M17. The woman lies as if the man missed.
(.31.) .35.36.39.-.43.46.49.68.
A wife, mother or grandmother points the arrow of a blind man or boy at the game, lies as if he missed, and cooks and eats meat herself. See M16 motif (man is blind, K333.1).
(Eastern Sami), Nganasans, Eastern Khanty, Evens (Yakutia), Forest Yukaghirs, Central Yupiat, Bering Strait and Northern Alaska, (copper), caribou, netsilik, igloolik, Baffin Land, Labrador Eskimos, Polar Eskimos, West and East Greenland, Kuchin, Tanaina, Tanana, Upper Tanana, (Southern Tutchoni), Taltan, Hea, Eyak, Tlingits, Haida, Tsimshian, Bellacula , uvikino, quakiutl, chilcotin, quarry, curdalen, sarsi, arpahoe, iowa, osage, utah, paresi.
(Wed. Baltoscandia. Eastern Sami [the old man became hard to see and the old woman weakened; saw an elk, told the old man to shoot; he did not know where; the old woman put her gun on the old man's shoulder, took aim and shot herself, the elk fell; they brought it home, the old woman went to get water; the old man began to cook meat and eat, forgot about the old woman; when the meat was over, he went to look for it, tried to fish; the old woman got into the net; he pulled it out , it thawed, came to life, both are happy]: Yermolov 1959:96-97).
Western Siberia. Nganasana [when he went hunting for wild deer, the old man did not hunt, but took out his eyes, let them go to the ground, they ran away, he shouted "Eyes, ooh!" , the eyes answered "Old man, koo-!" , the old man went to look for them by ear, his eyes hid; so they played; the old woman went into the plague, grabbed her eyes, hid them in a bag; scolded the old man, fed the rancid yucola; came a wild deer, an old man she aimed the old man's bow, lied that he missed, ate the meat herself; one day she went for the talnik, the old man called his eyes, they responded, he found them, punished his wife]: Simchenko 1996 (1): 71; Eastern Khanty (zap. Lukina, r. Yugan) [the hunter returns without prey; the wife watches him pull out his eyes, says Samlek ram-ram; she quietly grabs and takes her eyes away; blind husband gets home; wife tells you to shoot at the moose, lies that the husband missed, cooks meat herself; the husband digs an underground passage to the next house where his brother lives; when his brother is not there, he crawls there, makes a fire; the wife comes and thinks that at home, her husband's brother tells him that she hid her husband's eyes in the chest, that he eats meat, hiding it from her husband; the husband crawls back, finds his eyes; scolds his wife (it is not known how it ended)]: Lukina 1990, No. 68: 189-191.
Eastern Siberia. Evens (Sakkyryr District, northern Yakutia) [the hunter is old and blind; the wife says that there is a deer nearby; he shoots and kills him; the wife lies that he missed, eats meat with her son, the husband is not feeds; the son confesses that they have meat; the old man asks him to find an anthill; ties his wife up, leaves him on an anthill, ants eat it; the old man and son go to people in the village]: Novikova 1958:72-73 (=1987:76-77).
SV Asia. Forest Yukaghirs (p. Ridiculous, Verkhnekolymsky District): Kurilov 2005, No. 47 [the husband is blind; his wife asks him to shoot a deer, lies that he missed; feeds him only with roots; the old man regains his sight; the son says that they have eat meat; the old man ties his wife up, leaves him on an anthill; her relatives agree that she deserved it (=Zhukov, Chernetsov 1994:66-68)]: 383-387; Nikolaeva et al. 1989 (2), No. 48 [husband is blind; asks take his wife to a clearing where wild deer visit; shoots, his wife lies as if he missed it; eats meat, gives the old man only roots; the child tells his father that his mother gives him meat; the old man asks the child find an anthill, ties up his wife, leaves it on an anthill; her parents approve of her murder]: 29-33.
