Taytay's Tales. Traditional Pueblo Indian Tales, collected and retold by Elizabeth Willis De Huff (1886-1983); illustrated by Fred Kabotie, Hopi (1900-1986) and Otis Polelonema, Hopi (1902-1981). New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922.
During the long winter nights Taytay told tales to his little grandson.
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC.
Printed in the U.S.A.
TO
ANN, FRANCES AND JOHN DAVID, JR.
WHO HAVE BEEN THE INSPIRATION
FOR THIS COLLECTION.
Taytay's Tales were collected for a little girl with an insatiable thirst for "stories." The first ones were gotten by chance from the young Indian boy who has kindly illustrated this collection. Ann enjoyed them so thoroughly that we teased and cajoled other Indians into telling us other folktales, and so the number and our joy in them grew. We think perhaps other little children – and some grown-ups, too – may derive the same pleasure from them, so we should like to share our stories.
As mentioned above, the illustrations have been sketched and painted by a seventeen-year-old Hopi boy Fred Kabotie, whose Indian name is Na-kah-woh-ma (It happens again and again like the sunrise), with the exception of a few pen-and-ink sketches drawn by Otis Polelonema, another Hopi boy. Neither of these boys has had any training in art. They have drawn and painted the pictures according to their own conceptions of the stories. The dance pictures all represent real ceremonies still celebrated yearly by the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest. The medicine men's ceremony is "secret"; nobody is allowed to witness it except the nearest relatives of the sick person upon whom they are trying to work their charms.
As is always true with stories that are passed on orally from one generation to another, these folktales must have been somewhat changed in the relating; but judging from the accuracy of detail insisted upon when they were told to me, I believe that the change has been very slight. To what extent, if any, they have been influenced by the folklore of other countries and races, or the Indian tales have influenced those of other races, I do not know. There is a marked similarity between Little Red Riding Hood and Juanita, Marianita, the Cat and the Bear, and also between Uncle Remus's Tar Baby and The Gum Baby; but the Indian relaters insist that these two tales were told to them by their grandfathers, and they were "already then very old when my grandfather heard them."
It is interesting to compare the stories of the different pueblos, where the Indians have intermarried among themselves for so many generations that each pueblo is a distinct world unto itself. In Schatchen, a book of myths collected from the Laguna Pueblo by John M. Gunn, the story The Coyote and the Horned Toad is almost identical with The Fox and the Lizard, which was also gotten from the Laguna Pueblo, but told by a different narrator.
In Charles F. Lummis's Pueblo Indian Folk-Stories, told by the Indians of Isleta Pueblo (there are none from that source in this collection), there are several incidents somewhat similar to The Coyote and the Fox, Deh-a, The Fox and the Skunk, Dy-yoh-wi and His Eagle, The Fate of the Boy Witch, The Fate of the Witch Wife and The Man-Eater. While these stories differ widely from the ones contained in this volume, they show a decided relationship of origin.
The choice of the title was suggested by the fact that the Indian "Taytay" or grandfather is usually the one who tells the stories to the children.
In order to help mothers, and other readers of these tales-to-little-folks, answer the question after question – almost ad infinitum – that such little folk like to ask, I have added a glossary of explanatory notes.
I very much appreciate the kind criticism of Mrs. Mary Austin who suggests that I make it clearer in the notes that "the tales are not nearly so cruel to the Amerind mind as they seem to us. There is the same childlike spirit of fun behind them that prompts children to snow ball one another, and play such pranks as throwing one another in the creek. There is another item of primitive psychology which renders tales innocuous to the tribal mind, and that is the idea of physical life, especially for animals, as a kind of masquerade, something that can be put on and off at will. In the fox and coyote stories the victim is continually being resuscitated by this magic power of putting on and off his animal life, and there is no more cruelty in the idea than in the East Indian idea of transmigration."
These Indians of the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico and the north central mesas of Arizona are not only superstitious and fatalistic; but they are believers in immortality of animal as well as human hearts, except when burned. If a tale ends with the death of an animal its heart in new dress is simply transferred to some other place, and not extermination but a great joke has taken place – the primitive idea of fun-making.
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness and express my thanks to the Indian men and children who have kindly related these folktales to me. I have attempted to write them in as simple and direct a manner as they were told; and Ann and I hope that other little children may enjoy them as much as she does.
ELIZABETH WILLIS DE HUFF
O-way-way-ham-by-yoh, which means long time ago, a fox felt very hungry, so he went down into prairie-dog town and caught a fine fat prairie dog. Then he built a fire of dry rabbit brush. When the brush had all burned up and left a pile of coals, Mr. Fox took his prairie dog and covered him all up with the hot ashes. That was the way he always roasted meat for his dinner. It required some time for the prairie dog to roast, so Mr. Fox lay down and went to sleep.
Very soon Mr. Coyote came along. Sniff! sniff! he could smell meat roasting and it smelt very delicious. He saw Mr. Fox fast asleep; so he slipped quietly over to the pile of ashes, stuck his paw in and pulled out the prairie dog. He ran behind a bush and ate all of the meat off, but he left the bones. Then he took a bone and greased the fox's mouth all around with a greasy end of it. After that he put the bones back under the hot ashes and ran away.
Then he took a bone and greased the fox's mouth
When Mr. Fox awoke, he could smell prairie dog grease. He licked his tongue out and tasted grease all around his mouth. "Surely I have not eaten the prairie dog while I was asleep. No, I feel too hungry; but where did this grease come from on my mouth, if I did not eat him?" Mr. Fox was very much puzzled. He went over to the ashes and caught hold of a prairie dog foot and pulled. Out came a long leg bone without any meat on it. "This is funny," thought he.
Just then he spied some tracks in the sand. "Oho!" said he, "Now I understand it all. Coyote-man has played a trick on me and eaten my prairie dog. I'll catch him and kill him for this."
So Mr. Fox trotted off following the coyote tracks. He found the coyote by a high cliff. Mr. Coyote saw Mr. Fox coming and he knew he was angry. He did not have time to run away, so he just leaned against the cliff and called, "Oh, Fox-man, come here quick and help me! Look up there, this cliff is falling! It will kill us both!" Mr. Fox looked up. The clouds were passing over the cliff and made the cliff look as if it were really falling. Mr. Fox jumped quickly over by Mr. Coyote and leaned against the cliff just as hard as he could to hold it up. As soon as Mr. Fox leaned on the cliff, Mr. Coyote jumped away. He made a big jump, just as if the cliff might really fall on him.
Mr. Fox leaning hard against the cliff
"Hold the cliff up, Fox-man, while I go get a stick to prop it with."
Then Mr. Coyote ran away and left Mr. Fox leaning hard against the cliff.
Mr. Fox stayed there all day waiting for Mr. Coyote to come with the stick. Late that evening he looked up and there were no clouds passing, so he could see that the cliff was not falling. He knew that the coyote had played another trick on him, so he was angrier than ever.
Again he followed the coyote tracks and found the coyote down by the river.
When Mr. Coyote saw Mr. Fox coming, he called:
"Oh, Fox-man, come quick and see what I have for you. I found a cheese and I saved half of it for you; but it has fallen into the river. Look!"
And Mr. Fox looked down into the water. There was the reflection of the half-moon in the water. It looked just like the half of a round cheese and Mr. Fox's mouth began to water for a taste of it. He was very hungry.
"I wonder how I can get that cheese!" he said.
"I'll tell you how. Let me tie the end of this rope" – for Mr. Coyote had a rope all ready – "around your tail and tie the other end to this big stone. Then you can jump into the river and get the cheese. When you have got hold of it, call me and I will pull you out."
Mr. Fox thought that was a good scheme, so he let Mr. Coyote tie the rope around his tail and around the stone. Then Mr. Fox jumped into the river with a big splash.
As soon as he did, Mr. Coyote threw the stone in after him, and if the rope had not slipped off of Mr. Fox's tail when it got wet, that would have been the end of poor old Mr. Fox.
O-way-way-ham-by-yoh, the meaning of which you already know, an Indian man and woman had two daughters, Juanita and Marianita. Juanita was older than Marianita, so whenever their father and mother went to a fiesta – that is, a kind of picnic and dance – they always took Juanita and left Marianita at home with the cat.
One day the father and mother and Juanita went to fiesta to stay all day and all night. That afternoon when Marianita was cutting up meat to make a stew for her supper, the cat sat down beside her and begged for some of the meat. She gave him some; then she got him some water; she stroked his fur; and she did all sorts of nice things for him.
That evening when it began to grow dark Marianita was afraid; for there was no one in the house with her, you know, but the cat.
"Don't be afraid," said the cat, "You fasten the door and the windows tight and I will take care of you."
So Marianita locked the door and fastened the windows.
That night a bear came to the door and knocked. The cat peeped out through a crack to see who was knocking. He saw the bear – for cats can see at night – so he called out: "I am sorry we cannot open the door for you, Bear-man, but we are busy making a fire."
The bear waited a while and then knocked again. But the cat said, "We are making bread now, so we cannot open the door."
The bear waited and knocked a third time. "Open the door. I have presents for you." This time the cat called, "I am sorry but we are baking the bread and cannot open the door."
The bear grew tired of waiting. He tried to break the door down but it was too strong so he started away. Just then the cat opened the door and jumped out upon the bear's back. It startled the bear so, that he dropped the bundle of presents. The bundle fell open and the most beautiful jewelry and dresses and fine things that Marianita had ever seen fell out.
The bear was so frightened that he ran away and Marianita went out and gathered up all of the beautiful things. She dressed the cat up in a pretty little dress and some beaded shoes, that just fitted him. Then she dressed herself in a new dress and put on all of the jewels.
She dressed the cat up in a pretty little dress
When the father, mother and Juanita came home next morning, the cat ran out to meet them. They were surprised to see his dress and shoes and wondered what had happened. He told them, but they could not understand him. He told them again and they still did not understand, so they went into the house in a hurry to see what the cat meant. They were so pleased to see Marianita looking so fine that they hugged her up tight.
"Where did you get these lovely things?" And Marianita told them all about the bear.
The next time the Indians had a fiesta, Juanita let Marianita go with their father and mother. She wanted to stay at home, so that the bear could bring her some pretty things.
That afternoon, when Juanita was cutting up meat for her stew, the cat sat beside her and begged for some of the meat; but Juanita would not give him any. Instead she struck at the cat with her knife and treated him mean.
The cat climbed up on the window and went to sleep. When it grew dark and Juanita began to feel afraid at being all alone, the cat pretended to still be asleep. He did not say anything to her about the door and windows and Juanita did not think to fasten them.
That night when the bear came to knock on the door, he found the door unlocked, so he walked right into the house. Juanita thought he had come to bring her some fine clothes, so she said, "Good-evening, Bear-man, won't you have a seat?" and the bear sat down beside her.
"What makes your feet so big, Bear-man?"
"To walk the faster, little one."
"Well, what makes your nose so long?"
"To scent the keener, little girl."
"And what makes your ears so big?"
Juanita talking to the bear
"To hear the better, my dear."
"What makes your eyes so bright?"
"To see the farther."
"What makes your teeth so long?"
"To eat you up."
And the bear ran away with Juanita to eat her up.
But when the cat saw how Marianita grieved for her sister, he ran to the Bear's den; jumped on the back of the Bear's head; scratched out his eyes and took Juanita back home again.
