433 Chapter Seven Cosmos For the Matsigenka of Shimaa, kameti ...

garden here. Now, never go upstream beyond this point--stay right here!” “Yes, father.” They
returned home.
Their father said, “Now I have taken you all the way. I have shown you just how to get
there to my place. We all went there. When I die, you really have to go there. Watch out for those
men! Take your sisters with you.” He got sick. He continued to get worse. His wife cooked his
food, but he did not eat. He got a very high fever. Early the next morning he died. “Our father is
dead,” the sons said, “he is no more.” They cut wood, patui, patui. They made him a platform and
set him up in a singing position, as though he were still alive. They said, “Let’s get going.”
The brothers and sisters all got their belongings. They went and went, far along. They
said, “We will sleep here.” They climbed into a tree and made a house of leaves. They brought dirt
for the fireplace (for warmth at night). When it was ready, they climbed up. Below, they heard a
demon [ivegaga], jiriririri. They heard him down there! gushign, gushign,...teron, teron. They
heard him from where they were seated up there.
They went on the next day, and the day after. Later, the sisters came to their brothers and
said, “We saw a maniti demon.” “Where?” said the brothers. “Over there,” they said. They went
and found Maniti standing, facing the other way. They said, “It’s only Father (don’t be afraid).
Maniti jumped and ran off. They went back, climbed the tree, fixed dirt for the fire. Then they ate
(down below) and climbed into the tree for the night. Down below, they heard a lot of noise,
jiriririri. “It’s Father. He told us, ‘When you come to my place, you will hear noise. Don’t be afraid.
Keep going.”
They slept. The next day, they ate and then were on their way along trails and across
streams. Again they slept in a tree, but not so high this time. Maniti was back along the trail from
where they had come earlier. The next morning they went on. That night they slept on the ground.
The next day they went on. In the late afternoon they arrived at their father’s place, where he had
said “You will live here.” They slept there. Very soon (around midnight) it was morning. “It’s
daytime,” they said. They got up but did not eat. They went to an old abandoned garden
[magashipogo] with plantains still standing in it. They cleared the brush, patu, patu. They cleared
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