Week 9: Story Telling - Thrown-behind-the-curtain and Thrown-into-the-river

Once upon a time in a land far far away, there lived a man named Kowasa. Kowasa lived with his wife who at the time was pregnant with twin boys. In the land they lived there lived an evil witch. This witch hated anyone that was happier than her, so she took away their gift. 

One day when Kowasa went away to work she paid a visit to his wife and knocked her down then ripping open her belly and took out the twins. She threw one behind the curtain and the other she threw in the river.Kowasa came home that evening tired after a long days work.

 “Honey I’m home. I am starving could you fry this fish that I caught from the river?” asked Kowasa. But he got no reply. He then walked over to his wife that appeared as if she was just sitting there smiling but in fact she was dead.

Many weeks had passed and Kowasa came home to a lonely house and ate dinner on his own, until one day he heard a voice “May I eat with you?” said the voice. Kowasa looked around and heard that it was coming from behind the curtain.

 “Reveal yourself” Kowasa called. And there stood his son and they ate dinner together. His son explained what had happened and so Kowasa called him Thrown-behind-the-curtain.

Thrown-behind-the-curtain often visited the river where he played with a young boy of the same age. One day Kowasa came looking for his son and saw that he was playing with a boy. When Thrown-behind-the-curtain came home that evening Kowasa had asked him who that boy was and if he would like to stay with them. But Thrown-behind-the-curtain had told his father that he did not like to play with others as he lived in the river. “Bring him home one day” said Kowasa.

“He will not come out to play if he sees you” replied Thrown-behind-the-curtain.

“I shall hide” said Kowasa.

And so the next day he set off to play with the boy. When the boy saw that he was being watched he climbed the wall where Kowasa sat and tried to bite him with his otter appearing sharp teeth. But before he could do it Kowasa had broken off his teeth and they took the boy home.

Later that evening when they sat for dinner the boy had explained what had happened to him and so Kowasa knew that it was his other son and decided to name him Thrown-into-the-river. The two boys grew up to be brave conquering all the most dangerous obstacles and eventually killing the witch that cast a spell on their mother which caused her to sleep for many years. Their mother had awoken from the spell and they lived happily ever after.

                                           

                                                             (Crow horsemen, photo by E. Curtis)

Author’s Note: I decided to retell the story of the Lodge-boy and thrown-away. I enjoyed reading this story the most. I kept the plot of the story the same but I changed up the names of the characters.  The original story is about two boys that were thrown away by an evil witch before birth. When their father found them to be alive, he took them both into care and they went on to go through dangerous adventures which the father had told them not to. But each time they went they would come back victorious. In the end their mother is bought back from the dead and so the story ends.

Link : Lodge-boy and Thrown-away

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).