Very Brief Ethnographic Commentary

Mosquito (Wíixšííʔasay, lit. "little wailing creature") is the Hkóoł trickster character, and as such is vain, narcissistic, immature, and never learns lessons. This is obviously a standard Trickster story, and like any good Trickster story, while it's told partly for amusement there's a clear lesson — namely to not do whatever it is the Trickster did.

The main polemic involves the proper conduct in guest-host relations, as well as treatment of (and trusting in the wisdom of) the elderly. The old man behaves as the perfect host at all times, going out of his way to accommodate Mosquito and offering his own bed. (He is also positively portrayed by being fairly spartan and austere, only sleeping on a mat.) The proper response for Mosquito, as a good guest, is to bargain down his host's over-the-top offers, and go out of his way to not impose. He also has an obligation to treat his elders with respect and to ensure their comfort over his own, not to mention listen to their advice. (Furthermore, Mosquito is not just a younger man, but also a supernatural being, and while humans are supposed to make ostentatious offers of support to supernatural beings when these are encountered, the beings are not expected to accept most of these.)

From a linguistic standpoint, Mosquito's immaturity is alluded to in several ways. His first address to the old man, the single word ʔoyok ("who?", for "who are you?"), is very rude. More appropriate would be a full greeting, introduction of himself, and then request for the old man's name. He also uses several interjections that imply impatience or whining (yíííb is something like "maaaaaan" or "whyyyyyyy"). The long strings of supporting/SR clauses when describing him dunking his face in the spring to guzzle down water (line 17), and later stuffing his face with fruits (lines 54 and 56) also imply a sort of breathless quick succession of events, suggesting his gluttony and the speed and carelessness with which he's acting.