Part 12

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),[114] a chain-lightning arrow, a sheet-lightning arrow, a sunbeam arrow, a rainbow arrow, and a great stone knife or knife club (peshál).[115] "These are what we want," said the boys. They put on the clothes of pes, and streaks of lightning shot from every joint.[116]

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.[117] 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,[86] 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.[118]

322. They journeyed on till they came to Yágahoka, the sky-hole, which is in the centre of the sky.[119] 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.[120] 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.[121] 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.[122] 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.[123] 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!"[124] "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.[125] 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."[126] 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).[127]

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.[128] 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.[129]

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.[130]

330. When their rejoicings were done, Nayénezgani said to his mother: "Where does Téelget[131] 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,[132] 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.[133]

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.[134]

335. When Nayénezgani came home again, he was received with great rejoicing, for his mother had again begun to fear he would never more return. "Where have you been, my son, and what have you done since you have been gone?" she queried. "I have been to Bikehalzi'n and I have slain Téelget," he replied. "Ah, speak not thus, my son," she said; "he is too powerful for you to talk thus lightly about him. If he knew what you said he might seek you out and kill you." "I have no fear of him," said her son. "Here is his blood, and here is a piece of his liver. Do you not now believe I have slain him?" Then he said: "Mother, grandmother, tell me, where do the Tse`na'hale[135] dwell?" "They dwell at Tsé`bitaï (Winged Rock),"[136] she answered, "but do not venture near them; they are fierce and strong."

336. Next morning early he stole away, taking with him the piece of bowel filled with blood. He climbed the range of mountains where the hill of Tsúskai rises, and travelled on till he came to a place where two great snakes lay. Since that day these snakes have been changed into stone. He walked along the back of one of the snakes, and then he stepped from one snake to the other and went out on the plain that stretched to the east of the mountains, until he came close to Tsé`bitaï, which is a great black rock that looks like a bird. While he was walking along he heard a tremendous rushing sound overhead, like the sound of a whirlwind, and, looking up, he saw a creature of great size, something like an eagle in form, flying toward him from the east. It was the male Tse`na'hale. The warrior had barely time to cast himself prone on the ground when Tse`na'hale swooped over him. Thus four times did the monster swoop at him, coming each time from a different direction. Three times Nayénezgani escaped; but the fourth time, flying from the north, the monster seized him in his talons and bore him off to Tsé`bitaï.

337. There is a broad, level ledge on one side of Tsé`bitaï, where the monster reared his young; he let the hero drop on this ledge, as was his custom to do with his victims, and perched on a pinnacle above. This fall had killed all others who had dropped there; but Nayénezgani was preserved by the life-feather, the gift of Spider Woman, which he still kept. When the warrior fell he cut open the bag of bowel that he carried and allowed the blood of Téelget to flow out over the rock, so that the anáye might think he was killed. The two young approached to devour the body of the warrior, but he said "Sh!" at them. They stopped and cried up to their father: "This thing is not dead; it says 'Sh!' at us." "That is only air escaping from the body," said the father; "Never mind, but eat it." Then he flew away in search of other prey. When the old bird was gone, Nayénezgani hid himself behind the young ones and asked them, "When will your father come back, and where will he sit when he comes?" They answered: "He will return when we have a he-rain,[137] and he will perch on yonder point" (indicating a rock close by on the right). Then he inquired: "When will your mother return, and where will she sit?" "She will come when we have a she-rain,[137] and will sit on yonder point" (indicating a crag on the left). He had not waited long when drops of rain began to fall, the thunder rolled, lightning flashed, the male Tse`na'hale returned and perched on the rock which the young had pointed out. Then Nayénezgani hurled a lightning arrow and the monster tumbled to the foot of Winged Rock dead. After a while rain fell again, but there was neither thunder nor lightning with it. While it still poured, there fell upon the ledge the body of a Pueblo woman, covered with fine clothes and ornamented with ear pendants and necklaces of beautiful shells and turquoise. Nayénezgani looked up and beheld the female Tse`na'hale soaring overhead (she preyed only on women, the male only on men). A moment later she glided down, and was just about to light on her favorite crag, when Nayénezgani hurled another lightning arrow and sent her body down to the plain to join that of her mate.

338. The young ones now began to cry, and they said to the warrior: "Will you slay us, too?" "Cease your wailing," he cried. "Had you grown up here you would have been things of evil; you would have lived only to destroy my people; but I shall now make of you something that will be of use in the days to come when men increase in the land." He seized the elder and said to it, "You shall furnish plumes for men to use in their rites, and bones for whistles." He swung the fledgling back and forth four times; as he did so it began to change into a beautiful bird with strong wings, and it said: "Suk, suk, suk, suk." Then he threw it high in the air. It spread its pinions and soared out of sight, an eagle. To the younger he said: "In the days to come men will listen to your voice to know what will be their future: sometimes you will tell the truth; sometimes you will lie." He swung it back and forth, and as he did so its head grew large and round; its eyes grew big; it began to say, "Uwú, uwú, uwú, uwú," and it became an owl. Then he threw it into a hole in the side of the cliff and said: "This shall be your home."[138]

339. As he had nothing more to do at Tsé`bitaï, he determined to go home, but he soon found that there was no way for him to descend the rock; nothing but a winged creature could reach or leave the ledge on which he stood. The sun was about half way down to the horizon when he observed the Bat Woman walking along near the base of the cliff. "Grandmother," he called aloud, "come hither and take me down." "Tse'dani,"[139] she answered, and hid behind a point of rock. Again she came in view, and again he called her; but she gave him the same reply and hid herself again. Three times were these acts performed and these words said. When she appeared for the fourth time and he begged her to carry him down, he added: "I will give you the feathers of the Tse`na'hale if you will take me off this rock." When she heard this she approached the base of the rock, and soon disappeared under the ledge where he stood. Presently he heard a strange flapping sound,[140] and a voice calling to him: "Shut your eyes and go back, for you must not see how I ascend." He did as he was bidden, and soon after the Bat Woman stood beside him. "Get into this basket, and I will carry you down," she demanded. He looked at the large carrying-basket which she bore on her back, and observed that it hung on strings as thin as the strings of a spider's web. "Grandmother," he said, "I fear to enter your basket; the strings are too thin." "Have no fear," she replied; "I often carry a whole deer in this basket: the strings are strong enough to bear you." Still he hesitated, and still she assured him. The fourth time that he expressed his fear she said: "Fill the basket with stones and you will see that I speak the truth." He did as he was bidden, and she danced around with the loaded basket on her back; but the strings did not break, though they twanged like bowstrings. When he entered the basket she bade him keep his eyes shut till they reached the bottom of the cliff, as he must not see how she managed to descend. He shut his eyes, and soon felt himself gradually going down; but he heard again the strange flapping against the rock, which so excited his curiosity that he opened his eyes. Instantly he began to fall with dangerous rapidity, and the flapping stopped; she struck him with her stick and bade him shut his eyes. Again he felt himself slowly descending, and the flapping against the rock began. Three times more he disobeyed her, but the last time they were near the bottom of the cliff, and both fell to the ground unhurt.