him. They went to a grove of spruce, and there picked out a tree
of unusual size. They tied rainbow ropes to it, so that it might
not fall with too great force and break in falling. Nayénezgani and
To`badzistsíni cut it near the root with their great stone knives,
and it fell to the north. Crooked Lightning struck the fallen tree
and went through it from butt to tip. Straight Lightning struck it and
went through it from tip to butt. Thus the hole was bored in the log,
and this was done before the branches were cut away. The hole that
Crooked Lightning bored was too crooked. Straight Lightning made
it straight, but still it was too small. Black Wind was sent into
the hole, and he made it larger, but not large enough. Blue Wind,
Yellow Wind, and White Wind entered the hole, each in turn, and each,
as he went through, made it a little larger. It was not until White
Wind had done his work that the hole was big enough to contain the
body of a man. Hastséyalti supplied a bowl of food, a vessel of water,
and a white cloud for bedding. They wrapped the Navaho up in the cloud
and put him into the log. They plugged the ends with clouds,--a black
cloud in the butt and a blue cloud in the tip,--and charged him not
to touch either of these cloudy plugs. When they got him into the log
some one said: "How will he get light? How will he know when it is
night and when it is day?" They bored two holes in the log, one on
each side of his head, and they put in each hole, to make a window,
a piece of rock crystal, which they pushed in so tightly that water
could not leak in around it.
479. While some of the gods were preparing the log, others were
getting the pet turkey ready for his journey, but they did this
unknown to the Navaho. They put about his body black cloud, he-rain,
black mist, and she-rain. They put under his wings white corn, yellow
corn, blue corn, corn of mixed colors, squash seed, watermelon seed,
muskmelon seed, gourd seed, and beans of all colors. These were the
six gods who prepared the turkey: four of the Gánaskidi[207] from
a place called Depéhahatil, one Hastséhogan from Tse`gíhi,[165] and
the Hastséhogan from Tsé`tadi,--the one who found the Navaho entering
his cottonwood log and took him home to the house in the rocks.
480. The next thing they had to think about was how they should
carry the heavy log to the river with the man inside of it. They put
under the log (first) a rope of crooked lightning, (second) a rope of
rainbow, (third) a rope of straight lightning, and (fourth) another
rope of rainbow. They attached a sunbeam to each end of the log. All
the gods except those who were engaged in preparing the turkey tried
to move the log, but they could not stir it; and they sent for the
six who were at work on the turkey to come to their aid. Two of the
Gánaskidi were now stationed at each end, and two of the Hastséhogan
in the middle. The others were stationed at other parts. The Gánaskidi
put their wands under the log crosswise, thus, X. All lifted together,
and the log was carried along. Some of them said: "If strength fail
us and we let the log fall, we shall not attempt to raise it again,
and the Navaho will not make his journey." As they went along some
became tired and were about to let the log go, but the winds came
to help them--Black Wind and Blue Wind in front, Yellow Wind and
White Wind behind, and soon the log was borne to the margin of the
river. As they went along, Tó`nenili,[98] the Water Sprinkler, made
fun and played tricks, as he now does in the dances, to show that he
was pleased with what they were doing. While the gods were at work
the Navaho sang five songs, each for a different part of the work;
the significant words of the songs were these:--
First Song, "A beautiful tree they fell for me."
Second Song, "A beautiful tree they prepare for me."
Third Song, "A beautiful tree they finish for me."
Fourth Song, "A beautiful tree they carry with me."
Fifth Song, "A beautiful tree they launch with me."[283]
481. When they threw the log on the surface of the water it floated
around in different directions, but would not go down stream, so the
gods consulted together to determine what they should do. They covered
the log first with black mist and then with black cloud. Some of the
gods standing on the banks punched the log with their plumed wands,
when it approached the shore or began to whirl round, and they kept
this up till it got into a straight course, with its head pointed
down stream, and floated on. When the gods were punching the log to
get it into the current, the Navaho sang a song, the principal words
of which were:--
1. "A beautiful tree, they push with me."
