M190. Beaver and porcupine. 40.-.42.

A beaver transports porcupine across a water barrier. He usually dumps it into the water or leaves it on the island.

Northern Alaska Inupiate, Koyukon, Tanaina, Taltan, Inner Tlingit, Eyak, Tsimshian.

The Arctic. Northern Alaska Inupiate [Porcupine asks to be transported across the river; from each kayak they say that the next one will transport him; they were Muskrat, Nork, Otter; transported Beaver; where the bodies of the beaver and The porcupine came into contact (back to abdomen), these animals have no fat]: Cleveland 1980:40-43.

Subarctic. Koyukon: Attla 1983 [The porcupine waits by the river, asks to be transported to the other side; refuses the offers of Muskrat, Otter, Bobrenk, agrees to sit on Beaver's tail; makes a fire, puts on fire pot; The beaver throws her off, but the shore is near and she swims out; the bear tells her to stay away, otherwise it will crush her gallbladder, liver, etc.; she asks every time if she has a gallbladder, etc. .; The bear tries to step on her, she stabs him with needles, he dies]: 67-75; De Laguna 1995, No. 28 [Porcupine needs to go to the other side of the river; rejects Muskrat (not sure if it will stay on her tail) Mink (same), agrees to swim on Beaver's tail; makes a fire, plucks pieces of meat from Beaver's tail; in the middle of the Beaver River can no longer stand it, drops Porcupine, since then the beaver tail has been naked and chipped out; when he got out of the water, Porcupine became a porcupine; he could not run fast - he was stiff; but he climbed a tree; the Bear tried to grab him, but pricked him], 33 [~ (28); rejects Muskrat, Otter]: 220-223, 244-246; Jones 1983 [The old porcupine needs to go across the river; she rejects the Muskrat, the Otter, agrees to sail on the Beaver; makes a fire on his tail, boils the soup; the Beaver drops it into the water, but the shore is near]: 67-71; Jenne 1908-1909 [as in Jones; on the other side of the Dicobraz climbs a fir tree; throws down a Bear trying to reach it; dances on his corpse]: 357-358; tanaina [Porcupine asks Beaver to transport him across the pond; Mink and Land Otter {=Fisher?} they are too weak to do this; swimming on Beaver's back, Porcupine says that people will respect Beaver's body; after eating a beaver, they will put bones in water and the beaver will come to life; Beaver replies that he is especially pleased when young women gnaw at his ribs]: Kalifornsky 1991:113; taltan [Cāki'nā is a lucky hunter, his wives are Bobrikha and Porcupine; a poor woman chases away her daughter who stole a piece of fat; tells her to marry K.; the former wives are going to kill the one who has come; K. beats them with a club, drives them away forever; Bobrikha transports Dicobrazh to the island and throws them; she causes a frosty night, passes through ice; Bobrikha wants as many winter months as there are scales on her tail; Porcupine wants four, bites off her thumb; Bobrikha has to agree; Bobrikha agrees to live in the lowly places, Porcupine - where it is taller; K. with his mother and new wife move to his wife's mother, they have a lot of meat]: Teit 1919, No. 26:244-246; internal tlingit [Beaver wants two hundred months a year, how many marks it has on its tail, half of them are winter; Porcupine wants as many winter months as there are toes on its front legs; cuts off one finger so that each leg has four instead of five fingers; Beaver agrees that a year should not be a hundred months, but twelve; Beaver offers to transport Porcupine to the island, leaves it there; Porcupine causes a cold wind, crosses the ice; suggests raise Beaver to the tree, leaves after eating the lower branches; trying to go down, Beaver falls]: McClelland 1987:313-315.

NW Coast. Eyak: Johnson 1978:21 [The Raven keeps circling around Porcupine until it hits it with its tail; then the Raven ties feathers to the log, the Porcupine crosses it to the island; the Raven takes off its feathers, The porcupine can only come back when the water freezes in winter; if you laugh at the porcupine, it will cause cold and a north wind], 22 [The porcupine fell on the ice, the Beaver helped him get out; while Porcupine fell on the ice, the Beaver helped him get out; while Porcupine fell on the ice, Beaver helped him get out; while was drying himself by the fire, Beaver came up unnoticed and Porcupine accidentally stabbed thorns into him; the Beaver beat him; then they got back together and quarreled again; Porcupine turned Beaver's tools into his teeth; said that it would be easier for hunters to catch beavers than porcupines]; Tsimshian [Beaver invited Porcupine to visit; drove him on his back, dived with him several times, almost drowned him; fed the branches that Porcupine does not eat; Porcupine decided to take revenge, invited Beaver, gave him bark and needles to eat; lifted him to a tree; jumping down, Beaver crashed to death]: Boas 1902:73-80.