How Old Age Came into the World

Name: How Old Age Came into the World
Author: Jeremiah Curtin

"How Old Age Came into the World" is a myth collected by Jeremiah Curtin that explains the origin of aging and death among human beings through the tragic story of five warrior brothers and their sister. The tale begins in a mountainous region where five brothers, notorious killers feared throughout the surrounding country, live with their sister. When the time comes for the sister's maturity dance, a coming-of-age ritual requiring her to remain awake for five nights, she fails to complete the vigil, falling asleep on the fourth night. She dreams of her brothers afflicted with sores and starvation, and upon waking interprets her failure as a curse she has brought upon them. Her fears prove prophetic: Sickness, personified as a supernatural being, visits the household each day for five consecutive days until all five brothers are covered in festering sores and too weak to hunt. With her brothers incapacitated and their enemies rejoicing at their downfall, the sister becomes the household's sole provider. Demonstrating unexpected skill, she kills two swans with a single arrow, feeds her brothers, and uses the animal fat to treat their wounds. The brothers begin to recover their strength. Learning through a premonition that enemies are approaching to loot and scalp them, the brothers instruct their sister to bind them in their blankets as though they were dead corpses and place their weapons and valuables nearby as bait. The sister, overcome with despair, wanders into the mountains intending to die rather than witness further suffering. The enemy, deceived by the scene, enters the house, kicks and abuses the bundled figures, and strips the dwelling of its valuables. The brothers spring up and slaughter every man, throwing the bodies into a pond. They then search for their sister and eventually find her dead body, which they burn in mourning. Grief transforms into rage, and the eldest brother declares that they will travel west and kill every person they encounter. Their westward campaign of slaughter is nearly unstoppable. People flee and hide at the brothers' approach. When the brothers reach a great lake, they build a canoe to cross it, but the vessel sinks beneath the surface and carries them underground into another lake, where they encounter Storm, a powerful being capable of drowning anyone he catches. The youngest brother defeats Storm in combat, cuts him apart, and strips him of his human nature, consigning him to exist only as a force that frightens people. Unable to find further victims beneath the water, the brothers reverse course and travel east. In this eastern country they come upon an ancient man and woman living alone in a remote place. The brothers declare their intention to fight, but the old man insists they have always dwelt there peaceably and have never harmed anyone, urging the brothers to leave. The brothers refuse, demand combat, and threaten to kill the couple as they have killed everyone else. The old man calmly informs them that no weapon or force can harm him and his wife, because they are Komúchass, Old Age, and they will live forever. The brothers, unwilling to accept this, attack with arrows, beat the couple with clubs, and attempt to burn them, but nothing has any effect. Frightened for the first time, the brothers flee. The old man calls after them to stop but is ignored. He then announces that he and his wife will pursue them, that the brothers will never escape, and that they will never reach home. True to his word, Komúchass and his wife give chase across a long distance. One by one they overtake each brother. The moment Old Age catches up to a brother, that brother instantly becomes decrepit and feeble, stumbles a short distance, and dies. The eldest falls on land; the third reaches a frozen lake and drowns when the ice breaks beneath his suddenly weakened body; the youngest brother comes within a few steps of home before Komúchass overtakes him, and he too collapses and dies. The story closes with a direct etiological statement: this is how old age entered the world. Had the brothers left the ancient couple undisturbed in their remote country, Komúchass and his wife would have remained there, and old age would never have reached humankind. As a final act, Komúchass transforms the five brothers' bodies into five rocks, which the story identifies as landmarks still visible in the Klamath country.

By Jeremiah Curtin · First published 1912 · Genre: Folklore, Mythology, Native American Literature · 1,770 words

First lines

CHARACTERS / Komúchass Old Age / Nébăks Sickness

Five brothers and their sister lived alone on a mountain; the brothers had killed a great many people in the country around.

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How Old Age Came into the World is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jeremiah Curtin, dated 1912 CE.

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Work type: Fable
Author: Jeremiah Curtin
Date: 1912 CE
Language: English
Genres: Folklore, Mythology, Native American Literature, Magical Realism, Adventure
Length: 1,770 words
Structure: 1 section, 33 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Genres

Folklore — This work is a traditional origin myth collected by ethnographer Jeremiah Curtin, presenting a narrative explanation for a natural phenomenon through storytelling conventions typical of oral traditions and folk narratives.
Mythology — The text functions as a creation myth explaining how Old Age entered the world, featuring supernatural beings (Komúchass, Sickness, Storm) and archetypal characters whose actions have cosmological consequences.
Native American Literature — This is a Klamath tribe story collected by Curtin, reflecting indigenous narrative traditions, cultural beliefs, and the characteristic structure of Native American origin stories with references to specific geographic locations in Klamath country.
Magical Realism — The narrative seamlessly blends realistic elements with supernatural occurrences such as personified abstract concepts, magical transformations, and impossible events presented as factual within the story's logic.