When the log was about to go down the stream, he sang:--
2. "A beautiful tree is about to float along with me,"
and when the log got into the current and went down, he sang:--
3. "A beautiful tree floats along with me."[284]
482. All went well till they approached a pueblo called Ki'ndotliz,
or Blue House,[208] when two of the Kisáni, who were going to hunt
eaglets, saw the log floating by, though they could not see the gods
that guided its course. Wood was scarce around Blue House. When the
men saw the log they said, "There floats a big tree. It would furnish
us fuel for many days if we could get it. We must try to bring it to
the shore." The two men ran back to the pueblo and announced that a
great log was coming down the river. A number of people turned out
to seize it. Most of them ran down the stream to a shallow place
where they could all wade in, to await the arrival of the log, while
a few went up along the bank to herald its approach. When it came to
the shallow place they tried to break off branches, but failed. They
tied ropes to the branches, and tried to pull it ashore; but the log,
hurried on by the current, carried the crowd with it. But the next
time the log got to a shallow place the Kisáni got it stranded, and
sent back to the pueblo for axes, intending to cut off branches and
make the log light. When the gods saw the people coming with axes they
said: "Something must be done." They sent down a great shower of rain,
but the Kisáni held on to the log. They sent hail, with hailstones as
big as two fists; but still the Kisáni held on. They sent lightning
to the right--the people to the left held on. They sent lightning
to the left--the people to the right held on. They sent lightning
in all directions four times, when, at last, the Kisáni let go and
the log floated on. Now the gods laid upon the log a cloud so thick
that no one could see through it; they put a rainbow lengthwise and
a rainbow crosswise over it, and they caused the zigzag lightning to
flash all around it. When the Kisáni saw all these things they began
to fear. "The gods must guard this log," they said. "Yes," said the
chief. "Go to your homes, and let the log pass on. It must be holy."
483. The log floated steadily with the stream till it came to a place
where a ridge of rocks, standing nearly straight up, disturbs the
current, and here the log became entangled in the rocks. But two of
the Fringe-mouths[209] of the river raised it from the rocks and set
it floating again. They turned the log around, one standing at each
end, until they got it lying lengthwise with the current, and then
they let it float away.
484. Thence it floated safely to Tó`hodotliz, where the gods on
the bank observed it stopping and slowly sinking, until only a few
leaves on the ends of the branches could be seen. It was the sacred
people under the water who had pulled the log down this time. These
were Tiéholtsodi, Tielín,[210] Frog, Fish, Beaver, Otter, and
others. They took the Navaho out of the log and bore him down to
their home under the water. The gods on the bank held a council to
consider why the tree stuck. They shook it and tried to get it loose,
but they could not move it. Then they called on Tó`nenili, Water
Sprinkler, to help them. He had two magic water jars, To`sadilyi'l,
the black jar, which he carried in his right hand, and To`sadotli'z,
the blue jar, which he carried in his left hand; with these he struck
the water to the right and to the left, crying as he did so his call
of "Tu`wu`wu`wú!" The water opened before him and allowed him to
descend. He went around the tree, and when he came to the butt he
found that the plug had been withdrawn and that the Navaho was no
longer there. He called up to his friends on the bank and told them
what he had found. They spread a short rainbow[211] for him to travel
on, and he went to the house of the divine ones under the water. This
house consisted of four chambers, one under another, like the stories
of a pueblo dwelling. The first chamber, that on top, was black;
the second was blue; the third yellow; the fourth white.[18] Two of
the Tielín, or water pets with blue horns, stood at the door facing
one another, and roared as Tó`nenili passed. He descended from one
story to another, but found no one till he came to the last chamber,
and here he saw Tiéholtsodi, the water monster; Tsal, Frog (a big rough
frog); Tsa, Beaver, Tábastin, Otter, Tlo`ayuinli'tigi (a great fish),
and the captive Navaho. "I seek my grandchild. Give him to me," said
Tó`nenili. "Shut your mouth and begone," said Tiéholtsodi. "Such as
you cannot come here giving orders. I fear you not, Water Sprinkler;
you shall not have your grandchild." Then Tó`nenili went out again
and told his friends what had happened to him, and what had been said
in the house of Tiéholtsodi under the water.
