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一对老夫妇与他们的部落一起生活在这里，这就是桑波伊尔族。这对老夫妇腰弯得很厉害，看上去就像是在用膝盖和胳膊肘走路一样。他们和一个非常漂亮的孙女住在一起。 一天，郊狼走过来，看到了老夫妇和这个美丽的女孩。他当即决定娶这位女孩做妻子。但他知道最好不要现在去向她求婚，他觉得应该等到晚上。他在老夫妇家四周溜达了一整天，以更好地熟悉这一家人。 老夫妇观察着他，注意到他长长的头发整洁地辫成辫子，前额的头发也仔细地往后梳着。他们也注意到他长得高大健壮。老夫妇两人谈论着郊狼，在想他是不是一位首领。 那天傍晚时分，郊狼问老头儿：“下面小溪里的东西是什么呀？” ‘‘嗅，那是我的鱼栅。"老人回答说。 ‘‘鱼栅？那是什么啊？你用它做什么？”郊狼装作一无所知的样子问道。 “喔，用它偶尔可以捉到几条大头鱼和翻车鱼。”老人说道。 “那就是你们吃的东西吗？我从没听说过，这些鱼一顿饭够吃的吗？”郊狼问道。 “不太够，但我们哪儿还有别的东西可吃啊？”老人回答说。 “我想我可以上山去找找看。"郊狼说。这时大约是日落前一个小时的样子。 到了山顶上，郊狼看到几只松鸡在树上栖息，他扔石头打松鸡，打死了五只。他把松鸡拿到老人家里，对老头儿说："咱们就吃这些当晚饭吧。” 老人把松鸡毛拔光，把猎物放在火上烤着。一切都准备就绪了，大家都坐下来享受这顿美餐。对老人和他的家人来说，这俨然是一顿盛宴。 “这就是你每天吃的东西吗？"老人问郊狼。 “有时候我也吃浆果和树根，也会捉一些非常大的鱼，就像你胳膊那么长。”郊狼说。 后来，郊狼宣布如果他们喜欢的话，他愿意留下来，不然，他就准备回家了。 "你是什么意思呢？"老人问。 "好吧，是这样的，我想娶您的孙女为妻。"郊狼说。 老头儿和老太太对视了一下，什么也没说。郊狼出去散了一小会儿步，好让老夫妇私下讨论一下。 郊狼出去之后，老头儿对老伴说：“你觉得这个小伙子怎么样？你看到了他做的事情，给我们带来好吃的做晚餐。如果他娶了我们的孙女，或许他们会留在这儿，我们就总是会有这样的好吃的了。不久我们的孙女肯定是要嫁人的，说不定嫁的人还不如这个年轻人好呢。” "好哇，老头子，那你就全权做主吧。" 郊狼很快就回来了，他决定让老人提起这个话题。老人一只手里拿着烟斗，说道“多想抽袋烟啊，我的烟不久前抽光了。” "抽我的吧。”郊狼说。他伸手从外衣口袋里掏出一大捆烟草给了老人。老人装满烟斗，郊狼竟然有真正的烟草，他对此感到很惊讶。 过了一会儿，老人说话了："我和老伴儿商量了一下你的提议，她让我做主。我决定答应你娶我们的孙女，并且住在这儿。如果你离开的话，我们想让你带她一起走。可是我们怎么才能知道你会不会这么做呢？” “您不必担心，”郊狼说，“我已经厌倦了旅行。如果你们希望的话，我想在这儿定居下来，过完余生。” 老人对郊狼非常满意，相信了他说的话。郊狼就娶了他们漂亮的孙女为妻。 当天晚上，郊狼一直和妻子呆在一起，后来他说："我要出去几分钟，回来我们就上庆睡觉。” “好吧。”他妻子回答道。 郊狼沿着小溪向下游走去，来到老人放鱼栅的地方。他把鱼栅改成篮子状，并堆起一排排的石头可以引鱼进入篮子。做完后他喊道：‘‘鲑鱼，明天早晨我想让你们两条鱼在这个篮子里，一条雄的，一条雌的。"说完话，他返回到新娘身边。 第二天早上，郊狼让老头儿早早地去看鱼栅。"我想昨天夜里我听见了声响，听起来像是鱼栅里捉到了鱼。"他说。 老人去小溪下游检查鱼栅。当然了，他看到鱼栅里有两条大鱼。老人是那么兴奋，他跌跌撞撞地沿着小路，向上游走去，来到郊狼身旁。 “你说对了，鱼栅里有两条大鱼，是我见过的最大的鱼呢！”老人汇报。 "你一定是在做梦吧。”郊狼说。 "跟我下来，你自己看看。”老人说。 两人到了鱼栅那里，郊狼惊呼道："你说的太对了。这是鲑鱼，是众鱼之首。我们把他们拿到平坦的地方吧，我教你怎么处理他们。” 来到开阔地后，郊狼让老人上山收集向日葵茎和叶。 “这些是鲑鱼植物，”郊狼解释道，_‘鲑鱼必须总是被放在向日葵茎和叶子上。”老人把向日葵铺到地上。郊狼把鲑鱼放在上面，开始教老人怎样处理鲑鱼。 “首先，在鲑鱼嘴里插一根棍子，往后雜棍子把鱼头掰开。然后，把长长的尖头木棒纵向穿到鲑鱼肚子里，拿着放到篝火上烤。"郊狼说。 “记住一点，”他继续说，“第一周每天都要去鱼栅把鲑鱼取出来。但是处理鞋鱼时，决不能用刀子以任何方式来割鱼。要一直用我教你的方法，把鲑鱼穿在棍子上放在火上烤，第一周一定不能煮着吃。鲑鱼烤好后，小心地打开，取出脊骨，不能折断。而且要把鲑鱼头的后面部分留着做成一个圣包，不能吃掉它。” “如果你不按照我告诉你的来做，要么会有一场大暴风雨来袭，你会被淹死；要么你会被响尾蛇咬到，也会死去。” “取出鲑鱼的脊骨后，把它和鱼头的后部一起仔细地包在湖草里，那是一种芦苇草，做成一个圣包，然后把它放在树上一个安全的地方。如果你照我告诉你的做，你的鱼栅里总是会有很多鲑鱼。“ “我跟你说的都是关于鲑鱼的神圣的事情，因为我总有一天是要死的。我希望你和你的部落了解最好的方法，来照顾和使用你们的鲑鱼。从此，你们这个部落就可以一直在这条河的上下游放上鱼栅捕鲑鱼了。第一个用鱼栅的人是鲑鱼的首领，其他人要一直听从首领让他们做的任何事情。” “鲑鱼季节的第一周以后，你们就可以煮着吃鲑鱼了，或者用你们希望的任何方法来吃。但是记住无论何时都要注意鱼骨头，把他们包在圣包里——永远不要放在可以被踩到或跨过的地方。” 接下来的几天里，每次老人早晨起来去他的鱼栅，都发现鲑鱼比前一天多一倍。郊狼又教他怎样把鱼晒干，以备冬天吃。不久他们大架子上就放满了干鱼。 桑波伊尔族人看到鱼，注意到了老两口的日子过得多么好。他们就去老夫妇家看，回去后就跟其他人介绍这种叫做鲑鱼的大红鱼，还介绍了这个教老人如何处理鲑鱼的高大年轻的陌生人。 不久，所有人都亲自来参观。老头儿和老太太邀请大家品尝烤鲑鱼。老夫妇告诉大家，他们的孙女女婿如何教他们捕鲑鱼，如何晒干留作冬天的食物。 直到今天，桑波伊尔族人说他们的部落正是沿用很久很久以前郊狼教他们祖先的方法来捕获鞋鱼的。 Long ago on the Sanpoil River that flows southward into the Columbia River, Old Man and old Woman lived with their tribe, the Sanpoils. They were so stooped1 that it appeared they were walking on their knees and their elbows. Their very pretty granddaughter lived with them. One day Coyote came along and saw the old couple with the beautiful girl. Immediately, he decided that he wanted the girl for his wife. But he knew better than to ask for her then. He thought he would wait until evening. So during the day he sat around, becoming better acquainted with the family. The old couple watched him, noting that his long hair was braided neatly and his forelocks were carefully combed back. They noticed too that he was tall and strong. Old Man and Old Woman talked between themselves about Coyote, wondering if he could be a Chief. In the late afternoon, Coyote asked Old