Tsmuk and Góshgoise by Jeremiah Curtin
"Tsmuk and Góshgoise" is a Native American myth collected by Jeremiah Curtin that follows the hero Góshgoise, a young rabbit figure, as he travels across a dangerous world liberating captives and defeating monstrous oppressors. The story opens with the Yaukûl brothers, five fearsome Stone People who live near Tula Lake and systematically murder any men who pass by, enslaving the surviving women and forcing them into servitude under the watch of their domineering mother. The captives include the Tcpun brothers, skeletal from overwork and starvation, one of whom secretly hunts rabbits but is forbidden to eat them. An orphan boy named Góshgoise, living quietly with his grandmother, hears the Tcpun brother crying in the woods and learns from his grandmother the full extent of the Yaukûl brothers' cruelty. Despite her warnings, Góshgoise resolves to confront them. His grandmother prepares him for the journey by weaving a magical quiver from her own hair and forging an indestructible spear. She also armors his body with five layers of stone, the outermost being granite. Armed and protected, Góshgoise walks openly to the Yaukûl village, ignoring the old woman's demands that he surrender his weapons. One by one, the five Yaukûl brothers come out to fight him. Góshgoise kills each in succession, using his spear, which strikes like lightning, to shatter their stone armor and destroy them. He kills the old woman as well, transforming all of them into water birds condemned to eat dead fish. He frees the captive women, takes the Yaukûl daughter as a wife, and sends everyone to his grandmother's home while he continues his journey. At the next dangerous place, Góshgoise encounters the five Kaudokis brothers, worm-like tyrants who force women to dig roots and punish any disobedience by mutilation. Góshgoise enlists the help of Mole, his spirit helper, who digs pits in the ground. As each Kaudokis brother rushes forward to kill him, they fall into the holes and are beheaded. Upon dying, their souls become worms. Góshgoise takes the eldest brother's wife, frees the captives, and presses onward. He next comes to the village of old Juljulcus, where any man who falls in love with the old man's daughter is killed by her brother. The brother attacks in a whirlwind, wearing a horrifying blanket made of human skin. Again Góshgoise uses Mole's holes to trap and kill the brother, whose spirit becomes a cricket. Góshgoise marries Juljulcus' daughter and accepts the old man's short lightning spear as a travel gift, giving his own long lightning spear in exchange. Following his father-in-law's warning, Góshgoise travels to a coastal village full of Lóluk people who carry torches and kill one another in the dark. He arrives at night and spends the entire darkness cutting off heads and burning houses, until only the house of old Tsmuk remains. Tsmuk is the embodiment of darkness, and his household operates in reverse, living by night and sleeping by day. The house contains a brilliant ball of light, kept by Tsmuk's daughter. Góshgoise enters Tsmuk's house and uses his lightning spear to frighten Tsmuk and his sons out of the building, terrifying them with flashes of light in their realm of darkness. He claims Tsmuk's daughter as another wife. To provide a bride gift, Tsmuk and his son paddle an elk-skin canoe to a nearby island, where Tsmuk's brother-in-law loads them with shells and beads until the canoe swells to the size of a hill. Tsmuk's moment of fearful doubt during the return voyage causes a near catastrophe, and in her anger at his repeated failures of nerve, his wife pronounces the curse that transforms him permanently into darkness itself, decreeing that he will henceforth exist only to help people sleep. Góshgoise returns home with his wives, his grandmother, the freed captives, and old woman Tsmuk and her sons. Tsmuk's daughter brings the great ball of light with her. When the people of the grandmother's village first see the strange procession, they are frightened, but the grandmother recognizes Góshgoise and welcomes everyone. The story ends with Góshgoise settled in his own country, surrounded by his family and all those he has rescued, the world made safer by the destruction of its most dangerous powers.
By Jeremiah Curtin · First published 1912 · Genre: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Mythological Fiction · 6,129 words
First lines
CHARACTERS / Góshgoise Rabbit (small) / Juljulcus Cricket / Kaudokis Worm / Lóluk Fire / Skóla Meadow Lark / Tsmuk Darkness / Yaukûl Stone People
Five brothers lived together on the east side of Tula Lake; all had the same name, Yaukûl; the youngest was chief. Not far away lived the five Tcpun brothers, kin of the Yaukûls; each brother had one child. The wives of those men had been captured by the Yaukûl brothers, and made servants.
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Tsmuk and Góshgoise 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: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Mythological Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure
- Length: 6,129 words
- Structure: 1 section, 139 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Tsmuk and Góshgoise by Jeremiah Curtin
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Fairy Tale — The narrative follows classic fairy tale conventions including a humble orphan hero, magical objects (enchanted spear and quiver), supernatural transformations, and a quest structure culminating in marriage and triumph over evil.
- Folklore — This is a transcribed Native American (likely Pacific Northwest Indigenous) oral tradition collected by ethnographer Jeremiah Curtin, featuring mythological characters, cultural-specific place names (Tula Lake), and explanatory narratives for animal origins.
- Mythological Fiction — The work contains creation myths explaining animal transformations (Yaukûls becoming waterfowl, Kaudokis becoming worms, Juljulcus becoming crickets, and Tsmuk becoming darkness), characteristic of mythological narratives.
- Fantasy — The story incorporates magical elements including enchanted weapons that never break, supernatural helpers (Mole medicine), characters made of living stone, anthropomorphic animals, and impossible physical feats throughout the narrative.
Tags
folklore · fairy tale · mythology · traditional literature · oral tradition · legend · fantasy · supernatural · magical beings · mythical creatures · folk beliefs · European folklore