Sunale'-gwû ale'ndï adanû'nwâtï; tä'line e'ladï tsitkala'ï; tsâ'ine
u'lsaladï'`satû'; nû'`kine igû' ts'kalâ'ï. Yeli'gwû' igesâ'ï. Nû'lstâiyanû'na
gesâ'ï akanûnwi'skï, nasgwû' nulstaiyanû'na.
{p. 346}
Translation.
FORMULA FOR TREATING THE CRIPPLER
(RHEUMATISM).
Listen! Ha! In the Sun Land you repose, O Red
Dog, O now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada'wëhï[1], you
never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey never
escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very
small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.
Listen! Ha! In the Frigid Land you repose, O
Blue Dog. O now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ad'âw hï, {sic.-jbh}
you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey
never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a
very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.
Listen! Ha! In the darkening land you repose,
O Black Dog. O, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada'wëhi,
you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey
never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a
very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.
Listen! On Wa'halä you repose, O White Dog.
Oh, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada'wëhï, you never
fail in anything. Oh, appear and draw near running, for your prey never
escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very
small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.
Listen! On Wa'halä, you repose, O White
Terrapin. O, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada'wëhï, you
never fail in anything. Ha! It is for you to loosen its hold on the bone.
Relief is accomplished.
(Prescription.)--Lay a terrapin shell upon
(the spot) and keep it there while the five kinds (of spirits) listen. On
finishing, then blow once. Repeat four times, beginning each time from the
start. On finishing the fourth time, then blow four times. Have two white beads
lying in the shell, together with a little of the medicine. Don't interfere
with it, but have a good deal boiling in another vessel--a bowl will do very
well--and rub it on warm while treating by applying the hands. And this is the
medicine: What is called Yâ'na-Utsë'sta ("bear's bed," the Aspidium
acrostichoides or Christmas fern); and the other is called Kâ'ga-Asgû'ntagï
("crow's shin," the Adianthum pedatum or Maidenhair fern); and the
other is the common Egû'nlï (another fern); and the other is the
Little Soft (-leaved) Egû'nlï (Osmunda Cinnamonea or cinnamon fern),
which grows in the rocks and resembles Yâna-Utsë'sta and is a small and soft
(-leaved) Egû'nlï. Another has brown roots and another has black
roots. The roots of all should be (used).
Begin doctoring early in the morning; let the
second (application) be while the sun is still near the horizon; the third when
it has risen to a considerable height (10 a. m.); the fourth when it is above
at noon. This is sufficient. (The doctor) must not eat, and the patient also
must be fasting.
[1. Ada'wëhï
is a word used to designate one supposed to have supernatural powers, and is
applied alike to human beings and to the spirits invoked in the formulas. Some
of the mythic heroes famous for their magic deeds are spoken of as ada'wëhï
(plural anida'wëhï or anida'we), but in its application to
mortals the term is used only of the very greatest shamans. None of those now
belonging to the band are considered worthy of