looked up through the ascending shaft of which Nasi'zi had told him,
he saw the great heart of Téelget beating there. He sped his arrow
of chain-lightning and fled into the eastern tunnel. The monster
rose, stuck one of his horns into the ground, and ripped the tunnel
open. Nayénezgani fled into the south tunnel; Téelget then tore the
south tunnel open with his horns, and the hero fled into the west
tunnel. When the west tunnel was torn up he fled into the north
tunnel. The anáye put his horn into the north tunnel to tear it up,
but before he had half uncovered it he fell and lay still. Nayénezgani,
not knowing that his enemy was dead, and still fearing him, crept
back through the long tunnel to the place where he first met Nasi'zi,
and there he stood gazing at the distant form of Téelget.
334. While he was standing there in thought, he observed approaching
him a little old man dressed in tight leggings and a tight shirt,
with a cap and feather on his head; this was Hazaí, the Ground
Squirrel. "What do you want here, my grandchild?" said Hazaí. "Nothing;
I am only walking around," replied the warrior. Four times this
question was asked and four times a similar answer given, when Ground
Squirrel spoke again and inquired: "Do you not fear the anáye that
dwells on yonder plain?" "I do not know," replied Nayénezgani; "I
think I have killed him, but I am not certain." "Then I can find out
for you," said Hazaí. "He never minds me. I can approach him any time
without danger. If he is dead I will climb up on his horns and dance
and sing." Nayénezgani had not watched long when he saw Hazaí climbing
one of the horns and dancing on it. When he approached his dead enemy
he found that Hazaí had streaked his own face with the blood of the
slain (the streaks remain on the ground squirrel's face to this day),
and that Nasi'zi had already begun to remove the skin by gnawing on
the insides of the fore-legs. When Gopher had removed the skin, he
put it on his own back and said: "I shall wear this in order that,
in the days to come, when the people increase, they may know what
sort of a skin Téelget wore." He had a skin like that which covers
the Gopher to-day. Hazaí cut out a piece of the bowel, filled it with
blood, and tied the ends; he cut out also a piece of one of the lungs,
and he gave these to Nayénezgani for his trophies.[134]
335. When Nayénezgani came home again, he was received with great
rejoicing, for his mother had again begun to fear he would never more
return. "Where have you been, my son, and what have you done since you
have been gone?" she queried. "I have been to Bikehalzi'n and I have
slain Téelget," he replied. "Ah, speak not thus, my son," she said;
"he is too powerful for you to talk thus lightly about him. If he
knew what you said he might seek you out and kill you." "I have no
fear of him," said her son. "Here is his blood, and here is a piece
of his liver. Do you not now believe I have slain him?" Then he
said: "Mother, grandmother, tell me, where do the Tse`na'hale[135]
dwell?" "They dwell at Tsé`bitaï (Winged Rock),"[136] she answered,
"but do not venture near them; they are fierce and strong."
336. Next morning early he stole away, taking with him the piece of
bowel filled with blood. He climbed the range of mountains where the
hill of Tsúskai rises, and travelled on till he came to a place where
two great snakes lay. Since that day these snakes have been changed
into stone. He walked along the back of one of the snakes, and then
he stepped from one snake to the other and went out on the plain
that stretched to the east of the mountains, until he came close to
Tsé`bitaï, which is a great black rock that looks like a bird. While
he was walking along he heard a tremendous rushing sound overhead,
like the sound of a whirlwind, and, looking up, he saw a creature
of great size, something like an eagle in form, flying toward him
from the east. It was the male Tse`na'hale. The warrior had barely
time to cast himself prone on the ground when Tse`na'hale swooped
over him. Thus four times did the monster swoop at him, coming each
time from a different direction. Three times Nayénezgani escaped;
but the fourth time, flying from the north, the monster seized him
in his talons and bore him off to Tsé`bitaï.
