Indigenous & Shamanic Traditions · Native American

Navaho Legends 3

The Origin Legend: The War Gods

MatthewsEnglish

(§287)The Diné` now removed to Tse`lakaíia (White Standing Rock), where, a few days after they arrived, they found on the ground a small turquoise image of a woman; this they preserved. Of late the monsters (anáye, alien gods) had been actively pursuing and devouring the people, and at the time this image was found there were only four persons remaining alive; these were an old man and woman and their two children, a young man and a young woman. Two days after the finding of the image, early in the morning, before they rose, they heard the voice of Hastséyalti, the Talking God, crying his call of "Wu`hu`hu`hu" so faint and far that they could scarcely hear it. After a while the call was repeated a second time, nearer and louder than at first. Again, after a brief silence, the call was heard for the third time, still nearer and still louder. The fourth call was loud and clear, as if sounded near at hand; as soon as it ceased, the shuffling tread of moccasined feet was heard, and a moment later the god Hastséyalti stood before them.

(§288)He told the four people to come up to the top of Tsolíhi after twelve nights had passed, bringing with them the turquoise image they had found, and at once he departed. They pondered deeply on his words, and every day they talked among themselves, wondering why Hastséyalti had summoned them to the mountain.

(§289)On the morning of the appointed day they ascended the mountain by a holy trail, and on a level spot, near the summit, they met a party that awaited them there. They found there Hastséyalti, Hastséhogan (the Home God), White Body (who came up from the lower world with the Diné`), the eleven brothers (of Maid Who Becomes a Bear), the Mirage Stone People, the Daylight People standing in the east, the Blue Sky People standing in the south, the Yellow Light People standing in the west, and the Darkness People standing in the north. White Body stood in the east among the Daylight People, bearing in his hand a small image of a woman wrought in white shell, about the same size and shape as the blue image which the Navahoes bore.

(§290)Hastséyalti laid down a sacred buckskin with its head toward the west. The Mirage Stone People laid on the buckskin, heads west, the two little images,--of turquoise and white shell,--a white and a yellow ear of corn, the Pollen Boy, and the Grasshopper Girl. On top of all these Hastséyalti laid another sacred buckskin with its head to the east, and under this they now put Ni'ltsi (Wind).

(§291)Then the assembled crowd stood so as to form a circle, leaving in the east an opening through which Hastséyalti and Hastséhogan might pass in and out, and they sang the sacred song of Hozóngisin. Four times the gods entered and raised the cover. When they raised it for the fourth time, the images and the ears of corn were found changed to living beings in human form: the turquoise image had become Estsánatlehi, the Woman Who Changes (or rejuvenates herself); the white shell image had become Yolkaí Estsán, the White Shell Woman; the white ear of corn had become Natálkai Asiké; the White Corn Boy and the yellow ear of corn, Natáltsoi Atét, the Yellow Corn Girl. After the ceremony, White Body took Pollen Boy, Grasshopper Girl, White Corn Boy, and Yellow Corn Girl with him into Tsolíhi; the rest of the assembly departed, and the two divine sisters, Estsánatlehi and Yolkaí Estsán, were left on the mountain alone.

(§292)The women remained here four nights; on the fourth morning Estsánatlehi said: "Site'zi (younger sister), why should we remain here? Let us go to yonder high point and look around us." They went to the highest point of the mountain, and when they had been there several days Estsánatlehi said: "It is lonely here; we have no one to speak to but ourselves; we see nothing but that which rolls over our heads (the sun), and that which drops below us (a small dripping waterfall). I wonder if they can be people. I shall stay here and wait for the one in the morning, while you go down among the rocks and seek the other."

(§293)In the morning Estsánatlehi found a bare, flat rock and lay on it with her feet to the east, and the rising sun shone upon her. Yolkaí Estsán went down where the dripping waters descended and allowed them to fall upon her. At noon the women met again on the mountain top and Estsánatlehi said to her sister: "It is sad to be so lonesome. How can we make people so that we may have others of our kind to talk to?" Yolkaí Estsán answered: "Think, Elder Sister; perhaps after some days you may plan how this is to be done."

(§294)Four days after this conversation Yolkaí Estsán said: "Elder Sister, I feel something strange moving within me; what can it be?" and Estsánatlehi answered: "It is a child. It was for this that you lay under the waterfall. I feel, too, the motions of a child within me. It was for this that I let the sun shine upon me." Soon after the voice of Hastséyalti was heard four times, as usual, and after the last call he and Tó`nenili appeared. They came to prepare the women for their approaching delivery.

(§295)In four days more they felt the commencing throes of labor, and one said to the other: "I think my child is coming." She had scarcely spoken when the voice of the approaching god was heard, and soon Hastséyalti and Tó`nenili (Water Sprinkler) were seen approaching. The former was the accoucheur of Estsánatlehi, and the latter of Yolkaí Estsán. To one woman a drag-rope of rainbow was given, to the other a drag-rope of sunbeam, and on these they pulled when in pain, as the Navaho woman now pulls on the rope. Estsánatlehi's child was born first. Hastséyalti took it aside and washed it. He was glad, and laughed and made ironical motions, as if he were cutting the baby in slices and throwing the slices away. They made for the children two baby-baskets, both alike; the foot-rests and the back battens were made of sunbeam, the hoods of rainbow, the side-strings of sheet lightning, and the lacing strings of zigzag lightning. One child they covered with the black cloud, and the other with the female rain. They called the children Sináli (grandchildren), and they left, promising to return at the end of four days.

(§296)When the gods (yéi) returned at the end of four days, the boys had grown to be the size of ordinary boys of twelve years of age. The gods said to them: "Boys, we have come to have a race with you." So a race was arranged that should go all around a neighboring mountain, and the four started,--two boys and two yéi. Before the long race was half done the boys, who ran fast, began to flag, and the gods, who were still fresh, got behind them and scourged the lads with twigs of mountain mahogany. Hastséyalti won the race, and the boys came home rubbing their sore backs. When the gods left they promised to return at the end of another period of four days.