485. The gods held another council. "Who shall go down and rescue our
grandchild?" was the question they asked one another. While they were
talking Hastsézini[212] (Black God), who owns all fire, sat apart
and took no part in the council. He had built a fire, while the
others waited, and sat with his back to it, as was his custom. "Go
tell your grandfather there what has occurred," said the others to
Tó`nenili. The latter went over to where Hastsézini sat. "Why are they
gathered together yonder and of what do they talk so angrily?" said
the Black God. In answer, Tó`nenili told of his adventures under the
water and what Tiéholtsodi had said to him. Hastsézini was angry when
he heard all this. "I fear not the sacred people beneath the water,"
he said. "I shall have my grandchild." He hastened to the river,
taking Tó`nenili with him, for Tó`nenili had the power to open the
water, and these two descended into the river. When they reached the
room where Tiéholtsodi sat, the Black God said, "We come together for
our grandchild." "Run out there, both of you. Such as you may not enter
here," said Tiéholtsodi. "I go not without my grandson. Give him to me,
and I shall go," said the other. "Run out," repeated Tiéholtsodi, "I
shall not release your grandchild." "I shall take my grandchild. I fear
you not." "I shall not restore him to you. I heed not your words." "I
never recall what I have once spoken. I have come for my grandchild,
and I shall not leave without him." "I said you should not go with
him, and I mean what I say. I am mighty." Thus they spoke defiantly
to one another for some time. At length Hastsézini said: "I shall
beg no longer for my grandchild. You say you are mighty. We shall
see which is the more powerful, you or I," and Tiéholtsodi answered:
"Neither shall I ask your permission to keep him. I should like
to see how you will take him from me." When Hastsézini heard this
he took from his belt his fire-stick and fire-drill.[213] He laid
the stick on the ground, steadied it with both feet, and whirled the
drill around, pausing four times. The first time he whirled the drill
there was a little smoke; the second time there was a great smoke;
the third time there was flame; the fourth time the surrounding
waters all took fire. Then Tiéholtsodi cried: "Take your grandchild,
but put out the flames." "Ah," said Hastsézini, "you told me you
were mighty. Why do you implore me now? Why do you not put out the
fire yourself? Do you mean what you say this time? Do you really
want the fire quenched?" "Oh! yes," cried Tiéholtsodi. "Take your
grandchild, but put out the flames. I mean what I say." At a sign
from Black God, Water Sprinkler took the stoppers out of his jars
and scattered water all around him four times, crying his usual
"Tu`wu`wu`wú" as he did so, and the flames died out. The water in
Tó`nenili's jars consisted of all kinds of water--he-rain, she-rain,
hail, snow, lake-water, spring-water, and water taken from the four
quarters of the world. This is why it was so potent.[67]
486. When the fire was extinguished the three marched out in single
file--Tó`nenili in front, to divide the water, the Navaho in the
middle, and Hastsézini in the rear. Before they had quite reached the
dry land they heard a flopping sound behind them, and, looking around,
they saw Tsal, the Frog. "Wait," said he. "I have something to tell
you. We can give disease to those who enter our dwelling, and there
are cigarettes, sacred to us, by means of which our spell may be
taken away. The cigarette of Tiéholtsodi should be painted black;
that of Tielín, blue; those of the Beaver and the Otter, yellow;
that of the great fish, and that sacred to me, white." Therefore,
in these days, when a Navaho is nearly drowned in the water, and has
spewed the water all out, such cigarettes[12] are made to take the
water sickness out of him.
487. The gods took Nati'nesthani back to his log. Tó`nenili opened
a passage for them through the river, and took the water out of the
hollow in the log. The Navaho crawled into the hollow. The gods plugged
the butt again, and set the log floating. It floated on and on until
it came to a fall in the San Juan River, and here it stuck again. The
gods had hard labor trying to get it loose. They tugged and worked,
but could not move it. At length the Dsahadoldzá, the Fringe-mouths
of the water, came to help. They put the zigzag lightning which was
on their bodies[209] under the butt of the log,--as if the lightning
were a rope,--and soon they got the log loose and sent it floating
down the river.
