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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1887)
cm THE WEST SHORE. the thunderer shot back fierce lightning at Spcelyai, needing the fire at his eyes; yet he neither dodged nor winked, but answered thunder with thunders more loud, and lightnings more fierce, which cut a greM chasm in the earth. Then the thunder god shot lurid lightnings back, and sent flaming thunderbolts at Speelyai, which tore up the earth around him. He, in turn, answered thunder with thunder more terrific, and light ning with hot thunderbolts, knocking the thunderer from his throne. The enraged combatants then raised high in the air. There they fought amid the rollings and crashirgs of thun der, and the demoniac play of fcrked lightnings and flying thunderbolts, while the clouds darkened the sky and rain deluged the earth with fearful violence. They came together, at last, in a death grip, in the midst of thick clouds, and tempestuous warring of elements, and thus locked, they fell to the ground, with such momentum that they shook the whole world. Speelyai fell on top of the thunder god, and held him down and began to pummel him with his fire war clubs. The thunderer begged for mer cy, but Speelyai turned a deaf ear to his pleadings and continued to use his clubs until they were all broken, and then he said, You will no more make it your business to terrify and kill the people. You may live, and thunder on hot sum. mer days, and may flash lightning, and rain a little, but you will not destroy so many people any more." So, from that dy until this, the thunder god has been robbed of his power, and only thunders on hot summer days, and seldom kills any one with his lightnings. The sun has been conquered, and cade to take a subordinate position to that be formerly occupied. In ancient times, this great god of the day used to roAia orer the earth, in a kind of capri cious k If. trilled manner, without regu larity. He would come so close as to scorch the people, and then he would wander away and leave them freezing in the dark. His home vas in a dark cave probably in the west According to the myths of the tribes in the valley of the Upper Snake river, the sun 6taid away a long time once, and the people were anxiously waiting his return. The hare god, with his family, was sitting by his camp fire and watch ing for the sun to return, and became so weary that at last he fell asleep, and while sleeping, the sun came so near as to scorch his back. When the hare god awoke, he was very angry, and told his children he was going to fight the sun. He accordingly took his bow and arrows and started to the East, and after a long journey, he at last reached the edge of the world, where the sun came up, and there he waited and watched After a long time, the 6un god was seen coming, when the hare shot an arrow at his face, but the heat was so gTeat that the arrow was consumed. He continued to shoot, and each arrow shared the fate of the first At last only one wss left, and it must do the work, or the mission of the hare god was a failure. In this extrem ity, he held up the arrow and dropped a tear upon it from his eye. This was the last, the magical, arrow. He put it to his bow, and then drew the string, when it flew straight to the sun's face, and split the orb into ten thousand frag ments, scattering them all over the world, setting fire to everything. Then the hare god had to fly before the fire he had madt The earth became hot, and burned off his feet, then his legs, and then his body, but still he continued to go. Finally, nothing was left but the head, which, like the tails of the Kil kenny cats, kept going. Over moun tains and valleys, far away, rolling and tumbling through the wcrld went the head of the wonderful rabbit god, until