, and so
she stooped down and looked in and through the hole,
seeing below, a green earth with a camp circle on it.
Afer questioning herself and recognizing the camp
circle below, she carefully covered the spot and
marked it. She took the bag and went to her own tepee,
giving the folks some of the hog potatoes. The old folks
were pleased and ate the hog potatoes to satisfy their
daughter-in-law. The husband returned home too, bring
in beef and hides. Early one morning the husband
started off for more beef and hides, telling his wife to
be careful about herself. After he was gone, she took
the digging stick and the sinew she had to the place
where she struck the hole. When she got to the hole,
she sat down and began tying string, so as to make the
sinew long enough to reach the bottom. She then
opened the hole and laid the digging stick across the
hole which she had dug, and tied one of the sinew
strings in the center of this stick, and then also
fastened herself to the end of the lariat. She gradually
loosened the sinew lariat as she let herself down,
finally finding herself suspended above the top of the
tree which she had climbed, but not near enough so
that she could possibly reach it.
When the husband missed her, he scolded the old
people for not watching their daughter-in-law. He began
to look for her in the direction in which she usually
started off, but found no fresh tracks, though he kept
traveling until he tracked her to the digging stick which
was lying across the hole. The husband stooped down
and looked into this hole and saw his wife suspended
from this stick by means of sinew lariat or string. "Well,
the only way to do is to see her touch bottom," said he.
So he looked around and found a circular stone two or
three inches thick, and brought it to the place. Again he
continued, "I want this stone to light right on top of her
head," and he dropped the stone carefully along the
sinew string, and it struck the top of her head and
broke her off and landed her safe on the ground. She
took up the stone and went to the camp circle. This is
the way the woman returned.
THIS STORY COMES FROM The Arapaho people