with sores;" and here he showed the spots on
his skin. Next came the Bird — no one remembers now which one it
was — who condemned Man "because he burns my feet off," meaning
the way in which the hunter barbecues birds by impaling them on a
stick set over the fire, so that their feathers and tender feet are singed
off. Others followed in the same strain. The Ground-squirrel alone
ventured to say a good word for Man. who seldom hurt him because
he was so small, but this made the others so angry that they fell upon
the Ground-squirrel and tore him with their claws, and the stripes are
on his back to this day.
They began then to devise and name so many new diseases, one after
another, that had not their invention at lastfailed them, no one of the
human race would have been aide to survive. The Grubworm grew
252 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [eth.ann.19
constantly more pleased as the name of each disease was called off, until
at last they reached the end of the list, when some one proposed to
make menstruation sometimes fatal to women. On this he rose up in
his place and cried: " Waddn' ! [Thanks!] I'm glad some more of them
will die. for they are getting so thick that they tread on me." The
thought fairly made him shake with joy, so that he fell over backward
and could not get on his feet again, but had to wriggle off on his back.
as the Grubworm has done ever since.
When the Plants, who were friendly to Man, heard what had been
done by