337. There is a broad, level ledge on one side of Tsé`bitaï, where
the monster reared his young; he let the hero drop on this ledge,
as was his custom to do with his victims, and perched on a pinnacle
above. This fall had killed all others who had dropped there; but
Nayénezgani was preserved by the life-feather, the gift of Spider
Woman, which he still kept. When the warrior fell he cut open the
bag of bowel that he carried and allowed the blood of Téelget to flow
out over the rock, so that the anáye might think he was killed. The
two young approached to devour the body of the warrior, but he said
"Sh!" at them. They stopped and cried up to their father: "This thing
is not dead; it says 'Sh!' at us." "That is only air escaping from the
body," said the father; "Never mind, but eat it." Then he flew away
in search of other prey. When the old bird was gone, Nayénezgani hid
himself behind the young ones and asked them, "When will your father
come back, and where will he sit when he comes?" They answered: "He
will return when we have a he-rain,[137] and he will perch on yonder
point" (indicating a rock close by on the right). Then he inquired:
"When will your mother return, and where will she sit?" "She will
come when we have a she-rain,[137] and will sit on yonder point"
(indicating a crag on the left). He had not waited long when drops
of rain began to fall, the thunder rolled, lightning flashed, the
male Tse`na'hale returned and perched on the rock which the young had
pointed out. Then Nayénezgani hurled a lightning arrow and the monster
tumbled to the foot of Winged Rock dead. After a while rain fell again,
but there was neither thunder nor lightning with it. While it still
poured, there fell upon the ledge the body of a Pueblo woman, covered
with fine clothes and ornamented with ear pendants and necklaces of
beautiful shells and turquoise. Nayénezgani looked up and beheld the
female Tse`na'hale soaring overhead (she preyed only on women, the male
only on men). A moment later she glided down, and was just about to
light on her favorite crag, when Nayénezgani hurled another lightning
arrow and sent her body down to the plain to join that of her mate.
338. The young ones now began to cry, and they said to the warrior:
"Will you slay us, too?" "Cease your wailing," he cried. "Had you grown
up here you would have been things of evil; you would have lived only
to destroy my people; but I shall now make of you something that will
be of use in the days to come when men increase in the land." He seized
the elder and said to it, "You shall furnish plumes for men to use in
their rites, and bones for whistles." He swung the fledgling back and
forth four times; as he did so it began to change into a beautiful bird
with strong wings, and it said: "Suk, suk, suk, suk." Then he threw
it high in the air. It spread its pinions and soared out of sight, an
eagle. To the younger he said: "In the days to come men will listen
to your voice to know what will be their future: sometimes you will
tell the truth; sometimes you will lie." He swung it back and forth,
and as he did so its head grew large and round; its eyes grew big;
it began to say, "Uwú, uwú, uwú, uwú," and it became an owl. Then he
threw it into a hole in the side of the cliff and said: "This shall
be your home."[138]
339. As he had nothing more to do at Tsé`bitaï, he determined to go
home, but he soon found that there was no way for him to descend
the rock; nothing but a winged creature could reach or leave the
ledge on which he stood. The sun was about half way down to the
horizon when he observed the Bat Woman walking along near the
base of the cliff. "Grandmother," he called aloud, "come hither
and take me down." "Tse'dani,"[139] she answered, and hid behind
a point of rock. Again she came in view, and again he called her;
but she gave him the same reply and hid herself again. Three times
were these acts performed and these words said. When she appeared
for the fourth time and he begged her to carry him down, he added:
"I will give you the feathers of the Tse`na'hale if you will take me
off this rock." When she heard this she approached the base of the
rock, and soon disappeared under the ledge where he stood. Presently
he heard a strange flapping sound,[140] and a voice calling to him:
"Shut your eyes and go back, for you must not see how I ascend." He did
as he was bidden, and soon after the Bat Woman stood beside him. "Get
into this basket, and I will carry you down," she demanded. He
looked at the large carrying-basket which she bore on her back,
and observed that it hung on strings as thin as the strings of a
spider's web. "Grandmother," he said, "I fear to enter your basket;
the strings are too thin." "Have no fear," she replied; "I often carry
a whole deer in this basket: the strings are strong enough to bear
you." Still he hesitated, and still she assured him. The fourth time
that he expressed his fear she said: "Fill the basket with stones
and you will see that I speak the truth." He did as he was bidden,
and she danced around with the loaded basket on her back; but the
strings did not break, though they twanged like bowstrings. When
he entered the basket she bade him keep his eyes shut till they
reached the bottom of the cliff, as he must not see how she managed
to descend. He shut his eyes, and soon felt himself gradually going
down; but he heard again the strange flapping against the rock,
which so excited his curiosity that he opened his eyes. Instantly
he began to fall with dangerous rapidity, and the flapping stopped;
she struck him with her stick and bade him shut his eyes. Again he
felt himself slowly descending, and the flapping against the rock
began. Three times more he disobeyed her, but the last time they were
near the bottom of the cliff, and both fell to the ground unhurt.
