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(1) kisêyiniw sipwêhtêw, êkwa ê-piponiyik. ê-otâkosiniyik, kîtahtawê pêhtawêw awâsisa. mihcêtokamikisiyiwa, mihcêt mîkiwâhpa.

(1) The Old Man set out, and it was in winter. Presently, towards evening, he heard some children. Those people had many tents, many were the lodges.

(2) ê-ati-takohtêt ispatinâhk, awâsisa, "okiyôtêw!" itik.

(2) When he arrived at the hill, the children said of him, “A visitor!”

(3) "â, ôta ta-pê-itohtêw; ôta ta-pê-mîcisow!"

(3) “Ho, let him come here; let him come here and eat!”

(4) ha, itohtêw êkotê, pîhtêyas ê-cimatêyik. â, pîhtokêw.²

(4) So he went to the tent that stood in the center. He entered.

(4a) "â, asam nistês; ta-mîcisôw."

(4a) “Hey, give my big brother something to eat; let him have a meal.”

(5) asamâw.

(5) He was given food.

(6) "pahkwêsikanâpoy," itêyihtam.

(6) “Porridge,” he thought.

(7) "ôta ta-pê-mîcisôw" itâw, ê-nitomiht.

(7) “Let him come and eat over here,” someone said to him, inviting him.

(8) nama êskwa mîcisôw.

(8) He had not yet begun to eat.

(9) êkwa mwêhci ê-wî-mîcisot, âsay mîna kotakihk kotaka ê-nitomikot.

(9) Then, just as he was about to begin eating, again he was invited by others to another tent.

(10) êkwa ê-pîhtokêt, ê-wî-mîcisot, ômisi êkwa: "nistês ta-pê-kîwêw."

(10) Then, as he went in and was about to eat, then, “Let my big brother come back here.”

(11) kîwêw.

(11) He went back.

(12) ê-pîhtokêt, "hâw, nistêsê, kawisimo!" "kîpa mâna picinâniwiw, kîkisêpâ ê-wî-picihk." "kawisimo!"

(12) As he entered, “Well now, brother, go to bed! We always move camp early, when we move in the morning. Go to bed!”

(13) kî-kêcîw.

(13) He undressed.

(14) "â, nistêsê, kîpa mâna piciwak ôki ayîsiyiniwak kîkisêpâ!"

(14) “Ho, big brother, these fools always break camp very early of a morning!”

(15) "pisinê nîtim kotawêci, êkota nika-pêkopayin," itêyihtam. kêtayôwinisêw, "wêtinahk nika-nipân," ê-itêyihtahk.

(15) “As soon as my sister-in-law kindles the fire, I shall wake up,” thought he. He took off his clothes, thinking “I do want to sleep in comfort.”

(16) êkwa kîkisêpâ pisinê ê-wâsênâkwaniyik, ohpîyiwa ôhi piyêsîsa, "ayîsiyiniwak" kâ-itêyihtahk. sâkâkonêkâpawiw.

(16) Then in the morning, promptly with the first gleam of dawn, up flew those birds which he had taken for people. He stood there, deep in a snow-drift.

(17) "cê, wînikonêwi-mahkayak!"

(17) “Bah, the filthy brutes!”

(18) êkwa postayôwinisêw.

(18) Then he put on his clothes.

(19) "nama kîhtwâm nika-wayêsihikwak!"

(19) “They shan't fool me again!”

(20) êkwa sipwêhtêw.

(20) Then he went away.

(21) "mahti ôtê kâ-wîkihk!"

(21) “I'd better go to some inhabited place!”

(22) êkotê itohtêw. pikonita sipwêhtêw. mîtosiskâhk, ita ê-sîpêyâyik, awâsisa ê-tatwêwitamiyit, ê-sôskwaciwêyit, mistahi tahtakosiw kôna, awâsisa ita ê-mêtawêcik, ê-kîskwêcik.