Once upon a time there lived near Nambé, an old Lady Fox and an old Hen. This old Lady Fox lived in a cliff and the old Hen lived in a hut nearby. Of course, they appeared to be friendly; but at the same time, old Mrs. Fox was jealous of Mrs. Hen, because the hen was more industrious than she was, and she often thought what a delicious dinner Mrs. Hen would be. Each of them had six children.
One day Mrs. Hen decided to give a dinner party for her friend Mrs. Fox and the little foxes. She killed all of her own children but one. This one she kept to run errands for her. Then she put her chicks on to boil and made a big pot of chicken stew. Afterward she made a delicious corn meal pudding.
The foxes came and had a merry dinner. "Please put all of the chicken bones back into the dish when you finish," politely asked Mrs. Hen; "and please you go, my little chick, into the next room and bring me my magic rod." The little chick hurried back with the rod. Mrs. Hen took it and struck herself across the nose. Instantly an empty dish was full of piñon nuts for dessert, which the greedy foxes soon devoured.
The foxes came and had a merry dinner.
"Come with me now to the river," invited Mrs. Hen.
There she threw the chicken bones into the water and at the same time, she threw in some sacred corn meal as she repeated an Indian prayer, "Pee-pee sah-key, my children come out of the water." Then all of her chickens came out of the water safe and sound. All this time old Lady Fox watched her friend very closely; for she intended to do just as Mrs. Hen had done, when she returned the dinner party.
Then all of her chickens came out of the water
The very next week Mrs. Fox invited Mrs. Hen and her baby chicks to dinner. She killed all of her baby foxes for a stew. She even forgot to leave one to help her. She cooked the stew only half done and made a soggy corn meal pudding. When Mrs. Hen and her chicks arrived, they could only eat part of the dinner; for it was so poorly cooked.
"Put the bones back into the dish," said Mrs. Fox.
Then she got a stick and struck herself across the nose, as Mrs. Hen had done, to fill the dish with piñon nuts; but no nuts came. Instead she struck herself so hard that the blow made her nose bleed. Mrs. Hen and her chicks wanted to laugh; but they did not dare. They had to look down and hold their breath to keep the laugh inside.
"Now we shall go down to the river," said Mrs. Fox. And down at the river she threw the little fox bones into the water, and called her children just as she had seen Mrs. Hen do; but the little foxes did not appear. She called and called; and finally she grew so angry at the chickens, that she jumped at them to catch them and eat them up. But Mrs. Hen and her chicks were too smart for her. They jumped also and flew away. Old Lady Fox flew into a rage; she screamed and rolled herself over on the ground; then she clawed the ground until she wore her claws all off; and finally she bit rocks until her teeth were all broken off. She had no babies, no claws and no teeth.
Early one summer morning, once upon a time, when the ground was cool and damp, a turtle crawled up out of his home in the river. He crawled along hunting things to eat. He found so many good things that he crawled farther and farther away from the river. He forgot all about old Father Sun, who would come peeping up over the hills after awhile. If he had been a wise little turtle, he would not have wandered so far away from home. River turtles have to keep themselves damp. If they become too dry they cannot walk, and if the sun shines too hot upon them, they die.
Now while this little turtle was trudging slowly along, the sun came up and shone right down upon him. He turned around and started back to the river; but turtles travel so slowly and the sun was so hot, that he could only get half way there. When he saw what trouble he was in, he climbed into a shady hole in a big rock and began to cry.
He climbed into a shady hole in a big rock
He cried so hard and so loud that a coyote, who was passing near by, heard him. The coyote's ears were not very keen so he thought it was somebody singing.
"I must find out who that is singing," said Mr. Coyote, " and get him to teach me that song. "
So Mr. Coyote peeped around the rock and found the turtle with big tears in his eyes.
"Good-day," said Mr. Coyote, "that was a nice song you were singing. Won't you teach it to me?"
"I was not singing," replied the turtle.
"I know you were, for I heard you and I want to learn your song. If you do not teach it to me I will swallow you whole!"
"That cannot do me any harm," said the turtle, "for I have a hard shell that will hurt your throat."
"Well, if you do not sing for me I'll throw you in the hot sun!"
"That cannot harm me either," said the turtle, "for I can crawl under my shell."
"Well then," said Mr. Coyote, "I will throw you into the river if you do not sing."
"Oh, please Coyote-man do not throw me into the river. I might drown if you do. Please do not throw me in!"
Mr. Coyote threw the turtle into the river
"Yes, I will!" and Mr. Coyote took up the turtle in his mouth and threw him into the river
The little turtle swam out under the water where the coyote could not reach him. Then he stuck his head up out of the water:
"Thank you very much, Coyote-man, for throwing me into the river. This is my home. I had no way to get here. Thank you for helping me."
And old Mr. Coyote trotted away very angry.
O-way-way-ham-by-yoh, long time ago, a fox went out to hunt. He had such a good place to hunt in, for just north of his den was a stretch of woods, where wild turkeys and many kinds of animals lived. He and Mrs. Fox had been living on cow sinews for many days, so he was hungry for something different to eat.
He hunted for a long time until he grew tired. When suddenly he found – what do you suppose? – a big fat turkey. He was just ready to stick his sharp teeth into the turkey to drag him to his den, when the turkey said; "Wait, Fox-man, are you ill, you look very pale? You look as if you will faint. Don't you want to take a nap? You lie down and go to sleep and I'll go down to your house and tell Mrs. Fox to cook me for your dinner. Poor fellow, you look so weary!" This made Mr. Fox really feel ill.
"That will be kind of you, Turkey-Man."
So the turkey started off towards the fox's den and the fox watched him until he reached the door, then he lay down under a tree and went to sleep.
When the turkey reached the door of the fox's den, he knocked loudly.
"Who's there?", asked Mrs. Fox.
"Just a friend with a message for you."
"Won't you come in?"
"No, thank you, I am in a hurry. Mr. Fox asked me to come by to tell you that he will be back soon. He is very hungry and wants you to cook him a mess of cow sinews for his dinner."
And then the turkey ran away.
Then the turkey ran away
Mrs. Fox got busy and cooked some cow sinews. Very soon Mr. Fox came home smacking his lips. He was so pleased to think what a delicious turkey dinner he was going to have.
Mrs. Fox brought the dinner and set it on the table before Mr. Fox. He bit off a big piece and began to chew.
"This is the toughest turkey I have ever tasted," said he. "It tastes more like cow sinews than turkey to me. What is the matter with it?"
"Turkey!" exclaimed Mrs. Fox. "Why I have no turkey! These are cow sinews. Some one knocked at the door this morning. He told me you were hungry and wanted me to cook cow sinews for your dinner right away."
"Oh," groaned Mr. Fox, "that must have been the turkey!"
Once there was an old coyote with five ugly, snarling baby coyotes. They lived near a deer, who had two pretty spotted baby deer, called fawns. One day Mrs. Coyote said to Mrs. Deer: "How pretty your fawns are, Mrs. Deer. How did you make the spots on them? I should like to make my babies spotted too."
"Oh, I smoked them with corn cobs. I made a fire of cobs in my house and as soon as the house was full of smoke, I shut my babies up tight in there and let them stay all night. Next day they were spotted, as you see."
He pushed the five little coyotes in and shut the door
So Mrs. Coyote found a lot of corn cobs and built a fire with them in her den. When it was full of smoke, she pushed the five little coyotes in and shut the door tight.
Mrs. Deer took her fawns and set out in a hurry for the deer's house on a high mountain near Flagstaff; for she knew what would happen to the little coyotes and how angry the old coyote would be. She also knew that Mrs. Coyote had been waiting for an excuse to eat her and her babies up.
Set out in a hurry for the deer's house
On their way the deer had to cross a river. When they reached the river, the old turtle-man, who always ferried people across, took them safely over on his back. "Turtle-man, very soon a coyote will follow us and ask you to take her across the river. Please keep her here as long as you can, so we may reach the deer's house before she catches us and eats us up."
Old turtle-man took them safely over
The next morning when the deer had almost reached the deer's house, old Mrs. Coyote was back at her den opening the door to call her babies out. When the door opened, the smoke blew in her face so thick that it almost blinded her. "Come out, my beautiful spotted babies! We will eat up those spotted fawns some day and then you will be the only pretty children here."
But the little coyotes did not come. Mrs. Coyote went in to see why and she found them dead. The smoke had smothered them to death. She was so angry that she ran as fast as she could, following the deer's tracks to catch them and eat them up. When she reached the river the old turtle-man was digging in the ground and singing a song.
"Hurry, Old Turtle-man, and take me across the river; for I have no time to waste here!" yelled Mrs. Coyote. But the old turtle-man kept on digging until he had finished his song. Then he took the coyote on his back to carry her across, and when they reached the middle of the river, he pretended to cough and dropped Mrs. Coyote off his back right down into the water. When she climbed up again on Turtle-man's back she had to sneeze the water out of her nose and lick her wet fur; so it took them a long time to get across the river.
By that time the deer were all safe in the deer's house with other deer; and the only door to the house, as you perhaps know, was a hole in the top.
Mrs. Coyote ran to the deer's house; climbed up on the roof and yelled down: " Send that deer-woman with her spotted fawns up here!"
"Come down and get them if you want them," answered an old grandfather deer with long horns. And then he stood right under the door.
Down leaped Mrs. Coyote and fell right on Granddaddy Deer's sharp horns. His horns made a hole in her side. Granddaddy Deer threw her onto the horns of another deer; he threw her to another; and they tossed her until her body was all cut into pieces and she was dead.
Just at the foot of the Second Mesa, long, long ago, lived a water snake in a mud hole. Not far away a coyote lived at "Coyote Springs." They often passed one another and grew very friendly.
"Come over to see me sometime, Snake-man," invited the coyote one day. "Come tomorrow at noon when the Indians will all be in their houses and cannot see you."
"With pleasure," replied the snake. So next day at noon the snake crawled down into the coyote's den. His tail was so long that he had to coil it around and around to get into the den, and when he did get in he took up all of the room. Mr. Coyote had to get on the outside, and they talked to each other with the snake in the nice warm den and the coyote outside in the cold. Mr. Coyote did not like that very well, you may be sure.
The snake visits Mr. Coyote
"You must come to see me tomorrow at noon," said the snake as he left.
Now in order to get even with the snake and to push him out of his hole, as the snake, because of his long tail, had pushed the coyote out, Mr. Coyote made a long tail of ever-green branches and fastened it to his own tail. He tied it with a hard knot so that it would not come off. At noon he went to return the snake's call.
Mr. Snake laughed and laughed when he saw Mr. Coyote's new tail. It looked so funny that when Mr. Coyote started home, Mr. Snake decided to play a joke on him. He slipped his flint stones out of his pocket and set the end of the ever-green tail on fire. The boughs began to crackle and make a noise. Mr. Coyote looked around to see what was the matter. When he saw that his long tail was on fire, he quickly tried to untie it from his own bushy tail; but the knot was a hard knot. He was so excited he could not untie it. Then he became so frightened that he began to run. The faster he ran, the bigger and closer the fire burned behind him; until it burned all the way up to his bushy tail. Then his tail burned off, the fur on his body caught fire and all of it burned off.
