K27n3c2. The enemy is the father-in-law-bear. .41.43.

The hero is given difficult tasks and challenges by his father-in-law, the bear.

Kuchin, Han, Upper Tanana, Atna, Southern Tutchoni, Tagish, Okanagon.

Subarctic. Kuchin [while the husband is hunting, the wife gets meat from the ceftri in the forest (probably copulates with him; the word denotes insects, snakes, worms, eels); Dzhateakuoit is the eldest of two sons; he tells his father about his mother’s behavior; he cuts off her head; the body pursues the husband, the head pursues the sons; D. throws a stone, an awl, a knife, a beaver tooth, received from his father, while running; they turn into a mountain, thorny thickets, a mountain range, a river; accidentally the tooth falls in front of the fugitives, not behind them; The swan takes them across the river; the head calls the swan her husband , asks him to take her too; The swan throws her into the water, she turns into a big fish; the brothers play ball, it falls into the boat; the owner of the boat invites D. to take the ball: he takes it away; the younger brother, left on the shore, turns into a wolf; the owner’s eldest daughter refuses to marry D.; The youngest comes out, makes him handsome; the father-in-law demands 1) to bring material for the arrow shaft from a tree scattering sharp chips around; 2) to get resin from a tree splashing boiling resin; in both cases D. calms the trees by spitting on them; 3) to get the tendons of two animals covered with impenetrable wool; The mouse gnaws out the wool under the hearts of the animals, explaining that her babies are freezing; D. kills the animals with arrows; 4) to get the feathers of man-eating eagles; D. kills a female chick; asks the male how his parents will arrive; The father - with rain and hail, the mother - with a blizzard ; D. kills adult eagles with a spear, turns the chick into an ordinary eagle; 5) to kill a she-bear; D. grabs the forbidden arrow, pierces the she-bear; she turns out to be his wife; father-in-law turns into a bear, attacks D., and is also killed by him]: McKennan 1965: 98-103; khan: Mishler 2004, № 2-3 [having killed the man-eating Otter, Tsá'Wëzhaa comes to the Bear; he gives him a daughter, sends for material for a bow and arrows; 1) eagle feathers; Ts. kills a male and female man-eating eagle, feeds the chicks ordinary meat, orders them to eat animals from now on; 2) tendons of a dangerous elk; Ts. asks the Mouse to climb into the anus of a lying elk, cut the heart; Ts. made a bow and arrows; now the Bear asks to get resin; it is dangerous to approach the resin hanging on a fir tree, Ts. knocks it down with a stick; Ts. kills the She-Bear with a bow, it turns out that she is the Bear's daughter; Ts. ran away, hid in the lake, the Bear tells the Frog to drink water, she drank, but Bekas pierced her belly with his beak, the water spilled out; the Bear with a net began to wait where a river flows out of the lake, but Ts. threw his clothes into it, and he himself slipped through]: 147-151; Schmitter 1910 (Eagle) [The Bear harpoons salmon; the old man turns into a salmon, lets himself be harpooned, breaks off the tip and carries it away; comes to the Bear in the guise of a man; he suspects that the old man stole the harpoon; the old man marries the Bear's daughter; He demands 1) to bring wood for arrows (a stump falls on the son-in-law, he dodges, makes shafts from the stump); 2) to bring feathers of man-eating eagles for arrows (the son-in-law climbs into the nest, kills one chick, asks another how the parents will arrive; Mother with snow, father with hail ; kills adult birds with a spear, brings feathers); 3) to get resin to glue the arrowheads (the son-in-law sticks a long pole into a lake of boiling resin, splashes it on all the firs; since then the firs are resinous; brings resin); 4) to bring sinews (the son-in-law asks the Mouse to gnaw wool from the place on the body of the monstrous moose, under which the heart is (the Mouse explains to the moose that she needs wool to warm the babies; the son-in-law kills the moose with an arrow, brings sinews); 5) The Bear advises to make arrowheads from birch bark; [[Tsa-o-sha (Tsaosha, "clever beaver") marries two daughters of the Bear; the Bear asks him to 1) bring the sinews of a huge moose (the mouse gnaws off the fur from the place on the moose's skin where the heart is; the mouse explains that her babies need warm moccasins; Ts. kills the sleeping moose with an arrow]: 21-23; Upper Tanana [[Tsa-o-sha (Tsaosha, "clever beaver") marries two daughters of the Bear; the Bear asks him to 1) bring the sinews of a huge moose (the mouse gnaws off the fur from the place on the moose's skin where the heart is; the mouse explains that her babies need warm moccasins; Ts. kills the sleeping moose with an arrow]]. 