340. Together they plucked the two Tse`na'hale, put the feathers
in her basket, and got the basket on her back. He reserved only the
largest feather from one wing of each bird for his trophies. As she
was starting to leave he warned her not to pass through either of two
neighboring localities, which were the dry beds of temporary lakes;
one was overgrown with weeds, the other with sunflowers. Despite his
warning she walked toward the sunflowers. As she was about to enter
them he called after her again, and begged her not to go that way,
but she heeded him not and went on. She had not taken many steps among
the sunflowers when she heard a fluttering sound behind her, and a
little bird of strange appearance flew past her close to her ear. As
she stepped farther on she heard more fluttering and saw more birds
of varying plumage, such as she had never seen before, flying over
her shoulders and going off in every direction. She looked around,
and was astonished to behold that the birds were swarming out of her
own basket. She tried to hold them in, to catch them as they flew out,
but all in vain. She laid down her basket and watched, helplessly,
her feathers changing into little birds of all kinds,--wrens,
warblers, titmice, and the like,--and flying away, until her basket
was empty. Thus it was that the little birds were created.[141]
341. When he got home To`badzistsíni said to him: "Elder brother,
I have watched the kethawns all the time you were gone. About midday
the black cigarette took fire, and I was troubled, for I knew you were
in danger; but when it had burned half way the fire went out and then I
was glad, for I thought you were safe again." "Ah, that must have been
the time when Tse`na'hale carried me up and threw me on the rocks,"
said Nayénezgani. He hung his trophies on the east side of the lodge,
and then he asked his mother where Tse`tahotsiltá`li[142] dwelt. She
told him he lived at Tse`tezá`; but, as on previous occasions,
she warned him of the power of the enemy, and tried to dissuade
him from seeking further dangers. Next morning he set out to find
Tse`tahotsiltá`li, He Who Kicks (People) Down the Cliff. This anáye
lived on the side of a high cliff, a trail passed at his feet, and
when travellers went that way he kicked them down to the bottom of
the precipice. Nayénezgani had not travelled long when he discovered
a well-beaten trail; following this, he found that it led him along
the face of a high precipice, and soon he came in sight of his enemy,
who had a form much like that of a man. The monster reclined quietly
against the rock, as if he meditated no harm, and Nayénezgani advanced
as if he feared no danger, yet watching his adversary closely. As he
passed, the latter kicked at him, but he dodged the kick and asked:
"Why did you kick at me?" "Oh, my grandchild," said the anáye,
"I was weary lying thus, and I only stretched out my leg to rest
myself." Four times did Nayénezgani pass him, and four times did the
monster kick at him in vain. Then the hero struck his enemy with his
great stone knife over the eyes, and struck him again and again till
he felt sure that he had slain him; but he was surprised to find that
the body did not fall down the cliff. He cut with his knife under the
corpse in different places, but found nothing that held it to the rock
until he came to the head, and then he discovered that the long hair
grew, like the roots of a cedar, into a cleft in the rock. When he
cut the hair,[143] the body tumbled down out of sight. The moment it
fell a great clamor of voices came up from below. "I want the eyes,"
screamed one; "Give me an arm," cried another; "I want the liver,"
said a third; "No, the liver shall be mine," yelled a fourth; and
thus the quarrelling went on. "Ah!" thought Nayénezgani, "these are
the children quarrelling over the father's corpse. Thus, perhaps,
they would have been quarrelling over mine had I not dodged his kicks."
342. He tried to descend along the trail he was on, but found it led
no farther. Then he retraced his steps till he saw another trail
that seemed to lead to the bottom of the cliff. He followed it
and soon came to the young of the anáye, twelve in number, who had
just devoured their father's corpse; the blood was still streaming
from their mouths. He ran among them, and hacked at them in every
direction with his great stone knife. They fled; but he pursued them,
and in a little while he had killed all but one. This one ran faster
than the rest, and climbed among some high rocks; but Nayénezgani
followed him and caught him. He stopped to take breath; as he did
so he looked at the child and saw that he was disgustingly ugly and
filthy. "You ugly thing," said Nayénezgani; "when you ran from me so
fleetly I thought you might be something handsome and worth killing;
but now that I behold your face I shall let you live. Go to yonder
mountain of Natsisaán[144] and dwell there. It is a barren land,
where you will have to work hard for your living, and will wander
ever naked and hungry." The boy went to Natsisaán, as he was told,
and there he became the progenitor of the Pahutes, a people ugly,
starved, and ragged, who never wash themselves and live on the vermin
of the desert.[145]
343. He went to where he had first found the children of
Tse`tahotsiltá`li. Nothing was left of the father's corpse but the
bones and scalp. (This anáye used to wear his hair after the manner
of a Pueblo Indian.) The hero cut a piece of the hair from one side of
the head and carried it home as a trophy. When he got home there were
the usual questions and answers and rejoicings, and when he asked his
mother, "Where is the home of the Bináye Aháni, the people who slay
with their eyes," she begged him, as before, to rest contented and
run no more risks; but she added: "They live at Tse`ahalzi'ni, Rock
with Black Hole."[146] This place stands to this day, but is changed
since the anáye dwelt there. It has still a hole, on one side, that
looks like a door, and another on the top that looks like a smoke-hole.