Man, “What is that thing down in the stream?” “Why，that is my fish trap.” Old Man replied. “A fish trap? What is that? What do you do with it?” asked Coyote, pretending he did not know. “Oh, occasionally I catch a few bullheads and sunfish.” Old Man said. “Is that what you eat? I never heard of them. Are they big enough for a meal?” asked Coyote. “They are not much, but what else can we eat?” replied Old Man. “I think I will go up the hill and look around.” said Coyote. It was then about an hour before sunset. On top of the hill, Coyote saw some grouse roosting in a tree. He threw some stones at them, killing five. He carried the grouse back to Old Man and said, “Let’s eat these for supper.” After removing the feathers, Old Man roasted the game over the fire and when they were done, everyone sat down to eat the wonderful meal. To Old Man and his family, it seemed like a feast. “Is this the kind of food you eat every day?” the Old Man asked Coyote. “Sometimes I eat berries, roots, and I catch some real big fish, as long as your arm.” Coyote said. Later, Coyote announced that he would like to stay there if they wanted him, otherwise he would move on. “What do you mean?” asked Old Man. “Well，it is like this. I would like to marry your granddaughter.” said Coyote. Old Man and Old Woman looked at each other but said nothing. Coyote went for a little walk to allow the old couple to talk privately. While Coyote was gone Old Man said to his wife, “What do you think of this fellow? You saw what he did, bringing good food for our supper. If we let him marry our granddaughter, maybe they will stay here and we will have such good food always. Surely our girl will marry someone soon, perhaps some man not as good as this young fellow.” “Well, husband. I，ll leave it entirely up to you.” Soon Coyote returned. He decided to let Old Man open the conversation. Old Man held his pipe in one hand and said, “How I wish I had a smoke. My tobacco ran out some time ago.” “Have some of mine,” said Coyote, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a large bunch of tobacco and gave it to Old Man, who filled his pipe, feeling very much surprised that Coyote would have real tobacco. After a while Old Man spoke, “My wife and I have talked over your proposal and she left the decision up to me. I have decided to let you marry our granddaughter and live here. If you go away, we want you to take her with you. How are we to know that you will do this?” “You need not worry.” said Coyote. “I am tired of traveling. I want to settle down here for the rest of my life, if you wish.” Old Man was pleased with Coyote and believed what he said. So Coyote took the pretty granddaughter for his wife. Early that evening Coyote stayed with his wife and later said, “I am going out for a few minutes and when I return we will go to bed.” “All right.” answered his wife. Coyote went downstream to where Old Man had his fish trap. He changed it into a basket-type trap, piling rows of rocks to guide fish into the basket. When finished he called out, “Salmon，I want two of you in the basket trap tomorrow morning, one male and one female.” Then he returned to his bride. Next morning Coyote asked Old Man to go to his fish trap early. “I think I heard a noise in the night that sounded like fish caught in a trap.” he said. Old Man went downstream to see his fish trap. Sure enough, he saw two big fish in the trap. Old Man was so