Flying with the Eagle, Racing the Great Bear Page 6
White-Painted Woman agreed, and the two were married. But the Sun was not able to stay with her. His work was to bring light to all of the world.
“I must leave you,” he said, “but you will have a child. He will be called Child of Water. You must hide him from the monsters. They know that he will destroy them when he is old enough.”
Soon, White-Painted Woman gave birth to a boy. She named him Child of Water and hid him inside the wickiup in a hole under a basket in the corner. As soon as she hid him, Owl-Man Giant came to the door.
“I smell a child in there,” the giant said. “I am hungry. Give him to me.”
“There is no child in here,” White-Painted Woman said. And though Owl-Man Giant sniffed and searched, he could not find Child of Water. And so he went away.
One after another, each of the other monsters came to the wickiup seeking to eat the child, but White-Painted Woman kept him hidden and they went away.
“My son,” White Painted Woman said, “someday when you are grown, you will be very powerful. Then you will rid us of these monsters.”
The boy grew quickly. One day he went to White-Painted Woman. “Mother,” he said, “I am ready now to kill the monsters. Make a bow and arrows for me.”
“First you must learn to hunt deer with your uncle, Slayer of Enemies,” White-Painted Woman said. She made him a small wooden bow and arrows from the long grass.
Child of Water took the bow and arrows and followed his uncle. Slayer of Enemies led him along the canyons to the places where the deer could be found.
“Stay close to me,” Slayer of Enemies said. “There are many monsters here in the canyons. Not only does Owl-Man Giant live nearby, there is also the Monster Elk. It is even bigger than Owl-Man Giant, and it tramples people before it eats them.”
Child of Water listened carefully to his uncle and did as he was told. Soon they were able to creep close enough to a deer, and Child of Water shot his arrow. It struck the deer and killed it. But before they could reach the deer, Owl-Man Giant was there.
“This meat is mine,” the giant said.
“My arrow killed the deer, so it is mine,” said Child of Water. “You can have it only if you beat me in a contest.”
“I agree,” said Owl-Man Giant. “But I will set the terms of this contest. Each of us will shoot four arrows at the other. You may go first.”
“No,” said Child of Water, “since I challenged you, it is right that I should allow you to go first.”
Then Owl-Man Giant stepped back and picked up his bow, which was made from a huge tree. His four arrows were great logs with sharpened points. As he drew back his bow, lightning flashed all around them and a turquoise stone appeared at the feet of Child of Water.
“Pick me up,” the turquoise stone said to the young man. “I will be your shield.”
Child of Water looked to his uncle. Slayer of Enemies motioned for his nephew to pick up the stone. Child of Water held the turquoise stone before him. Owl-Man Giant fired his first arrow straight at the young man, but before it reached him, it rose up and went over Child of Water’s head. Owl-Man Giant fired his second arrow, but before it reached the young man, it fell short. His third arrow went to the left, his fourth arrow to the right.
“Now,” Child of Water said, “it is my turn.”
Owl-Man Giant looked around for a stone that would protect him. He picked up a huge gray rock. Child of Water’s first arrow split the rock and then knocked off the first coat of flint on the giant’s armor. Owl-Man Giant picked up a bigger rock. But Child of Water’s second arrow split that rock also and knocked away the next layer. Owl-Man Giant looked about for another rock but could not find one before Child of Water shot his third arrow, which removed the third layer from the giant’s armor. Then, quickly, Child of Water fired his fourth arrow. It pierced the last coat of the giant’s armor, went to his heart, and killed him.
Slayer of Enemies and Child of Water went back to their wickiup and told White-Painted Woman all that happened.
“I do not believe it,” White-Painted Woman said. “How can it be?”
When Child of Water showed his mother the pieces of flint from the giant’s armor, she danced and sang with happiness.
“My son has come of age,” she sang. “Now he will kill all the monsters that have troubled us for so long.”
But Child of Water was not yet ready to dance and rejoice.
“Mother,” he said, “I must go and kill the Monster Elk. It has been killing and eating the People for a long time.”
Then Child of Water took his bow and arrows and set out. It was easy to find the trail of the Monster Elk. It was so huge and its hooves were so sharp that it left tracks in the stone. Some of those tracks can still be found in the stones to this day. Child of Water’s plan was simple. He would shoot the great elk with his arrows. But when he stopped to sit down, he noticed that he had stepped close to a gopher hole and filled its entrance with dirt.
“Grandmother,” Child of Water said, speaking to the gopher as an elder, “forgive me for blocking the door to your house.” He leaned over and cleaned the dirt from the entrance to the gopher hole. When he had finished, the gopher stuck her head out of the hole.
“Grandson,” said the gopher, “you have shown me great respect by clearing the doorway of my house and speaking to me as your grandmother. So I wish to warn you about the one you are hunting. The hair of the Monster Elk is so thick that even your arrows will not pierce it.”
“What can I do?” said Child of Water. “This monster is eating the People. It will not be possible for human beings to live if I do not kill it.”
“I will help you,” the gopher said. “I know where the Monster Elk sleeps.”