His long tail was on fire
O-way-way-ham-by-yoh a mother rabbit and her son Bunny Cottontail lived in a hole in Prairie-dog-town. One day Bunny Cottontail slipped away from home in search of something to eat. He hopped away across the hills, and across a deep arroyo. An arroyo is a deep dry ditch in dry weather; but whenever it rains the water rushes down the arroyo and makes it a deep river. Now when Bunny Cottontail hopped across the arroyo it was dry; but after he got across, the rain fell very hard and fast. You have seen how hard it can rain, sometimes, and how fast the water runs down the ditches. Well that is the way it rained when Bunny Cottontail hid under a sage brush bush to keep himself dry. He was so frightened, that as soon as the rain stopped falling he started back home as fast as he could run. But when Bunny Cottontail reached the arroyo he could not get across. It had turned into a big river.
Poor Bunny Cottontail was cold and hungry. He wanted to go home to his mother. He was beginning to cry when a crane came along. The crane was walking in the water catching fish. He can take me across, thought Bunny Cottontail.
"Good afternoon, Uncle Crane," said Bunny Cottontail, "my mother was talking to me just yesterday about you. She says you are my uncle and belong to our tribe. I am so glad to meet you. Won't you please take me across the water so that I can run and tell my mother I have seen you?"
The crane took Bunny Cottontail on his back and crossed the river
Now whenever two animals belong to the same tribe they have to help each other when either one gets into trouble. If the crane really belonged to Bunny Cottontail's tribe, of course he had to take him across the arroyo. So the crane took Bunny Cottontail on his back and crossed the water.
When they got across, Bunny Cottontail jumped down off the crane's back, ran up the steep little hill and called back to the crane:
"You are not my uncle. I just told you that to get a ride across the water."
And Bunny Cottontail ran home as fast as he could to keep the crane from catching him and giving him the spanking he deserved.
Once upon a time, long, long ago, Grandmother Spider lived in a little Indian village, called a Pueblo. She lived with her two little grandsons, Po-kong-who-yer (youth) and Pah-loong-ah-who-yer.
Grandmother Spider was friendly with the fairies and with the sun-god and with the moon-man and all of the animals. She used to talk to them and they helped her to do many things. She did so many things, which the other Indians did not understand, that they called her a witch and drove her with her two little grandsons outside of the village. Outside she built a little mud house where she and her little grandsons lived happily; for the fairies and the kind old Sun-God brought them food to eat.
Soon after the Indians drove Grandmother Spider out of their pueblo, a huge Man-Eater came to live near there. Whenever the men went out to hunt game, or to gather wood; and whenever the women or children went to fill their jars with water, the Man-Eater caught them and swallowed them alive. The poor Indians began to cry and to sing songs while they beat sad music on their drums. They did not know what to do! If they stayed inside the pueblo where there were no corn fields, no buffalo, no deer, no rabbits and no squashes, they would surely starve to death; and if they went outside the village the Man-Eater would swallow them alive.
One day the Indian chief remembered what wonderful things Grandmother Spider used to do before the Indians drove her from the pueblo; so he decided to take presents to her to see if she could not help them out of their trouble, and drive the Man-Eater away. The next day he made a ball and two little bows and arrows. He took them out to Po-kong-who-yer and Pah-loong-ah-who-yer.
The Indian Chief makes presents to Grandmother Spider's grandsons
When old Grandmother Spider saw the arrows, she was pleased and she asked the kind fairies to rub magic on them, so that the arrows might kill all things that harmed her little boys.
That same afternoon Po-kong-who-yer and Pah-loong-ah-who-yer, with their bows and arrows slung over their shoulders, were playing with their ball outside their mud-house. One of them threw the ball too high for the other to catch and it bounced away off over the prairie. They both ran after it as fast as they could. Each one was trying to see who could get the ball first. They did not know until too late that they were running right up to the spot where the Man-Eater was. They stopped running and turned around, but before they could get away, the Man-Eater opened his big mouth and swallowed them down. And down there in the Man-Eater's stomach they found all the other people he had swallowed still living and crying to get out.
Po-kong-who-yer and Pah-loong-ah-who-yer stopped running and turned around
Po-kong-who-yer and Pah-loong-ah-who-yer drew their bows and shot their magic arrows right through the Man-Eater's heart. The Man-Eater opened his mouth and yelled, just like thunder, and then he fell over dead.
Po-kong-who-yer and Pah-loong-ah-who-yer and all of the people inside him came out and returned to their homes.
All that night the Indians beat their drums fast and danced and sang their happiest songs, for the old Man-Eater was dead and could not trouble them any more.
One bright sunny morning, some quails were busily grinding corn and singing when Mr. Fox came along. What a delicious dinner those quails will make, thought Mr. Fox.
"Good morning, Misses Quail," said he, "what a fine occupation for so pleasant a morning. May I grind with you?"
"Certainly, Mr. Fox," replied the quails, "if you have any corn to grind."
"I shall find some," and Mr. Fox trotted away in search of corn. But he could not find any anywhere. He had to gather a basket of cedar berries instead.
While he was gone the quails decided to play a prank on him, so they put some branches across his path. Mr. Fox did not see the branches, of course, so he tripped, and down he fell and spilled all of his cedar berries. The quails laughed at him and began to eat the berries.
He fell and spilled all his cedar berries
"Stop!" cried Mr. Fox, "you cannot have my berries; but if you will help me pick them up, I will give one to each of you."
So the quails helped him to pick up the berries and he ground them into meal.
"It is time now to bake our corn cakes," said the quails, and they baked and ate their cakes.
"I am thirsty," said one, "let us all fly up to the lake on the mountain top for a drink."
"I cannot fly," moaned Mr. Fox, "please do not leave me."
"I tell you what we will do," suggested one of the quails, "we will each lend a feather to make wings for Mr. Fox, so that he may fly with us."
Thereupon each quail lent a feather and soon Mr. Fox was fitted with wings. He did not know just how to manage them. Indeed he was as clumsy as could be; but he flipped and flopped until he finally reached the steep mountain top as soon as any of the quails. For the quails were laughing so hard over Mr. Fox's ridiculous efforts, that they could scarcely fly themselves.
Mr. Fox was fitted with wings
After they had all had a drink from the lake, the quails took their feathers away from Mr. Fox and pushed him down the mountain side. He fell on the rocks far below and broke his leg. He went about limping the rest of his life and never tried to catch another quail.
Once upon a time all the animals declared war upon the birds. Each held a council of war to talk over what they should do.
A tiny black ant slipped into the animals' council and listened to their plans; then he went to the birds and told them:
Then the birds all flew away to fight the animals
"The fox is to be the war-chief of the animals and his tail is to be their signal. As long as the fox holds his tail up, the animals are to go ahead and fight; but as soon as the fox drops his tail down, the animals are to run away."
The eagle was war-chief of the birds, so he sent a messenger to bring in the bee to their council.
"Mrs. Bee," said the eagle, "please sting the fox's tail for us so that we may win this war."
Mrs. Bee lit on his tail and began to sting it
Then the birds all flew away to meet and fight the animals. The little bee went and found the fox. The fox was leading the animals with his tail held up high. Mrs. Bee lit on his tail and began to sting it.
She kept stinging and stinging until the fox could stand it no longer. He dropped his tail down and ran away with all of the animals following him. And the birds won the war.
Down near the Indian village of Laguna, there is a big sandstone rock over-hanging the roadside. Once upon a time a little lizard lived on the sunny side of this big rock. She was a happy little lizard and sang songs all day long.
One day a fox was going along the road and he heard the lizard singing:
Now everything nice or pretty that anybody else has, the fox immediately wants, so he wanted the lizard's song. "I must get the lizard to teach me that song," so up on the rock he jumped to find the little lizard.
"Good morning, my friend," said the fox, "this is a beautiful day, and your song sounded so fine that I wish you would teach it to me."
"With pleasure," replied the obliging lizard and she sang the song over and over until the fox said he knew it.
"Thank you my friend," said he, "and now good-day, for I must be off to hunt my dinner," and away he trotted down the road singing as he went, "Mo-ki, mo-ki, mo-ki – ."
"Good morning my friend," said the fox
He came to a small pond where a flock of wild ducks were feeding on the grass seeds. He did not see the ducks, but they saw him and they flew up suddenly out of the water flapping their wings and quacking. The noise frightened the fox so much that he forgot his song. Try as hard as he might, he could remember only the first part.
He went running back to the lizard's house on the big rock. "My friend, I have forgotten the song you taught me; won't you please sing it again for me?"
The little lizard sang it again and once more the fox trotted down the road singing:
"Mo-ki mo-ki mo-o-ki,
Mo-ki mo-ki mo-o-ki,
Hanging rock is here. Hanging rock is here. A happy home for me.
Unhum unhum."
But he had not gone very far before a rabbit suddenly jumped across his path from behind a bush. The rabbit startled him so that again he forgot the song he was singing.
So a third time the fox went to find the lizard. This time he found her asleep in the warm sunshine. "I am sorry to disturb you, Miss Lizard, but I have forgotten my song again and I want you to teach it to me once more."
But the sleepy little lizard did not answer.
"I will ask you four times to sing," growled the fox, "and if you do not sing, I will eat you up."
The little lizard kept her eyes closed and paid no attention to him. The fox asked her four times to sing, and then he opened his big mouth and swallowed her down.
The warm sun on the rock made the fox sleepy too, so he lay down and went to sleep. While he was sleeping, the little lizard took a knife out of a pocket in her skin, with which she removes her old skin for a new skin dress each year, and she cut and cut the fox's side until she cut a hole big enough to slip out through. Then she took a sharp rock and put it inside the fox where she had been. After that she took a piece of sinew thread from her pocket and sewed the fox's side together again. Then she ran quietly home.
All this time the fox was fast asleep. When he awoke he felt thirsty, so he trotted back to the little pond for a drink. The stone in his side cut and felt very uncomfortable; and when he leaned down to drink, it overbalanced him and he fell, splash, down into the deep water and drowned.
He fell into the deep water and drowned
One winter, a long time ago, an Indian village called Taos was all covered with deep, deep snow. The Indians could not find any flint stones to make a fire with. They shut themselves up in their houses and were almost freezing to death; when one day a little brown robin with a brown breast came flying over the village. He was so cold that he fell in the plaza. The plaza is a big square place in the center of the village, where there are not any houses nor any trees.
A bear came along. "Pretty soon the Indians will all die from the cold and I'll be ruler of all this country," said the bear.
"Not if I can help it," replied the robin. "I will save the Indians even if it takes my life."
So the little robin flew away to the south. He found another Indian village where they had a big fire burning in the plaza. The robin picked up a piece of burning stick and flew back to Taos with it. He guarded the little flame from the wind by stretching his wing over it. When he reached Taos, he scratched a hole in the snow with his feet, and put the burning stick into the hole. Then he flew away and brought some twigs to put on it. Very soon the twigs began to burn and Robin flew away for more. While he was gone the bear came and blew his breath on the fire. He wanted to put it out so the Indians would freeze. And the fire did go out all but a few little sparks.
The bear came and blew his breath on the fire
When Robin came with the twigs he had to fan the sparks with his wings to make the fire burn again. "Burn, fire, burn for the freezing Indians!"
The fire burned and Robin flew away for more twigs.
As soon as Robin left, the bear came and blew his breath twice on the fire. The fire almost went out again, and when Robin came back, he had to fan and fan and fan it with his wing to make the little twigs catch fire and burn.
But Robin kept fanning the flame with his wing
The third time Robin flew away for more twigs, the bear came and blew his breath three times on the fire. This time the fire all went out except just one very tiny little spark; and the bear said, "Now I'll be ruler of this country."
