(1) ispî kâ-omikîhk êwako âcimowin. êkwa kîtahtawê nâ kisêyiniw âhkosiw, ita ê-kapêsicik. êkwa otâpâsôw, ê-pimipicicik. êkwa ita ê-kapêsicik, êkota mistahi âhkosiw kisêyiniw ana. ômisi isiyîhkâsôw awa kisêyiniw: pitikwayasit isiyîhkâsôw. êwako mistahi kâ-âhkosit. êkwa nêwâw ê-tipiskâk, êkwa pimisin; wî-nipiw. êkwa êkota piciwak ôki kotakak ayîsiyiniwak; mâcika nakatâwak pêyak mîkiwâhp. pêyak nôtokêsiw êkwa oskinîkiskwêw pêyak; êwako êkâ kâ-wâpit awa oskinîkiskwêw; mistahi kitimâkisiw. êkwa namôya kî-nahastâwak. ê-nipit êkota wîkimêwak; êkota awa kisêyiniw pimisin. êkwa nîso-tipiskâw wîkimêwak. êkwa awa nôtokêsiw âhkosiw. êkwa nîso-tipiskâw êtataw pimâtisiw. âsay kêkâc ê-wâpahk, namôya pimâtisiw; nipiw awa nôtokêsiw. êkwa êkota pêyakôw êkâ kâ-wâpit oskinîkiskwêw, okâwiya kâ-nipiyit.

(1) This story took place at the time of the smallpox. A certain old man took sick where they were encamped. He was driving his team, for they were on the trek. And then, there where they camped, that old man became very sick. This was the old man's name: Club-Foot was his name. He was the one who fell very sick. For four nights he lay there; he was at the point of death. Then the other people there moved camp; as was to be expected, that family was abandoned there. An old woman and a young woman; and this young woman was blind; she was pitiable indeed. They were not able to arrange their house. When the old man died, they stayed there with him; there lay the old man. For two nights they stayed with him. Then the old woman took sick. For two nights she barely lived. When it was almost dawn, she was no longer alive; the old woman had died. Then that blind young woman was alone there, she whose mother had died.

(2) êkwa êkota, "tânisi nika-tôtên?" êkosi itêyihtam; "namôya nika-sipwêhtân;" "nîsta ôta nika-nipin," itêyihtam.

(2) Then, “What shall I do?” she thought; “I shall not go away from here; I too shall die in this place,” she thought.

(3) êkwa êkota ayâw.

(3) So she stayed there.

(4) "misawâc nika-nipin, nîsta."

(4) “In any case I too shall die.”

(5) êkwa okâwiya ôhi kîtahtawê, "hâw, nitânis, sipwêhtê; niya!" "anohc sipwêhtê," ê-itikot, ê-cîpayamatisôstawât; "niyâ, sipwêhtê!"

(5) Then suddenly her mother said to her, “Now, my daughter, depart from here; go! Depart even now!” she said to her, speaking as the spirit of one departed to one still alive, “Go, leave!”

(6) misatimwak nisto âh-ayâwêw, pêyak mistacimosis; nêwo.

(6) She had three horses and one foal; four.

(7) hâw, "êha, nika-sipwêhtân," itwêw.

(7) “Very well, I shall depart,” she answered.

(8) "tânitê êtokê mêskanaw?" "nama niwâpin;" "nama nikiskêyihtên," êkosi itêyihtam.

(8) “But where, I wonder, is the road? I am blind; I do not know,”

(9) hâw, wawêyîw. êkwa misatimwa takosiniyiwa. êkwa êkota otinêw ôhi misatimwa. êkwa ta-tahkopitêw: êkwa aspapiwin, wiyahpicikêw. êkwa mâtôw. ôma wayawîw. êkwa apisîs îwahikanisa êkota aspapiwinihk tahkopitêw. apisîs pimîs. otinêw ôhtâwiya ocistêmâwi-maskimotisiyiw; asiwatâw. maskihkîwâpoy otinam, mîna askihkosa, wiyâkanis. êkwa kâ-sipwêhtêt. mâtôw.

(9) So then she made ready. The horses came to where she was. Then she took hold of those horses. She hitched them up; she took a saddle and harnessed them. Then she wept. She went out of the tent. A little chopped meat she tied there to the saddle, and a bit of fat. She took her father's tobacco-pouch; she put it into her garment. She took some tea, and a small kettle, and a cup, and set out. She wept.

(10) "tânisi êtokê nika-pimâtisin?" itêyihtam; "namôya niwâpin."

(10) “I wonder how I shall keep alive”, she thought; “I am blind.”

(11) sipwêhtêw; misatimwa sakâpêkinêw. êkwa mêskanaw nitonam. êkwa osita ohci mêskanaw ê-nitonahk, piyisk miskam mêskanaw. êkoyikohk sipwêhtêw. mâtôw ê-pimohtêt.

(11) She set out; she led the horses on the lines. She sought the road. Seeking the road with her feet, at last she found it. Then she set out. She wept as she walked on.

(12) "mâskôc nika-nipin," itêyihtam.

(12) “No doubt I shall die,” she thought.

(13) êkwa ê-pimohtêt wâhyaw itohtêw.

(13) She walked a long ways.

(14) "êkwa nika-têhtapin."

(14) “Now I shall ride.”

