Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians: Koasati Stories: 23. The Hero From Under the Water

She went weeping to him and stayed there. He could not get out but his wife came up, tied his clothes together and carried them back. When she got to her house she wept all day. She wanted very much to see him and at night when she lay down to sleep she did not sleep much. During the day, while she was sitting down, she would think she saw a person coming but when she looked all around it was nothing. It was that way all of the time, until on the third day when she was lying down she dreamed that she should cook. She finished cooking and placed the food on the table, and sat looking down (toward the river). She thought something in the shape of a man was coming but when she looked out nothing was there. That was the way it continued always. When night came and it was dark she lay down but slept little, and in the early morning while it was still dark she started off. She went straight on, took off her clothes, and jumped into the water. She dived until she reached the bottom. He was lying inside of a locked trunk, and she stayed there a while feeling of it and then went back out of the water and came home.

She sat down on one of two cane scaffolds which were near the house, looked about, and thought she saw a man coming. In a little while she wanted to look out, and at noon she thought a man had come. She looked around and her husband sat on the platform. When she saw that he had returned, she was very happy. And they ate together.

They lived there for some time and after many days he made a club. He made a red club. Next day he said, "Let us go to see him." He teased very hard until he persuaded her and they set

After some time they said, "Let the man who has just come kill squirrels for us to eat." So they loaned him a gun, he got into a canoe, crossed, and traveled along on the other side. Presently he came back and recrossed the river. He said, "A red-tailed hawk killed some squirrels and brought them to me and I put them into the canoe. Tell them to go down and look." So they went to look and when they got to the canoe they found that it was full of squirrels. Then they gathered them up, carried them home, cooked, and ate them and were very glad to have them. After they had eaten all of the squirrels, they said, "Let him go to kill deer next." Again he got into the canoe, crossed the river, and started off. After he had hunted all about he came back and said to them, "A panther killed the deer and brought them to me and put them into the canoe. Let them go and look for them." They went there to look, and the canoe was full of deer which they took and brought up to the house, cooked, and ate.

By and by he said to his wife, "Let us go back home." Then they questioned her about the man. "Is he not a young man?" they said. "Yes," she said to them. Upon this he took off the skin and threw it away. After that his wife's brothers wanted to play ball and took him along to help them. When they began to play he stood helping them but he did not want to catch the ball. By and by, when the other side had half won, he caught it and threw it a long distance. He kept throwing it in this way until his party won. Then he stopped and came back home.

After that the man went back to the place from which he had first come. His wife wept and wanted to give him food for the journey but he refused it. He took only his clothing, set out, and disappeared. This was because she had let them know that he was a young man.