But when the robin came back with his twigs, he fanned and fanned that little spark with his wings. For a long time the little spark would not blaze. But Robin kept fanning and begging, "Please, fire, burn for the Indians." All the time he was fanning, the fire was burning his breast; but he kept on fanning until the fire did burn, and burned too big for the bear to blow out.
The Indians saw a red light through their peephole windows. They looked out and saw the fire with Robin still fanning it with his wing. Then the freezing Indians all ran out; each took a piece of burning wood into his house and made a nice warm fire inside.
Nobody thought of Robin – poor little tired Robin – except an old, old woman, who was tired, too. She picked up the tired little bird and carried him into her house. She put him by her fire to warm him; but it was too late. Tired little Robin was dead. The old woman picked him up and found that his breast had burned red. And since that time all the robins' breasts are red.
O-way-way-ham-by-hoh, old man Shrivelled Corn had a beautiful daughter named White Corn. White Corn was a widow with two sons both named Fire. They all lived together at San Juan.
Now Faint Star lived up in the sky, and was in love with the beautiful White Corn. Every night Faint Star came to beg White Corn to go up and live with him and be Mrs. Faint Star.
The Sun was in love with White Corn too, so every day he came to her house to beg her to be Mrs. Sun.
But White Corn loved her old father and her little sons Fire, so she would not go with either of them.
Faint Star grew tired of begging, so one night he slipped down to old man Shrivelled Corn's house and stole White Corn away. He took her away up to his house in the sky.
When the Sun came next day, he found that White Corn had been taken away. "In four days I'll meet that star," said the Sun, "and take White Corn away to live with me."
Sure enough in four days the Sun took his peace pipe with some strong tobacco and went to Faint Star's house. Faint Star said good-morning to the Sun and invited him to sit down and tell what the Sun had come to see him about. They sat down and the Sun took out his peace pipe and filled it with the strong tobacco. He was accustomed to that strong tobacco, so when he took a puff on the peace pipe, it did not hurt him at all. He passed the pipe to Faint Star for him to have his turn at a smoke. But when Faint Star drew a puff of the strong tobacco smoke he fell over dead. Then the Sun caught up White Corn in his arms and carried her away to his house.
The two little Fire boys grew to be big boys and all the time they were wondering how they could ever get their beautiful mother back again. They knew that the Sun had stolen her to live in his house; but they did not know how they could reach the Sun's house to get her away. Now that they were big the Fire boys decided to try to get to their mother anyway. So they went East and climbed over the highest mountain they could find, looking for a path to the Sun. While they were on top of the high mountain they saw a tiny line of smoke coming from the valley below them. They ran down to see from whence that smoke came. What do you think they found? Why, old Grandmother Spider cooking her dinner of corn meal mush. Her fire was made of tiny straws and her pot was no bigger than your thimble; but she invited the Fire boys to sit down and share her dinner with her. The Fire boys laughed:
Grandmother Spider cooking her dinner
"All of your dinner, Grandmother Spider, would not even be a taste for one of us!"
"Never mind," replied Grandmother Spider, "you are tired and hungry from your long journey and I bid you eat."
Just for fun the Fire boys dipped their fingers into the mush to taste it. It was delicious and as fast as they ate it, more mush came into the little pot. They ate and ate until they had a plenty; and when they finished, the little thimble-pot was still full of mush.
"Now," said Grandmother Spider, "you are ready to continue your journey and I will help you get your mother White Corn back from the Sun."
She took from her pocket a long peace pipe, a buckskin bag of tobacco and a little bag of medicine.
"Take these with you, Fire boys, and when you reach the Sun's house, fill the pipe with tobacco and smoke it. But when you pass the pipe to the Sun for his turn to smoke, drop this medicine into the pipe quickly. Now shut your eyes tight and do not open them until you hear the Sun speak to you."
The boys took the pipe, the tobacco and the medicine and then shut their eyes as Grandmother Spider had told them. Then Grandmother Spider spun a web all the way up to the Sun's house. She took the Fire boys up on the web and set them down at the Sun's door.
She took the Fire boys up on the web
"Good-morning, Strangers," said the Sun, "what do you wish at my house?"
The Fire boys opened their eyes.
"Let us smoke together," replied the Fire boys, "while we tell you our errand."
So they all sat down to smoke. The Fire boys took out the pipe that Grandmother Spider had given them and filled it with tobacco. Then each of them drew a long puff from the pipe; but when they passed it to the Sun, they dropped in the medicine, just as Grandmother Spider had told them to do. The Sun drew a puff from the pipe and immediately he fell back fast asleep. All the earth and everywhere grew dark. The Fire boys grabbed White Corn from the Sun's house and ran outside. Grandmother Spider was there waiting.
"Shut your eyes quick, boys."
The Fire boys shut their eyes and when they opened them again they were safely back in old man Shrivelled Corn's house with their beautiful mother White Corn and the Sun was shining outside once mole.
A long time ago a beautiful river, that ran through the Indian village of Taos, went dry; for no rain had fallen for months and months and months. There was no water anywhere to drink, except in one little spring; and that little spring belonged to a coyote.
One morning a rabbit passed by the coyote's spring. "Good-morning, Rabbit-man," said the coyote, "how are you getting along this dry weather? You must get very thirsty."
"Oh no," replied the rabbit, "I get along fine. I have plenty of water, for I drink the dew from the cabbage leaves."
"But suppose the drought takes all the dew from the cabbage leaves, then what will you do?"
"I will find water somewhere else," replied the rabbit; and he hopped away.
Still there was no rain and everything was as dry as could be, except the coyote's spring. The rabbit grew very thirsty; so four days later when the coyote was away from home, the rabbit went to the coyote's spring and drank and drank the water. Later in the day the coyote met him: "Good day, Rabbit-man, how are you enjoying the dew from the cabbage leaves these days? Are you finding very much?" And the coyote threw back his head and laughed.
"Oh, I am finding enough!", and again the rabbit hopped away.
The next day the rabbit waited until the coyote went out to hunt for his dinner, then he went to the spring and drank and drank.
When the coyote came back home, he went to his spring for a drink. There was very little water left in it. "Who has been taking my water?", he growled. And then he saw rabbit tracks around the spring.
"So Rabbit-man has been stealing my water! That is why he is getting along so well this dry weather. I shall have to put an end to him."
So the coyote went out and found a piece of wood and cut out of it a baby animal. Then he got gum from the piñon trees and smeared it all over the baby. He put the gum baby beside the spring and hid himself in the bushes.
He grabbed the gum baby and pushed him into the water
Very soon the rabbit came along for a drink at the coyote's spring. When he saw the gum baby, he bowed and said, "Hello, what are you doing here?" But the gum baby just sat still and said nothing. This made Mr. Rabbit angry.
"I say 'hello', and if you don't speak to me politely I'll push you into the spring."
The gum baby did not say anything. Mr. Rabbit grew so angry that he grabbed the gum baby and pushed him into the water.
But the gum on the baby made the rabbit stick hard and fast to him; and when he fell into the spring, Mr. Rabbit fell in, too, and got a good ducking that he did not soon forget.
O-way-way-ham-by-yoh, a fox, was living near an Indian village when the chief of the Indians died.
"Now I shall be chief of those people," said the fox; so he went to the village and called a council of all the Indians. A council means a meeting of people in a house; and the Indians' meeting house is the kiva. So when all the Indians came into the kiva, the fox said to them, "I am going to be your new chief." The Indians talked it over and said all right. But when the fox left the council, the Indians changed their minds and decided that they did not want the fox to be their chief.
"I am going to be your new chief"
They sent a messenger to the fox and told him that he could not be their chief, for they had changed their minds about it.
The fox was sorry to hear the message, but he was determined to be chief of the Indians.
So the fox went out and gathered sunflower stalks. He took them to his den and began making flutes out of them. He blew on each flute that he made; and he kept throwing them away and throwing them away, because he did not like the tone of them. At last he made one that he liked, for it had a beautiful soft tone. He put it carefully away in his den. Then he went to the Indian village and told the Indians, "If I am not made your chief in four days, the water from the lake will come up and drown you."
It was the fox playing
The Indians did not believe what the fox said. They held another council in the kiva, and again sent word to the fox that he could not be their chief.
The fox then set to work and dug a tunnel – a long hole under the ground – almost to the edge of the lake. He took his flute – the sweet-toned one he had made from the sunflower stalk – and went into the tunnel. There was just a little bit of ground between him and the water in the lake.
Early the next morning an Indian went to the lake to get a jar of water. He heard a flute song coming out of the lake. It was the fox playing, but the Indian thought it was the water-god playing this tune:
The Indian ran back to the village and told the other Indians what he had heard; but they did not believe him.
The next morning another Indian went to the lake for water. He heard the fox playing on his flute in the tunnel. Again it sounded as if the water-god were playing in the lake. This Indian went back and told all the Indians what he had heard; but still they did not believe it was true.
But on the third morning, the two Indians who had heard the music by the lake asked many of the Indians to go down to the lake with them to listen for the water-god's music. The Indians went down and they heard the fox playing again. They all believed it was the water-god; so when they got back to the village, they called a council. They told all of the Indians:
"We have heard the music of the water-god. The fox told us that if he were not made our chief in four days, the water would come up out of the lake and drown us. The water-god is playing his flute. What the fox said must be true. The fox must be made our chief before tomorrow."
All the Indians agreed. They sent a messenger to the fox and told him to come and be chief. But the fox pretended he did not want to come. He wanted all of the Indians to come together to his den to invite him to be their chief.
That night the fox broke the ground away at the end of the tunnel, right next to the lake, so that the water could run into the tunnel.
When the Indians awoke the next morning, they heard the water rushing under the ground near them. They thought the water from the lake was coming to drown them; for it was the fourth day and the fox had not been made their chief. They all ran down to the fox's den just as fast as they could. They begged him, "Oh, please, Mr. Fox, come and be our chief, so that we may not be drowned!"
"If you are quite sure that you want me for your chief, I'll come," replied the fox.
"Oh, we are quite sure, quite sure, Mr. Fox!"
That was just what the fox wanted; so he went to the village with the Indians and they made him their chief and he ruled long and well and wisely.
A party of red-winged blackbirds were frolicking on the ice one winter day. They were laughing, skating and singing and having the gayest time.
"Upon the ice we jump and skate.
It crackles under all our weight.
Our red shoulders shine and glow.
And now together away we go.
Ong-yes-suhru."
And across the ice they skated together when they sang ong-yes-suhru.
Mr. Coyote heard their singing, so he trotted over to the ice.
Mr Coyote dashed out on the ice beside the blackbirds
"Let me skate with you, Blackbirds," he said.
"Oh, no one can skate with us who hasn't red shoulders," they answered. "You will have to get a sharp stone and cut your shoulders so that the blood will make them red, before you can skate with us."
So Mr. Coyote took a sharp stone and gashed both of his shoulders until the blood ran out and stained them red.
"Now I have pretty red shoulders, too. Now I can skate with you."
The blackbirds flew away
"Oh no, not unless you can sing our song," they said.
Mr. Coyote tried to sing in his big deep voice; and dashed out on the ice beside the blackbirds.
The blackbirds flew away. They knew that Mr. Coyote only wanted to catch them to eat them up. And Mr. Coyote was so angry when they flew away, that he ran along the ice clawing at the blackbirds' shadows, until his feet were torn and bleeding and he had to give up the chase.
