Mink Soils the Princess (§21 of the Trickster Cycle)

translation Based on the Interlinear of Oliver LaMère

Hocąk Syllabic Interlinear Text with English Translation

(531) Then Trickster said, "Hąhą́, I think about now we should go back to the village. (532) About now they might be lonesome for the children," he said. "We'll do that. I was also thinking that," the woman now also said. (533) Therefore, when they were ready to come back, they stored their things away, and it made many packs. Therefore, he made many trips. Yet he would pack them only a short distance. (534) He packed all of them. Then a little farther on he would begin to pack them again. As he kept doing this he went on. The children in addition made many as well. Therefore, he would not get very far in one day. (535) Finally, as he worked on, having gotten near home, when they saw him, the village came and packed all of it over for him. The village was delighted. (536) "Kunu is back," they said. And in the middle of the village the chief lived, and along side of it, they built a long lodge for him. There he lived. (537) During the night, they would gather there. He would entertain the young men. He was a good natured man. Therefore, they would always gather around him. When the young men courted women, (538) he would also be there with them. He tried it just for the fun of it. One day a traveler went there. He was a young man. Trickster already knew who he was. (539) They tried to get him to court the girls, but he would not do it. The one day Trickster said, "Koté, the little princess is in love with you. (540) That is what the old woman says when she talked with her," he said to him. "Koté, it is on account of the young men that I don't do it. I am not going to do it, (541) although I am willing, but of course, you will not say anything about it. I will do it. I will try it," he said. There was fish oil and artichoke roots, and these he pounded together and gave them to him to eat. (542) He tried to do this to him on purpose. The reason he did it was to play a trick on him. During the night, he went with him. When he got there with him, (543) he pointed out to him where she used to sleep. When he went in there, all night he watched him there. Hagagasgeiją, about day break the young man was about to come away. (544) The oil that he had made him consume had caused him to defecate without his knowledge. He dirtied the princess. Trickster shouted out, (545) "The traveling man has soiled the princess!" he said. On through the village he shouted it. The man, the traveler, was very ashamed. (546) And the traveler there who had been doing this was Mink (Jająksígega). That's why Trickster did this. The little man was ashamed. Then he was to be married to the princess when it happened. (547) He even went there into the brush and that was the last of him. He did not come back. Trickster laughed very much and said, "You are always playing tricks. Nijí! ever since you escaped from me, I have longed for you. (548) And here you came," he said.¹

Peter Trimming

Commentary. This story is a variant of Trickster Soils the Princess, with Trickster playing the role that Turtle plays in the other myth, and Mink playing the role of Trickster.

This story is a continuation of the earlier A Mink Tricks Trickster.

Links: Minks, Trickster, The Sons of Earthmaker.

Links within the Trickster Cycle:§20. The Bungling Host, §22.Trickster Takes Little Fox for a Ride.

Stories: featuring Trickster as a character: The Trickster Cycle, Trickster Gets Pregnant, Trickster's Warpath, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Trickster Soils the Princess, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Trickster Concludes His Mission, The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster, The Elk's Skull, Trickster and the Plums, Trickster and the Mothers, The Markings on the Moon, The Spirit of Gambling, The Woman who Became an Ant, The Green Man, The Red Man, Trickster Takes Little Fox for a Ride, Trickster Loses His Meal, Trickster's Tail, A Mink Tricks Trickster, Trickster's Penis, Trickster Loses Most of His Penis, The Scenting Contest, The Bungling Host, Trickster and the Children, Trickster and the Eagle, Trickster and the Geese, Trickster and the Dancers, Trickster and the Honey, Trickster's Adventures in the Ocean, The Pointing Man, Trickster's Buffalo Hunt, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, Trickster Visits His Family, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Petition to Earthmaker, Waruǧábᵉra, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge; in which defecation plays a role: Ocean Duck, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, Mink Soils the Princess, Trickster Soils the Princess, Little Human Head; mentioning minks: Morning Star and His Friend, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, A Mink Tricks Trickster, The Lost Blanket.

Themes: artichokes are used as a laxative: Trickster Soils the Princess; someone soils a princess: Trickster Soils the Princess; anal shame: Trickster Soils the Princess, Ocean Duck; an animal spirit was so shamed while living in a human village, that he ever after led a solitary life away from the haunts of men: Trickster Takes Little Fox for a Ride.

Notes

¹ Paul Radin, The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology (New York: Schocken Books, 1956) 49-50. The original text is found in Oliver LaMère (trs.), "Wakdjukaga," in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3897 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, ca. 1912) Winnebago V, #7: 531-548.