The gopher tunneled under the earth until she was beneath the place where the Monster Elk slept. She dug her hole right up to the monster’s side, and she gnawed the hair away from the skin above its heart. There were four layers of hair, and the gopher had to work hard to remove all of them, but finally she was done. Then she went back underground to the place where Child of Water waited.
“There is only one spot where you can kill the horned monster,” she said. “Shoot for the place over its heart where I chewed away all the hair.”
“Grandmother,” Child of Water said, “when I have killed the monster, you can be the first one to touch its body. That honor should be yours.”
Then Child of Water continued on the trail until he was near the place where the monster slept. As soon as he was close enough, he shouted. The Monster Elk woke and jumped to its feet. Its horns were tall as trees. When it saw Child of Water, it bellowed so loudly that the ground shook. Child of Water drew back his arrow and let go. The arrow went straight to its target and struck the Monster Elk in its heart. The monster fell dead.
As soon as it fell, the gopher ran up to touch it. The blood of the horned monster made her face and her paws dark. They are still dark to this day to remind people how she helped Child of Water.
When Child of Water came home, he called to his mother. “I have killed the Monster Elk.”
“I do not believe it,” said White-Painted Woman. “How can that be?”
Child of Water showed her the skin of the Monster Elk, and she rejoiced.
“My son,” she said, “you have destroyed the monsters that have made this world unsafe for the People. The People to come will always remember you.”
To this day, just as White-Painted Woman said, the Apache People remember Child of Water’s great deeds, which made it safe for human beings to live on the earth. In honor of those deeds, they even made a special dance, to be danced whenever the People have to go to war. In it, the men play the part of Child of Water, and the women take the part of White-Painted Woman. It is a dance which reminds the People that when they go to fight, it should only be to protect
the People from those who would destroy them.
How the Hero Twins Found Their Father
Diné (Navajo)
One day long ago, Changing Woman was feeling lonely. She left her hogan and began to walk around. At last she came to a small waterfall. It was peaceful there, and she fell asleep with the sound of its water. As she slept, she dreamed that someone was there with her. When she woke, she saw footprints that had been burned into the stone. Those prints led to her from the east and went away from her to the west. So she realized that Sun had chosen her to be his wife.
In time she gave birth to two boys. She called them Older Twin and Younger Twin. Soon, however, the monsters who roamed the world in those days began to come to her hogan.
The giant Yeitso came to the hogan and loomed over it like a wall of stone. His skin was all covered with scales of flint, and he was taller than the hills. “Whose tracks are those around your hogan?” Yeitso rumbled. “They look like the tracks made by children at play.”
“No,” Changing Woman said, “I made those tracks myself with my hands. Because I am so lonely, I like to pretend that I have visitors.”
That satisfied the giant and he went on his way. But other monsters continued to come and ask if there were children to be eaten. Finally, to discourage them and to keep her twin boys safe, Changing Woman grew cactus around the hogan. To this day, there is still cactus all over the lands where the Diné live.
As the boys grew up, they asked their mother one question again and again: “Who is our father?”
But she would never answer.
One day, when the boys were out together hunting for deer, Older Twin saw a tiny hold in the ground. Smoke was rising from it.
“Brother,” he said, “look.”
Younger Twin leaned over and touched the hole. As soon as he did so, a voice came from within.
“Grandchildren,” it said, “come inside.” Then the hole grew larger, and the twins went down into it on a ladder of thread that reached to the bottom. There, at the bottom of the hole, was an old lady. It was Spider Woman. She was the oldest of any beings on the earth, and those who respected her called her Grandmother. The walls of her cave were covered with beautiful feathers from all of the birds.
“Where are you going, grandchildren?” Spider Woman said.
“We are out hunting,” Older Twin said.
“We want to find our father,” said Younger Twin. “There are many monsters in the world, and they are troubling everyone. If we find our father, he may be able to help us destroy them.”
“Your father is Johonaa’ei, the Sun,” Spider Woman said. “I will help you find him.”
Then Spider Woman gave each of the boys an eagle feather. “Keep these feathers,” she said. “They will protect you. Now you must travel very far. Your journey will be hard, but my messenger Wind will go with you and show the way. First you must pass through Loka’aa Adigishii, the Cutting Reeds. If you remember the prayers I will teach you, you will pass through safely. But if you do not, the Cutting Reeds will kill you.”
“Grandmother,” Older Twin said, “we will remember what you tell us.”
Grandmother Spider told them about the other dangers they would face on their way to the house of their father, the Sun. They would come to Seit’aad, Moving Sand. If they forgot their prayers and did not follow the right path, the sands would shift beneath them and then bury them. They would have to cross Nahodits’o, Swallowing Wash. It looked like the dry bed of a stream, but when people entered it, waters would rush in and they would drown. They would have to pass through Tse’Aheeninidil, Narrow Canyon, whose walls close in on travelers and crush them. In every place, if they took the wrong path or forgot to speak the right words, they would perish.
