The Test Blog for Blogger and Gadgets: RAVEN (Continued)

Hi dear friends and followers. Today we continue the Tinglet legend of Raven

There is a multitude of legends of the Tlingit available because they were approached by folklorists and ethnologists as well as hunters, trappers, and prospectors in Alaska. The folklorists and ethnologists were careful to record their stories. Here is just a bit more about the doings of that trickster and helper in creation, Raven.
RAVEN (Continued)

Now Raven formed a certain plan. He got a small canoe and began paddling along the beach saying, "I wonder who is able to go along with me." Mink came down and said, "How am I?" and Raven said, "What with?" (i. e., What can you do?). Said Mink, "When I go to camp with my friends, I make a bad smell in their noses. With that." But Raven said, "I guess not. You might make a hole in my canoe," so he went along farther. The various animals and birds would come down and say, "How am I?" but he did not even listen. After some time Deer ran down to him, saying, "How am I?" Then he answered, "Come this way, AxkwA'L!î, Come this AxkwA'L!î." He called him AxkwA'L!î because he never got angry. Finally Raven came ashore and said to Deer, "Don't hurt yourself, AxkwA'L!î." By and by Raven said" Not very far from here my father has been making a canoe. Let us go there and look at it."

Then Raven brought him to a large valley. He took very many pieces of dried wild celery and laid them across the valley, covering them with moss. Said Raven, "AxkwA'L!î, watch me, AxkwA'L!î, watch me." Repeating this over and over he went straight across on it, for he is light. Afterwards he said to Deer, "AxkwA'L!î, now you come and try it. It will not break," and he crossed once more. "You better try it now," he said. "Come on over." Deer did so, but, as he was on the way, he broke through the bridge and smashed his head to pieces at the bottom. Then Raven went down, walked all over him, and said to himself, "I wonder where I better start, at the root of his tail, at the eyes, or at the heart." Finally he began at his anus, skinning as he went along. He ate very fast.

When he started on from this place, he began crying, "AxkwA'L!î-î-î!, AxkwA'L!î-î-î!," and the fowls asked him, "What has become of your friend, AxkwA'L!î?" "Some one has taken him and pounded him on the rocks, and I have been walking around and hopping around since he died."

By and by he came to a certain cliff and saw a door in it swing, open. He got behind a point quickly, for he knew that here lived the woman who has charge of the falling and rising of the tide. Far out Raven saw some kelp, and, going out to this, he climbed down on it to the bottom of the sea and gathered up a number of small sea urchins, (nîs!) which were lying about there. He brought these ashore and began eating, making a great gulping noise as he did so. Meanwhile the woman inside of the cliff kept mocking him saying, "During what tide did he get those things?"

While Raven was eating Mink came along, and Raven said, "Come here. Come here." Then he went on eating. And the woman again said, "On what tide did you get those sea urchins you are making so much noise about?" "That is not your business," answered Raven. "Keep quiet or I will stick them all over your buttocks."

Finally Raven became angry, seized the knife he was cutting up the sea urchins with and slit up the front of the cliff out of which she spoke. Then he ran in, knocked her down and began sticking the spines into her buttocks. "Stop, Raven, stop," she cried, "the tide will begin to go down." So he said to his servant, Mink, "Run outside and see how far down the tide has gone." Mink ran out and said, "It is just beginning to go down." The next time he came in he said, "The tide is still farther down." The third time he said, "The tide is lower yet. It has uncovered everything on the beach." Then Raven said to the old woman, "Are you going to let the tide rise and fall again regularly through the months and years?" She answered "Yes." Because Raven did this while he was making the world, nowadays, when a woman gets old and can not do much more work, there are spots all over her buttocks.

After the tide had gone down very far he and his servant went out. He said to Mink, "The thing that will be your food from now on is the sea urchin (nîs!). You will live on it." The tide now goes up and down because he treated this woman so.

Now Raven started on from this place crying, "My wife, my wife!" Coming to some trees, he saw a lot of g um on one of them and said to it, "Why! you are just like me. You are in the same state." For he thought the tree was crying.

After this he got a canoe and began paddling along. By and by Petrel met him in another canoe. So he brought his canoe alongside and said, "Is this you, my brother-in-law? Where are you from?" He answered, "I am from over there." Then Raven began to question him about the events in this world, asking him how long ago they happened, etc. He said, "When were you born? How long have you been living?" And Petrel answered, "I have been living ever since the great river came up from under the earth. I have been living that long." So said Petrel. "Why! that is but a few minutes ago," said Raven. Then Petrel began to get angry and said to Raven, "When were you born?" "I was born before this world was known." "That is just a little while back."

They talked back and forth until they became very angry. Then Petrel pushed Raven's canoe away from him and put on his hat called fog-hat (qogâ's! s!âxu) so that Raven could not see where he was. The world was round for him [in the fog]. At last he shouted, "My brother-in-law, Petrel, you are older than I am. You have lived longer than I." Petrel also took water from the sea and sprinkled it in the air so that it fell through the fog as very fine rain. Said Raven, "Î, î." He did not like it at all. After Petrel had fooled him for some time, he took off Fog-hat and found Raven close beside him, pulling about in all directions. Then Raven said to Petrel, "Brother-in-law, you better let that hat go into this world." So he let it go. That is why we always know, when we see fog coming out of an open space in the woods and going right back again, that there will be good weather.