THE SEEKING OF THE MAIDENS OF CORN BY THE RAVEN

"Stay

yourfeet with patience," saidthefathers. For

some amongst them

heard a

Raven who was

wandering aboutthe edgeofthe

town

at break of

day

seeking food inthe dirt

and

refuse,

and

they bethought themselves. " Look,

now

! ThereisHeavy-nose,

whose

beak neverfails to find thesubstance of seeditself,

however

solittleorwellbiddenitbe.

Surelyhe well

must know

then,ofthemaiden-mothersthereof. Let us callhim." So theybade thewarrior-priestsgoforthoncemore. Forth totheriver side

went

thepriests.

"We

carry noprickingquills,"said they,raising theirhandsallweaponless, "and,O,Black-bandedfather,

we

seek your aid; for look now, the mother-maidens of seed

whose

substance^isthe food

ahke

of thy people

and

ourpeople,havefled

away

whither neitherourgrandfather the Eagle, nor yethisyoungerbrother the Falcon, can trace them;

and we

pray thee to aid us or give us counsel of guidance."

"TTrt.' ka!"cried theRaven.

"Nay, now; much

too

hungiy am

^{I to}

go abroad fasting on business,for ye and thy kind.

Ye

are stingy

!

Here have

Ibeensince ever perching time, striving to win atbroat- ful,but ye pick thybones

and

lick thy bowlstoo cleanfor thelike of that, besure^!"

"

But come

in then,thoupoor grandfather. Surely

we

willgive thee food toeat;yea, and acigarette to

smoke

withall due observance^!

"

"

Say

yeso ?" saidtheRaven,ruffling his collar

and

openinghis

mouth

so wide with alusty Ictcala-Jca, thatwell hemight

have

swallowedhis

cusHiNol

CORN MAIDENS SOUGHT BY THE RAVEN 439 owu

head.

"Go

ye before, then," siiid he, and lie followed

them

closely into thecourt of dancers.

Not

ill to look

upon was

he, for

upon

his shoulders were bands of cotton, white,

and

his

back was

bhie

and

gleamingasthetresses of a

maiden

dancerinsunlight.

When

thewarriors

had

spoken tothefath- ers, the master priest of them, rising,

came

forward and greeted the Raven, bidding

him

sit

and

smoke.

"Ila! there is corn in this, else

why

the stalk thereof!" said the

Raven

as, taking the cane cigarette of the far-spaces, he noticed the joint thereof. Therefore, forthwith, as he

had

seen the master do, so did he, only

more

greedily.

He

sucked in such a throatful of the smoke, fire and ^all, that it well nigh strangled him,

and

he coughed and

grew

giddy and sick to such a pass that thesmoke, all hot

and

stinging,

went

through every part of him,

and

filled all his feathers,

making

even his

brown

eyes bluer

and

blackerin rings! It is not to be

wondered

at, this blueness of flesh,blackness of dress

and

tearful- ness,yea

and

skinniness, of eye which

we

see in his kindred today.

Nay, nor is it matterof wonder, either, that forall that, they are as greedyof corn-food asever, for look

now —

^nosooner

^had

^theold

Raven

recovered than he espiedoneofthe ears ofcorn half hidden under the mantle-covers of thetrays.

He

leapt from his sitting i)lace laughing

(astheyalwaysdo

when

they find anything, theseravens), then catch- ing

up

the ear ofcorn,he

made

ofl' witli it over tlie headsof the people

and

the tops of the houses, saying,

"Ha!

ha! in this wise

and

in no other

meseems

will yefind thy Seed maidens!'"

Nevertheless,after

some

absence,

became

back, saying,

"A

sharp eye haveIforthe tleshofthemaidens, butoftheir breathing-beings,

who

mightseethem, yedolts,save

by

help of theFatherof

Dawn

Misthim-

self,

whose

breath

makes

^others of breath seen as itself;"

whereupon

he flew

away

again kawkling.

THE BESEECHING OF PAfYATUMA, AND

HIS

REVERSAL OF THE PEOPLE'S

EVIL.

"Truly now, truly." said theelders to one another;

"but how

shall

we

^find,

and how

prevail on our father

Paiyatuma

to aid us,

when

so grievous ^is ours the fault?

Which

same, moreover, he

warned

us of inthe old time."

