The Frogs in the Moon
The three Frog sisters had a house in the swamp. They lived there together. Not very far away a number of people lived in another house. Among them were Snake and Beaver, who were friends. They were handsome men and wanted to marry the Frog girls.
One night Snake went to Frog’s house. The girls were in bed. He crawled in with one of them and put his hand on her face. She awoke and asked him who he was. He said he was Snake. When she learned this, she said she wouldn’t marry him and told him to leave at once. She called him bad names like ”slimy-fellow”, ”small-eyes”, and so forth. Snake returned and told Beaver of his failure.
The next night Beaver went to Frog’s house. He also crawled in bed with one of the girls and put his hand on her face. She awoke, but when she found out who he was, she told him to get out. She called him names like ”short legs”, ”big belly”, ”big butt”, and so forth. Beaver felt hurt, and going home began to cry. His father asked him what the matter was, and Beaver told him. The father said, ”That’s nothing. Don’t cry. It will rain too much if you do.” But Beaver said, ”I will to cry.”
As Beaver continued to cry, much rain fell. Soon the swamp where the Frogs lived was flooded. Their house was under the water which covered the tops of the tall swamp-grass. The Frogs got cold and went to Beaver’s house. They said to Beaver’s father, ”We wish to marry your sons.” But old Beaver said, ”No! you called us bad names.”
The water was now running in a regular stream. The Frogs swam away down the stream until they reached a wirlpool. The wirlpool sucked them in, and they descended to the house of the Moon. The Moon invited them to warm themselves at the fire. But they said, ”No, we don’t want to sit by the fire. We want to sit there.” They pointed at him. – – – He said, ”Here?”, pointing at his feet. They said ”No, not there.” Then he pointed at one part of his body after another. They didn’t like any of the places, until he reached his brow. When he said ”Will you sit here?” and pointed at his brow, they all cried out ”Yes!” and jumped on his face. This spoiled his looks. The Frog sisters can be seen on the Moon’s face even today.
(Lillooet)
PS Jag har tidigare publicerat en annan berättelse ur samma samling här: The Origin of Corn