(§297)As soon as the gods were gone, Ni'ltsi, the Wind, whispered to the boys and told them that the old ones were not such fast runners, after all, and that if the boys would practice during the next four days they might win the coming race. So for four days they ran hard, many times daily around the neighboring mountain, and when the gods came back again the youths had grown to the full stature of manhood. In the second contest the gods began to flag and fall behind when half way round the mountain, where the others had fallen behind in the first race, and here the boys got behind their elders and scourged the latter to increase their speed. The elder of the boys won this race, and when it was over the gods laughed and clapped their hands, for they were pleased with the spirit and prowess they witnessed.

(§298)The night after the race the boys lay down as usual to sleep; but hearing the women whispering together, they lay awake and listened. They strained their attention, but could not hear a word of what was uttered. At length they rose, approached the women, and said: "Mothers, of what do you speak?" and the women answered: "We speak of nothing." The boys then said: "Grandmothers, of what do you speak?" but the women again replied: "We speak of nothing." The boys then questioned: "Who are our fathers?" "You have no fathers," responded the women; "you are yutáski (illegitimate)." "Who are our fathers?" again demanded the boys, and the women answered: "The round cactus and the sitting cactus are your fathers."

(§299)Next day the women made rude bows of juniper wood, and arrows, such as children play with, and they said to the boys: "Go and play around with these, but do not go out of sight from our hut, and do not go to the east." Notwithstanding these warnings the boys went to the east the first day, and when they had travelled a good distance they saw an animal with brownish hair and a sharp nose. They drew their arrows and pointed them toward the sharp-nosed stranger; but before they could shoot he jumped down into a canyon and disappeared. When they returned home they told the women--addressing them as "Mother" and "Grandmother"--what they had seen. The women said: "That is Coyote which you saw. He is a spy for the anáye Téelget."

(§300)On the following day, although again strictly warned not to go far from the lodge, the boys wandered far to the south, and there they saw a great black bird seated on a tree. They aimed their arrows at it; but just as they were about to shoot the bird rose and flew away. The boys returned to the hogán and said to the women: "Mothers, we have been to the south to-day, and there we saw a great black bird which we tried to shoot; but before we could let loose our arrows it flew off." "Alas!" said the women. "This was Raven that you saw. He is the spy of the Tse`na'hale, the great winged creatures that devour men."

(§301)On the third day the boys slipped off unknown to the anxious women, who would fain keep them at home, and walked a long way toward the west. The only living thing they saw was a great dark bird with a red skinny head that had no feathers on it. This bird they tried to shoot also; but before they could do so it spread its wings and flew a long way off. They went home and said to the women: "Mothers, we have been to the west, and we have seen a great dark bird whose head was red and bare. We tried to shoot it, but it flew away before we could discharge our arrows." "It was Dzéso, the Buzzard, that you saw," said the women. "He is the spy for Tse`tahotsiltá`li, he who kicks men down the cliffs."

(§302)On the fourth day the boys stole off as usual, and went toward the north. When they had travelled a long way in that direction, they saw a bird of black plumage perched on a tree on the edge of a canyon. It was talking to itself, saying "a`a`i`." They aimed at it, but before they could let fly their arrows it spread its wings and tail and disappeared down the canyon. As it flew, the boys noticed that its plumes were edged with white. When they got home they told their mothers, as before, what they had seen. "This bird that you saw," said the women, "is the Magpie. He is the spy for the Bináye Aháni, who slay people with their eyes. Alas, our children! What shall we do to make you hear us? What shall we do to save you? You would not listen to us. Now the spies of the anáye (the alien gods) in all quarters of the world have seen you. They will tell their chiefs, and soon the monsters will come here to devour you, as they have devoured all your kind before you."

(§303)The next morning the women made a corncake and laid it on the ashes to bake. Then Yolkaí Estsán went out of the hogán, and, as she did so, she saw Yéitso, the tallest and fiercest of the alien gods, approaching. She ran quickly back and gave the warning, and the women hid the boys under bundles and sticks. Yéitso came and sat down at the door, just as the women were taking the cake out of the ashes. "That cake is for me," said Yéitso. "How nice it smells!" "No," said Estsánatlehi, "it was not meant for your great maw." "I don't care," said Yéitso. "I would rather eat boys. Where are your boys? I have been told you have some here, and I have come to get them." "We have none," said Estsánatlehi. "All the boys have gone into the paunches of your people long ago." "No boys?" said the giant. "What, then, has made all the tracks around here?" "Oh! these tracks I have made for fun," replied the woman. "I am lonely here, and I make tracks so that I may fancy there are many people around me." She showed Yéitso how she could make similar tracks with her fist. He compared the two sets of tracks, seemed to be satisfied, and went away.

(§304)When he was gone, Yolkaí Estsán, the White Shell Woman, went up to the top of a neighboring hill to look around, and she beheld many of the anáye hastening in the direction of her lodge. She returned speedily, and told her sister what she had seen. Estsánatlehi took four colored hoops, and threw one toward each of the cardinal points,--a white one to the east, a blue one to the south, a yellow one to the west, and a black one to the north. At once a great gale arose, blowing so fiercely in all directions from the hogán that none of the enemies could advance against it.

(§305)Next morning the boys got up before daybreak and stole away. Soon the women missed them, but could not trace them in the dark. When it was light enough to examine the ground the women went out to look for fresh tracks. They found four footprints of each of the boys, pointing in the direction of the mountain of Dsilnáotil, but more than four tracks they could not find. They came to the conclusion that the boys had taken a holy trail, so they gave up further search and returned to the lodge.

