(c) Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢka·m Obtains Feathers
Then Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm staid there. He said: "If there were | feathers, I should feather my arrow." Frog said: "There are || feathers far off. There is a lake, and there are some ducks way out on the lake. | They stay there and do not come ashore. Those who go to get feathers | just pick them up along the shore. | The feathers are there. They come off from the ducks." Then Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm | started. When he arrived there, he carried ear ornaments. He discovered that his grandmother || had spoken the truth. Way out on the lake were some ducks. | It was a large (body of) water. Then Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm | went to the shore and sat down. He did not know how to get the ducks. | He saw one there swimming not far away; | but many ducks were making a noise with their mouths, playing. || One Duck saw the man | walking along the shore. Then (Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm) sat down. He was bright red. The Duck had never seen | a man. They always went to get feathers on shore. | Therefore the Duck did not know (what) a man (was). | Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm said to the one Duck: "Come ashore for awhile." || Duck thought: "He might kill me," and did not come ashore. | Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm said: "Don't be afraid of me, I won't kill I you. I will make you (look) nice. You will be handsome." | Then Duck came ashore. It saw that the youth looked nice. | He said to Duck: "I'll take your feathers. When I have taken them, || I'll pay you for them." Then Duck thought: "This youth | is well dressed. Maybe he will reward me well." | He said: "Well, take them!" Then Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm | plucked out the feathers of the Duck. | He took them all off. Then Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm took the ear ornament and stuck it on || where he had plucked off the feathers. He said: "Now I go, swim away!" Then Duck swam away there, | far out to sea. (Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm) said (to Duck): "Well, move your wings!" Then | the Duck stretched out its wings and moved them. | Its feathers looked pretty. Then many ducks saw the man sitting there away off. || That one floating about alone started to swim ashore. | They knew that the man must have called it ashore. | When they saw it coming back, farther out to sea, they saw it spreading its wings. Oh, | they were pretty, ha! When (the Duck) began to swim back, Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm said to it: | "Go back there to your relatives! They shall come ashore. I'll make them all (look) in the same way || in which I made you." Then, when (the diver[1]) came back | to its relatives after it had been finished by Ya.ukᵘe′ᵢkaˑm, | it was called Diver. When it arrived back where the many ducks were, | they saw how its feathers were. | It had pretty new ones. Diver said: || "Look at me, how I am!" They said to him: "You look pretty on account of the things that are on | your wings." He was told: "Go on, move your wings!" | Then Diver
- ↑ The duck had been transformed into a diver called mitsuk, smaller than a loon, with a long slender neck, white belly, and dark back.
