Seneca Indian Myths: A Lazy Man

IN Geneseo there was a young man, an orphan, who went around among the people, staying wherever kindhearted persons would keep him, sleeping on the ground by a brush fire, and eating whatever was given to him. When he was twenty years old, he was as much of a boy as ever.

A chief, who was rich and proud, lived in Geneseo. He had a daughter and two or three sons. One day the orphan stopped near the chief's house where people were burning brush.

One of the chief's sons came out and said to him, "Don't you feel poor and lonely sitting around so?"

"No," said the young man, "I feel as rich as you do."

"Don't you sometimes think you would like to have a wife?"

"Yes, I sometimes think I would like a wife if I could get one."

"What would you think of my sister for a wife? Many men have tried to marry her, but she refuses everyone."

"Oh," said the orphan, looking up, "I would as soon have her as any woman; she is handsome and rich."

"I will ask her to marry you," said the brother, thinking to have fun with his sister.

He went to the house and said to her, "There is a young man out there by the fire, who would like to marry you. Will you be his wife?"

"You may."

He told the young man, who said, "I shall be glad to have her for my wife."

The brother, in fun, repeated this to his sister, who said, "I will go and ask him myself."

She went to the orphan, and asked, "What did my brother say to you?"

He told her, and she said, "I will go with you. Come to-morrow at this time and I'll marry you."

The next morning the girl got leggings and moccasins for the young man. (He had never worn moccasins in Summer.) In the evening he came to where she was. He washed, put on the leggings and embroidered moccasins and tied up his hair. She told him then that he could go home with her, but he must not talk with any of the men, that one of her brothers was always fooling.

The girl became the orphan's wife and he lived in the chief's house. In the Fall when the chief's sons were ready to go deer hunting, the young woman wanted to go. She had a husband and she thought he might be a good hunter.

The man had never hunted but he said, "I will go and try."

When the party had gone some distance, they camped and began to hunt. The young man found a place where there were wild grape vines. He made a swing, then sat in it and swung all day, didn't try to hunt. At night he went home without game. Each morning he went to the swing and each evening he went home without game.

The brothers killed many deer. One day one brother said to the other, "Our brother-in-law gets no game, maybe he doesn't hunt." They agreed to watch him.

The next morning they followed the young man, found him swinging and saw that the ground was smooth around the swing. Then they said, "We will not live with him and feed him. We will leave him, go a day's journey away and camp."

They left the man and woman with only one leg of deer meat.

The next morning the man went, as usual, to the swing. While swinging he heard a woman crying. He was frightened and stopped swinging. Soon he saw a female panther coming with three cubs. She was crying. As she approached, he heard a terrible roar in the North, the direction from which the panther had come. Then the man saw Whirlwind coming, tearing down all the trees in his path. He stopped on a tree near the swing.

"You know now what harm you have done," said Whirlwind to Panther.

"Why are you angry with the panther?" asked the young man. "What has she done to you?"

"She has torn up my best feather cap."

"Why do you think so much of your cap? It must have been a nice one."

"It was nice."

"What kind of feathers was it made of?"

"It was the skin and feathers of a horned owl."

"What would you think if I gave you another cap?"

"How can you get one?"

The young man picked up the horned owl that he had killed and threw it at Whirlwind. Whirlwind caught it, said, "Thank you, this is better than the one Panther destroyed," and away he flew.

Panther thanked the man, and said, "I am glad that you had the owl, you have saved my life. Now I will help you. Go to that knoll yonder, behind it you will find two bucks fighting. Shoot them both. The one you shoot first will not run; they will fight till they die."

The young man found the bucks and watched them till

They dragged the bucks home, skinned them, and had plenty of meat. The young woman dried the meat and tanned the skins.

Panther told the main to always hunt near the swing and he would kill a great deal of game.

When they had a large quantity of meat, the man said to his wife, "Your brothers are good hunters. No doubt they have plenty of meat, but I will find them and see."

He started. On the way he killed a deer, and he carried the carcass along. He found the camp and looking in saw the brothers; they were poor and weak.

He went in, and asked, "How are you?"

"We are almost starved," said one of them. "We can find nothing to kill."

"Your sister and I have a plenty. Come and live with us. I have meat here. Eat and then come to my camp."

He gave them the deer and they ate the meat nearly raw, they were so hungry.

When they started for the young man's camp he went ahead, got home quickly and told his wife he had found her brothers nearer starvation than she had been. During the night the brothers came. They were satisfied and remained with their sister and brother-in-law.

After a while they all went back to the village loaded with skins and venison. Now the young man was rich; and he and his wife lived ever after in Geneseo Valley.