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There once was a woman named Kya who lived with her father, stepmother, and half-sister, May. Her mother had passed away when she was young. Kya’s stepmother did not like her; she feared that she would be competition for her own daughter. So, one day she sent Kya to do a seemingly impossible task: gathering blueberries in the middle of winter.
Kya wandered around in the cold, knowing that she would not be permitted back into the house until she completed her stepmother’s task. She stumbled onto a cottage, where five old women lived. They invited her in. They offered her a place by the fire to be warm, and asked what she was doing outside. She explained the situation. The women took pity on her. They gave her a small shovel and told her to go clear a mound of snow that was on the side of their house. As she dug away the snow, she found a bush full of fresh blueberries. She gathered them into her basket, and rushed into the house to thank the women for their help. They saw that she was truly grateful, and decided to give her a gift. The oldest told her to spit on the ground and make a wish. Kya spit and wished for a fine dress. A dress appeared on the ground in front of her. Amazed, she continued to spit and wish and soon had a beautiful outfit.
When Kya came home, her stepmother was astounded that she came home with not only blueberries but also a beautiful outfit. After much pressing, Kya admitted that she got a wishing power from some old women who live in a cottage in the woods. She spit on the ground, wished for a pear, and one appeared on the ground. Wanting this ability for her own daughter, the stepmother sent May in that direction and told her to find some berries.
May found the cottage, and the old women also told her where to find the blueberries. After she filled her basket, May went inside to thank them. The women decided to give her a gift as well, and told her to spit on the ground and make a wish. She did not, because she thought spitting was gross. After a while, the old women persuaded May to spit, but by this time the women had grown angry at May, and when she spit and wished for a dress, the dress was old, smelly, and moth-eaten.
May arrived at home with the berries, but unlike Kya she was not wearing a beautiful dress. Her mother was disappointed, and asked her to spit on the ground and wish for an apple. The apple appeared, old and rotten. May’s mother told her not to spit any more.
Soon, the news spread around the village that there was a girl who could grant wishes by spitting. The chief of the village decided to see if it was true. After the chief met Kya, he was so impressed with her ability that he insisted that she marry his son. She agreed, and they had a lavish ceremony, mostly provided by Kya and her gift.
After some time, Kya became pregnant. When she was about to give birth, she asked that her husband’s mother be there, because she did not trust her stepmother. Her husband thought that this was silly, and insisted that her stepmother be there, because she was a talented midwife. When Kya gave birth to her child, the stepmother took the child and hid him, and instead placed a cat in Kya’s arms, saying that she had given birth to a cat.
The village supposed that Kya gave birth to a cat because she had magical abilities, and that somehow affected the baby. They no longer viewed her gift as a blessing, but cursed her and drove her out of town.
Kya ended up back at the old women’s cottage. She told them that she had given birth to a cat, and it could have something to do with their gift. The old women said that their gift could not have caused this, and that she must go consult the Eagle that lives on top of the mountain. The Eagle is all-knowing, and can only tell the truth.
The old women changed Kya into a swan. She could travel faster by flying, and her transformation disguised her from the villagers.
Kya flew to the top of the mountain. The Eagle told her that she had indeed given birth to a boy, but her stepmother switched it with a cat so that the chief’s son would marry her daughter instead. Kya convinced the Eagle to come to her village and tell everyone the truth.
Kya and the Eagle arrived at the village and flew into the chief’s home. The Eagle explained everything to the chief, and showed him where Kya's stepmother had hidden his grandchild. The chief ordered Kya’s stepmother to be burned at the stake. As soon as her stepmother passed away, Kya turned back into a human, and lived the rest of her days in comfort with her husband and child.
Author's Note (Edited): This story was based off of the Native American marriage tale The True Bride, from Tales of the North American Indians, by Stith Thompson. Thomson got the story from the Nlakapamuk people. It is called the True Bride. The original story is about a girl who is sent to find strawberries in winter by her stepmother. Some men who are related to her show her that there are some on top of their house. They also give her fine clothes and the ability to spit gold. Her stepmother sends her half-sister out to get the same things and ability, but she is rude about it and is given the ability to spit smelly toenails. The main character eventually marries the chief and gives birth to two sons. The first the stepmother replaces with a cat, the second the stepmother replaces with a snake. They are both hidden in a hole under the house. The village ties the main character in chains and casts her to the bottom of a lake, where her male relatives rescue her, tell her that her children are alive, and turn her into a goose. The main character's favorite dog was taking care of her children. He saves them from being killed by the stepmother, and eventually finds the eagle mentioned in the story above. The Eagle explains everything and they live happily ever after, except for the stepmother and her daughter. I stayed pretty close to the original story, while changing some details and taking some parts out to avoid making the story too long. I changed the main character's ability from spitting nuggets of gold to spitting wishes, and her half sister's ability from spitting smelly toe nails to spitting gross versions of her wishes. The idea of spitting toe nails was not something that I wanted to write about. I also changed the people that she met in the woods from men to women, and instead of finding strawberries on top of the house she finds berries on the side of the house. My main character marries the chief's son instead of the chief. I left out the details of how the stepmother hid the child, and I left out the second child completely. I also left out the dog who took care of the children when the village thought that the main character had given birth to a cat and a snake. Because I left out the dog, I also left out how the dog brings the children back to life when the step mother kills them, and how the dog goes to find the Eagle, not the main character.
Portrait of a Spanish Imperial Eagle, Source: Wikimedia Commons
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