excited; he stumbled up the trail toward Coyote. “You were right, there are two great fish in the trap bigger than I have ever seen.” reported Old Man. “You must be dreaming.” said Coyote. “Come down with me and see for yourself.” Old Man said. When the two reached the trap, Coyote exclaimed, “You are so right. These are salmon, chief among all fish. Let us take them over to that flat place, and I will show you what to do with them.” When they reached the open field, Coyote sent Old Man up the hill to gather sunflower stems and leaves. “Those are salmon plants.” Coyote explained. “Salmon must always be laid on sunflower stems and leaves.” Old Man spread the sunflower plants upon the ground. Coyote placed the salmon on them, and proceeded to show Old Man how to prepare the salmon. “First, put a stick in the salmon’s mouth and bend it back to break off the head. Second, place long sharp poles inside the salmon lengthwise to hold for roasting over your campfire.” said Coyote. “Now remember this.” he continued. “The first week go down to the trap and take out the salmon every day. But when fixing it, never use a knife to cut it in any way. Always roast the fish over the fire on sticks, the way I have shown you. Never boil salmon the first week. After the salmon is roasted, open it carefully and take out the backbone without breaking it. Also, save the back part of the head for the sacred bundlenever eat that.” “If you do not do these things as I have told you, either a big storm will come up and you will be drowned, or you will be bitten by a rattlesnake and you will die.” “After you have taken out the salmon’s backbone, wrap it and the back of the head carefully in tules, the marsh grasses, to make a sacred bundle, then place it somewhere in a tree, where it will not be bothered. If you do as I tell you, you will always have plenty of salmon in your trap.” “I am telling you these sacred things about the salmon because I am going to die sometime. I want you and your tribe to know of the best way to care for and use your salmon. After this, your men will always place their fish traps up and down the river to catch salmon. The man having the first trap will be Chief of the Salmon, and the others should always do anything he tells them to do.” “After the first week of the salmon season, you can boil your salmon or cook it any way you wish. But remember to always take care of the bones, wrapping them in a sacred bundle—never leaving them where they can be stepped upon or stepped over.” For the next few days each time Old Man went down to his fish trap in the morning, he found twice as many salmon as on the day before. Coyote showed him how to dry fish to prepare them for winter use. Before long they had a large scaffold5 covered with drying fish. People of the Sanpoil tribe saw the fish and noticed how well Old Man and Old Woman were doing. They went to their hogans and told others about the big red fish called salmon, and about the tall young stranger who taught Old Man about caring for the salmon. Soon thereafter, all the people came to see for themselves. Old Man and Old Woman invited them to feast on their roasted salmon. The old couple explained how their new grandson-in-law had shown them how to trap the salmon and dry them for winter food. To this day, the Sanpoils say their tribe harvests the salmon in exactly the way that Coyote taught their ancestors long, long ago. |
