A brother and sister lived together in an oval lodge. The young man loved his sister very much, and every morning he would comb her hair. They lived well, since the brother was an excellent hunter. The man had the power to see into the future, so he knew that difficult times were upon them and that their only hope for survival was to rigorously prepare themselves for what was to come. "My sister," he said, "if we are to live, you must act the part of a man, changing your clothes and cutting your hair in the fashion of men." These things she did, since she knew her brother had foresight. They took her female clothing and hid it in the hollow of a tree where no one might find them. He taught his sister to shoot, and she proved to be an apt student. In hunting ability she was at least the equal of her brother. He even made a hollow stick for her to urinate through, and she could send a stream further than he could. He also gave her rather strange instructions: "When one of us gets out of bed at night to go outside, the other must get up and follow the first. However, after a time, the second person must double back and occupy the bed of the first to leave."

The next day they went out hunting together. When the first returned, there, unexpectedly, was an old man sitting inside the lodge, and the hunter said, "My grandfather has come!" He spoke and said, "Yes, my grandson, I have come." The hunter began to cut the meat on a basswood mat, and boiled it up for him to eat. Then her brother came in and did just as she had done. The grandfather thought to himself, "They said he had a sister, but these are both men." He watched closely since he suspected that one might be a woman dressed in men's clothing. Since the second person to arrive seemed to be the weakest, he watched that one the most intently. Grandfather addressed the sister as "older brother" (Kunu). When they were asleep that night, the old man slipped up to where the brother was sleeping and carefully felt his private parts. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be a man. A little later, the brother got up to go outside, and according to plan his disguised sister followed. However, she doubled back and lay in her brother's bed, leaving her own bed to him. Grandfather craftily said, "I have a bad side, so I can only warm my other side by shifting over to the opposite side of the lodge." They said it didn't matter to them, since they would be asleep. After they fell back to sleep, the old man went to the other side of the lodge and felt the private parts of the one who slept on that side. Much to his surprise this one too turned out to be a man. The next morning the two young people went out hunting. The old man looked high and low for where the women's clothes were hidden, but could find nothing in the lodge. Things fell out as they had the day before, and they ate the boiled meat of the hunt. When they went out to urinate, the old man spied on them and unexpectedly they both did it like they were men. After four attempts to find the clothes of the woman, he finally was able to locate them. Grandfather thought to himself, "One of them is my wife."

However, the brother knew what had transpired, and told his sister, "The old man has found your clothes, so now our only chance is to flee. Take this path until you reach a village. You must tell people that your brother had you come there in order to marry the princess. The old man will chase you first. When a partridge flies up to the top of a tree, you will know he is near, since the partridge belongs to him." He then told her everything that would happen, then they went their separate ways. Grandfather soon caught up to the sister, and asked her, "If you killed something, could I pack it back for you? I just thought you might need some help, that is why I ask." Just then a partridge flew up into a tree. He said to her, "Grandson, shoot him for me." She fired the arrow and hit the bird directly in the head, and gave it to him. Her skill convinced him that she was in actuality a man, and he made his excuses for staying behind, while in fact he doubled back to pick up the trail of the other sibling, thinking to himself, "This one is surely my wife." Finally the old man caught up to him. He said, "Grandson, if you should kill anything, I will pack it for you." Just then a partridge flew to the top of a tree. "Grandson, shoot it for me," he urged. The man fired his arrow, but it struck the bird in the wing, so that it was only with some difficulty that he finally tracked it down and dispatched it. Grandfather thought to himself, "This one is truly my wife." When evening came they set up camp. The young man went out hunting and came back with a deer. They ate and the old man was getting ready to sleep, but the grandson kept him awake all night telling him stories. This happened a second and a third night, but on the fourth night the brother fell asleep for just a moment, but it was long enough for the old man to check his private parts. Unexpectedly, he proved to be the man. At this point, grandfather was convinced that the other one was in fact the woman, so he turned back to find her.

Meanwhile, the sister had found the chief's lodge and said, "My brother has sent me and told me to ask for the hand of your daughter in marriage." The chief was pleased and said, "It is good." The princess had a little boy for a brother. This boy became very attached to the suitor who was masquerading as a man. Eventually, the grandfather reached the village himself, and asked after the suitor. After he was told that his "grandson" had married, he became a bit perplexed. When he located her, he said, "Grandson I became very lonesome, that is why I am here." That night the old man was allowed to sleep at the foot of the bed. He was hoping to make his usual explorations, but before anyone could fall asleep, the little brother-in-law came in the lodge and just sat there. Grandfather told him, "Little boy, hadn't you better get some sleep?" The boy coolly responded, "I never sleep." Four times the grandfather tried to persuade the boy to sleep, but he never complied. The fourth time, grandfather asked him to step outside. The boy walked out first with the old man behind him, then unexpectedly the grandfather grabbed the boy hard by his neck, but with a loud noise, the boy shook free. Grandfather said, "Don't take offense, I was just teasing you." The boy replied, "No you weren't just teasing me, you were trying to kill me! If I were trying to kill someone, I would do this ..." Then suddenly he struck him with such a hard blow that the old man was scattered over the whole face of the earth. His body is the dark, rough stones that lay upon the ground. He had been abusing the humans. Whenever he lay with a woman she would die. The boy was one of the Thunders. The woman who was masquerading as a man told the princess the truth: "This is the one we were running from. My brother told me that if we were to survive, I must do as I have done." The princess graciously replied, "You may go and lie with my brother that he may become your husband." It was night. Then she changed out of men's clothing back into the apparel of a woman and married the Thunderbird. When her brother finally arrived in the village, they gave him the princess to marry. There, in that village, they remained the rest of their lives. [1]

Commentary. The original manuscript says that "This was at night," when referring to the marriage of the woman and the Thunder. This seems to suggest that the woman and her brother were Nightspirits, especially since they have both married into the Thunders. Since lightning is a kind of stone, it is likely that only the Thunderbirds could successfully break up a stone-being like the grandfather.