488. At the end of the San Juan River, surrounded by mountains, there
is a whirling lake or large whirlpool called Tó`nihilin, or End of
the Water. When the log entered here it whirled around the lake four
times. The first time it went around it floated near the shore, but it
gradually approached the centre as it went round again and again. From
the centre it pointed itself toward the east and got near the shore;
but it retreated again to the centre, pointed itself to the south,
and at last stranded on the south shore of the lake. When it came
to land four gods stood around it thus: Hastséhogan on the east,
Hastséyalti on the south, one Gánaskidi on the west, and one on the
north. They pried out one of the stoppers with their wands, and the
Navaho came out on the land. They took out what remained of the food
they had given him, a bow of cedar with the leaves on, and two reed
arrows that they had placed in the log before they launched it. This
done, they plugged the log again with a black cloud.
489. Then the gods spoke to the Navaho and said: "We have taken
you where you wished to go. We have brought you to the end of the
river. We have done for you all that in the beginning you asked us
to do, and now we shall give you a new name. Henceforth you shall be
called Áhodiseli, He Who Floats. Go sit yonder" (pointing out a place),
"and turn your back to us." He went and sat as he was told, and soon
they called to him and bade him go to a hill west of the lake. When
he ascended it he looked around and saw the log moving back in the
direction whence, he thought, he had come. He looked all around, but
could see no one. The gods had disappeared, and he was all alone. He
sat down to think. He felt sad and lonely. He was sorry he had come;
yet, he thought, "This is my own deed; I insisted on coming here,
and had I stayed at home I might have been killed." Still the more
he thought the sadder he felt, and he began to weep.
490. The mountains all around the lake were very precipitous, except
on the west side. Here they were more sloping, and he began to think
of crossing, when he heard faintly in the distance the gobbling of a
turkey. He paused and listened, and soon heard the gobbling again, more
distinctly and apparently nearer. In a short time he heard the sound
for the third time, but louder and clearer than before. The fourth
time that the gobbling was heard it seemed very loud and distinct;
and a moment later he beheld, running toward him, his pet turkey,
whom he had thought he would never see again. The turkey, which had
followed him all the way down the San Juan River, now approached its
master from the east, as if it were coming to him at once; but when
it got within arm's length of the man it retreated and went round him
sunwise, approaching and retreating again at the south, the west, and
the north. When it got to the east again it ran up to its master and
allowed itself to be embraced. (Fig. 34 shows the way it approached
its master.) "Ahaláni, silín (Welcome, my pet)," said Nati'nesthani,
"I am sorry for you that you have followed me, I pity you; but now
that you are here, I thank you for coming."
491. The man now began to think again of crossing the mountain in the
west, but suddenly night came on. He had not noticed the light fading
until it was too dark to begin the journey, and he felt obliged to
seek a resting-place for the night. They went to a gulch near at hand
where there were a few small cedar-trees. They spread out, for a bed,
the dead leaves and the soft débris which they found under the trees
and lay down, side by side, to sleep. The Navaho spread his bark
blanket over himself, and the turkey spread one of its wings over
its master, and he slept well that night.
492. Next morning they rose early and went out to hunt wood-rats. They
went down a small winding valley till they came to a beautiful flat,
through which ran a stream of water. "This would be a good place for
a farm if I had but the seeds to plant," said the Navaho aloud. When
he had spoken he observed that his turkey began to act in a very
peculiar manner. It ran to the western border of the flat, circled
round to the north, and then ran directly from north to south, where
it rejoined its master, who had in the mean time walked around the
edge of the flat from east to west. This (fig. 35) shows how they
went. When they met they walked together four times around the flat,
gradually approaching the centre as they walked. Here, in the centre,
the man sat down and the turkey gambolled around him. "My pet," said
the Navaho, "what a beautiful farm I could make here if I only had
the seeds." The turkey gobbled in reply and spread out its wings.