344. On this occasion, in addition to his other weapons, he took a bag
of salt with him on his journey.[147] When he came to Tse`ahalzi'ni
he entered the rock house and sat down on the north side. In other
parts of the lodge sat the old couple of the Bináye Aháni and many of
their children. They all stared with their great eyes at the intruder,
and flashes of lightning streamed from their eyes toward him, but
glanced harmless off his armor. Seeing that they did not kill him,
they stared harder and harder at him, until their eyes protruded far
from their sockets. Then into the fire in the centre of the lodge
he threw the salt, which spluttered and flew in every direction,
striking the eyes of the anáye and blinding them. While they held
down their heads in pain, he struck with his great stone knife and
killed all except the two youngest.
345. Thus he spoke to the two which he spared: "Had you grown up here,
you would have lived only to be things of evil and to destroy men;
but now I shall make you of use to my kind in the days to come when
men increase on the earth." To the elder he said: "You will ever speak
to men and tell them what happens beyond their sight; you will warn
them of the approach of enemies," and he changed it into a bird called
Tsidiltói[148] (shooting or exploring bird). He addressed the younger,
saying: "It will be your task to make things beautiful, to make the
earth happy." And he changed it into a bird called Hostódi,[149]
which is sleepy in the daytime and comes out at night.
346. When he reached home with his trophies, which were the eyes[150]
of the first Bináye Aháni he had killed, and told what he had done,
Estsánatlehi took a piece of the lung of Téelget (which he had
previously brought home), put it in her mouth, and, dancing sang
this song:--
Nayénezgani brings for me,
Of Téelget he brings for me,
Truly a lung he brings for me,
The people are restored.
To`badzistsíni brings for me,
Of Tse`na'hale he brings for me,
Truly a wing he brings for me,
The people are restored.
Léyaneyani brings for me,
Of Tse`tahotsiltá`li he brings for me,
Truly a side-lock he brings for me,
The people are restored.
Tsówenatlehi[151] brings for me,
Of Bináye Aháni he brings for me,
Truly an eye he brings for me,
The people are restored.[276]
347. When she had finished her rejoicings he asked, "Where shall
I find Sasnalkáhi (Bear that Pursues)?" "He lives at Tse`bahástsit
(Rock that Frightens)," she replied; but again she pleaded with him,
pictured to him the power of the enemy he sought, and begged him to
venture no more.
348. Next morning he went off to Rock that Frightens and walked all
around it, without meeting the bear or finding his trail. At length,
looking up to the top of the rock, he saw the bear's head sticking
out of a hole, and he climbed up. The bear's den was in the shape
of a cross, and had four entrances. Nayénezgani looked into the east
entrance, the south entrance, and the west entrance without getting
sight of his enemy. As he approached the north entrance he saw the
head of the watching bear again; but it was instantly withdrawn, and
the bear went toward the south entrance. The hero ran round fast and
lay in wait. In a little while the bear thrust forth his head to look,
and Nayénezgani cut it off with his great stone knife.
349. He addressed the head, saying: "You were a bad thing in your old
life, and tried only to do mischief; but in new shapes I shall make you
of use to the people; in the future, when they increase upon the earth,
you will furnish them with sweet food to eat, with foam to cleanse
their bodies, and with threads for their clothing." He cut the head
into three pieces: he threw one to the east, where it became tsási,
or haskán (Yucca baccata); he threw another to the west, where it
became tsásitsoz (Yucca angustifolia); and he threw the third to the
south, where it became nóta (mescal). He cut off the left forepaw to
take home as a trophy.