The Arctic. Central Yupik; Bering Strait Inupiate [mother lies that meat is over]; Northern Alaska inupiate; copper [the mother of a blind boy eats trout herself; gives him liver, mixing it with excrement; Loon puts it on his back, dives with him, he gains sight; harpoons salmon, asks his mother to hold tench, salmon drags it into the water]: Rasmussen 1932:204-205; caribou; netsilic; igloolik; Baffin Land; Labrador Eskimos; Polar Eskimos; West Greenland.
Subarctic. Kuchin; tanaina; atna; tanana; upper tanana; helmet; taltan; hea; (cf. Southern Tutchoni) [during hunger, the wife kills in bear den; feeds the child, but hides meat from her husband, who is on the verge of starvation; her brother visits her; when she learns the truth, the husband kills his wife and child; the wife's brother finds him, but does not kill him, admitting him rightness]: Workman 2000:76-77).
NW Coast. Eyak; Tlingits; Haida; Tsimshian; Bellacula; Uvikino; Quakiutl.
The coast is the Plateau. Chilcotin; quarry; curdalen [Coyote comes to the house where Pheasant's children bake berries; asks their parents' names; the answer is an indecent and threatening play on words (in the sense that that his father will frighten him suddenly from behind and his mother between his legs); Coyote kills them; Pheasants take off suddenly when Coyote walks along the cliff, he falls; Pheasants revive their children; Coyote broke his leg, eats his bone marrow, fills his hollow bone with chewed willow branches; to prevent two children from saying that Coyote is eating himself, he curls their mouths, they turn into crossbill, Loxia curvirostra); Coyote sees a man throwing his eyes, they go back to his eye sockets; Coyote says his grandfather also knew this trick, throws his own, the man grabs them, runs away; Coyote bumps into someone, takes their eyes, throws them off a cliff, they turn into Catbird (rock wren?) ; sees a woman sitting, she reacts only when he burns her with nettles, says he will go with him; he sees dancing, puts out the fire, but the fat bubbles turn out to be stone; he lights the fire, there is no one He is surrounded by rocks, he is in a stone bag; birds come to hammer a stone, the Woodpecker pecks a hole to Coyote's eye, flies away; the Coyote sees the Vulture, calls him names; the Vulture pecks out his eye; The Coyote looks at others, the Vulture pecks him out; the woman who went with the Coyote broke the rock with her belt; aims the blind Coyote's arrow at the deer, which hits the target, but the woman lies like an arrow got into a tree; drives the Coyote in circles as if they had gone far; cooks venison; admits that he did kill a deer; after filling his gut with fat, he told me to put it on his eyes; the Coyote begins to see, but then eats fat , goes blind again; makes her eyes out of resin; they are weak, the resin melts every now and then from the heat; the Coyote comes to the blind woman; today she will come to the dancers, where she will insert the eyes of the Coyote; the Coyote kills her, puts on her clothes, scratches her eye; explains to her four granddaughters (Nightjar and three other types of birds) that she is hoarse and a sunflower seed has fallen into her eye; granddaughters take turns carrying an imaginary grandmother; she is planted before Coyote's eyes; an imaginary old woman tells her to extinguish the fire, dance in the dark; inserts her eyes in, runs away, leaving the saliva responsible for herself; the audience understands that "the leader took his eyes"]: Reichard 1947, No. 7:89-95.
Plains. Sarsi; arpaho; iowa [The hare lives with his grandmother; asks what his uncles make onions from; From elm (wagla 'shku), he hears that frogs are legs (wagna 'sku); catches frogs, understands his mistake; calls birds, rejects eagles and others, takes feathers for arrows from Thunderbirds; he can't see well with his sore eyes, asks his grandmother to aim his arrow; she lies as if he missed, eats bear meat herself; he tastes like meat in beans; grandmother is ashamed, she gives him meat, his eyes are recovering]: Skinner 1925, No. 36: 496-497; Osage [a young man lives by his grandmother; shoots a deer; a grandmother lies as if a deer has run away, eats meat himself; the young man tastes of meat in bean soup, understands the deception]: Dorsey 1904c, No. 26:32.
Big Pool. Utah.
Southern Amazon. Paresi.