(15) êkwa ômisi ê-têhtapit. misatimwak sipwêhtêwak; pimipahtâwak. pêyak kîsikâw kinwês pimipahtâwak misatimwak. piyisk kiskêyihtam: "tipiskâw êkwa." kiskêyihtam: "sakâw; ôma mêskanaw, sakâw." itohtêw sakâhk; êkota kapêsiw. namôya nipâw. ê-wâpahk êkwa sipwêhtêw; nitonam mîna mêskanaw. ômisi mîna osita, mêskanaw nitonam. miskam mêskanaw. âsay mîna êkwa têhtapiw. sipwêhtêw, mêskanaw; pimipahtâwak misatimwak. nama kêkway nipiy ôta ayâw; nôhtêyâpâkwêw. kîtahtawê- misatimwa, pimipahtâwak misatimwak,- nipiy miskam. minihkwêwak êkwa êkota misatimwak mîna ana iskwêw. êkwa âsay mîna têhtapiw; êkota mistatimwak mêskanaw êkwa miskamwak. pimipahtâwak misatimwak. ê-tipiskâk nipâw; mîna kapêsiw. kîtahtawê misatimwak, "brrr!" wî-tapasîwak. sêkisiw. kî-sakahpitêw. otinêw; âsay mîna têhtapiw. tapasîw. nama kêkway mêskanaw.

(15) So then she mounted a horse. The horses set out; they trotted on. On the first day the horses trotted quite a long time. At last she knew that night was at hand. She knew that there was a grove of trees: “Here is the road, here the grove.” She went into the wood; there she camped. She did not sleep. At daybreak she set out again; again she sought the road. Like this, with her feet, she sought the road. She found the road. Again she mounted. She set out on the road; the horses trotted along. She had no water; she was thirsty. Presently - the horses were trotting along, - she found some water. Then the horses and that woman drank there. Then she mounted again; the horses found the road. The horses trotted along. When night fell she slept; she camped again. Suddenly the horses went, “Brrr!” They wanted to run away. She grew frightened. She had tied them up. She took them; she mounted one. She fled. The road was not there.

(16) "nama kêkway mêskanaw êkwa;" "tânitê êtokê êkwa?"

(16) “This isn't the road; where can the road be?”

(17) itê mîna ê-tipiskâk kapêsiw. êkota nipâw; nipiy êkota ayâyiw, sâkahikan. ê-wâpahk, sipwêhtêw.

(17) Then again when night fell, she camped. There she slept; there was some water, a lake. At daybreak she went from there.

(18) "tânitê êtokê êkwa?"

(18) “And whither now?”

(19) nama kêkway âsay mîcisôwin. mêstinam mîciwin. isi-pimohtêw; têhtapiw.

(19) By this time she had nothing to eat. She had eaten all her food. She went on, riding.

(20) "tânitê êtokê?" itêyihtam.

(20) “Whither, I wonder,” she thought.

(21) mêkwâc ê-pimohtêt, kîtahtawê nipiy pahkopêwak ôki misatimwak. piyisk ôma timîw. wâyonîw. sipwêhtêw mîna. wâhyaw êkwa itêyihtam. ôma ê-sipwêhtêt, ôma ispatinâw kiskêyihtam, ê-âmaciwêt, mistahi ê-ispatinâyik. êkotê têhtapiw. tahkohcâyihk pêyakwanohk nîhtakosîw. mâtôw. kîtahtawê apiw. kîtahtawê misatimwak ôki sêkisiwak, "prrr!" wî-tapasîwak. apiw.

(21) As she went along, presently the horses were going into water. At last it came as high as this. She turned back. She set out again. She thought it a long ways. Here when she set out, she knew that it was a hill, that she was going up a high hill. She rode there. On top of the hill in a place, she dismounted. She wept. Then she was sitting there. Presently the horses grew frightened; “Brrr!” They made to run away. She sat there.

(22) "mâskôc nika-pakamahok ayahciyiniwak; nika-nipahikwak," itêyihtam.

(22) “Perhaps the Blackfoot will strike me down; they will kill me,” she thought.

(23) kîtahtawê ayîsiyiniwa, "wâhwâ!" itik; "kikitimâkisin," itik.

(23) Presently some people said to her, “Dear me! You are in a sorry state.”

(24) ocêmik. mâtôw iskwêw awa.

(24) Someone kissed her. The woman wept.

(25) "hâw, kika-pimâtisin," itik, nêhiyawa ê-miskâkot.

(25) “There, your life is saved,” they told her, for some Cree had found her.

(26) mistahi pakwâtam ana nâpêw ê-kitimâkisiyit ôhi iskwêwa. êkosi isi otihtahêw kisiwâk mîkiwâhpa, ê-kîwêhtahât. takosin mîkiwâhpihk. awa nâpêw mistahi miyo-ayâw.

(26) That man was greatly disturbed at the woman's plight. So he took her to some tents that were close by, he took her home with him. He arrived at the camp. That man was very well off.

(27) "hâ, nama kêkway cistêmâw," itêw.

(27) “I haven't any tobacco,” he said to her.

(28) awa iskwêw otinêw cistêmâwa; miyêw ôhi nâpêwa ôhi, maskihkîwâpoy mîna.

(28) The woman took the tobacco; she gave it to that man, and the tea as well.

(29) êkota, "mistahi kitatamihin," itwêw awa nâpêw ê-miyiht cistêmâwa. êkwa êkota kî-pimâtisiw ana iskwêw.

(29) Then, “You are doing me a great kindness,” said the man when he was given the tobacco. And there that woman was able to live.

(30) êkosi êkoyikohk ôma âcimowin ê-iskwâk. nikî-wâpamâw ana iskwêw; mîna nâpêw ana ninisitawêyimâw kâ-kî-miskawât.

(30) So that is the end of this tale. I saw that woman; and I knew the man who found her.

Footnotes