Pah-tay was a little Indian boy who lived long, long, long ago. One night when he was going to bed on his pile of pretty red and yellow blankets, he said to his mother:
"Ye-ah, it is going to snow tomorrow. I will go hunting and kill you some rabbits. Please put my quiver of arrows, my new bow that Tay-tay made me, and some lunch by the door before you go to bed; for I shall leave early in the morning."
Just like all other mothers, Pah-tay's mother did as he asked her. She put his new bow and arrows against the door-post. She wrapped up some hard baked bread in some corn husks for his lunch. She put this lunch beside the bow and arrows; and right on top of it she placed a little bag made of buckskin filled with corn meal. Ye-ah wanted Pah-tay to sprinkle a little sacred meal over all the water he passed, so that the Rain-God would give him luck and bring him safely home again.
Next morning when Ye-ah awoke, the little bed on the floor next to her blanket-bed was empty. She looked over by the door and the things she had placed there were gone. She got up quickly and looked out of the little peep-hole window; it was snowing and the big round red sun was hidden. Pah-tay had already gone out over the prairie to hunt rabbits. Quickly Ye-ah went into the little room where outsiders were never allowed to go, and took some sacred corn meal out of a jar. She dropped the meal into the center of a round pile of sacred rocks; so that the good spirits would take care of her little boy out in the snow.
Pah-tay wandered about killing rabbits
For many hours Pah-tay wandered about in the snow storm killing rabbits. He killed so many that they were hanging thick all around his belt. It had been growing dark and the snow had gotten so deep that it was difficult to walk through it; but little Pah-tay had been so interested in his rabbits, that he did not notice either the darkness or the snow until he had used his last arrow.
Then he was ready to go home; but when he turned around all parts of the country, being covered with snow, looked just alike and he did not know which way to go. He went up on top of a little hill to look for a light. He knew that if he saw a light it would come from a house.
Sure enough he saw a light. He went to the light, and climbed the ladder he found beside the house. Then he called down through the open door, "Does a friend live here?"
"Yes, a friend lives here, come down!"
Pah-tay climbed down the inside ladder to the floor, and an old woman roughly caught his arm.
"I am glad you have come for I eat little children," she said, "and I am starving for raw meat."
Poor Pah-tay began to tremble. He tried to pull his arm away from the old witch, for that is what the old woman was, but she held him tight.
"Aha, what is this you have here! Rabbits!" and the old witch began to smack her lips.
"I shall eat these rabbits first and then I will eat you."
She pushed Pah-tay down into the corner and began to skin the rabbits. She ate the rabbits one by one with her sharp teeth. Pah-tay tried to slip by her to run away; but she pushed him back with her bloody hands. He watched her eat all of the big pile of rabbits but two, and he shivered to think how soon she would eat him.
"It is warm down here. I would like to go up and sit on the roof," he said.
"No," replied the witch, "I will not give you a chance to get away."
"But if I am too warm, I will not taste good."
"That is true; but you will taste better than no boy at all."
There was only one more rabbit!
"You tie all of your belts together," suggested Pah-tay," to make a strong rope, and then tie one end to my leg and hold the other end while I go up on the roof."
The old witch agreed, so she made a rope of all of her belts. She tied one end to Pah-tay's leg and he climbed up the ladder. As soon as he was up, he untied the rope from his leg and tied it to the ladder. Then he whispered: "Little fairy in the ladder, whenever the old witch calls me, please answer 'here I am'". And then he climbed quickly and quietly down the outside ladder and ran up on the hill to look for another light. He saw one and ran to it.
In the doorway of the house, Pah-tay found two men singing and beating a drum.
"Please, let me in. An old witch is trying to eat me up and I want to hide."
The men let him in, and inside some women were grinding corn on big stones. Pah-tay hid behind one of the stones.
The women were grinding corn
All the while the witch was eating the last rabbit, she kept jerking the rope and calling, "Are you there, little boy?" And each time the little fairy in the ladder answered, "Here I am."
But the last time she jerked, the rope came untied. The witch looked up and did not see Pah-tay. "He has run away, but I'll catch him," and she showed her sharp teeth.
She turned around and around and changed herself into the north wind. Then she went whistling after Pah-tay. She followed him to the house where the men were singing. There she changed herself back from the wind to an old woman.
She changed herself into the north wind
"Where is that little boy who came here a few minutes ago? I want him," she wheezed.
"Go in," replied the men, "and if you find him, he is yours."
The old witch went in and looked in all of the dark corners. When Pah-tay saw her coming towards the stone where he was hiding, he ran outside again. He saw another light and ran to it. This light was in a kiva and the medicine men were dancing inside with their rattles. Down into the kiva climbed Pah-tay. He jumped into a hole in the big rattle of one of the medicine men. He bumped around in the rattle with a funny noise; but the medicine men kept on singing and dancing.
As soon as the old witch found that Pah-tay had left the house where the women were grinding meal, she whirled around and changed herself again into the north wind and followed him. She went down into the kiva to get him; for she had changed into an old woman again. But the sound of the rattles confused her. She tried to climb the ladder to get out again, but before she reached the top the rhythm made her fall back dead.
The medicine men were dancing with their rattles
And Pah-tay went back home to Ye-ah.
Mr. Coyote was walking along the river's edge one morning, when he saw two pretty young girls filling their water jars from the river. He ran up into the mountains, collected all kinds of fruit that grew there, and hurried back to the river with it. He hid in the bushes and dropped the fruit down into the water near the two girls.
He hid in the bushes and dropped the fruit down into the water
The girls were greatly surprised when they saw the fruit. Where had it come from, they wondered. They looked all around and could see no one, so they dipped up the fruit with their gourds and had a big feast.
When they went home with their water jars the girls told their parents; "Oh, Tah and Ye-ah, we found the most delicious fruit in the river this morning. It was floating all around in the water. But we ate it all up."
Their father and mother said, "Tomorrow you must bring some fruit home to us."
The next morning when the girls went to the river with their water jars, there was not any fruit in the water. "What shall we do? Tah and Ye-ah will think we have been deceiving them and will punish us. What shall we do?"
Mr. Coyote, who had been awaiting them in the bushes, just laughed. Then he trotted up into the mountains again and brought more fruit and dropped it quietly into the water. Then he laughed to see how eagerly the girls dipped it up with their gourds.
The girls took the fruit home to their parents. It tasted so delicious that the father said, "Tomorrow your mother and I will go for water so that we can get the fruit."
So the next day the father and mother went down to the river with their water jars. They looked and looked, but there was no fruit in the water. Mr. Coyote, who had been waiting to see the pretty girls, saw them searching for fruit. He rolled over and over with laughter and then he ran away still chuckling.
O-way-way-ham-by-yoh, in the land of the Taos Indians, all of the tribe went out in the forest to gather nuts. While they were there a young girl with a cruel heart found a little baby boy. She did not tell anybody about the baby boy; and she had no way to carry him home with her, so when they returned to the village she left the little fellow in the mountains.
Ten years later a party of Taos Indians went up into those same mountains with long bows and arrows to hunt deer. While they were slipping around quietly behind the trees, they saw an old coyote with some little coyotes; and standing beside them was a little naked boy ten years old. The Indians did not dare to shoot at the coyotes for fear they might kill the little boy, so they jumped out from behind the trees and tried to catch the boy. But he was too quick for them. He could run faster than the coyotes, and they all ran into the coyote's den in the side of the mountain.
The mother coyote had found that little baby and taken him to her den. She had fed him and kept him all those years.
The Indians went back home and called a council of all of the tribe. They told them about the little boy they had seen in the mountains.
"He belongs to our tribe, we must go up into the mountains and get him," said the old chief.
He could run faster than the coyotes
So the warriors went up into the mountains. One warrior went to the mouth of the coyote's den. The other warriors made a big circle around the place where the little boy and the coyotes were, in order to try to catch him. The little boy was so quick, he ran right through the circle and ran as fast as he could toward his den-house; but the man there caught the boy in his arms and held him tight.
It was so late that the Indians had to camp in the woods that night. They made a big fire and roasted some deer meat for their supper. The little boy would not eat any cooked meat. The Indians had to feed him with raw meat just like the coyotes had fed him.
When they got back home the Indians named the little boy Deh-a, which means "fox"; because he came from the woods. They put Deh-a down into the cellar of a house for a year to tame him, and all the Indians prayed that the Great Spirit would give him magic.
Deh-a had learned all the animal languages while he lived with the coyotes. He knew all the signs of the weather – when it would rain and when it would snow. When he heard the coyotes howl, Deh-a knew there was danger from other animals; and so he became a very wise little boy.
One day Deh-a looked at the clouds growing dark all around the village. He told the Indians it was going to rain for forty days and forty nights. He begged them to pack up all the food they would need for forty days and to climb to the top of the highest mountain, so that the rain might not drown them.
Half of the Indians did not believe him and stayed at home. The other half took food and climbed up the highest mountain they could find. When they reached the top of the mountain, the rain began to fall and all kinds of animals climbed the mountain too, until the top of the mountain was all covered with Indians and animals. The turkeys were the last ones to get there. It rained so hard and so fast that water covered all of the low places. It drowned all of the people who stayed at home and washed away their houses. The water covered all of the trees, all of the hills and all of the mountains, except the one where the Indians had gone with Deh-a. It ran around the mountain top so fast that it became covered with white foam, little bubbles, you know – and the foam touched the tails of the animals that were on the lowest ring around the mountain and those animals have white tips on their tails to this very day.
All kinds of animals climbed the mountain
One winter morning when the ground was covered with snow, an ant came up out of his house.
"Snow," he said, "I am the strongest thing in the world. I am stronger than you!"
The snow made no answer, but he silently froze the little ant's feet.
"Oh, Snow, you are stronger than I, for you have frozen my feet and I have not even made an impression upon you. Are you the strongest thing in the world?"
"No," replied the snow, "the sun is stronger than I am; for he can shine down upon me and melt me."
Then the ant asked the sun: "Are you the strongest thing in the world, Sun?"
"Oh no, the clouds are stronger than I. When I am shining they come between me and the earth and hide my face."
"Well, you, Cloud, are you the strongest thing in the world?"
"The wind is stronger than we are. It blows and drives us around wherever it pleases."
So the ant asked the wind: "Are you then the strongest thing in the world, Wind?"
"No, a house is stronger than I am; for when I am blowing, it turns me aside and sends me on in another direction. A house is stronger than I."
"When he catches me he will eat me up"
"Then, House, you must be the strongest thing in the world?"
"You are mistaken, Ant, a mouse is stronger than I am, for he cuts holes in my walls."
The ant found a mouse: "Are you, too, stronger than I am? Are you the strongest thing in the world, Mouse?"
"Indeed no, the cat is stronger than I am. When he catches me he will eat me up."
The ant went to ask the cat, "Cat, are you the strongest thing in the world? The mouse says you are stronger than he."
"I may be stronger than the mouse; but the poker is stronger than I am; for it gives me hard licks sometimes."
Then the poker must be the strongest thing in the world, thought the ant; so he went and asked the poker.
"No, I am not the strongest thing in the world," replied the poker, "for the fire heats me and could melt me. The fire is stronger than I."
"Well, Fire," asked the ant, "are you the strongest thing in the world?"
"Water is stronger than I. It can put me out. Go ask Water."
