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The first man on earth
was named Quiltumtun. How very happy he was; everything was so
beautiful. At last he began to feel a want in his happy life; there was
something wanting; there was no one to cook for him and no one to take
an interest in him. So he resolved to make a companion—one like himself,
only not as strong, but one who would wait for him and cook for him. He
set to work to carry out his ideas. He chose a fine piece of wood; it
was a yew, and after a great deal of trouble made him an image of a
woman. He covered the skin with herbs and made flesh. He could scarcely
keep from shouting for joy. Here at last was a friend who should help
him. This wooden friend could now only nod its head and roll its eyes;
there was no life in it, though the skin felt warm. How could he make it
perfect?
Whilst he was so busy, he forgot to eat; and at last, being hungry, he
went to his larder and found it empty, thus was compelled to go out
hunting, so before leaving he made fire, and, placing the image before
it, told the wooden friend that she must not let the fire go out; and,
placing the materials for a basket before her, told her to finish it
before he came home, so that she might keep busy till he returned.
At evening, weary and worn, he returned home, to find the fire had gone
out, and the basket was still unmade. The friend nodded her head and
smiled, but he got angry and slapped her face. The next day he went out
again, and left the same things for her to do.
The birds had carried the news of Quiltumtun’s wooden wife as far as
Sooke, where lived two women also alone; and when they heard of
Quiltumtun they hurried to Cowichan and there found the lodge and the
wooden woman sitting calmly before the remains of the fire, and also the
materials for a basket before her. They set to work then and finished
the basket and set it before her, and made the fire and cooked the meat,
and then hid, so as to see what Quiltumtun would do. Soon he came home,
bringing a large elk with him, and what joy was his to find that his
wife had been able to do so much. Oh, he was so pleased. The next day he
went off again, and left another basket to be made. Then the women came
in and made the basket, and put the woman on the top of the lodge. When
Quiltumtun came home he looked everywhere for his wife, and at last
found her. How angry he was, and asked her how she had got up there.
There was no answer, and the poor fellow did not know what to make of
it.
Well, the fourth time he went off hunting, the two friends came in and
took the image outside, where they had made a large fire, and, throwing
it in, let it burn, when it exploded with a loud noise.
That was the end of the wooden friend. They then finished the task of
basket-making, and when it was near the time that Quiltumtun was in the
habit of returning, they made a fire and cooked meat for him, and then
hid themselves, to see what would happen. When he came home he found a
bright fire burning and his supper cooking, but no wife anywhere to be
seen. So he began to hunt about the lodge, inside and out, and at last
found the two women, who confessed what they had done.
He liked them so well that he asked them to marry him. They lived very
happily, and from them the Cowichans are descended. |