Comparative Material. The strange power of the evil spirit to cause the death of any woman with whom he lay, is reminescent of the curse placed upon King Minos of Crete, who ejaculated scorpions, millipedes and other poisonous vermin, so that whoever lay with him did not survive the experience. [2]

Links: Rock Spirits, Thunderbirds, Nightspirits, Partridge, Bird Spirits, Lightning.

Stories: mentioning Rock Spirits: The Green Man, The Creation of the World, The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Seer, The Roaster, Wodjidjé, The Raccoon Coat, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Hare Kills Flint, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle; mentioning the Rough Rock Spirit (Big Stone): Spear Shaft and Lacrosse; mentioning Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, Warughápara, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, Thunderbird and White Horse, Bluehorn's Nephews, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed (vv. 1, 2), The Man who was a Reincarnated Thunderbird, The Thunder Charm, The Lost Blanket, The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Story of the Thunder Names, The Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Brave Man, Ocean Duck, Turtle's Warparty, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Quail Hunter, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Redhorn's Sons, The Dipper, The Stone that Became a Frog, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, The Spirit of Gambling, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Aratcgéga's Blessings, Kunu's Warpath, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Origins of the Milky Way; about the interrelationship between Thunderbirds and Nightspirits: How the Thunders Met the Nights, Ocean Duck, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Sun and the Big Eater, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga; mentioning Nightspirits: The Nightspirits Bless Djobenagiwíñxga, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Fourth Universe, Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Ocean Duck, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Sun and the Big Eater; featuring partridges (quails) as characters: The Quail Hunter, Black and White Moons, The Spirit of Gambling, Partridge's Older Brother; about Bird Spirits: Crane and His Brothers, The King Bird, Bird Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Old Man and White Feathers, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Thunderbird, Owl Goes Hunting, The Boy Who Became a Robin, Partridge's Older Brother, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Foolish Hunter, Ocean Duck, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Quail Hunter, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Arrival Myth, Trickster Gets Pregnant, Trickster and the Geese, Holy One and His Brother (kaghi, woodpeckers, hawks), Porcupine and His Brothers (Ocean Sucker), Turtle's Warparty (Thunderbirds, eagles, kaghi, pelicans, sparrows), Kaghíga and Lone Man (kaghi), The Old Man and the Giants (kaghi, bluebirds), The Bungling Host (snipe, woodpecker), The Red Feather, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Warughápara, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Black and White Moons, The Markings on the Moon, The Creation Council, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), Hare Acquires His Arrows, Keramanic'aka's Blessing (black hawk, owl), Worúxega (eagle), The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men (eagle), The Gift of Shooting (eagle), Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Migration Myth, Blue Jay, The Baldness of the Buzzard, The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster (buzzards), The Shaggy Man (kaghi), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth (kaghi), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers (Loon), Great Walker's Medicine (loon), Roaster (woodsplitter), The Spirit of Gambling, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, The Fleetfooted Man, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4) -- see also Thunderbirds; mentioning basswood: The Children of the Sun, Redhorn's Father, Bear Clan Origin Myth, v. 3, The Fox-Hotcâk War, Hare Burns His Buttocks, The King Bird, Hare Kills Wildcat, Turtle's Warparty, The Birth of the Twins, The Messengers of Hare, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb.

Themes: an evil spirit unexpectedly appears to humans and is believed by them to be one of their own relatives: The Quail Hunter; internal stones: How the Thunders Met the Nights; a female survives execution by assuming the attributes of a male: The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara II (inverse: male/female), Berdache Origin Myth (inverse: male/female), Bird Clan Origin Myth (inverse: male/female); an old man is, or becomes, a rock: The Raccoon Coat, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Seer; striking of an enemy whose body scatters over the face of the earth as a shower of stones: He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Hare Kills Flint; an evil spirit is smashed to pieces by a club: The Red Man, Warughápara, Hare Kills Flint, Hare Kills a Man with a Cane; marriage to a yûgiwi (princess): The Mulberry Picker, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Partridge's Older Brother, Redhorn's Sons, The Seduction of Redhorn's Son, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, The Roaster, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, The Two Boys, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Shaggy Man, The Thunderbird, The Red Feather, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, The Birth of the Twins, V. 3, Trickster Visits His Family, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, Redhorn's Father, Old Man and White Feathers, Morning Star and His Friend, Thunderbird and White Horse, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, Shakes the Earth, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga.

Notes:

[1] Paul Radin, "The Big Stone," [unpublished] Winnebago Notebooks (American Philosophical Society Library) #35.

[2] Antoninus Liberalis, Transformations 41.