Snake Tries to Marry Squirrel's Daughters

Name: Snake Tries to Marry Squirrel's Daughters
Author: Jeremiah Curtin

"Snake Tries to Marry Squirrel's Daughters," recorded by Jeremiah Curtin, is a Native American myth centering on Wámanik, a Bull Snake who is a powerful chief living near a creek at Wiwĕnsi, and his obsessive pursuit of the daughters of old Djáudjau, a Flying Squirrel of great spiritual power. Wámanik first becomes aware of Djáudjau's family when he hears the beautiful hunting song of Djáudjau's son on a mountain. Learning from his kinsman Wisnik, a Garter Snake, that Djáudjau also has three daughters, Wámanik immediately decides he must marry them. He sends Wisnik as his emissary to Djáudjau's home. Though the father and mother receive Wisnik cautiously and the son is frightened but polite, the two older daughters are proud, lazy, and contemptuous. They mock Wámanik, asking why he does not marry a woman of his own kind, and flatly refuse. The youngest daughter is hardworking and gentle but too young to be a marriage candidate in Wámanik's view. Wámanik, angered but hiding his intentions, camps near Djáudjau's mountain for many days. He uses his power to drain the young man's hunting ability, drawing away his song and causing him to find no game and fall into a dreamlike illness. Eventually Wámanik lures Djáudjau's son to his mountain through irresistible supernatural compulsion and uses his enormous body to press and crush the mountain, trapping the young man beneath its weight for days. He keeps him alive through wishing food into existence, tormenting him as leverage against the sisters. Wisnik intervenes, visiting the family and warning that only if the sisters agree to marry Wámanik will the brother be spared. The youngest sister runs to the mountain and offers herself as wife when she is old enough, but Wámanik refuses her and continues to demand the two older sisters. They still refuse, laughing and mocking. Finally Wámanik releases the young man unexpectedly, allowing the sisters to believe he lacks real power, which only increases their contempt and ridicule. During seed-gathering season, Wámanik sends Wus, the Fox, as a final emissary. Wus speaks persuasively through the night, warning that Wámanik's patience is exhausted, but the sisters ignore him and push their father away. The brother speaks with dignity, telling Wus he cannot force his sisters but bears no ill will toward Wámanik. Wus reports back that the sisters refuse absolutely. Wámanik, furious, reveals he can shed his snake form and appear as an eternally youthful man, boasting that while the sisters will age and die, he will always renew himself. Using his power, Wus causes snakes to appear all over the bushes where the sisters sleep, filling their dreams and waking hours with terror. The brother, disgusted with his sisters, departs with his father to visit a cousin, abandoning the women to their fate. Around this time, a great council is called among all the living peoples of the world, gathered at the lava bed country, where each being must decide what form they will take in the new age and what kind of life they will lead. Every creature attends, including Wámanik, the Djáudjau family, and all manner of birds, insects, animals, and elemental beings. The two older sisters wander the council pale and sickly under Wámanik's invisible influence. Creatures observe and speak about their future forms and dwelling places. After the council, the sisters fall gravely ill and relent, sending word through Kékina the Lizard that they now agree to marry Wámanik. Wámanik laughs and sends back word that it is too late, that he will not take them and intends to destroy them. Supporters express sorrow for the sisters, who face their end with defiant words, declaring that Wámanik himself will eventually die, will be despised by people, and will be forced to live under rocks and in stony hills. The two sisters transform into flying squirrels and fly eastward. As they go, the snakes that Wámanik had placed inside them fall from their mouths and scatter in every direction, which is given as the explanation for why there are so many snakes in the world. When the youngest daughter sees her sisters changed and hears their calls, she weeps for them, and the entire Djáudjau family transforms into flying squirrels and flies away into the forest together.

By Jeremiah Curtin · First published 1912 · Genre: Folklore, Myth, Fantasy · 5,049 words

First lines

CHARACTERS / Djáudjau Flying Squirrel / Gäk Crow / Gapni Louse / Juljulcus Cricket / Kāhkaas Stork / Kai Rabbit / Káwhas Blackbird / Kékina Lizard / Kískina Beetle / Leméis Thunder / Lóluk Fire / Tcoóks Crane / Tusasás Joker (Skunk) / Wálwilégas Butterfly / Wámanik Bull Snake / Weketas Frog (small, green) / Wekwek Magpie / Wískäk Cedar-bird / Wisnik Garter Snake / Wûlkûtska Marten (black) / Wus Fox

Wámanik lived at Wiwĕnsi, in a hollow between two mountains. There was a creek near the place, with lots of fish in it. Wámanik caught fish and ate them. That was the way he lived.

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Snake Tries to Marry Squirrel's Daughters 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, Myth, Fantasy, Animal Fiction, Speculative Fiction
Length: 5,049 words
Structure: 1 section, 111 paragraphs
Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)

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Genres

Folklore — This is a traditional Native American tale collected by ethnographer Jeremiah Curtin, featuring the characteristic narrative structure, animal characters, and cultural transmission of oral folklore traditions.
Myth — The story contains mythological elements including supernatural powers, transformation, divine punishment, and a council determining the fate of all beings in creation, similar to creation and explanatory myths.
Fantasy — The narrative features magical elements such as shape-shifting, telepathic communication, supernatural abilities, curses, and animals with human consciousness and speech.
Animal Fiction — Animal characters serve as the primary protagonists and antagonists throughout the narrative, with their actions driving the plot and moral themes.