(§306)The boys travelled rapidly in the holy trail, and soon after sunrise, near Dsilnáotil, they saw smoke arising from the ground. They went to the place where the smoke rose, and they found it came from the smoke-hole of a subterranean chamber. A ladder, black from smoke, projected through the hole. Looking down into the chamber they saw an old woman, the Spider Woman, who glanced up at them and said: "Welcome, children. Enter. Who are you, and whence do you two come together walking?" They made no answer, but descended the ladder. When they reached the floor she again spoke to them, asking: "Whither do you two go walking together?" "Nowhere in particular," they answered; "we came here because we had nowhere else to go." She asked this question four times, and each time she received a similar answer. Then she said: "Perhaps you would seek your father?" "Yes," they answered, "if we only knew the way to his dwelling." "Ah!" said the woman, "it is a long and dangerous way to the house of your father, the Sun. There are many of the anáye dwelling between here and there, and perhaps, when you get there, your father may not be glad to see you, and may punish you for coming. You must pass four places of danger,--the rocks that crush the traveller, the reeds that cut him to pieces, the cane cactuses that tear him to pieces, and the boiling sands that overwhelm him. But I shall give you something to subdue your enemies and preserve your lives." She gave them a charm called nayéatsos, or feather of the alien gods, which consisted of a hoop with two life-feathers (feathers plucked from a living eagle) attached, and another life-feather, hyiná biltsós, to preserve their existence. She taught them also this magic formula, which, if repeated to their enemies, would subdue their anger: "Put your feet down with pollen. Put your hands down with pollen. Put your head down with pollen. Then your feet are pollen; your hands are pollen; your body is pollen; your mind is pollen; your voice is pollen. The trail is beautiful (biké hozóni). Be still."

(§307)Soon after leaving the house of Spider Woman, the boys came to Tse`yeinti'li (the rocks that crush). There was here a narrow chasm between two high cliffs. When a traveller approached, the rocks would open wide apart, apparently to give him easy passage and invite him to enter; but as soon as he was within the cleft they would close like hands clapping and crush him to death. These rocks were really people; they thought like men; they were anáye. When the boys got to the rocks they lifted their feet as if about to enter the chasm, and the rocks opened to let them in. Then the boys put down their feet, but withdrew them quickly. The rocks closed with a snap to crush them; but the boys remained safe on the outside. Thus four times did they deceive the rocks. When they had closed for the fourth time the rocks said: "Who are ye; whence come ye two together, and whither go ye?" "We are children of the Sun," answered the boys. "We come from Dsilnáotil, and we go to seek the house of our father." Then they repeated the words the Spider Woman had taught them, and the rocks said: "Pass on to the house of your father." When next they ventured to step into the chasm the rocks did not close, and they passed safely on.

(§308)The boys kept on their way and soon came to a great plain covered with reeds that had great leaves on them as sharp as knives. When the boys came to the edge of the field of reeds (Lokáadikisi), the latter opened, showing a clear passage through to the other side. The boys pretended to enter, but retreated, and as they did so the walls of reeds rushed together to kill them. Thus four times did they deceive the reeds. Then the reeds spoke to them, as the rocks had done; they answered and repeated the sacred words. "Pass on to the house of your father," said the reeds, and the boys passed on in safety.

(§309)The next danger they encountered was in the country covered with cane cactuses. These cactuses rushed at and tore to pieces whoever attempted to pass through them. When the boys came to the cactuses the latter opened their ranks to let the travellers pass on, as the reeds had done before. But the boys deceived them as they had deceived the reeds, and subdued them as they had subdued the reeds, and passed on in safety.

(§310)After they had passed the country of the cactus they came, in time, to Saitád, the land of the rising sands. Here was a great desert of sands that rose and whirled and boiled like water in a pot, and overwhelmed the traveller who ventured among them. As the boys approached, the sands became still more agitated and the boys did not dare venture among them. "Who are ye?" said the sands, "and whence come ye?" "We are children of the Sun, we came from Dsilnáotil, and we go to seek the house of our father." These words were four times said. Then the elder of the boys repeated his sacred formula; the sands subsided, saying: "Pass on to the house of your father," and the boys continued on their journey over the desert of sands.

(§311)Soon after this adventure they approached the house of the Sun. As they came near the door they found the way guarded by two bears that crouched, one to the right and one to the left, their noses pointing toward one another. As the boys drew near, the bears rose, growled angrily, and acted as if about to attack the intruders; but the elder boy repeated the sacred words the Spider Woman had taught him, and when he came to the last words, "Be still," the bears crouched down again and lay still. The boys walked on. After passing the bears they encountered a pair of sentinel serpents, then a pair of sentinel winds, and, lastly, a pair of sentinel lightnings. As the boys advanced, all these guardians acted as if they would destroy them; but all were appeased with the words of prayer.

(§312)The house of the Sun God was built of turquoise; it was square like a pueblo house, and stood on the shore of a great water. When the boys entered they saw, sitting in the west, a woman; in the south, two handsome young men; and in the north, two handsome young women. The women gave a glance at the strangers and then looked down. The young men gazed at them more closely, and then, without speaking, they rose, wrapped the strangers in four coverings of the sky, and laid them on a shelf.

(§313)The boys had lain there quietly for some time when a rattle that hung over the door shook and one of the young women said: "Our father is coming." The rattle shook four times, and soon after it shook the fourth time, Tsóhanoai, the bearer of the sun, entered his house. He took the sun off his back and hung it up on a peg on the west wall of the room, where it shook and clanged for some time, going "tla, tla, tla, tla," till at last it hung still.

(§314)Then Tsóhanoai turned to the woman and said, in an angry tone: "Who are those two who entered here to-day?" The woman made no answer and the young people looked at one another, but each feared to speak. Four times he asked this question, and at length the woman said: "It would be well for you not to say too much. Two young men came hither to-day, seeking their father. When you go abroad, you always tell me that you visit nowhere, and that you have met no woman but me. Whose sons, then, are these?" She pointed to the bundle on the shelf, and the children smiled significantly at one another.

(§315)He took the bundle from the shelf. He first unrolled the robe of dawn with which they were covered, then the robe of blue sky, next the robe of yellow evening light, and lastly the robe of darkness. When he unrolled this the boys fell out on the floor. He seized them, and threw them first upon great, sharp spikes of white shell that stood in the east; but they bounded back, unhurt, from these spikes, for they held their life-feathers tightly all the while. He then threw them in turn on spikes of turquoise in the south, on spikes of haliotis in the west, and spikes of black rock in the north; but they came uninjured from all these trials and Tsóhanoai said: "I wish it were indeed true that they were my children."

