Legends and My ths of the Tsimshian                     9

the contest begins, tend to favor the elderberry, hoping she will
win, because one feels more congenial to the plant than to the
stone? For me, at any rate, the horror of the stone's half-birth con¬
firms a sense of satisfaction that the elderberry succeeded. But then
I am told the "AVrong" party triumphed. I am forced to ask myself,
were my sympathies misapplied? In confronting that question, I
realize that I prefer the weakness and certain mortality of the
elderberry because the stone's "everlasting life" is not for me
"real" life. AVhat is presented as overt cause in the story, in other
words, appears in a fashion that compels me to consider the pre¬
conceptions underlying my preferences, my "view of life." I
become aware that what for me is most "real" is weakness and
death.