The Bad Brother by Jeremiah Curtin
"The Bad Brother" by Jeremiah Curtin is a Native American myth featuring animal characters who exist as persons in a world before they take their final animal forms. A woman lives with her young son and daughter at Yáni. She feeds her son dry red roots while giving her daughter fresh white roots, and the boy grows jealous, convinced his mother loves his sister more. One day, while their mother is out digging roots, the boy uses magic song to cause the pond to rise and drown her. He watches gladly as the water swallows her, while his little sister screams in grief until she cries herself to sleep. The next morning, the boy wounds his sister with an arrow and tells her she has come of age and must perform the customary maturity dance. He sends her to a spring to wait for Frog, called Kówe, who will take her in. The girl grows into a young woman as she walks, and when Kówe finds her at the spring, she embraces her as a grandchild and takes her home. Kówe hosts five nights of singing and dancing for the girl's coming-of-age ceremony, carefully hiding her from the many men from a nearby village who come to spy on her. On the fourth night, Garter Snake sneaks beneath the floor and sees the girl, ruining his eyes with staring. The following evening, the men of the village gather at Kówe's house to compete for the girl as a wife. She mocks them all in turn, ridiculing Bear's large hands and feet, Wildcat's sharp mouth, Mink's bulging eyes, Lizard's flat feet and rough skin, and many others for their proud blankets or unappealing features. When the five Marten brothers arrive, the youngest hangs back outside. The girl ignores the first four brothers but looks with interest at the youngest when he enters, signaling her willingness to marry him. After everyone leaves, Kówe dresses the girl in beads and sends her to follow young Marten. He warns her that his people travel through the treetops and that his home is far away, and that she will struggle. She follows them for ten days, stumbling as she tries to look upward, growing skeletal from hunger, since the brothers do not eat. Halfway home, young Marten cannot bear to watch his wife waste away. His oldest brother directs her to the home of their cousin Flying Squirrel, Djáudjau, a great hunter whose mother wears a bright white cap of deer fat. The girl finds her way there, and Djáudjau's mother welcomes her warmly, rubbing her with the cap and feeding her deer marrow. Rat and his mother try to claim the girl for themselves, insisting she belongs to Rat. Djáudjau's mother rebukes them sharply, and when Rat persists and quarrels, Djáudjau shoots him and transforms him and all his kin into common rats condemned to build stick houses and steal, as they always had. The girl and Djáudjau marry and have a child together. When she tells him how her brother drowned their mother out of jealousy, Djáudjau declares he wants to meet this brother-in-law. They travel to her old home, bringing dried deer meat that multiplies into an enormous pile when set down. The brother has aged and grown thin, still hunting without success. When Djáudjau goes out the next morning and returns with ten deer hanging from his belt as easily as another man would carry rabbits, the brother is visibly angry and resentful rather than grateful. Sensing danger, the girl urges her husband to leave that same night. On the journey home they stop at a mountain pool where Djáudjau purifies himself with green twigs, pressing his brother-in-law's bad thoughts into the earth and swimming away his ill feeling. At home, the five Marten brothers are waiting and claim the child as their own. The girl rebukes them for having abandoned her on the road, caring more for their own way of life than for her survival. She declares that they will no longer be swift and effortless travelers but will move slowly and sweat with effort, no longer persons. In return, the brothers pronounce that she, her husband, and all his kin will become Flying Squirrels, roaming the mountains. Both pronouncements hold, and the characters pass out of the world of persons into the animals they were always named for.
By Jeremiah Curtin · First published 1912 · Genre: Folklore, Myth, Fantasy · 3,506 words
First lines
CHARACTERS / Blaiwas Eagle / Dásläts California Lion / Djáudjau Flying Squirrel / Kai Jack Rabbit / Kékina Lizard / Kúja Rat / Kujasûp Rat's Mother / Kówe Frog / Lok Bear / Pakol Deer / Sloä Wildcat / Tcakonŭs Duck (gray-headed) / Tcûskai Weasel / Tohós Duck / Tskel Mink / Wámanik Bull Snake / Wisnik Garter Snake / Wéwenkee Whip Snake / Wŏn Elk / Wûlkûtska Marten
A woman had two children, a boy and a girl. She lived with them at Yáni.
What this Textopian page supports
The Bad Brother is listed on Textopian as a short story by Jeremiah Curtin, dated 1912 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Jeremiah Curtin
- Date: 1912 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Folklore, Myth, Fantasy, Animal Fiction, Morality Tale
- Length: 3,506 words
- Structure: 1 section, 77 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Bad Brother by Jeremiah Curtin
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Genres
- Folklore — The narrative structure, use of animal characters with human qualities, moral lessons about jealousy and consequences, and the transformation of characters into animals are all hallmarks of traditional folklore, particularly Native American folklore as collected by Jeremiah Curtin.
- Myth — The story contains mythological elements including supernatural powers, magical transformations, divine punishment, and explanations for how certain animals came to exist and behave, which are characteristic of creation and origin myths.
- Fantasy — The work features magical elements such as enchanted singing that controls weather, characters with supernatural abilities, tree-top travel, and permanent transformations of humans into animals, which are central to fantasy literature.
- Animal Fiction — The story is populated primarily with anthropomorphic animals who possess human consciousness, emotions, and social structures, and who interact with each other as characters in a narrative.
Tags
Irish folklore · folk tale · mythology · traditional storytelling · oral tradition · Celtic culture · family conflict · sibling rivalry · moral lesson · betrayal · jealousy · justice