| |
Now, the Sun hated the people on the earth, because they could never
look straight at her without screwing up their faces. She said to her
brother, the Moon, "My grandchildren are ugly; they grin all over their
faces when they look at me." But the Moon said, "I like my younger
brothers; I think they are very handsome "--because they always smiled
pleasantly when they saw him in the sky at night, for his rays were
milder.
The Sun was jealous and planned to kill all the people, so every day when
she got near her daughter's house she sent down such sultry rays that
there was a great fever and the people died by hundreds, until everyone
had lost some friend and there was fear that no one would be left. They
went for help to the Little Men, who said the only way to save themselves
was to kill the Sun.
The Little Men made medicine and changed two men to snakes, the
Spreading-adder and the Copperhead, and sent them to watch near the door
of the daughter of the Sun to bite the old Sun when she came next day.
They went together and bid near the house until the Sun came, but when the
Spreading-adder was about to spring, the bright light blinded him and he
could only spit out yellow slime, as he does to this day when he tries to
bite. She called him a nasty thing and went by into the house, and the
Copperhead crawled off without trying to do anything.
So the people still died from the heat, and they went to the Little Men a
second time for help. The Little Men made medicine again and changed one
man into the great Uktena and another into the Rattlesnake and sent them
to watch near the house and kill the old Sun when she came for dinner.
They made the Uktena very large, with horns on his head, and everyone
thought he would be sure to do the work, but the Rattlesnake was so quick
and eager that he got ahead and coiled up just outside the house, and when
the Sun's daughter opened the door to look out for her mother, he sprang
up and bit her and she fell dead in the doorway. He forgot to wait for the
old Sun, but went back to the people, and the Uktena was so very angry
that he went back, too.
Since then we pray to the rattlesnake and do not kill him, because he is
kind and never tries to bite if we do not disturb him. The Uktena grew
angrier all the time and very dangerous, so that if he even looked at a
man, that man's family would die. After a long time the people held a
council and decided that he was too dangerous to be with them, so they
sent him up to Gälûñ'lätï, and he is there now. The Spreading-adder, the
Copperhead, the Rattlesnake, and the Uktena were all men.
When the Sun found her daughter dead, she went into the house and grieved,
and the people did not die any more, but now the world was dark all the
time, because the Sun would not come out. They went again to the Little
Men, and these told them that if they wanted the Sun to come out again
they must bring back her daughter from Tsûsginâ'ï, the Ghost country, in
Us'ûñhi'yï, the Darkening land in the west. They chose seven men to go,
and gave each a sourwood rod a hand-breadth long.
The Little Men told them they must take a box with them, and when they got
to Tsûsginâ'ï they would find all the ghosts at a dance. They must stand
outside the circle, and when the young woman passed in the dance they must
strike her with the rods and she would fall to the ground. Then they must
put her into the box and bring her back to her mother, but they must be
very sure not to open the box, even a little way, until they were home
again.
They took the rods and a box and traveled seven days to the west until
they came to the Darkening land. There were a great many people there, and
they were having a dance just as if they were at home in the settlements.
The young woman was in the outside circle, and as she swung around to
where the seven men were standing, one struck her with his rod and she
turned her head and saw him.
As she came around the second time another touched her with his rod, and
then another and another, until at the seventh round she fell out of the
ring, and they put her into the box and closed the lid fast. The other
ghosts seemed never to notice what had happened.
They took up the box and started home toward the east. In a little while
the girl came to life again and begged to be let out of the box, but they
made no answer and went on. Soon she called again and said she was hungry,
but still they made no answer and went on.
After another while she spoke again and called for a drink and pleaded so
that it was very hard to listen to her, but the men who carried the box
said nothing and still went on. When at last they were very near home, she
called again and begged them to raise the lid just a little, because she
was smothering.
They were afraid she was really dying now, so they lifted the lid a little
to give her air, but as they did so there was a fluttering sound inside
and something flew past them into the thicket and they heard a redbird
cry, "kwish! kwish! kwish!" in the bushes. They shut down the lid and went
on again to the settlements, but when they got there and opened the box it
was empty.
So we know the Redbird is the daughter of the Sun, and if the men had kept
the box closed, as the Little Men told them to do, they would have brought
her home safely, and we could bring back our other friends also from the
Ghost country, but now when they die we can never bring them back.
The Sun had been glad when they started to the Ghost country, but when
they came back without her daughter she grieved and cried, "My daughter,
my daughter," and wept until her tears made a flood upon the earth, and
the people were afraid the world would be drowned. They held another
council, and sent their handsomest young men and women to amuse her so
that she would stop crying.
They danced before the Sun and sang their best songs, but for a long time
she kept her face covered and paid no attention, until at last the drummer
suddenly changed the song, when she lifted up her face, and was so pleased
at the sight that she forgot her grief and smiled.
Click here to Return to the Native
American Myth and Folklore contents page
|
