the serpent (Tale 14)

Family: Arikara · Role: serpent · First appears: Tale 14 · The Girl Who Married a Star · Part 2

In Tale 14, the boy (Tale 14) shot and killed the serpent inside the old woman (Tale 14)’s lodge. The serpent fell back and slipped into the pond; afterward, its water spread out and formed a lake.

When the boy was gone, the old woman (Tale 14) mourned the serpent, revealing that he had been her husband. She said without the boy hearing, “My grandson, you have killed your grandfather.”

Relationship record

Life events

• Inside the old woman’s lodge, the boy shot and killed the serpent; only afterward did it fall back and slip into the pond, whose water spread into a lake.(Tale 14 · The Girl Who Married a Star · Part 2)
  • With: the boy (Tale 14)
  • “The serpent made one great, big noise, fell back, then slipped down into the pond. After the serpent had slipped down into the pond the water spread out and formed a lake.”
• The old woman revealed that the serpent was her husband.(Tale 14 · The Girl Who Married a Star · Part 2)
  • With: the old woman (Tale 14)
  • “When the boy was gone the old woman cried and mourned for her husband, who was the serpent.”

Tale 14 · The Girl Who Married a Star · Part 2

• married with the old woman (Tale 14) “When the boy was gone the old woman cried and mourned for her husband, who was the serpent.”
• younger kin: the boy (Tale 14) “She said (without the boy hearing), ‘My grandson, you have killed your grandfather.’”

Tale 14 · The Girl Who Married a Star · Part 4

• younger kin: the boy (Tale 14) “that the boy had killed the old woman’s husband, who was really his grandfather”

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Extracted from the original text of Traditions of the Arikara. Made with Rho MD.