_From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis_
The two women and their sons lived together. To amuse the children the
mothers made them a wheel, but cautioned them never to roll it toward the
north. Whenever he heard the sound of water, Kobadjischini, to seek its
source, would leap straight into any torrent, and his mother hoped that
the toy would deter him from falling into such danger. One day the two
boys became curious to know what was in the north, so they rolled the
wheel in that direction. It went straight on for a long time, then came to
a ladder leading up the steep side of a rock, up which it rolled. The boys
stopped in astonishment. The wheel rolled on down into a cave, where lived
Yiye, a monster Owl, who ate human flesh. A young girl, Yiye's slave, was
sent up to see who was outside. "Two young, fine-looking boys," she
reported. Yiye sent her to tell them to come into the cave, but this they
refused to do, even when he urged them himself, saying, "No! Give us our
wheel!" But at last the boys yielded to Yiye's persuasions and proceeded
up the ladder and down into the cave. Owl built a fire under a huge pot of
water, seized the boys, and put them into it. He boiled them a long time,
then lifted them out with a stick. They stood up and said, "Why do you not
give us our wheel and let us go home?" Then Yiye became angry and thrust
them into a great heap of hot ashes and built a fresh fire over them.
After a long time he took them out, but they were still unharmed, and only
asked, "Why do you not give us our wheel?" At this Owl became very angry
and, seizing them, cut them into small pieces, put them into the pot, and
boiled them again; but when he took them out they were alive and whole.
Owl said not a word, but gave them their wheel and motioned them to go.
All this time the mothers of the two boys knew from the Sun where they
were, and by a burning stick could tell when their children were in
danger; for if they were safe the flame burned high, but if in danger it
burned low.
Because there were so many monsters on the earth that destroyed people,
the mothers of Naye{~COMBINING BREVE~}nayezgani and Kobadjischini sent them on a visit to
Chunnaai to learn how to kill these evil beings. Chunnaai sent down the
rainbow, and up this the two boys climbed and went into the house of the
Sun. For Naye{~COMBINING BREVE~}nayezgani the Sun made a complete suit of turquoise--shirt,
leggings, and moccasins--and in his hair fastened a long eagle feather. He
gave him also huge arrows made of pine trees pointed with flint of white,
blue, yellow, and all-colors, and a bow made of a part of the rainbow. To
Kobadjischini he gave a suit of flint of many colors and a long whip with
which to drive away sickness, and in his hair he tied a downy eagle
feather. Then he said to Naye{~COMBINING BREVE~}nayezgani, "Shoot down and see if you can
hit that tree." So Naye{~COMBINING BREVE~}nayezgani shot, and the arrow shattered the tree
like a bolt of lightning.
[Illustration: Into the Desert - Navaho]