(§316)He said then to the elder children,--those who lived with him,--"Go out and prepare the sweat-house and heat for it four of the hardest boulders you can find. Heat a white, a blue, a yellow, and a black boulder." When the Winds heard this they said: "He still seeks to kill his children. How shall we avert the danger?" The sweat-house was built against a bank. Wind dug into the bank a hole behind the sudatory, and concealed the opening with a flat stone. Wind then whispered into the ears of the boys the secret of the hole and said: "Do not hide in the hole until you have answered the questions of your father." The boys went into the sweat-house, the great hot boulders were put in and the opening of the lodge was covered with the four sky-blankets. Then Tsóhanoai called out to the boys: "Are you hot?" and they answered: "Yes, very hot." Then they crept into the hiding-place and lay there. After a while Tsóhanoai came and poured water through the top of the sweat-house on the stones, making them burst with a loud noise, and a great heat and steam was raised. But in time the stones cooled and the boys crept out of their hiding-place into the sweat-house. Tsóhanoai came and asked again: "Are you hot?" hoping to get no reply; but the boys still answered: "Yes, very hot." Then he took the coverings off the sweat-house and let the boys come out. He greeted them in a friendly way and said: "Yes, these are my children," and yet he was thinking of other ways by which he might destroy them if they were not.

(§317)The four sky-blankets were spread on the ground one over another, and the four young men were made to sit on them, one behind another, facing the east. "My daughters, make these boys to look like my other sons," said Tsóhanoai. The young women went to the strangers, pulled their hair out long, and moulded their faces and forms so that they looked just like their brethren. Then Sun bade them all rise and enter the house. They rose and all went, in a procession, the two strangers last.

(§318)As they were about to enter the door they heard a voice whispering in their ears: "St! Look at the ground." They looked down and beheld a spiny caterpillar called Wasekede, who, as they looked, spat out two blue spits on the ground. "Take each of you one of these," said Wind, "and put it in your mouth, but do not swallow it. There is one more trial for you,--a trial by smoking." When they entered the house Tsóhanoai took down a pipe of turquoise that hung on the eastern wall and filled it with tobacco. "This is the tobacco he kills with," whispered Ni'ltsi to the boys. Tsóhanoai held the pipe up to the sun that hung on the wall, lit it, and gave it to the boys to smoke. They smoked it, and passed it from one to another till it was finished. They said it tasted sweet, but it did them no harm.

(§319)When the pipe was smoked out and Tsóhanoai saw the boys were not killed by it, he was satisfied and said: "Now, my children, what do you want from me? Why do you seek me?" "Oh, father!" they replied, "the land where we dwell is filled with the anáye, who devour the people. There are Yéitso and Téelget, the Tse`náhale, the Bináye Aháni, and many others. They have eaten nearly all of our kind; there are few left; already they have sought our lives, and we have run away to escape them. Give us, we beg, the weapons with which we may slay our enemies. Help us to destroy them."

(§320)"Know," said Tsóhanoai, "that Yéitso who dwells at Tsótsil is also my son, yet I will help you to kill him. I shall hurl the first bolt at him, and I will give you those things that will help you in war." He took from pegs where they hung around the room and gave to each a hat, a shirt, leggings, moccasins, all made of pes (iron or knives), a chain-lightning arrow, a sheet-lightning arrow, a sunbeam arrow, a rainbow arrow, and a great stone knife or knife club (peshál). "These are what we want," said the boys. They put on the clothes of pes, and streaks of lightning shot from every joint.

(§321)Next morning Tsóhanoai led the boys out to the edge of the world, where the sky and the earth came close together, and beyond which there was no world. Here sixteen wands or poles leaned from the earth to the sky; four of these were of white shell, four of turquoise, four of haliotis shell, and four of red stone. A deep stream flowed between them and the wands. As they approached the stream, Ni'ltsi, the Wind, whispered: "This is another trial;" but he blew a great breath and formed a bridge of rainbow, over which the brothers passed in safety. Ni'ltsi whispered again: "The red wands are for war, the others are for peace;" so when Tsóhanoai asked his sons: "On which wands will ye ascend?" they answered: "On the wands of red stone," for they sought war with their enemies. They climbed up to the sky on the wands of red stone, and their father went with them.

(§322)They journeyed on till they came to Yágahoka, the sky-hole, which is in the centre of the sky. The hole is edged with four smooth, shining cliffs that slope steeply downwards,--cliffs of the same materials as the wands by which they had climbed from the earth to the sky. They sat down on the smooth declivities,--Tsóhanoai on the west side of the hole, the brothers on the east side. The latter would have slipped down had not the Wind blown up and helped them to hold on. Tsóhanoai pointed down and said: "Where do you belong in the world below? Show me your home." The brothers looked down and scanned the land; but they could distinguish nothing; all the land seemed flat; the wooded mountains looked like dark spots on the surface; the lakes gleamed like stars, and the rivers like streaks of lightning. The elder brother said: "I do not recognize the land, I know not where our home is." Now Ni'ltsi prompted the younger brother, and showed him which were the sacred mountains and which the great rivers, and the younger exclaimed, pointing downwards: "There is the Male Water (San Juan River), and there is the Female Water (Rio Grande); yonder is the mountain of Tsisnadzi'ni; below us is Tsótsil; there in the west is Dokoslíd; that white spot beyond the Male Water is Depe'ntsa; and there between these mountains is Dsilnáotil, near which our home is." "You are right, my child, it is thus that the land lies," said Tsóhanoai. Then, renewing his promises, he spread a streak of lightning; he made his children stand on it,--one on each end,--and he shot them down to the top of Tsótsil (Mt. San Mateo, Mt. Taylor).

(§323)They descended the mountain on its south side and walked toward the warm spring at Tó`sato. As they were walking along under a high bluff, where there is now a white circle, they heard voices hailing them. "Whither are you going? Come hither a while." They went in the direction in which they heard the voices calling and found four holy people,--Holy Man, Holy Young Man, Holy Boy, and Holy Girl. The brothers remained all night in a cave with these people, and the latter told them all about Yéitso. They said that he showed himself every day three times on the mountains before he came down, and when he showed himself for the fourth time he descended from Tsótsil to Tó`sato to drink; that, when he stooped down to drink, one hand rested on Tsótsil and the other on the high hills on the opposite side of the valley, while his feet stretched as far away as a man could walk between sunrise and noon.