So the ant asked the water.
"No, I am not the strongest thing in the world," answered Water, "Ox can drink me."
"Well, what about you, Ox?" asked the ant.
"Man drives me. He is stronger than I am."
"Then Man, you must be the strongest thing in the world. Even stronger than I am," said the ant.
"No," replied Man, "knife can cut me. He is stronger than I."
Finally, the ant went to the knife: "Knife," he asked, "are you stronger than I am? Are you the strongest thing in the world?"
"No, I am not the strongest thing in the world; but I am stronger than you are;" and with that, the knife fell upon the ant and cut him into pieces.
One day, once upon a time, Mr. Fox slipped into a watermelon patch and stole a melon. He saw Mr. Skunk coming, so he ran and climbed a tree to hide and eat his melon. But Mr. Skunk walked right under the tree and spoiled Mr. Fox's melon.
The fox made a bag for the skunk
"I shall get even with Mr. Skunk for spoiling my watermelon," said he; and down he jumped from the tree. He was so angry that he ran up to Mr. Skunk to have a battle with him. Very soon he found that he could not whip Mr. Skunk, so he decided to make friends with him.
They walked along together for a short distance and then Mr. Fox looked up and said: "It is going to rain. Let me make a bag to put you into, Skunk-Man, to keep you dry. I can find a hole somewhere for myself." And the fox made a bag for the skunk. All the time he was making it, Mr. Skunk was jumping around singing and dancing with joy. When it was finished, Mr. Skunk crawled in and Mr. Fox tied him in and fastened him up to the limb of a tree.
He threw big rocks that hurt Mr. Skunk
Then the fox picked up a handful of pebbles and threw them over the bag, to make the skunk think that it was raining. He took another handful of pebbles; then a handful of larger rocks; and then still larger rocks, until he threw big rocks that hurt Mr. Skunk.
"Ouch," he cried; but Mr. Fox threw bigger and bigger rocks until he had bruised Mr. Skunk all over. Then he left him to get out the best way he could.
"Now," said Mr. Fox, "I can have all the watermelons I want and there is no one to spoil them." And he trotted off for another melon.
But while Mr. Fox was selecting his watermelon, an Indian boy, who owned the patch, came along and pierced him with his arrow. And to this very day Mr. Fox carries the scar from that arrow in his right front shoulder.
Ten little prairie dogs, one day, long time ago, started up out of their hole with their drum. Their mother said: "Do not dance outside, my children, for if you do an eagle will swoop down upon you and eat you all up."
But the ten little prairie dogs only laughed and went on outside to dance. They sang as they danced:
Sure enough while they were dancing around the hole, an eagle came down and swallowed them all. The last one she ate was the prairie dog with the drum and she swallowed him drum and all.
Then the eagle went to get a drink of water. When she leaned down to drink, she felt very queer and she could hear a drum beating. It was the ten little prairie dogs dancing inside her. They danced so hard and made the eagle so sick that she finally fell over dead. Then all of the little prairie dogs came out again and ran home to tell their mother all about it.
An eagle came down and swallowed them all
The next day the ten little prairie dogs started outside again to dance. "Do not go out, my children," said their mother, "the Indians have set a trap for you. They will catch you and eat you if you go outside."
But the little prairie dogs only laughed and went outside again.
"Let us see what a trap is like"
"Let us go and see what a trap is like," suggested one little prairie dog, so they all started over the prairie in search of a trap. They found one and all got caught in it. This time they never got back home to tell their mother all about it; for the Indians roasted and ate them.
A bee was sitting on a flower singing happily one day:
when a fox passed by.
"Why are you singing so happily, Mrs. Bee?" asked the fox.
"Because I am making honey," answered she, "and honey is sweet enough to make anybody happy. Would you like to taste my honey, Mr. Fox?"
Sitting on a flower singing
Then Mrs. Bee put her foot on Mr. Fox's tongue and gave him a taste of her honey.
"That is the best thing I have ever tasted. How do you make it, Mrs. Bee? I want to make some myself."
Mrs. Bee laughed and said, "I get it from my feet by pounding them with a stone. At first when I strike them, blood comes; but beneath the blood is honey, so I keep pounding them until the blood has all come out and then I get the honey."
Mrs. Bee laughed again and flew away buzzing.
Mr. Fox found a big stone. He sat down and began to pound his feet. It hurt him very much, but he wanted some honey; so he kept pounding and the blood kept coming. He pounded his hind feet entirely away and still there was no honey.
He sat down and began to pound his feet
He knew then that the bee had tricked him. He was so angry that he wanted to pound her into pieces with that same stone; but the little bee had wisely flown so far away that Mr. Fox could never find her.
A long, long time ago a fox went to sleep on a sunny slope. While he was asleep four little mice pulled all of his hair out. They sang as they worked, "The fox is dead. Hoo-ray, hoo-ray, hoo-ray!"
When he awoke and found his hair all gone, Mr. Fox was very angry. He saw the mice tracks and followed them to their hole. There he met the first little mouse.
"Who pulled all of my hair out?" angrily asked Mr. Fox.
"My brother did, not I," said the little mouse, and he ran away to the north.
Mr. Fox dug down into the mice's home until he found the second little mouse:
"Who pulled my hair out?"
"Not I, my brother did," replied the second little mouse and he ran away to the south.
Mr. Fox dug deeper until he came to the third little mouse:
"Tell me who pulled all my hair out?" thundered Mr. Fox; for he was growing madder all the time.
"I didn't pull it out," answered the third little mouse, "my brother did," and he ran away to the east.
And so Mr. Fox dug farther down to where the fourth little mouse was.
"Did you pull all my hair out?"
"No sir, not I. It was my brother," and that little mouse ran away to the west.
Mr. Fox kept on digging until finally he found all of his hair lying at the bottom of the mice's home. He wanted to kill the mice; but they had all run away. So Mr. Fox took his hair out. He gathered some gum from a piñon tree and spread it over a flat stone. Then he put his hair on the gum and lay down with his back on the stone, to try to rub his hair on again. He thought the gum would glue his hair onto him; but instead, it glued the stone hard and fast to his back. Everywhere he went he had to carry the heavy stone.
He lay down with his back on the stone
He looked so funny without any hair and with a stone on his back that when he met another fox, the other fox rolled over and over with laughter.
"You need not laugh, Brother Fox. Instead, you had better wish that you were in my place. I am carrying this stone to the beautiful daughter of the Indian chief at Zuni for a bread stone. She has promised to reward me for it."
"Oh please let me help you carry it," begged the other fox.
"I would not let you if I were not tired," replied the first fox, "but since I am tired, I think I will let you help me."
So the second fox took the stone off of the first fox's back and put it on his own back. And there it stuck hard and fast, while the first fox ran away laughing.
The second fox went along toward Zuni until he found a third fox.
"I am taking this stone to the Zuni chief's beautiful daughter in exchange for a reward. She wants it for a bread stone," said he to the third fox; "Would you not like to help me for I am growing weary?"
"Indeed I should," and the third fox took the stone and put it on his back. And there it stuck hard and fast. This time the second fox ran away laughing.
Then the third fox went on toward Zuni until he met a fourth fox.
"Good-day, Brother," said the third fox, "I am very tired. Can you tell me how far it is to Zuni; for I am carrying this stone to the Indian chief's beautiful daughter and she will give me a reward for it?"
"Oh, it is not far. Let me help you," said the fourth fox; for he wanted the reward, too.
So the fourth fox took the stone and it stuck hard and fast to his back. The third fox trotted away laughing.
The dogs almost caught him
When the fourth fox reached Zuni, the dogs ran out and chased him. The stone was so heavy on his back that the dogs almost caught him. For many days he wore that stone around on his back until finally the gum wore away and the stone fell off.
Once upon a time an Indian boy, Dy-yoh-wi, had an eagle. When Dy-yoh-wi went out to hunt rabbits and other small animals for food for his eagle, the people in the village were mean to the eagle. They treated it so unkindly that the eagle grew unhappy. One day he said to Dy-yoh-wi: "Go put on your war clothes and I will take you up to live among the eagles. It is pleasanter up there than here."
Di-yoh-wi did not like to leave his people; but the eagle insisted, so he did as he was bid. Then the eagle took him on his back and flew four times around the plaza. While they were flying around, Dy-yoh-wi cried and sang for he felt so sad:
The people heard him singing. They came out of their houses in time to see the eagle fly away to the cliffs with him. When his father and mother heard what had happened, they wept and moaned.
Dy-yoh-wi was not very happy, either, up among the eagles. His eagle did everything to make him happy. He took Dy-yoh-wi to visit in all the other eagles' houses. He flew down among the Navaho Indians and brought back clothes and skins for him; but still Dy-yoh-wi was homesick.
The eagle took him on his back
Two spiders saw that he was sad, so they took him down on their web one day to their home in the valley. While he was there he hunted deer to the north, the south, the east and the west. He ate and ate and then saved some of the meat for his eagle. The spiders spread the skins out in the sunshine and pulled all of the hairs out of them. Then they told Dy-yoh-wi that when he left the cliff he should stick a needle through the skins and see what he could make. That was the way they taught Dy-yoh-wi that he could make clothes and shoes out of buckskin; for the Indians had not known the use of buckskin before.
The spiders pulled all the hairs out
But Dy-yoh-wi was not happy with the spiders either, so the eagle came down and took him up again to his home on the cliffs.
"You cannot be happy here, Dy-yoh-wi," said the eagle to him one day," and I cannot be happy with your people, so now I will let you go home and you must let me stay here."
So Dy-yoh-wi took all the things that the eagle had gotten for him from the Navahos, and all of his deer skins and tied them in a bundle on his back. Then the eagle took him to the bottom of the cliff and he walked home.
His people saw him coming and ran to tell his father and mother. They all rushed out to meet him and there was great rejoicing over Dy-yoh-wi's return.
Dy-yoh-wi grew to be a great man. He taught his people how to make clothes and moccasins of buckskin and never again caught another eagle.
The Indians were having a big Kachina dance
Once upon a time the Indians were having a big dance because they had gathered much corn and many squashes and other things to eat; for the Rain-God had been very kind and sent many showers to make things grow. They were singing and making music with the dried shoulder blades of sheep.
A fox on top of the high mesa beside the valley saw them dancing. He howled and howled in all directions. Blue foxes ran to him from the east; yellow foxes came from the west; gray foxes from the north; and black foxes from the south.
"Brothers," said the first fox to them, "the Indians have much corn and many good things to eat. They are busy singing and dancing and will not see us. Let us go down and help ourselves to the good things."
"How can we get down the cliff?" asked one fox.
"We will make a chain," replied the first fox, "by biting each others' tails; and then we can climb down the cliff. But not a fox must open his mouth or the chain will be broken and we shall all fall."
They made a long chain down the steep cliff
So the first fox started down the cliff; the second fox caught and held his tail tight between his teeth. The third fox caught the second fox's tail; the fourth fox held the third fox's tail; and so on until each fox held another fox's tail and they made a long chain down the steep cliff.
But an ant stung one of the foxes near the top and he forgot his orders, opened his mouth to snap the ant, and let the tail he held slip out from between his teeth. Down fell all of the foxes; down the steep cliff onto the rocks below, and every one of them was killed.
Bunny Rabbit had been playing so many pranks on the other animals that the King of Beasts decided he would have to eat him up. So he told the Fox: "Go bring Bunny Rabbit to me, so I can eat him up and get him out of our way."
