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Folktales

The Witch Called Jealous

A farmer had two wives. One of the women gave him a boy-baby and a girl-baby, but the other woman was barren. The farmer said to his childless wife:

“Since you do not bear me any children, I shall not give you cloth. I will only give cloth to the mother of my children.”

The barren wife decided to bewitch the children. She made witch-medicine and threw it on the boy. The boy became sick and died, and went to the Town of Spirits.

The mother took her remaining child to the rice farm, and left it in the shade while she worked. The barren wife made more witch-medicine and changed herself into a large bird. She seized the little girl and flew to a cottonwood tree.

The mother screamed. The boy who had died heard the noise and saw the bird in the cottonwood tree with his sister. He said to himself: “That is sister!”

He threw a stone at the bird and killed it. His sister was saved and his mother rejoiced.

Jealousy is a witch who poisons the hearts of men and steals away their honor.