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A group of Indians were playing the hand game in a certain house, and were
having a good time. They had stationed a woman outside to watch for
Tse-nahaha. After a while, she heard Tse'nahaha coming. He was talking to
himself and singing. The woman tried to warn the people that the giant was
coming, but they did not hear her. Tse'nahaha was getting closer. The
woman became frightened, and jumped into a little pit and pulled a basket
over herself.
She heard Tse'nahaha come up and stop. He stooped down and crawled into
the doorway of the house and looked around. Twice he made a sucking noise
with his lips. When he looked at anyone in the house, that person died at
once. The others noticed the dead ones staring and said, "What are you
people looking at_ What is there worth looking at_"" Then they, too looked
at Tse'nahaha and died. Soon they were all dead. Only a little baby was
left inside, sleeping. Tse'nahaha went away.
The baby commenced to cry. It was almost daylight now. The baby crawled
over to the people and pushed them over. Then the woman left the pit and
went inside, but she did not look at the dead people. She called the baby,
and said, "Let's go away." She set the house on fire, took the baby, and
went away. With her digging-stick, she dug kani'd while the baby slept and
ate.
As she was living this way, another giant, Pu'wihi came along. Pu'wihi
picked up the baby, holding his head between his second and third fingers,
and carried him over to the woman. He said to her, "Where are you from_"
She answered, "I am from that house over there--the one with the smoke
coming out. There are many men in it." The giant went toward the house.
The woman was very frightened and tried to hide. She set her digging-stick
in a clump of wild oats and vaulted as far as she could.
When the giant came back from the house he did not see her. He looked all
around. He was furious and twisted his nose in anger. He found the wild
oats and saw the mark of her stick. This showed in which direction she had
jumped, and he went to a big flat rock. She had gone under this rock, and
was crying.
The giant took the rock away and uncovered her, but it was dark by this
time. He said, "I'll get her in the morning. Now I'll make a fire and
grind up this baby." He found a large flat rock, ground up the baby, and
ate him. He was having a fine time and lay there, singing. The woman could
hear him. After a while he went to sleep. Then the woman got up and made
another jump toward the east, to the house of her aunt.
When the woman came to her aunt's house, she was safe. The giant could not
see the mark of her stick to find out which way she had jumped because
this time she had jumped from a rock.
The Paiute Indians come from this woman.
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