The Fox trotted off over the prairie and found Bunny Rabbit. "Come with me, Bunny Rabbit. The King of Beasts has sent for you."
"All right," replied Bunny Rabbit, "but before we go, don't you want some nice apples to eat? Right over there in that field there is a tree just full of apples. You go over and get some and I'll wait here for you."
Apples sounded very good to the Fox, so he left Bunny Rabbit and went to find the tree. Bunny Rabbit ran away. The Fox found the apples so delicious that he stayed under the tree all night eating them. Next morning he had such a pain in his stomach that he lay on the ground and rolled over and over, moaning and groaning.
When the Fox did not come back with the rabbit, the King of Beasts called the coyote: "Coyote, go find the Fox and see why he hasn't brought the rabbit to me."
Bunny Rabbit ran away
So the Coyote set out to find the Fox. He found him groaning under the apple tree.
"Where is Bunny Rabbit? Why haven't you taken him to the King of Beasts?"
"I swallowed him," said the Fox, "to keep him from getting away and he is kicking around in my stomach so hard to get out that I have a dreadful pain. I cannot walk. Please go over on the other side of that hill and bring me some of the herbs growing there. They are good medicine and will make me feel better. Then we can take the rabbit to the King of Beasts."
Coyote ran over the hill to get the herbs. He bit off a mouth full of herbs to take to the Fox. They tasted so good that he kept eating and eating them. He stayed there all night eating the herbs.
Next day the King of Beasts called the piñon jay bird: "Go, find the Coyote and the Fox and see why they haven't brought the rabbit to me."
The piñon Jay flew away over the prairie. He found Bunny Rabbit. He did not wait to find the Coyote and the Fox. He just flew away with Bunny Rabbit to the King of Beasts.
He flew away with Bunny Rabbit
The King of Beasts showed his sharp teeth and licked out his long tongue; "Well, Bunny Rabbit, I have you at last. You have been annoying the other animals so much with your pranks that I am going to eat you up!"
"I am very tired, King of Beasts, I shall be glad to be eaten up; but wouldn't you like some fat little prairie dogs to eat first? I know where there are lots of fat ones. I will show you."
Now Bunny Rabbit knew where a hunter had set a trap in the woods, so he led the King of Beasts right into the trap. The trap caught the King of Beasts' foot and held him tight for the hunter. Bunny Rabbit ran away calling, "I hope you will enjoy the prairie dogs, King of Beasts."
The trap caught the King of Beasts and held him tight
Once upon a time a little Indian boy kept crying and crying all day long. His father and mother could not make him stop crying, so finally they put him outside and shut the door; for they could not stand his noise any longer.
He kept on squalling outside, so an owl came and took him away.
When the little boy's father went out to get his son – because he thought the boy had stopped crying – he could not find him anywhere. He looked all over the village and all over the mesa, but he could not find him. He was distressed and he and the little boy's mother wept and mourned.
Burros loaded with wood
Several days later the father took his burros to go for a load of wood. He passed near The Owls' Cave, where many owls live. As he passed by he heard his little boy's voice calling, "Father, Father, here I am." He looked into the cave, but he could see only a lot of owls up on the rocks inside. There was one owl bigger than all the rest and that owl said, "I am your little boy, Father."
"Well, come to me if you are," replied his father.
"No," said another owl – the same owl that had taken the little boy away – "He cannot go with you unless he promises not to cry so much and be such a bad boy."
The father took the little-boy-owl by his wing
"I will be good," said the little-boy-owl.
"Well then, you may fly down to your father. He must put you in the kiva and keep you there for four days; and if you have kept your promise to be good, then you will turn back into a little boy once more."
So the father took the little-boy-owl by his wing and carried him home. He put him into the kiva, as the old owl had told him, and kept him there for four days. And sure enough at the end of that time the owl was a little boy again.
And the little boy was good ever after.
Once upon a time a fox and a sheep were neighbors. The sheep was so round and fat that the fox wanted to eat him up, but since that would not be a neighborly thing to do, he thought and thought of an excuse to eat the fat sheep. So one day the fox went to call on the sheep.
"Let us play games together, Sheep-Man," said Mr. Fox, "Let us play hiding. I will hide and if you cannot find me then I will eat you up."
Now since the fox was the sheep's guest, the sheep had to play with him. So the fox hid under a pile of blankets. The sheep looked about and soon found him.
"Now it is my turn to hide," said Mr. Sheep. He hid among the rocks; but the fox found him, too.
"Let us play rolling," suggested Mr. Fox. "We shall roll down the side of this wash and if I beat you then I will eat you."
So they tumbled down the slope; but the sheep was fatter and rounder than the fox so he reached the bottom first.
"Let us play rolling" suggested Mr. Fox
Mr. Fox was disappointed for he wanted very much to eat that nice fat sheep.
"Well, let us run a race," said Mr. Fox "and if I beat I shall eat you up." He was sure he could run faster than a fat sheep.
So they ran a race; but the fox stepped on a sharp stone and turned his ankle. He could not run fast with a sprained ankle, so he just limped along and the sheep won the race.
"Now let us play jumping," said Mr. Fox. "We will jump over this wash and whoever does not jump across to the other side will be eaten."
The fox jumped across easily; but the sheep only got three legs over. His fourth leg slipped into the wash.
"Now let us play jumping," said Mr. Fox
"Good," laughed Mr. Fox, "now I can eat your leg." So the fox cut off one of the sheep's hind legs and roasted it.
After that the lame sheep was never at home when the fox came to call.
O-way-way-ham-by-yoh, which means long time ago, old man Dried-Up-Corn had two daughters named White Corn and Blue Corn. Mr. and Mrs. Dried-Up-Corn sent their daughters out into the garden one afternoon to pick peas for supper.
When the two Corn maidens went outside they found some grasshoppers dancing and singing all around the garden. But when the grasshoppers saw White Corn and Blue Corn they started to hop away.
The grasshoppers began to dance
"Oh do not go away, Grasshoppers. If you will dance and sing some more for us, we will give you a row of peas."
So the grasshoppers began to sing and dance again:
"We are bow-legged.
Our faces are as hard as can be;
But whatever else may be,
They are alike on both sides; you see.
Fee-de-qui quah, quah.
Fee-de-qui, quah, quah."
The Corn maidens laughed and clapped their hands. When the grasshoppers stopped singing and ate up their row of peas, White Corn begged: "Oh please dance and sing again and we will give you another row of peas."
So the grasshoppers kept dancing and singing until the girls had given them all the peas. Then the grasshoppers hopped away and White Corn and Blue Corn went back into the house without any peas for supper.
What do you think happened to White Corn and Blue Corn then? They were spanked and put to bed without any supper. Which was quite the proper thing, don't you think?
A long time ago in the land of the Pueblo Indians, an Indian girl and her brother lived with their father and step-mother in an Indian village beside a river. The brother and his father were away from home most of the time looking after their sheep and cattle; so the little girl, Poh-ve, was left alone with her step-mother, who was not very kind to her. She was not happy except when her brother, Pah-day, was at home. These two were devoted to each other, but since Pah-day was rarely ever at home, Poh-ve was very sad.
One afternoon Poh-ve's step-mother sent her down to the river with a pretty
Indian jar to get water. "Get out of my sight," she said, "and when you
come back bring me some water!" Poh-ve found several other little girls down
at the river, so she set the jar down and played with them all afternoon.
Late that afternoon when she picked up her water jar to go home, it fell on
a stone and broke into pieces. Her step-mother was very angry when Poh-ve returned home so late and without the jar, so she punished her severely.
"I did not mean to break the jar," thought Poh-ve, "and I shall run away and leave my unkind step-mother tomorrow."
So early the next morning Poh-ve went down to the river. She walked up and down along the river's edge until she found a place that she could wade across. Then she went across the river for the first time. She looked around that strange country until she found a path, which she followed. The path led on and on until she reached a lake. She did not know how to cross the lake; but she was determined not to go back to her mean step-mother. Just then a fox came along with a bow and arrow: "Good-day, little Miss, where are you going?" asked Mr. Fox.
"I do not know where I am going," replied Poh-ve. "My step-mother is very mean to me, so I am going away to live. I do not know where I am going, but I must go somewhere."
"Well, there is an Indian village on the other side of the lake. The Governor of that village is a good man. You will find him in his corn field on the west side of the village. Take this arrow and shoot it across the lake. Then go to this Governor and tell him your story, and he will take you home to live with his little girls."
"Take this arrow and shoot it across the lake"
So Poh-ve took the arrow and shot it across the lake. The waters separated all along the path of the arrow, so that Poh-ve could cross on the bottom of the lake. She found the Governor just as the fox had told her and told him her story. He took her home to his house, where she was happy with his little girls.
Many days later when Pah-day came home from minding the sheep, he asked his step-mother, "Where is Poh-ve?"
"I do not know," she said, "she left home many days ago and I have not been able to find her since."
Pah-day was grieved and frightened, so he set out to hunt for her. After a long time he found her tracks down by the river and saw where she had gone across. He crossed the river, too, and found the same path; but when he reached the lake he did not know what to do, for there was no way to get across. "Surely, Poh-ve could not have gotten across this lake! Where shall I go now?" and Pah-day sat down to think.
Then a voice beside him said, "Good-day, young man, what makes you so sad?" He looked up and saw the fox with his bow and arrow.
"I am sad," answered Pah-Day, "because I have lost my sister and I do not know where to look for her."
"What is she like and when did you lose her?" asked Mr. Fox.
Then Pah-day told the fox what Poh-ve was like and when she had gone away.
"There is a village on the other side of this lake," said Mr. Fox, "Take this arrow and shoot it across the lake. Then go to the house of the Governor of that village and you will find your sister."
So Pah-day shot the arrow across the lake, and again the water separated along the path of the arrow, so that he could go across on the bottom of the lake. He went to the Governor of the village just as the fox had told him to do. He told the Governor about his sister and asked, "Is she here?"
Pah-Day shot the arrow across the lake
"I think she is," replied the Governor, "Go into the house where all the village girls are grinding corn and see if you can find her. If she wishes to go home with you, you may take her."
So Pay-day went into the room where all the girls were grinding corn. Poh-ve saw him coming, so she held her head down. She knew he had come for her, and she did not want to go home to be alone with her step-mother again. Pah-day looked at all of the girls, but he did not see his sister because her head was down. Then he sat down and mournfully sang:
"When I come back from my hunting
And when I come back with the sheep,
There is no one to greet me or feed me
So I fall on my face and weep."
He sang so sadly and looked so grieved that Poh-ve ran to him.
"I ran away from our mean step-mother, Pah-day," she said, "and I do not want to return to her, but I love you and I will go back with you."
And the two set out for home together. When they reached the lake the fox was waiting for them.
"Here are the bow and arrow," said he.
Pah-day shot the arrow across the lake and all three of them went across together.
Poh-ve saw him coming, so she held her head down.
"You may have your choice of my cattle, Mr. Fox, for helping me find my sister."
So they took the fox and gave him a fat calf to eat, and he went away smacking his lips. When they crossed the river their father and step-mother ran to meet them. They were so glad to find Poh-ve alive that even the step-mother was pleased and treated her kindly ever after.
