[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
faster than we could walk, for we have some distance to go."
He then reached into a little pouch which he was carrying and pulled forth something and threw it from
him, westward, across the country, and the maiden saw it was a rainbow like a path before them and she
was very afraid. But she had already started out with him and she could not turn back.
"Now let us get on," said the youth, and when they stepped upon it, the rainbow drew itself up to the other
end and when they landed they found that they were close to the Little Colorado River. From there again
the youth threw his magic in the same direction. The rainbow appeared and they mounted it again and this
time they landed on the south side of Palotsmo, Sunset Crater, or the home of the Kana-a Kachina. Here
there was a little cloud hiding itself among the pine trees and he was a Kana-a Kachina and he spied the
Kachina youth from the San Francisco Peaks taking a Hopi girl with him. The maiden was weary and
begged to take a rest and asked the youth to wait a little where he was, for her.
She walked away some distance and presently she heard a voice which seemed to come from under her
feet. The
p. 107
voice said, "Be careful, so you may not step on me." And the maiden stopped and looked about her but
could not see anyone. It was the Spider Woman who spoke to her, and as the maiden moved to one side,
she saw the light down in a little kiva where the good Spider Grandmother lived. She asked the maiden to
come in and when she entered the Grandmother said to her in deep sympathy, "My dear child, I have to tell
you because you do not know, being only a child. Down in my heart I sympathize with you very deeply.
You are out on your first trip and it may be your last trip, and you may not ever see your father and mother
again. We cannot hesitate very long. Now I am going with you and I am prepared to go. If we win or lose I
am willing to die with you. The youth is a Kachina from San Francisco Peaks and when you reach his
home the Kachina people will give you some very difficult tasks to perform, and without my help you
would surely fail. Quickly, put me in your ear and let us be on our way." The little Spider Woman was so
invisible inside of the Hopi maiden's ear that she could not be detected by anyone, even a Kachina youth.
When the maiden joined the boy again, he threw the rainbow up towards the Peaks and they mounted upon
it to take another leap. Now all this time the Little Cloud who was hiding in the pines, knew what was
going on, for this little cloud was one of the Kana-a Kachinas who lived in the Sunset Crater. This time the
youth and the maiden landed right close to a great kiva far up in the Peaks and they descended from the
rainbow and walked up to it.
The youth approached the opening and calling in, he said, "Be courteous to this guest who is my
companion, for I am come and am not alone."
And a voice called out from the kiva, "Come in, come right in."
They went in and there they found one old lone man sitting by the fire in the fire-place. The old man
begged the young maiden to sit down, and getting up he spread out his own wildcat skin robe for her to sit
down upon. Now the whole kiva was very quiet and after she had seated herself she noticed that the youth
had disappeared and she did not know where he had gone.
The old man was slowly poking into the fire trying to get more light and he called out saying, "Mother of
the House and you, young maiden, come forth. Some stranger has come and she has entered into our kiva."
All this time the Spider Grandmother was whispering
p. 108
her advice into the ear of the Hopi maiden and telling her what she should do.
Now from the north side of the kiva a handsome woman came forth. She seemed suspicious, although she
acted with great politeness. The grandmother of the Hopi maiden had already told her of the character of
this woman called Hahai-i Wu-uti.
Now the maidens of the house came forth also, and they served her with food and when she was through
they cleared it away.
By this time it was quite late in the night, so the old man said, "It is time to go bed," and the handsome
Kachina woman, Hahai-i, then opened the door on the north side of the kiva and she asked the maiden to
enter and she told her that this was the room where she was to sleep. Now this was the place where the
North Wind lived, and as Hahai-i was leaving the room, she said to the maiden, "It is quite cold in here but
you will have to do the best you can to get through the night."
Just as soon as the door was closed the Grandmother hastily pulled out some turkey feathers from the
bosom of her dress and putting one down on the ground, she asked the girl to lie down on top of it. Then
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]