(§324)They left the cave at daybreak and went on to Tó`sato, where in ancient days there was a much larger lake than there is now. There was a high, rocky wall in the narrow part of the valley, and the lake stretched back to where Blue Water is to-day. When they came to the edge of the lake, one brother said to the other: "Let us try one of our father's weapons and see what it can do." They shot one of the lightning arrows at Tsótsil; it made a great cleft in the mountain, which remains to this day, and one said to the other: "We cannot suffer in combat while we have such weapons as these."

(§325)Soon they heard the sound of thunderous footsteps, and they beheld the head of Yéitso peering over a high hill in the east; it was withdrawn in a moment. Soon after, the monster raised his head and chest over a hill in the south, and remained a little longer in sight than when he was in the east. Later he displayed his body to the waist over a hill in the west; and lastly he showed himself, down to the knees, over Tsótsil in the north. Then he descended the mountain, came to the edge of the lake, and laid down a basket which he was accustomed to carry.

(§326)Yéitso stooped four times to the lake to drink, and, each time he drank, the waters perceptibly diminished; when he had done drinking, the lake was nearly drained. The brothers lost their presence of mind at sight of the giant drinking, and did nothing while he was stooping down. As he took his last drink they advanced to the edge of the lake, and Yéitso saw their reflection in the water. He raised his head, and, looking at them, roared: "What a pretty pair have come in sight! Where have I been hunting?" (i.e., that I never saw them before). "Yiniketóko! Yiniketóko!" "Throw (his words) back in his mouth," said the younger to the elder brother. "What a great thing has come in sight! Where have we been hunting?" shouted the elder brother to the giant. Four times these taunts were repeated by each party. The brothers then heard Ni'ltsi whispering quickly, "Akó`! Akó`! Beware! Beware!" They were standing on a bent rainbow just then; they straightened the rainbow out, descending to the ground, and at the same instant a lightning bolt, hurled by Yéitso, passed thundering over their heads. He hurled four bolts rapidly; as he hurled the second, they bent their rainbow and rose, while the bolt passed under their feet; as he discharged the third they descended, and let the lightning pass over them. When he threw the fourth bolt they bent the rainbow very high, for this time he aimed higher than before; but his weapon still passed under their feet and did them no harm. He drew a fifth bolt to throw at them; but at this moment the lightning descended from the sky on the head of the giant and he reeled beneath it, but did not fall. Then the elder brother sped a chain-lightning arrow; his enemy tottered toward the east, but straightened himself up again. The second arrow caused him to stumble toward the south (he fell lower and lower each time), but again he stood up and prepared himself to renew the conflict. The third lightning arrow made him topple toward the west, and the fourth to the north. Then he fell to his knees, raised himself partly again, fell flat on his face, stretched out his limbs, and moved no more.

(§327)When the arrows struck him, his armor was shivered in pieces and the scales flew in every direction. The elder brother said: "They may be useful to the people in the future." The brothers then approached their fallen enemy and the younger scalped him. Heretofore the younger brother bore only the name of To`badzistsíni, or Child of the Water; but now his brother gave him also the warrior name of Naídikisi (He Who Cuts Around). What the elder brother's name was before this we do not know; but ever after he was called Nayénezgani (Slayer of the Alien Gods).

(§328)They cut off his head and threw it away to the other side of Tsótsil, where it may be seen to-day on the eastern side of the mountain. The blood from the body now flowed in a great stream down the valley, so great that it broke down the rocky wall that bounded the old lake and flowed on. Ni'ltsi whispered to the brothers: "The blood flows toward the dwelling of the Bináye Aháni; if it reaches them, Yéitso will come to life again." Then Nayénezgani took his peshál, or knife club, and drew with it across the valley a line. Here the blood stopped flowing and piled itself up in a high wall. But when it had piled up here very high it began to flow off in another direction, and Ni'ltsi again whispered: "It now flows toward the dwelling of Sasnalkáhi, the Bear that Pursues; if it reaches him, Yéitso will come to life again." Hearing this, Nayénezgani again drew a line with his knife on the ground, and again the blood piled up and stopped flowing. The blood of Yéitso fills all the valley to-day, and the high cliffs in the black rock that we see there now are the places where Nayénezgani stopped the flow with his peshál.

(§329)They then put the broken arrows of Yéitso and his scalp into his basket and set out for their home near Dsilnáotil. When they got near the house, they took off their own suits of armor and hid these, with the basket and its contents, in the bushes. The mothers were rejoiced to see them, for they feared their sons were lost, and they said: "Where have you been since you left here yesterday, and what have you done?" Nayénezgani replied: "We have been to the house of our father, the Sun. We have been to Tsótsil and we have slain Yéitso." "Ah, my child," said Estsánatlehi, "do not speak thus. It is wrong to make fun of such an awful subject." "Do you not believe us?" said Nayénezgani; "come out, then, and see what we have brought back with us." He led the women out to where he had hidden the basket and showed them the trophies of Yéitso. Then they were convinced and they rejoiced, and had a dance to celebrate the victory.

(§330)When their rejoicings were done, Nayénezgani said to his mother: "Where does Téelget dwell?" "Seek not to know," she answered, "you have done enough. Rest contented. The land of the anáye is a dangerous place. The anáye are hard to kill." "Yes, and it was hard for you to bear your child," the son replied (meaning that she triumphed notwithstanding). "He lives at Bikehalzi'n," she said. Then the brothers held a long council to determine what they should do. They made two cigarette kethawns of a plant called azeladiltéhe, one black and one blue, each three finger-widths long; to these they attached a sunbeam and laid them in a turquoise dish. "I shall go alone to fight Téelget," said Nayénezgani, "while you, younger brother, remain at home and watch these kethawns. If they take fire from the sunbeam, you may know that I am in great danger; as long as they do not take fire, you may know that I am safe." This work was finished at sundown.