2) get feathers for arrows from man-eating eagles (Ts. climbs into the nest, kills the male chick; asks the female how her parents arrive; Mother with a cloud and snow, father with a storm cloud and hail; C. kills adult eagles, tells the chick to feed on squirrels and partridges from now on; 3) get larch resin to attach feathers to the tree shaft (the tree grows on a high cliff; C. wets a branch, touches the trunk, the resin freezes to the branch, C. pulls the branch back); 4) The Bear orders to get two she-bears, turns his daughters into bears; C. killed them with arrows; sees how the Bear copulates with the corpses of his daughters; C. runs around the lake, the Bear cannot grab him; asks the Frog to drink the lake, but C. hides in the silt at the bottom; asks the plover (Charadrius dubius, Little ringed plover) to pierce the frog's belly with its beak, water spills out; for this C. gives the plover a necklace, now it has a white stripe on its neck; The Bear dug a drain from the lake and placed his trousers there like a weir; C. swam underwater, holding a bunch of grass on a pole in front of him; the Bear rushed at him, and C. swam past]: McKennan 1959: 179-182; atna [The Lynx came to the Bear; he has two daughters; he insistently calls Lynx son-in-law; Lynx asks where to get material for arrows; 1) shafts; the Bear sends some trees into the forest to knock down; the Lynx jumps between the converging trees, brings back hard wood; 2) feathers for arrows; on such and such a cliff; there are two eaglets in the nest, their parents have flown away to hunt people; the older eaglet promises to tell his parents about the Lynx, who kills him; tells the younger one to say that he fell asleep and fell out of the nest; the Eagle flew in, the Lynx killed him with an arrow; then the Eagle, the same; each of them brought half a man; the Lynx told the eaglet to feed on partridges and rabbits from now on; brought feathers; 3) a bowstring; there lies a deer (moose) as big as a mountain; the Lynx asks the Mouse to gnaw the wool from the place where the heart is; she gnaws it, tells the Deer that her children are freezing; the Deer allows it; the Lynx pierces him in this place with an arrow, brings sinews; 4) glue for fixing the bowstring; the Bear sends the Lynx to where the resin boils on the fir; he brings it without getting burned; the Bear suggests hunting bears (they are his daughters), gives arrows with tips made of bark, but the Lynx uses his own, kills the Bear's daughters; he pursues the Lynx, the Lynx hides in the middle of the lake; the Bear tells the Frog to drink it; Lynx asks Sandpiper to make a hole in Frog's belly, water flows out; Bear digs a drain for the waters into the lower lake, but Lynx slips through, Bear can't catch him]: Tansy 1982: 8-14; tagish[Bear]: McClelland 2007(2), #74a [Beaver (Smart Man) marries Bear's daughter; Bear tells daughter to wear bearskin, invites son-in-law to hunt, gives arrows tipped with larch bark; Beaver replaces them with bone arrows, hits Mother Bear, her bearskin falls off, she dies; Bear and his wife pursue Beaver, he hides in lake, shoves log into net instead of himself; Bear tells Curlew to drink from lake, Beaver asks Snipe to pierce his belly, water spills out, Bears hang themselves]: 369-372; Norman 1990 [Beaver wants Bear's daughter as wife; he demands 1) to cut down a huge tree to make a bow (the Beaver cuts down the tree, it does not crush him), 2) to get sinews by killing a huge grizzly (mice dig a passage under the lying grizzly, gnaw off the fur on his chest; the Beaver thrusts a spear into this place, the grizzly dies), 3) to kill a huge Frog (the Beaver kills, gets paint for arrows), 4) to get feathers for arrows from man-eating Eagles (the Beaver climbs into the nest; the chick says that his mother brings warm and sunny weather, his father - hail; the Beaver kills adult Eagles, turns the chick into an ordinary eagle); the Bear regrets that all his animal helpers died; the Beaver kills the Bear, his wife and daughter]: 109-113; Southern Tutchone : McClelland 2007(1), #2c [Beaver (Smart Man) marries Bear's daughter; Bear tells daughter to wear bearskin, asks son-in-law to hunt, gives arrows with bad tips; Beaver replaces them with good ones, kills Bear; Bear chases him, he hides in lake, Bear tells big bird to drink all water, Beaver asks Snipe to make hole in its belly, water spills out; Bear gives up chase], 11d [Beaver (Äsúya, Smart Man) marries Bear's daughter; bear gives him bad arrows to hunt bear, Beaver takes his own bow and arrows, kills bear, it turns out to be Bear's daughter; Bear chases Beaver, he hides in lake, pushes stick into Bear's trap; he orders the South Wind to drink the lake, Beaver asks Snipe to make a hole in his stomach, the water pours out; Beaver orders the Bear to eat animals, not people]: 37-39, 72-77.

Coast - Plateau. Okanagon [Coyote's four sons come in succession to marry Grizzly Bear's daughter; leave their bow at the entrance, Bear breaks the arrowheads unnoticed; asks to kill Grizzly Bear during the hunt, shoot from the foot of the hill; Bear kills each; fifth son gets a totem, returns, knows everything in advance, hides spare arrowheads, shoots Grizzly from the mountain, brings the head of the killed to his father; Bear chases Coyote; he turns into a boulder, Bear does not understand this, in anger breaks her teeth on the stone; into a briar bush; Bear scratches herself on the thorns, gives up the pursuit]: Hill-Tout 1911: 150-152.