The twins were not afraid. Wind showed them the way, and they set out on their journey. Before long they came to the place where the reeds were as sharp as obsidian knives. All around them they could see the bare bones of those who had tried to pass through and were killed by the reeds. Older Twin spoke the words they had been taught to the Cutting Reeds. “Loka’aa Adigishii,” he said, speaking the powerful name of the Cutting Reeds, “allow us to pass.”
The reeds were pleased to hear their name spoken. They parted, and holding tight to the eagle feathers, the twins passed through.
On they traveled until they came to Moving Sand. Now Younger Twin spoke to the sands.
“Moving Sand,” he said, “allow us to pass.”
The sands stopped shifting and the boys passed through. Wind showed them the way as they traveled, and soon they came to Swallowing Wash. This time Older Twin spoke.
“Swallowing Wash,” he said, “allow us to pass.” Then the waters of Swallowing Wash became quiet and the boys passed through, following Wind, who showed them the way.
All went well until they came to Narrow Canyon. As they walked the trail into the canyon, both of the boys became afraid. The canyon walls started to close in on them, and they could not remember the right words to speak. But Wind blew on the eagle feathers and lifted them up high into the air. An eagle circled about them as they rose into the sky. The boys held on to their feathers and, flying with the eagle, they were carried to safety.
At last they came to the ocean. There two huge Water Striders waited for them. The twins greeted the Water Striders as Grandmother Spider had taught them.
“Talkaa Dijidii,” the boys said, speaking the powerful names of the Water Striders, “we ask you to help us get to our father.”
“We will carry you,” said the Water Striders.
Older Twin and Younger Twin climbed on the backs of the insects, which carried them across the wide ocean to the land of Sun.
When they reached the house of the Sun, their father was not there. He had gone to travel all around the world as he did each day. Only a beautiful woman sat in Sun’s hogan. She was the wife of Sun.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“We have come to see our father, Sun,” Older Twin said.
“I believe your words are true, but my husband will not believe you,” Sun’s wife said. “Others have come here seeking power and claiming to be his children. He will try to kill you.” Then she looked around the hogan. On the east wall was a white curtain of cloud. On the south wall was a blue curtain of cloud. “I will hide you from him,” she said. She wrapped the boys in the white cloud so they could not be seen.
When Sun came home that night, the ground shook beneath his feet.
“Who has entered my hogan?” he asked.
But his wife would not answer him.
Sun began to look. He shook out each of the curtains. When he shook the last one, the white cloud on the east, the boys fell out on the floor.
“Father,” Older Twin said, “we have come for you. We need your help to destroy the earth’s monsters.”
Sun did not believe the boys were his children.
“I must test you,” he said. “If you are my sons, these knives will not kill you.” Then he picked up the boys and threw them against the flint blades on the eastern side of his hogan. But the two boys held tight to their eagle feathers and flew above the blades.
“If you are my children,” Sun said, “you can sleep in the ocean without freezing.” Then he put the boys in the cold water and left them. Wind called to his friend the beaver, who came and warmed the boys so they did not freeze. When Sun came for them, they were alive and well. But he still did not believe them.
“I will make a sweat bath for you,” Sun said. He called to his daughter and asked her to prepare a sweat house. The daughter did as Sun said. However, she had watched the boys pass the tests Sun gave them. She believed that the boys were his children, and decided to help them. When she made the sweat house, she dug a small hole at the back and covered it with a sheet of darkness and white shells.
As soon as the stones for the sweat bath were red-hot, Sun placed the boys in the lodge and covered it. The boys climbed into the pit in the back.
“Are you hot?” Sun asked.
“No,” both boys answered.
Four times he asked, and four times they said no. Then Sun began to pour water on the hot stones in the middle of the lodge. The whole sweat house filled with scalding-hot steam. It was so hot that no human being could survive.
Sun waited a time before he spoke again. “Are you hot now?” he asked.
“Yes,” both boys answered, “but the heat is pleasant.”
At last Sun began to suspect that the boys were his children. But he prepared one more test. He filled a pipe with tobacco so strong that it would kill a normal person.
“We will smoke together,” Sun said.
The boys agreed. Four times the pipe was passed around, but the boys held on to their eagle feathers, and the tobacco did not harm them. Now Sun knew they were indeed his sons.
“My daughter,” he said, “prepare a bath for my sons.” Then Older Twin and Younger Twin were bathed four times, first in a basket made of white beads, then in a basket made of turquoise, next in a basket made of white shells, and last in a basket made of black obsidian. Finally they were given new clothing.
“My sons,” Johonaa’ei, the Sun, said, “I will give you the things you need to destroy the monsters.” He reached up and took down two bows and two quivers of arrows from above his door. “These arrows are powerful weapons. They are the lightning that strikes crooked and the lightning that strikes straight. If I give them to you, you will surely kill the monsters. But when you have succeeded, you must return these bows and arrows.”
“Thank you, Father,” the twins said as they accepted the weapons.
“I must now give you new names,” Sun said. “You who are older, your name is Monster Slayer. You who are younger, your name is now Born of Water because it was near the waterfall that I met your mother.”