350. "Where shall I find Tsé`nagahi (Travelling Stone)?" he said
after he had returned from his encounter with Pursuing Bear and shown
his trophy to his people. "You will find him in a lake near where
Tsé`espai points up," answered Estsánatlehi; but she implored him
not to go near the lake. He did not heed her, and next morning he
went off to seek the Travelling Stone.
351. He approached the lake on the north side, while the wind was
blowing from the south, but he saw nothing of the stone. Thence he
went around to the south side of the lake. When he got here the stone
scented him, rose to the surface, poised itself a moment, and flew
toward Nayénezgani as if hurled by a giant hand. Raising his lightning
arrow, he held it in the course of the stone and knocked a piece off
the latter. When the stone fell he struck another piece off with his
knife. Tsé`nagahi now saw it had a powerful foe to contend against;
so, instead of hurling itself at him again, it fled and Nayénezgani
went in pursuit. He chased it all over the present Navaho land,
knocking pieces off it in many places[152] as he followed, until at
length he chased it into the San Juan River at Tsintáhokata, where
a point of forest runs down toward the river.
352. Travelling Stone sped down with the current and Nayénezgani
ran along the bank after it. Four times he got ahead of the stone,
but three times it escaped him by dipping deep into the river. When
he headed it off for the fourth time, he saw it gleaming like fire
under the water, and he stopped to gaze at it. Then the stone spoke
and said: "Sawé (my baby, my darling), take pity on me, and I shall
no longer harm your people, but do good to them instead. I shall keep
the springs in the mountains open and cause your rivers to flow;
kill me and your lands will become barren." Nayénezgani answered:
"If you keep this promise I shall spare you; but if you ever more
do evil as you have done before, I shall seek you again, and then
I shall not spare you." Tsé`nagahi has kept his promise ever since,
and has become the Tiéholtsodi of the upper world.
353. He brought home no trophy from the contest with Tsé`nagahi. It
had now been eight days since he left the house of the Sun.[153] He
was weary from his battles with the anáye, and he determined to rest
four days. During this time he gave his relatives a full account of
his journeys and his adventures from first to last, and as he began
he sang a song:--
Nayénezgani to Atsé Estsán began to tell,
About Bitéelgeti he began to tell,
From homes of giants coming, he began to tell.
To`badzistsíni to Estsánatlehi began to tell,
About the Tse`na'hale he began to tell,
From homes of giants coming, he began to tell.
Léyaneyani to Atsé Estsán began to tell,
Of Tse`tahotsiltá`li he began to tell,
From homes of giants coming, he began to tell.
Tsówenatlehi to Estsánatlehi began to tell,
About Bináye Aháni he began to tell,
From homes of giants coming, he began to tell.[277]
354. There were still many of the anáye to kill; there was White under
the Rock, Blue under the Rock, Yellow under the Rock, Black under
the Rock, and many yélapahi, or brown giants. Besides these there
were a number of stone pueblos, now in ruins, that were inhabited
by various animals (crows, eagles, etc.),[154] who filled the land
and left no room for the people. During the four days of rest, the
brothers consulted as to how they might slay all these enemies, and
they determined to visit again the house of the Sun. On the morning
of the fourth night they started for the east. They encountered no
enemies on the way and had a pleasant journey. When they entered
the house of the Sun no one greeted them; no one offered them a
seat. They sat down together on the floor, and as soon as they were
seated lightning began to shoot into the lodge. It struck the ground
near them four times. Immediately after the last flash Tsápani, Bat,
and Tó`nenili, Water Sprinkler, entered. "Do not be angry with us,"
said the intruders; "we flung the lightning only because we feel happy
and want to play with you:" still the brothers kept wrathful looks on
their faces, until Ni'ltsi whispered into their ears: "Be not angry
with the strangers. They were once friends of the anáye and did not
wish them to die; but now they are friends of yours, since you have
conquered the greatest of the anáye." Then, at last, Tsóhanoai spoke to
his children, saying: "These people are rude; they respect no one. Heed
them not. Here are seats for you. Be seated." Saying this, he offered
the brothers a seat of shell and a seat of turquoise; but Ni'ltsi told
the brothers not to take them. "These are seats of peace," he said;
"you still want help in war. Nayénezgani, take the seat of red stone,
which is the warrior's seat; and you, To`badzistsíni, stand." They
did as the Wind bade them.