Prevod
Brata sta lovila v povirju Penobscota, dokler se jima niso krplje in mokasini povsem obrabili. Žalostno sta se spogledala in vzkliknila: »Ko bi le imela žensko, ki bi nama pomagala!« Mlajši brat se je tisti večer vrnil v bivališče prej kot starejši, da bi pripravil večerjo, in nemalo je bil presenečen, ko je ob vstopu v vigvam našel pometena tla, zakurjen ogenj, lonec, v katerem je vrelo, in zakrpana oblačila. Vrnil se je v gozd in iz skrivališča opazoval bivališče, dokler ni zagledal brhkega dekleta, ki je vstopilo in se lotilo gospodinjskih opravil.
Ko je stopil noter, je bila v zadregi, vendar je z njo ravnal spoštljivo in ji, kolikor je le mogel, pustil, da je delala po svoje. Tako sta postala dobra prijatelja in se po opravljenem dnevnem delu skupaj igrala kakor otroka. Nekega večera pa je rekla: »Tvoj brat prihaja. Bojim se ga. Zbogom.« In smuknila je v gozd. Ko je mladenič starejšemu bratu povedal, kaj se je medtem zgodilo — starejši se je namreč nekaj dni zamudil pri zasledovanju jelena —, je ta izjavil, da si bo zaželel, naj se ženska vrne. In res se je kmalu, ne da bi jo kdo poklical, vrnila ter s seboj pripeljala tobogan, poln oblačil in orožja. Lovcema se je sreča izboljšala in vsi trije so srečno živeli skupaj do pomladi, ko je napočil čas, da se s kožuhovinami vrneta domov.
S kanujem so se odpravili po Penobscotu navzdol in veselo veslali, ko pa so se približali domači vasi, je dekle postalo nemirno. Kmalu je »poslalo svojo dušo iz telesa« — postalo je jasnovidno — in reklo: »Pustita me na breg tukaj. Vidim, da vajinemu očetu ne bi bila všeč, zato mu ne govorita o meni.« Toda starejši brat je ob prihodu domov povedal o njej in oče je vzkliknil: »Prav tega sem se bal. Ta ženska je sestra škratov. Moške hoče pogubiti.«
Starejši brat se je ob teh besedah zbal, da ga ne bi začarala. Odveslal je nekaj poti po reki navzgor, naletel nanjo med kopanjem in izstrelil puščico vanjo. Zdelo se je, da jo je puščica zadela, saj je zaprhutalo perje in ženska je odletela kot jerebica. Mlajši pa ni pozabil dobrote, ki jima jo je izkazala, in jo je poiskal v gozdu, kjer sta se mnogo dni igrala kakor nekoč.
»Ne zamerim tvojemu očetu: njegovo sovraštvo do mene izvira iz davnih časov,« je rekla. »Kmalu ti bo izbral ženo, a ne poroči se z njo, sicer bo zate vsega konec.« Mladenič se ni mogel poročiti s čarovnico, očetu pa se kljub njenemu rotenju tudi ni smel upreti; ko mu je torej starec rekel: »Sina moj, našel sem ti ženo,« je odgovoril: »Prav je tako.«
Nevesto so pripeljali v vas in štiri dni plesali svatovski ples, nato pa se še štiri dni gostili. Tedaj je mladenič rekel: »Zdaj prihaja konec.« Legel je na medvedjo kožo, nekajkrat vzdihnil in njegov duh se je povzpel na Cesto duhov — Rimsko cesto. Oče je zmajal z glavo, saj je vedel, da je to čarovničino delo. Kraj mu ni bil več pri srcu, zato je odšel in pleme se je razkropilo.
Izvirnik
Two brothers, having hunted at the head of the Penobscot until their snow-shoes and moccasins gave out, looked at each other ruefully and cried, “Would that there was a woman to help us!” The younger brother went to the lodge that evening earlier than the elder, in order to prepare the supper, and great was his surprise on entering the wigwam to find the floor swept, a fire built, a pot boiling, and their clothing mended. Returning to the wood he watched the place from a covert until he saw a graceful girl enter the lodge and take up the tasks of housekeeping.
When he entered she was confused, but he treated her with respect, and allowed her to have her own way so far as possible, so that they became warm friends, sporting together like children when the work of the day was over. But one evening she said, “Your brother is coming. I fear him. Farewell.” And she slipped into the wood. When the young man told his elder brother what had happened there--the elder having been detained for a few days in the pursuit of a deer--he declared that he would wish the woman to come back, and presently, without any summons, she returned, bringing a toboggan-load of garments and arms. The luck of the hunters improved, and they remained happily together until spring, when it was time to return with their furs.
They set off down the Penobscot in their canoe and rowed merrily along, but as they neared the home village the girl became uneasy, and presently “threw out her soul”--became clairvoyant--and said, “Let me land here. I find that your father would not like me, so do not speak to him about me.” But the elder brother told of her when they reached home, whereon the father exclaimed, “I had feared this. That woman is a sister of the goblins. She wishes to destroy men.”
At this the elder brother was afraid, lest she should cast a spell on him, and rowing up the river for a distance he came upon her as she was bathing and shot at her. The arrow seemed to strike, for there was a flutter of feathers and the woman flew away as a partridge. But the younger did not forget the good she had done and sought her in the wood, where for many days they played together as of old.
“I do not blame your father: it is an affair of old, this hate he bears me,” she said. “He will choose a wife for you soon, but do not marry her, else all will come to an end for you.” The man could not wed the witch, and he might not disobey his father, in spite of this adjuration; so when the old man said to him, “I have a wife for you, my son,” he answered, “It is well.”
They brought the bride to the village, and for four days the wedding-dance was held, with a feast that lasted four days more. Then said the young man, “Now comes the end,” and lying down on a bear-skin he sighed a few times and his spirit ascended to the Ghosts' road--the milky way. The father shook his head, for he knew that this was the witch's work, and, liking the place no longer, he went away and the tribe was scattered.