(§331)Nayénezgani arose early next morning and set out alone to find Téelget. He came, in time, to the edge of a great plain, and from one of the hills that bordered it he saw the monster lying down a long way off. He paused to think how he could approach nearer to him without attracting his attention, and in the mean time he poised one of his lightning arrows in his hand, thinking how he should throw it. While he stood thus in thought, Nasi'zi, the Gopher, came up to him and said: "I greet you, my friend! Why have you come hither?" "Oh, I am just wandering around," said Nayénezgani. Four times this question was asked and this answer was given. Then Nasi'zi said: "I wonder that you come here; no one but I ever ventures in these parts, for all fear Téelget. There he lies on the plain yonder." "It is him I seek," said Nayénezgani; "but I know not how to approach him." "Ah, if that is all you want, I can help you," said Gopher; "and if you slay him, all I ask is his hide. I often go up to him, and I will go now to show you." Having said this, Nasi'zi disappeared in a hole in the ground.

(§332)While he was gone Nayénezgani watched Téelget. After a while he saw the great creature rise, walk from the centre in four different directions, as if watching, and lie down again in the spot where he was first seen. He was a great, four-footed beast, with horns like those of a deer. Soon Nasi'zi returned and said: "I have dug a tunnel up to Téelget, and at the end I have bored four tunnels for you to hide in, one to the east, one to the south, one to the west, and one to the north. I have made a hole upwards from the tunnel to his heart, and I have gnawed the hair off near his heart. When I was gnawing the hair he spoke to me and said: 'Why do you take my hair?' and I answered, 'I want it to make a bed for my children.' Then it was that he rose and walked around; but he came back and lay down where he lay before, over the hole that leads up to his heart."

(§333)Nayénezgani entered the tunnel and crawled to the end. When he 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.

(§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 dwell?" "They dwell at Tsé`bitaï (Winged Rock)," 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, 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, 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."

(§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," 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, 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.

(§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 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, 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 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.

(§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." 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. 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 (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, which is sleepy in the daytime and comes out at night.

(§346)When he reached home with his trophies, which were the eyes 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 brings for me, Of Bináye Aháni he brings for me, Truly an eye he brings for me, The people are restored.

(§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 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. 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.

(§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.), 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.

(§355)"My children, why do you come to me again?" asked Tsóhanoai, the bearer of the sun. "We come for no special purpose; we come only to pass away the time," Nayénezgani answered. Three times he asked this question and got the same reply. When he asked for the fourth time, he added, "Speak the truth. When you came to me before I gave you all you asked for." Now it was To`badzistsíni who replied: "Oh, father! there are still many of the anáye left, and they are increasing. We wish to destroy them." "My children," said Tsóhanoai, "when I helped you before, I asked you for nothing in return. I am willing to help you again; but I wish to know, first, if you are willing to do something for me. I have a long way to travel every day, and often, in the long summer days, I do not get through in time, and then I have no place to rest or eat till I get back to my home in the east. I wish you to send your mother to the west that she may make a new home for me." "I will do it," said Nayénezgani; "I will send her there." But To`badzistsíni said: "No, Estsánatlehi is under the power of none; we cannot make promises for her, she must speak for herself, she is her own mistress; but I shall tell her your wishes and plead for you." The room they were in had four curtains which closed the ways leading into other apartments. Tsóhanoai lifted the curtain in the east, which was black, and took out of the room in the east five hoops: one of these was colored black, another blue, a third yellow, and a fourth white, the fifth was many-colored and shining. Each hoop had attached to it a knife of the same color as itself. He took out also four great hailstones, colored like the four first hoops. He gave all these to his sons and said: "Your mother will know what to do with these things."

(§356)When they got their gifts they set out on their homeward journey. As they went on their way they beheld a wonderful vision. The gods spread before them the country of the Navahoes as it was to be in the future when men increased in the land and became rich and happy. They spoke to one another of their father, of what he had said to them, of what they had seen in his house, and of all the strange things that had happened. When they got near their journey's end they sang this song:-- Nayénezgani, he is holy, Thus speaks the Sun, Holy he stands. To`badzistsíni, he is holy, Thus speaks the Moon, Holy he moves. Léyaneyani, he is holy, Thus speaks the Sun, Holy he stands. Tsówenatlehi, he is holy, Thus speaks the Moon, Holy he moves.

(§357)When they got within sight of their home they sang this song:-- Slayer of Giants, Through the sky I hear him. His voice sounds everywhere, His voice divine. Child of the Water, Through the floods I hear him. His voice sounds everywhere, His voice divine. Reared 'neath the Earth, Through the earth I hear him. His voice sounds everywhere, His voice divine. The Changing Grandchild, Through the clouds I hear him. His voice sounds everywhere, His voice divine.

(§358)When the brothers got home they said to Estsánatlehi: "Here are the hoops which our father has given us, and he told us you knew all about them. Show us, then, how to use them." She replied: "I have no knowledge of them." Three times she thus answered their questions. When they spoke to her for the fourth time and Nayénezgani was becoming angry and impatient, she said: "I have never seen the Sun God except from afar. He has never been down to the earth to visit me. I know nothing of these talismans of his, but I will try what I can do." She took the black hoop to the east, set it up so that it might roll, and spat through it the black hail, which was four-cornered; at once the hoop rolled off to the east and rolled out of sight. She took the blue hoop to the south, set it up, and spat through it the blue hail, which was six-cornered. Then the hoop rolled away to the south and disappeared. She carried the yellow hoop to the west, set it up, and spat through it the eight-cornered yellow hail; the hoop rolled off to the west and was lost to sight. She bore the white hoop to the north; spat through it the white hail, which had eleven corners, and the hoop sped to the north until it was seen no more. She threw the shining hoop up toward the zenith, threw the four colored knives in the same direction, and blew a powerful breath after them. Up they all went until they were lost to sight in the sky. As each hoop went away thunder was heard.