(22) He went over yonder. He set out at random. He went to a poplar-grove, to where there was an open place among the trees, where some children were playing noisily, sliding down a hill. Very hard and smooth was the snow where the children were playing and raising a rumpus.

(23) âsay mîna nitomâw. âsay tipiskâyiw. pimihkân asamâw.

(23) This time, too, he was invited. It was already dark. He was given some pemmican.

(24) mwêhci ê-otinahk, "hâw, nipê-nitomâw kistêsinaw; ta-pê-mîcisôw nîkihk," itâw.

(24) Just as he took it, “Hullo, I've come to invite our big brother; he is to come eat at our hose,” he was told.

(25) "hâw, nîtim, pê-kîwêyâni, nika-mîcin ôma," itêw ôhi iskwêwa.

(25) “Well, sister-in-law, when I come back here, I shall eat this,” he told the woman there.

(26) âsay mîna nitomâw: "pita niya nistês nîkihk kita-pê-mîcisôw;" "osâm kayâs kâ-wâpamak kistêsinaw."

(26) Again he was invited: “First let my big brother come eat at my house; it is really too long since I have seen our big brother.”

(27) "hâw, nîtim, ita kâ-wîkihkêmoyân, êkota itohtâtân ôma kâ-asamiyan pimihkân," itwêw.

(27) “Well, sister-in-law, let us take the pemmican over to where I am visiting for the night,” he said.

(28) âsay mîna kîwêw.

(28) Again he went back.

(29) "â, nisîm, mistahi ninêstohtân;" "ê-timikonik osêtinâhk niwî-nipân."

(29) “Now, little brother, I am tired from my long tramp; I want to sleep on the deep snow, on the hillside.”

(30) "nistêsê, wîpac wî-piciw awa okimâw!"

(30) “Big brother, the chief here means to move camp promptly!”

(31) âsay miskâkaniyiw itê ê-wî-âywêpihk.³

(31) They had already found the place to stop to rest.

(32) "pita êkota ê-wî-mîcisohk, maywês mîciso ê-wî-picihk."

(32) “Wait and eat at the place where we are planning to eat, before we move on.”

(33) "â, nisîm, kotawêci nîtim, âsay nika-waniskân," itêw osîma.

(33) “Oh, little brother, when my sister-in-law kindles the fire, I shall get up all right,” he told his younger brother.

(34) êkosi kêcikonam omaskisina otâsa mîna oskotâkay, ê-aspiskwêsimot. nipâw. mitoni kîkisêpâ, wâhyaw ê-pê-wâpaniyik, mêkwâc ê-nipât awa wîsahkêcâhk, kêtahtawê sisikoc kâ-ohpahoyit pihêwa. êkotowihk kâ-pîhtokêt, itâmihk kônihk ê-sîpâyâkonakihiht.

(34) Accordingly he took off his moccasins, his breeches, and his jacket; using them all for a pillow. He slept. Very early, at the first far-off sign of dawn, while that Wisahketchahk was yet asleep, suddenly up flew the partridges. For such they were whose tents he had entered, and he had been led to go deep under the snow.

(35) "cê! wînikonêyo-mahkayak kâ-wayêsihicik!" "niya kahkiyaw awiyak kâ-wayêsimak, kîhkîhk ka-wayêsimitinâwâw!" itêw.

(35) “Bah, the filthy brutes have tricked me! I, who trick everyone, I shall trick you none the less!” he said of them.

(36) êkosi êkoyikohk.

(36) That is all.

Footnotes

¹LB's footnote to the Cree name kiyâkêskamikapiw: The narratress has since died. One way--and no doubt an ancient one--of telling Culture-Hero stories (which are known to every listener) is in a series of laconic sentences, largely quotations of speeches. In this anecdote Wisahketchahk visits the partridges in their camp. In each tent food is set before him, but before he can eat, he is dragged off by some other host. In the morning the partridges fly off before he wakes up, leaving him alone in the snow.

²NEW PARAGRAPH

³LB: This sentence and the following speech are unintelligible to me.