cannot get any food." Then he said, "Can't you make the wind stop, so that you may obtain food?" Then he went out of the house and down to the river, which was completely frozen over. It was so slippery that he was hardly able to stand on the ice. He went up the river to meet the East Wind and to conquer him. While he went on, mucus flew out of his nose and froze at once, because it was so cold. When he came near the house of the East Wind, he took up some pieces of ice, which he threw into the river, saying, "Henceforth it shall not be as cold as it is now. Winter shall be a little cold, but not very much so. You shall become herring." The ice was at once transformed into herrings. Every piece became a herring and swam down the river.
As'ai′yahaL went on and finally arrived at the house of the East Wind. He entered, sat down, and whistled. His whole face was covered with frozen mucus. He did not go near the fire, and his whole body was trembling with cold. He said, however, "I feel so warm I cannot go near the fire. I am perspiring," and he told the East Wind that he came from a house where they were drying herrings. The East Wind said, "Don't say so. It is winter now. There will be no herring for a long time to come." As'ai′yahaL replied, "Don't you believe me? There are plenty of herrings outside." He went out and took an icicle, which he warmed at the fire. "Look how quickly it boils," he said to the East Wind, while actually the ice was melting. Thus he made the East Wind believe that he held a herring in his hand. Then the East Wind ceased to blow, the ice began to melt, and the people had plenty of food.
Up to that time it had been winter all through the year, but As'ai′yahaL made summer and winter alternate.
Then he went back to the people whom he had helped. "Rise and catch herring, and when you have enough tell your wives to pick berries, and you may hunt elk and deer." Then they rose and did as he had told them, and they lived happy lives.
He travelled on, and came to a place on the seacoast, where he saw a stranded whale, but he had no knife to cut it with. Near by there was a house from which a little smoke was rising. He entered and saw two men sitting one on each side of the fire. One of them was NctālE′qsEn (flint nose), the other TaLE′qtEn (copper for making arrow-points). He thought, "I wish they would fight." As soon as he had thought so, they began to fight. Whenever NctālE′qsEn hit TaLE′qtEn's nose the latter was bent in; and when TaLE′qtEn hit NctālE′qs{asc|E}}n's nose, chips of flint would fly from it.
Then As'ai′yahaL picked up the fragments and said, ‘"Stop fighting; there is a large whale on the beach." He picked out three good flint knives, and went out to cut the blubber of the whale. He