(§359)During four days after this nothing of importance happened, and no change came in the weather. At the end of four days they heard thunder high up in the sky, and after this there were four days more of good weather. Then the sky grew dark, and something like a great white cloud descended from above. Estsánatlehi went abroad; she saw in all directions great whirlwinds which uprooted tall trees as if they had been weeds, and tossed great rocks around as if they had been pebbles. "My son, I fear for our house," she said when she came back. "It is high among the mountains, and the great winds may destroy it." When he heard this, Nayénezgani went out. He covered the house first with a black cloud, which he fastened to the ground with rainbows; second, with a black fog, which he fastened down with sunbeams; third, with a black cloud, which he secured with sheet-lightning; and fourth, with a black fog, which he secured with chain-lightning. At sunset that evening they caught a little glimpse of the sun; but after that, continuously for four days and four nights, it was dark; a storm of wind and hail prevailed, such as had never been seen before, and the air was filled with sharp stones carried before the wind. The people stayed safe in the lodge, but they could hear the noise of the great storm without. On the morning of the fifth day the tumult ceased, and Nayénezgani, going out, found that all was calm, though it was still dark. He now proceeded to remove the coverings from the lodge and threw them upwards toward the heavens. As the first covering, a sheet of fog, ascended, chain-lightning shot out of it (with chain-lightning it had been fastened down). As the second covering, a cloud, ascended, sheet-lightning came forth from it. As the third covering, a fog, went up, sunbeams streamed from it; and as the fourth cover, a robe of cloud, floated up, it became adorned with rainbows. The air was yet dark, and full of dust raised by the high wind; but a gentle shower of rain came later, laying the dust, and all was clear again. All the inmates of the lodge now came out, and they marvelled to see what changes the storm had wrought: near their house a great canyon had been formed; the shape of the bluffs around had been changed, and solitary pillars of rock had been hewn by the winds.

(§360)"Surely all the anáye are now killed," said Estsánatlehi. "This storm must have destroyed them." But Ni'ltsi whispered into Nayénezgani's ear, "San (Old Age) still lives." The hero said then to his mother: "Where used Old Age to dwell?" His mother would not answer him, though he repeated his question four times. At last Ni'ltsi again whispered in his ear and said: "She lives in the mountains of Depe'ntsa."

(§361)Next morning he set out for the north, and when, after a long journey, he reached Depe'ntsa, he saw an old woman who came slowly toward him leaning on a staff. Her back was bent, her hair was white, and her face was deeply wrinkled. He knew this must be San. When they met he said: "Grandmother, I have come on a cruel errand. I have come to slay you." "Why would you slay me?" she said in a feeble voice, "I have never harmed any one. I hear that you have done great deeds in order that men might increase on the earth, but if you kill me there will be no increase of men; the boys will not grow up to become fathers; the worthless old men will not die; the people will stand still. It is well that people should grow old and pass away and give their places to the young. Let me live, and I shall help you to increase the people." "Grandmother, if you keep this promise I shall spare your life," said Nayénezgani, and he returned to his mother without a trophy.

(§362)When he got home Ni'ltsi whispered to him: "Hakáz Estsán (Cold Woman) still lives." Nayénezgani said to Estsánatlehi: "Mother, grandmother, where does Cold Woman dwell?" His mother would not answer him; but Ni'ltsi again whispered, saying: "Cold Woman lives high on the summits of Depe'ntsa, where the snow never melts."

(§363)Next day he went again to the north and climbed high among the peaks of Depe'ntsa, where no trees grow and where the snow lies white through all the summer. Here he found a lean old woman, sitting on the bare snow, without clothing, food, fire, or shelter. She shivered from head to foot, her teeth chattered, and her eyes streamed water. Among the drifting snows which whirled around her, a multitude of snow-buntings were playing; these were the couriers she sent out to announce the coming of a storm. "Grandmother," he said, "a cruel man I shall be. I am going to kill you, so that men may no more suffer and die by your hand," and he raised his knife-club to smite her. "You may kill me or let me live, as you will. I care not," she said to the hero; "but if you kill me it will always be hot, the land will dry up, the springs will cease to flow, the people will perish. You will do well to let me live. It will be better for your people." He paused and thought upon her words. He lowered the hand he had raised to strike her, saying: "You speak wisely, grandmother; I shall let you live." He turned around and went home.

(§364)When Nayénezgani got home from this journey, bearing no trophy, Wind again whispered in his ear and said: "Tieín (Poverty) still lives." He asked his mother where Poverty used to live, but she would not answer him. It was Wind who again informed him. "There are two, and they dwell at Dsildasdzi'ni."

(§365)He went to Dsildasdzi'ni next day and found there an old man and an old woman, who were filthy, clad in tattered garments, and had no goods in their house. "Grandmother, grandfather," he said, "a cruel man I shall be. I have come to kill you." "Do not kill us, my grandchild," said the old man: "it would not be well for the people, in days to come, if we were dead; then they would always wear the same clothes and never get anything new. If we live, the clothing will wear out and the people will make new and beautiful garments; they will gather goods and look handsome. Let us live and we will pull their old clothes to pieces for them." So he spared them and went home without a trophy.

(§366)The next journey was to seek Ditsi'n, Hunger, who lived, as Ni'ltsi told him, at Tlóhadaskaí, White Spot of Grass. At this place he found twelve of the Hunger People. Their chief was a big, fat man, although he had no food to eat but the little brown cactus. "I am going to be cruel," said Nayénezgani, "so that men may suffer no more the pangs of hunger and die no more of hunger." "Do not kill us," said the chief, "if you wish your people to increase and be happy in the days to come. We are your friends. If we die, the people will not care for food; they will never know the pleasure of cooking and eating nice things, and they will never care for the pleasures of the chase." So he spared also the Ditsi'n, and went home without a trophy.

(§367)When Nayénezgani came back from the home of Hunger, Ni'ltsi spoke to him no more of enemies that lived. The Slayer of the Alien Gods said to his mother: "I think all the anáye must be dead, for every one I meet now speaks to me as a relation; they say to me, 'my grandson,' 'my son,' 'my brother.'" Then he took off his armor--his knife, moccasins, leggings, shirt, and cap--and laid them in a pile; he put with them the various weapons which the Sun had given him, and he sang this song:-- Now Slayer of the Alien Gods arrives Here from the house made of the dark stone knives. From where the dark stone knives dangle on high, You have the treasures, holy one, not I. The Offspring of the Water now arrives, Here from the house made of the serrate knives. From where the serrate knives dangle on high, You have the treasures, holy one, not I. He who was Reared beneath the Earth arrives, Here from the house made of all kinds of knives. From where all kinds of knives dangle on high, You have the treasures, holy one, not I. The hero, Changing Grandchild, now arrives, Here from the house made of the yellow knives. From where the yellow knives dangle on high, You have the treasures, holy one, not I.