493. Nati'nesthani had supposed that when the gods were preparing
the log for him they had done something to the turkey, but what they
had done he knew not. Now that his pet was acting so strangely, it
occurred to him that perhaps it could aid him. "My pet," he said,
"can you do anything to help me make a farm here?" The turkey ran a
little way to the east and shook its wings, from which four grains of
white corn dropped out; then it ran to the south and shook from its
wings four grains of blue corn; at the west it shook out four grains
of yellow corn, and at the north four grains of variegated corn. Then
it ran up to its master from the east and shook its wings four times,
each time shaking out four seeds. The first time it dropped pumpkin
seeds; the second time, watermelon seeds; the third time, muskmelon
seeds; the fourth time, beans. "E`yéhe, silín (Thanks, my pet). I
thought you had something for me," said Nati'nesthani.
494. He went away from the flat, roasted wood-rats for a meal, and
when he had eaten he made two planting sticks, one of greasewood and
one of tsintli'zi[214] (Fendleria rupicola). He returned to the flat
and began to make his farm. He dug four holes in the east with the
stick of tsintli'zi, and dropped into each hole a grain of white
corn. He dug four holes in the south with his greasewood stick,
and placed in each hole one grain of blue corn. He dug four holes
in the west with the tsintli'zi stick, and planted in each one grain
of yellow corn. He made four holes in the north with the greasewood,
and put in each one grain of variegated corn. With the implement of
tsintli'zi he planted the pumpkin seed between the white corn and the
blue corn. With the implement of greasewood he planted watermelon
seed between the blue corn and the yellow corn. With the stick of
tsintli'zi he planted muskmelon seeds between the yellow corn and
the variegated corn. With the stick of greasewood he planted beans
between the variegated corn and the white corn.[215] He looked all
around to see if he had done everything properly, and he went to the
west of his farm among the foothills and camped there.
495. He felt uneasy during the night, fearing that there might
be some one else to claim the land, and he determined to examine
the surrounding country to see if he had any neighbors. Next day he
walked in a circle, sunwise, around the valley, and this he did for
four consecutive days, taking a wider circle each day; but he met no
people and saw no signs of human life, and he said: "It is a good place
for a farm. No one claims the land before me." Each morning, before
he went on his journey, he visited his farm. On the fourth morning
he saw that the corn had grown half a finger-length above the ground.
496. On the fourth night, after his long day's walk around the
valley, when darkness fell, he sat by his fire facing the east,
and was surprised to see a faint gleam half way up the side of the
mountains in the east. "Strange," he said, "I have travelled all
over that ground and have seen neither man nor house nor track nor
the remains of fire." Then he spoke to the turkey, saying: "Stay at
home to-morrow, my pet; I must go and find out who builds that fire."
497. Next day, leaving his turkey at home, he went off to search
the mountain-side, where he had seen the gleam; but he searched
well and saw no signs of human life. When he came home he told all
his adventures to his turkey and said: "It must have been a great
glow-worm that I beheld." He got home pretty early in the day and
went out to trap wood-rats, accompanied by his turkey. In the evening
when he returned to his camp, he looked again, after dark, toward
the eastern mountain, and saw the gleam as he had seen it the night
before. He set a forked stick in the ground, got down on his hands
and knees, and looked at the fire through the fork. (See par. 382.)
498. On the following morning he placed himself in the same position
he was in the night before,--putting his hands and knees in the tracks
then made,--and looked again over the forked stick. He found his sight
directed to a spot which he had already explored well. Notwithstanding
this he went there again, leaving his turkey behind, and searched
wider and farther and with greater care than on previous occasions;
but he still saw no traces of human life. When he returned to camp he
told his turkey all that had happened to him. That night he saw the
light again, and once more he sighted over the forked stick with care.
499. When morning came, he found that he had marked the same spot
he had marked before; and though he had little hope he set out for
the third time to find who made the distant fire. He returned after
a time, only to tell his disappointment to his turkey. As usual he
spent the rest of the day, accompanied by the turkey, setting traps
for wood-rats and other small animals. After dark, when he saw the
distant flame again, he set a second forked stick in the ground and
laid between the two forks a long, straight stick, which he aimed at
the fire as he would aim an arrow. When this was done he went to sleep.