Of

a sudden, for the sun

was

rising, they heard

Paiyatuma

in his daylight

mood

and ^hltmnan. Thoughtlessand loud,uncouthofmouth,

was

he, as hetook his

way

along the outskirts of the village. Joking

was

he, as today joke fearlessly of the fearful, his children the

Newe-

kwe, for all his words

and

deeds were reversals (ii/at'i^hlna penaire) of themselves

and

of his sacred being. Thus,

when

quickly the warrior priestswere sped to meet him,

and had

given to

him

theirgreetings and messages, he sat

him down

on a heap of vile refuse, saying that he

was

about to

make

festival thereof, and could in no wise l)e

440

^ZUJil

CREATION MYTHS.

^[eth.ann.13 disturbed.

"Why come

ye not?" said he,

"cowards and

f'onowers of the people!"

"Nay,

but

we

are Priests of the

Bow,

the twain

who

lead them, father,

and

we-do come."

"Nay, but ye

do

not come!

"

"Yea, verily

we

do come, and to seek thy favor, asking that ye

accompany

us to thecounciloftheelders," said thetwo priests.

"_StillI say yenay,

and

that yearechildren, all;

and

that^ifye did come, ye could not

summon

me,

and

that if ye did

summon

me, go would1not,forsooth, toacounciloflittleChildren;nay,notI^!" said he, rising

and

preparing forthwith tofollow them, as itwere, butimmedi- atelytaking the lead, and striding rudely into the presence of the fathers

whom

hegreetednoisily

and

with laughter likeonedistraught,

and

withoutdignityorshame.

"My

poor littlechildren," saidheto theagedpriests

and

the white haired matrons,

"good

the night to ye all" (albeit in full dawning);

"ye

farehappily, I see, which peri)lexes

me

with sorrow."

"

Comest

thou,father?" saidthechief])riest; "pity thou our

shame and

sorrow."

"Fatheryourself; nay, not I!"

"Father," said thechief priest oncemore, "verily

we

areguilty, but

lo^!yet the

more

sad from nuich seeking in vain for our maidens the mothers of seed;

and we

have

summoned

thee to beseech the light of thy

wisdom

and favor, earnestly, O, father, notwithstanding our faultwhich thou thyself

warned

usin olden time to beware, yet do

we

beseech thee!"

"Ha! how

good that Ifind ye sohappy, guileless, arrogant

and

so littleneeding of

my

counsel

and

helping."

"But we

beseech the light of thy favor, (), father, and aid in the finding of ourbeautifulmaidens."

"

Oh

thatis all, is it!

But why

^find that which is notlost, orsum-

mon

those

who

will not

come! Even

iftheywerelost

and would

come, look

now

^{! I}wouldnotgo^{to seek}them.

And

ifI

went

toseek

them

^I could notfind them,

and

if I found

them

and called

them

they

would

nothearken and follow,

and

even iftheywould I should bid

them

^bide

in

Summerland

ifthey were there,

and

tell

them

yecared

naught

for theirpresence, havingtoo preciouslycherished them."

"Lo,

now!"

said he, looking

down

and at thefathers; "I seethat thine old ones, those

whom

yefollow, areall wise, while ye have been foolish

and

^negligent, notpreparing sacredly the plumesof the spaces, norsetting

them

ⁱⁿorder before theuplifted terrace,nor yet herebehind thewindinglines of the seed trays and thewalkers

by

them," said he ashestooped topluck

up

the very plumes he

had

said were not there

and

withal in front of the reclining terrace and thestraight rows of patient sitters.

One —

^{the yellow, that of the north}

—

^{he took,}

^and

breathedthereon. "Evil, all evil and ^illmade," quoth he,shaking his

ccsHiNG)

BESEECHING OF PAIYATUMA. 441

bead over its sacred completeness

and

beanty.

Then

he took

up

another, that of thewest, then the red of the south

and

thewhite of the east.

And

gathering

them

in his

arms

he said, turning to go,

"

Now

verily

we

approach."

As

hethus turned to go,

Pekwina

the master. Speakerof the Sun, who,all wise, well

knew

the

meauing

of these lying speeches, arose,

and

takingtwo plumes,the

banded

wing-tip feathers ofthe turkey, the right

and

the left, shifted

them

as he

advanced

toward Paiyatuma, taking theleftone inhisright

hand and

the rightoneinhisleft hand.

And

Hearing

Paiyatuma

he stroked

him

with the tipsof thefeathers, upward, breathingfrom

them

each time.