Long, long time ago the Laguna Indians used to live down by the ocean. One of the Indian men lived alone with his little daughter Thun-tsay (Sunlight). Thun-tsay did not have a mother. Her father thought she was lonely, so he brought a new mother to his house. This new mother had a little girl of her own, Cohn-nah (Darkness). She did many nice things for her Cohn-nah; but she treated Thun-tsay very unkindly. So Thun-tsay used to run away from her step-mother down to the beach, and make herself happy gathering shells and playing in the sand.
One day she found a little fish that had been left in a pool of water on the sand when the tide went out.
"Thun-tsay," said the little fish, "I am hungry. Won't you please give me something to eat?"
So Thun-tsay ran home and got bread crumbs for the little fish; and every day for four days she fed him. On the fourth day he asked her, "Please throw me back into the ocean and I will give you a present."
Thun-tsay picked up the little fish and threw him back into the ocean; and as she did so he said to her, "Go home and comb your hair and you will find my present."
Thun-tsay ran home as fast as she could and got her bunch of straw, that she brushed and combed her hair with, and began brushing it at once. And as she brushed all kind of beautiful things fell out. She was rich with gifts and she had plenty to share with her father.
When her step-mother found out what had happened to Thun-tsay, she sent her own daughter Cohn-nah down to the beach to look for the little fish, so that he might give Cohn-nah presents, too.
She found the little fish once more in a pool of water.
"Please give me some food, Cohn-nah," asked the little fish, "for I am very hungry."
But Cohn-nah laughed and threw sand into the water. Then she went away and left the little fish.
Next day Cohn-nah went down to the beach where the little fish begged again for food; and again she threw sand at him. He begged her on the third day and on the fourth day he said, "Please throw me back into the ocean and I will give you a present. Go home and comb your hair and you will find my present."
Cohn-nah picked him up quickly and threw him into the ocean. Then she ran home and told her mother, "Get my comb. The fish has promised me a present, too." But when Cohn-nah combed her hair, it all fell out over the floor and there were no presents.
Her mother was angry and she treated Thun-tsay meaner than ever. So Thun-tsay began to go to the beach again every day to get away from her step-mother.
One day a big fish came up out of the water near her. "Thun-tsay," he said, "I am the little fish that you fed. I have grown to be chief of the fishes now. Won't you come down into the ocean with me and be my bride? I have beautiful things waiting for you."
So Thun-tsay jumped into the ocean and went down to live with the big Fish-Chief. She lived happily with him for a long time; until one day she grew homesick to see her father.
"Please let me go back home to see my father, Fish-Chief?" asked Thun-tsay.
"All right, you may go," said Fish-Chief, "and here are presents to take to him; but you must promise me to come back again at the end of six months."
"I will come back," replied Thun-tsay, so Fish-Chief took her up to the shore and she went home.
She found her father so sick from grieving over Thun-tsay's disappearance that even her step-mother was glad to have her return. Her father got well and Thun-tsay was again so happy that she forgot all about her promise to Fish-Chief.
But one day as she was walking along the beach, she saw poor Fish-Chief lying on the sand almost dead. He was grieving himself to death. Thun-tsay ran to him.
"I can not live without you, Thun-tsay. It is too lonely in my palace when you are gone. If you do not go back into the ocean with me, I shall die. You may live with your father half of the time; but if you do not come back to me for the other half I cannot live."
He was grieving himself to death
So Thun-tsay went back with Fish-Chief and lived happily ever after, spending half of the time in the Fish palace and half of the time with her father.
Long, long ago, in the time of my grandfather's grandfather, there was a drought over all of the land. A fox and her little foxes grew very thirsty; so the mother fox left her babies to go far away in search of water. She found a spring; and without drinking any herself, she filled her mouth with water for her babies, for she had no other way to carry it, and her babies would die for want of water.
"Ha, ha!" laughed Mrs. Fox and spilled all of her water
As she was setting out for home a meadow lark, sitting on a rock, saw her and sang, "Fox, fox has a sharp mouth."
"Ha, Ha!" laughed Mrs. Fox and spilled all of her water.
Back she went to the spring and filled her mouth again. But when she passed the meadow lark, the lark sang out, "Fox, fox has a sharp mouth." And Mrs. Fox could not help laughing again. She lost all of the water in a big spray.
Once more she went back to the spring for a mouthful of water. She thought of her babies and she was determined not to spill the water this time; so she took wet clay and pasted her lips together. She wanted to glue her mouth shut so that she could not laugh and spill the water.
"Now, Miss Meadow Lark can try all she pleases to make me laugh," thought Mrs. Fox and she trotted along toward her babies.
"Fox, fox has a sharp mouth," once more sang Miss Meadow Lark.
Mrs. Fox tried hard not to laugh; but Miss Meadow Lark twisted her head on one side and sang again. It sounded so funny that Mrs. Fox just had to laugh. "Crack" went the clay on her lips and out spilled all of the water.
It was no use to try to carry water. Mrs. Fox just rolled and rolled over with laughter. Finally she got up and went home still laughing. She was laughing so that she had forgotten all about her babies. What a poor mother she was!
But when she reached her den, her laugh changed into a wail and poor Mrs. Fox rolled over and over in grief; for there were all of her baby foxes dead for want of water.
Very soon she grew so angry at the meadow lark that she wanted to go right away and eat her up. She ran as fast as she could to the rock where Miss Meadow Lark had been sitting; but Miss Meadow Lark had wisely flown away. So in her temper Mrs. Fox bit the rock until she injured her mouth and broke all of her teeth off.
Then she ran back to the spring for a drink of water, for by this time she was nearly famished. When she leaned over the spring to drink, there was another fox in the water with blood running out of her mouth. Mrs. Fox jumped back in horror, "The spring is poisoned," she thought, "I cannot drink there." And so poor Mrs. Fox ran away and died herself of thirst.
Once upon a time – many, many years ago, – two Indian boys were in love with the same girl, Man-nah. One of the boys, Tee-yoh, had no mother and father. He lived with his grandmother outside of the village and they were very poor. The other boy, Poo-wah-ka, was a boy witch; but, as he looked just like any other Indian boy, nobody knew that he was a witch. He lived in the village.
Every day for many days Poo-wah-ka went to Man-nah's house to talk to her, but Man-nah did not like him so she would not answer him. One day when Man-nah was grinding corn beside her peep-hole window, Tee-yoh came to the window and spoke to her. Man-nah liked Tee-yoh so she talked to him. So for many days Tee-yoh came to Man-nah's house to see her.
This made Poo-wah-ka jealous, so one day he invited Tee-yoh to go hunting with him; and after they had been hunting for a while Poo-wah-ka said:
"I tell you what we can do, Tee-yoh. We can change ourselves into coyotes. The the rabbits will not hide from us and we can kill lots of them. I will show you how to become a coyote."
Then Poo-wah-ka took a hoop that he had been secretly carrying and jumped over it. Immediately he changed into a coyote. He handed the hoop to Tee-yoh, and as Tee-yoh jumped over it he changed into a coyote too. Then they ran off in different direction to hunt rabbits.
Tee-yoh killed so many rabbits that he could not carry them all, so he left them in a pile beside a rock while he looked for Poo-wah-ka. He was ready to change back to a boy and go home. But he could not find Poo-wah-ka, for Poo-wah-ka had been hiding and watching him. He had not killed any rabbits. As soon as Tee-yoh left his pile of rabbits, Poo-wah-ka slipped out from his hiding place and took the rabbits. Then he jumped over the hoop, changed himself back into a boy and ran home laughing to himself, "Now I shall have Man-noh for my girl, I guess."
He left poor Tee-yoh out in the fields without any way to change back into a boy. Tee-yoh tried to go back into the village to find Poo-wah-ka but the dogs chased him out. His grandmother was worried about him when he failed to come home, so she went to ask Poo-wah-ka what had become of him.
"I do not know where he is," replied Poo-wah-ka. "He is somewhere in the fields still hunting."
For days and days Tee-yoh searched for Poo-wah-ka and for the hoop. He could not eat raw meat like real coyotes, and he was afraid to roast the meat in case the Indians might see the smoke of his fire and shoot him. He dared not go back to the village for fear of the dogs , so he was starving to death. Every night he slept in the middle of a grass patch, and one morning he was so weak for want of food that he could not get up. Tee-yoh was dying.
The eagles up in the heavens, who see and know everything, saw Tee-yoh in his distress. They knew what had happened, so they sent their swiftest eagle down to him. Tee-yoh heard a thunderous noise, like a snare drum nearby. He looked up quickly and saw the eagle swoop down beside him. "Do not be afraid. I have come to help you, Tee-yoh. You changed yourself into a coyote because you believed in Poo-wah-ka and thought he was your friend. Here is a little corn meal mush to strengthen you. Eat it quickly , for we must hurry. Right now Poo-wah-ka is talking to Man-nah. He has told your grandmother that he does not know where you are, and she is sick with grief. Get on my back, the eagles are waiting for us."
Tee-yoh climbed on the eagle's back and he circled around and around, higher and higher with him, until they reached the eagles' village up in the heavens. Up there the eagle messenger took him into the chief's house.
When Tee-yoh saw the eagle men and eagle women and the eagle boys and eagle girls all walking around without their eagle feather coats – for the eagles took off their feathered coats and hung them up on the wall when they were in their houses – he was frightened.
"Do not be afraid, Tee-yoh. You are welcome to our village and we have brought you here to help you," said Eagle-Chief.
He pulled all of the coyote skin off
The eagle-messenger brought in hot water and put Tee-yoh into a big jar full of it. Then Eagle-Chief took a dried herb shaped like a hook and twisted it around in the coyote skin on top of Tee-yoh's head. He pulled on the hook and pulled all of the coyote skin off, so that Tee-yoh was a boy once more.
The eagles washed him clean and gave him fine new clothes of buckskin and eagle feathers. The eagle girls washed and combed his hair; and then they all had a big feast of deer's meat.
There were white mountains, lovely trees, plenty of deer and all sorts of good things around the eagle village. The feast lasted for four days. Tee-yoh had a fine time and grew strong and well.
Herbs shaped like hooks
Then the eagle chief told him it was time for him to go home. They gave him a deer which they had killed for him, and a tiny buckskin bag of herb-medicine.
"When you reach home, Tee-yoh," said the Eagle-Chief, "Poo-wah-ka will be the first person to come to see you. Do not tell him where you have been; but invite him to come to eat deer's meat with you. Then when he comes to the feast put this medicine on his meat."
So the eagle who had brought Tee-yoh up into the heavens took him, with his deer, on his back and flew down to the edge of the Indian village. There he left Tee-yoh.
Tee-yoh hurried to his grandmother's house and found her lying on her blankets sick from grief; but she was so glad to see her grandson that she soon grew better.
Sure enough, just as Eagle-Chief had told him, Poo-wah-ka was the first person to come to see him. He was surprised to see Tee-yoh for he thought that he was still a coyote if he were not already dead.
"Where have you been, Tee-yoh? We have been looking for you," said Poo-wah-ka, deceitfully.
"Oh, I have just been hunting deer," replied Tee-yoh, "I have a fine deer. Come over to my feast tomorrow."
Next day when Poo-wah-ka came to the feast, Tee-yoh did as Eagle-Chief had told him and put the medicine on his meat; and when Poo-wah-ka ate the meat he turned into a coyote. He began eating like an animal and lapping up water with his tongue. When he did Tee-yoh picked up a stick and drove him outside. The dogs in the village saw him and chased him away into the fields. He could never come back again.
Some time a
