K104. The Red Swan. 44.46.
Theyoungest brother stays at home, injures a red swan or duck, and follows in his footsteps.
Menominee, Ojibwa, Osage, Omaha, and Ponca, oto.
The Midwest. Menominee [ten brothers hunt, the youngest (11th) does the housework; sees a red swan, shoots all the arrows, wounds him with an arrow found in his older brother's magic bundle; walking behind the swan, goes through 11 villages, each of them spends the night with a woman, each asking when the swan flew by; she comes to an old woman; she sent a swan to lure a young man; she asks to get her kidnapped, beaded head (her head is not real); the young man turns into a dog, pulls it out, brings his head; the old woman gives him 11 red swan feathers, one for each brother; on the way back, a young man takes all the women he slept with, gives it to the brothers; the eldest also wants the young man's wife; persuades the brothers to make a swing, put the youngest on them, cut off the rope; the youngest knows this; says to his wife that when he dies, all of them women must return to their native villages; as it happened, the brothers were left without wives]: Bloomfield 1928, No. 103:419-429; Ojibwa [after his father's death, three brothers Everyone decided to catch the animal they were better at hunting; the youngest killed the bear, although it was not his animal; a red swan appeared; after shooting all the arrows, the youngest decided to take three father's sacred arrows; the third pierced the swan's neck, but he flew west; after a long pursuit, the young man came to the camp; the chief called him son-in-law, ordered him to sit next to his daughter; after spending time with her night, the young man goes west again; the next night in the house of a sorcerer with an inexhaustible supply of food in his pot; the sorcerer warns that those who chased the swan did not return; another sorcerer the next the stop reports that the red swan is the daughter of a sorcerer who has a wampum instead of a scalp; in order for his daughter to recover, he must have taken it off and his head is bleeding; the scalp is stolen by warriors, they dance with him, he must be returned; the young man came to the place where the scalp was on the pole and the people around him were dancing a military dance; the young man turned into a hummingbird and then into a feather, carried his scalp; became a hawk, whose scream is a signal to the sorcerer that the scalp had been obtained; when the young man put it on the head of the old sorcerer, he himself became a beautiful young man; he gave the savior a wampum and married his sister Red Swan; on the way back the young man leaves gifts to those sorcerers who helped him; the latter tells his daughter, with whom the young man once spent the night, to go with him; elsewhere he received another girl; at home he gave his wife each of the brothers; he found them smeared with soot; the middle brother was a silly trickster; the brothers told the youngest to bring back his father's arrows to send him away and take possession of his wife; he went down to an underworld where spirits gave him arrows; on one side there is light where there are good people, on the other side there is darkness where evil people are; when he returns, brothers argue about who will take his wife; he shot them with the arrows they brought and lived with the Red Swan for a long time]: Schoolcraft 1999:125-139.
Plains. Osage: DeVoe 1904 [three brothers go hunting in different directions; the youngest kills a bear; sees a red swan on the lake; all arrows fly by; returns for three magic arrows his father; the latter falls into a swan; he flies west; since then the sky is red at sunset]: 27-28; Dorsey 1904c, No. 31 [four men live, two of them brothers; the elder brother tells the youngest not use a certain arrow â€" the bird can carry it away; the youngest shot at the eagle, but missed; the same with other birds; finally, a red duck arrives; after shooting other arrows, the youngest hit with a forbidden arrow in the duck's chest, the duck flew away, carrying the arrow; the young man went to look for it; a year later he came to the camp, the chief gave him a pair of moccasins; he goes from one leader to another, each time he gets an answer that the duck flew so many (fewer and fewer) days ago; by the sea asks the brown duck to stretch its legs like a bridge, it refuses; the white duck's legs did not reach the other side; the red duck stretched out its legs, young man crossed to the other side, there are thousands of birds; they explain that they have long wanted to get their older brother's arrow, finally the red duck got it; they gave him four blankets and that arrow; the red duck pulled out again legs, younger brother brought an arrow and blankets to the brothers]: 37-40; Omaha, ponka [three brothers go hunting, the youngest fourth remains in charge; removes a splinter from the sole of the foot, a splinter turns into a girl; brothers make her their sister; she disappears; the Red Bird in the guise of a man takes her away; in the guise of a bird, returns to report it to the brothers; the younger one shoots at the bird, it takes her away his arrow; he follows her; on the way he enters four villages; finds his sister in the lake, Krasnaya Ptitsa is her husband; his sister invites his brother under water; the husband returns the arrow, gives four little ones loaded boat gifts; the young man leaves each in one of the four villages, the boats are made large; the young man receives the daughters of four chiefs for himself and his brothers]: Dorsey 1888b: 77-78 (= 1890:224-226); from [ three brothers hunt, the youngest lame watches the house; sees red ducks; having no other arrows, fires four sacred arrows (one per brother), only the last one injures one duck, chases it for a long time; people in the village tell him that those who chased such a duck did not return; the duck flies into the tipi of a man without a scalp; he explains that he sent ducks on purpose to find a brave man who would return him scalp; this man's two beavers transport the young man across the river; he tells them to gnaw holes in enemies' boats; a bird in a trap calls him the chief's son; he frees her; kills the chief's son, disguised as he appears asks his mother to scalp him to play ball; playing ball, throws it far away, runs away, boars across the river; the man puts on his scalp, gives the young man red ducks]: Curtis 1976 (19): 166- 168.