Four

times he stroked him,

and

then laid the feathers on his lips.

And Paiyatuma

spat

upon them and

breathed

upon

them,

and

all thepeople spat

by

his sign of

command,

uprising.

Then

the master-priesttook therightfeatherinhis right

hand and

theleftfeather inhisleft,

and

casting abroadthe lying spittle, himself spatlightly

and

blew

upon

thefeathers,aiidwith

them

stroked the ^lips, then the person, of Paiyatuma, this time

downward,

breathing

upon

them.

And

^thishedid four times,

and

thefaceofPai-

yatuma grew

grave,

and

helifted himself

upward

^;

and when

he

had

so uplifted himself, lo! he

was

aged

and

grand

and

straight, as isa tall treeshorn

by

lightnings.

Then

placing the

plume wands

in the

hands

ofthefather,he took the

banded

plumesfrom

him and

breathedinfrom them,

and

out on the

hands

of the father,

and

folding his

arms

held upright in each

baud

the feather pertainingthereto.

Then

he spake:

"Thanks

^thisday,thoufatherofthei)eo])le.

Thou

artwise ofthought

and

good ofheart,divining that

my

evil ofspeech

and

actwere butthe assumptionof theevils in thychildren who,

had

they notturnedfalse togood

and

fickleoftheirduties

commanded, had

elsebeenfollowers of thee as are thefawns unerringly followers of the deerinthemountains

and

plains;

and whose

^falsity, thereforelyiugly, as ^itwere, I did take unto myself

and

spit forth that they

might

be ^tiu'ned untothee yet againand set straightin the pathsof right

commandment. From

out of me, haply,thou hast

now withdrawn

the breath ofreversal,

and

from out of

me

the speech of ^lying,even asthy children Iiavespatforth,

by

my

^will

^and

^{example, their}

^wronging

^of

commandments.

"Thanks

this day;

and

therefore, in that ye, O, ye fathers, have kept thine hearts steadfastly right

and

straightof inclination, there- forewill

we show

untoyethelightofourfavor.

"VerilyI will

summon

from

Summerland,

for there methinks they bide,once

more

thebeautifulmaidens,thatyelookonce

more upon them and make

oflering inplumesof sacrifice mieetforthem,

and

that they

consummate

the seedfulness of the seed of seeds, presenting

them

all perfected, to ye; for lost are theyas dwellers

amongst

ye, even as I

warned

yeaforetime they

would

be, if not held precious of person.

"Disperse,therefore, fromthisthy custom

when

ye ^shall

have

com- pletedasisdue

and

meetthe song-lines

and

sacred speeches,

and

^tlie

442

ZUNI

CREATION MYTHS.

^(etu.ann.13 making- ready therebyof the offerings of sacred plume-

wands

^(feV/A-i- nawe) and sacred water (hyaline). Choose then, four youths, so

young

thattliey

have

neither

known

nor sinned aughtof theflesh,

and

beingof the Seed and

Water

kinties are

meet

tobearto the Shrine of the Middle, (tailed Hepatinane, these offerings of good

meaning and

influenceto theEarth-mother, the Maidensof Corn,

and

the Beloved of the AncientSpaces.

Them

four ye shall accompany, ye fathers of the people, they in thy midst, bearing the things precious, tlie elder Master-priest of the

Bow

leading,

and

the other following, the elder before, theyoungerbehind.

Ye

^shall

walk

aboutthe shrinefour times, onceforeach region

and

the breath and season thereof,

and

setwithin the shrine

and

round about^itwith perfect speech

and

in order, as ye

would

regulate the plantings of grains, these signs of thine hearts

and

ofthe custom ye cherish. Rest ye contentedly thereafter until,

withthefinalmoon's fullgrowing,yeawaitour return-coming.

Ye

and the others, fathers of this custom of the seed, shall then await us as forfar-comingrunnersbearingmessagesof import, waityethusinthe sacred gathering place of thenorth, which ^is thefirst, and which ye

call

H6in

Kiwitsinan. Thereshallyebideour

coming

ingood

and

per- fect council,thatye^receive perfectlythe perfected seed of seeds."

Again

the father bentlow,

and Paiyatuma

breathed

upon

him,

and

saying

"Thus much

it is finished ereI depart," turned

him

about and sped

away

so fleetlythatnone

saw him when

they

went

forth to see.