(§368)His song had scarcely ceased when they heard, in the far east, a loud voice singing this song:-- With Slayer of the Alien Gods I come, From the house made of dark stone knives I come, From where dark knives dangle on high I come, With implement of sacred rites I come, Dreadful to you. With Offspring of the Waters now I come, From the house made of serrate knives I come, From where the serrate knives hang high I come, With implement of sacred rites I come, Divine to you. With Reared beneath the Earth now do I come, From house of knives of every kind I come, Where knives of every kind hang high I come, With implement of sacred rites I come, Dreadful to you. Now with the Changing Grandchild here I come, From the house made of yellow knives I come, From where the yellow knives hang high I come, With implement of sacred rites I come, Dreadful to you.

(§369)As the voice came nearer and the song continued, Estsánatlehi said to the youths: "Put on quickly the clothes you usually wear, Tsóhanoai is coming to see us; be ready to receive him," and she left the lodge, that she might not hear them talk about the anáye.

(§370)When the god had greeted his children and taken a seat, he said to the elder brother: "My son, do you think you have slain all the anáye?" "Yes, father," replied the son, "I think I have killed all that should die." "Have you brought home trophies from the slain?" the father questioned again. "Yes, my father," was the reply; "I have brought back wing-feathers, and lights and hair and eyes, and other trophies of my enemies." "It is not well," said Tsóhanoai, "that the bodies of these great creatures should lie where they fell; I shall have them buried near the corpse of Yéitso." (He got the holy ones to carry the corpses to San Mateo and hide them under the blood of Yéitso, and this is the reason we do not see them lying all over the land now, but sometimes see them sticking out of the rocks.) He took the trophies and the armor and said: "These I shall carry back to my house in the east and keep them safe. If you ever need them again, come and get them." Promising to come back again in four days, and meet Estsánatlehi on the top of Tsolíhi, he departed.

(§371)At the end of four days Estsánatlehi went to the top of Tsolíhi and sat down on a rock. Tsóhanoai came, sat beside her, and sought to embrace her; but she avoided him, saying: "What do you mean by this? I want none of your embraces." "It means that I want you for my own," said the bearer of the Sun. "I want you to come to the west and make a home for me there." "But I do not wish to do so," said she. "What right have you to ask me?" "Have I not given your boys the weapons to slay the alien gods?" he inquired, and added: "I have done much for you: now you must reward me." She replied, "I never besought you to do this. You did not do it on my account; you did it of your own good will, and because your sons asked you." He urged another reason: "When Nayénezgani visited me in the east, he promised to give you to me." "What care I for his promise?" she exclaimed; "I am not bound by it. He has no right to speak for me." Thus four times she repulsed him. When he pleaded for the fifth time, saying: "Come to the west and make a home for me," she said: "Let me hear first all you have to promise me. You have a beautiful house in the east. I have never seen it, but I have heard how beautiful it is. I want a house just the same built for me in the west; I want to have it built floating on the water, away from the shore, so that in the future, when people increase, they will not annoy me with too many visits. I want all sorts of gems--white shell, turquoise, haliotis, jet, soapstone, agate, and redstone--planted around my house, so that they will grow and increase. Then I shall be lonely over there and shall want something to do, for my sons and my sister will not go with me. Give me animals to take along. Do all this for me and I shall go with you to the west." He promised all these things to her, and he made elk, buffalo, deer, long-tail deer, mountain sheep, jack-rabbits, and prairie-dogs to go with her.

(§372)When she started for her new home the Hadáhonestiddine` and the Hadáhonigedine`, two tribes of divine people, went with her and helped her to drive the animals, which were already numerous. They passed over the Tuintsá range at Péslitsi (Red Knife or Red Metal), and there they tramped the mountain down so that they formed a pass. They halted in Tsinlí valley to have a ceremony and a foot-race, and here the animals had become vastly more numerous. When they crossed Dsillizi'n (Black Mountain), the herd was so great that it tramped a deep pass whose bottom is almost on a level with the surrounding plain; at Black Mountain all the buffaloes broke from the herd and ran to the east; they never returned to Estsánatlehi and are in the east still. At Hostódito` the elks went to the east and they never returned. From time to time a few, but not all, of the antelope, deer, and other animals left the herd and wandered east. Four days after leaving Tsinlí valley they arrived at Dokoslíd (San Francisco Mountain), and here they stopped to perform another ceremony. What happened on the way from this mountain to the great water in the west, we do not know, but after a while Estsánatlehi arrived at the great water and went to dwell in her floating house beyond the shore. Here she still lives, and here the Sun visits her, when his journey is done, every day that he crosses the sky. But he does not go every day; on dark, stormy days he stays at home in the east and sends in his stead the serpents of lightning, who do mischief.

(§373)As he journeys toward the west, this is the song he sings:-- In my thoughts I approach, The Sun God approaches, Earth's end he approaches, Estsánatlehi's hearth approaches, In old age walking The beautiful trail. In my thoughts I approach, The Moon God approaches, Earth's end he approaches, Yolkaí Estsán's hearth approaches, In old age walking The beautiful trail.

(§374)When Estsánatlehi had departed, Nayénezgani and To`badzistsíni went, as their father had bidden them, to To`ye'tli, where two rivers join, in the valley of the San Juan; there they made their dwelling, there they are to this day, and there we sometimes still see their forms in the San Juan River. The Navahoes still go there to pray, but not for rain, or good crops, or increase of stock; only for success in war, and only the warriors go.

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Indigenous & Shamanic Traditions · Native American

Navaho Legends 3

The Origin Legend: The War Gods

MatthewsEnglish

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Navaho Legends 3The Origin Legend: The War Gods

Navaho Legends 3

Navaho Legends 3The Origin Legend: The War Gods

Navaho Legends 3