404 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

Raven, who was terribly frightened, promised faithfully that he would
be good henceforth. Worm caused the tide to fall and Raven fled away
home bedraggled and discomfited.

RAVEN AND BLUE GROUSE!8

Once upon a time Blue Grouse gave a feast to which he invited ali
other chiefs, including Raven, who left early to show his disappointment
at the food provided, the tender buds of evergreen trees. Soon after,
Blue Grouse went hunting and killed many mountain goats, from which
he obtained a large quantity of smoked meat and tasty grease. Again
he sent a herald to invite all the chiefs to a feast, but when the message
was delivered to Raven he answered rudely:

“No, I don’t want togo. There will be nothing but evergreen buds.”

“You are mistaken,” replied the herald. “Blue Grouse has a large
supply of goat meat and grease.”

Raven did not believe this and still refused to go. On the appointed
day, when he saw the people gathering at Blue Grouse’s house, he began
to worry, wondering whether or not he was missing a real feast. At length
he sent a lad to see what was going on, and thus gained the news that a
large supply of meat was about to be distributed. Greatly chagrined,
Raven at once began to make plans to obtain a share of the delicacies.
Without being seen, he went to the back of the house wherein the feast
was taking place, lay down and cried out some words in a strange lan-
guage.!® The startled guests fled, precipitously, and Raven likewise hur-
ried home, where he lay down, telling one of his sisters to blow over him
and his blankets a cloud of ashes from the fire, so that people would think
he had not moved for along time. Several of Blue Grouse’s guests said:

“Let us go and ask Raven about the strange words which we heard.
Heisasmart man. Perhaps he can explain their significance.”

When these people reached his house, Raven sat up and shook the
ashes from himself, asking what they wanted. They explained their
mission and Raven then wanted to know what the voice had said. They
repeated what they had heard.

“Oh! Oh! Good gracious!” cried Raven. ‘‘That means that raiders
are almost upon us. Take your children and run away into the moun-
tains.”

Not suspecting his duplicity, they all obeyed. As soon as he was
alone, Raven rose and went across to Blue Grouse’s house, where he ate
and ate and ate, croaking happily. Hearing the sound, two of the fugi-

18For another version of this story see Boas, p. 91.
This account of the incident was garbled by a sophisticated informant.