Zuñi Fetiches | Page 9

threw the Deer to the ground, and fastened his teeth in his throat.
The corral was opened on the western side. Forth rushed a Mountain Sheep.
"Coyote, the corral has been opened for thee. Forth comes thy game, seize him!" The Coyote dashed swiftly forward. The Mountain Sheep dodged him and ran off toward the west. The Coyote crazily ran about yelping and barking after his game, but the Mountain Sheep bounded from rock to rock and was soon far away. Still the Coyote rushed crazily about, until the Mountain Lion commanded him to be quiet. But the Coyote smelled the blood of the Deer and was beside himself with hunger. Then the Mountain Lion said to him disdainfully, Satisfy thy hunger on the blood that I have spilled, for to-day thou hast missed thy game; and thus ever will thy descendants like thee blunder in the chase. As thou this day satisfiest thy hunger, so also by the blood that the hunter spills or the flesh that he throws away shall thy descendants forever have being."
[Footnote 1: The chief god of the Ka[']-ka, now represented by masks, and the richest costuming known to the Zu?is, which are worn during the winter ceremonials of the tribe.]
[Footnote 2: The Sá-la-mo-pi-a are monsters with round heads, long snouts, huge feathered necks, and human bodies. They are supposed to live beneath the waters, to come forth or enter snout foremost. They also play an important part in the Ka'-ka or sacred dances of winter.]
[Footnote 3: Monster human bird forms, the warrior chiefs of Pá-u-ti-wa, the representatives of which visit Zu?i, from their supposed western homes in certain springs, each New Year. They are more than twelve feet high, and are carried swiftly about by persons concealed under their dresses.]
The corral was opened on the southern side. An Antelope sprang forth. With bounds less strong than those of the Mountain Lion, but nimbler, the Wild Cat seized him and threw him to the ground.
The corral was opened on the eastern side. Forth ran the ó-ho-li (or albino antelope). The Wolf seized and threw him. The Jack Rabbit was let out. The Eagle poised himself for a moment, then swooped upon him. The Cotton Tail came forth. The Prey Mole waited in his hole and seized him; the Wood Rat, and the Falcon made him his prey; the Mouse, and the Ground Owl quickly caught him.
While the We-ma-á-ha-i were thus satisfying their hunger, the game animals began to escape through the breaks in the corral. Forth through the northern door rushed the Buffalo, the great Elk, and the Deer, and toward the north the Mountain Lion, and the yellow Sá-la-mo-pi-a swiftly followed and herded them, to the world where stands the yellow mountain, below the great northern ocean.
Out through the western gap rushed the Mountain Sheep, herded and driven by the Coyote and the blue Sá-la-mo-pi-a, toward the great western ocean, where stands the ancient blue mountain.
Out through the southern gap rushed the Antelope, herded and driven by the Wild Cat and the red Sá-la-mo-pi-a, toward the great land of summer, where stands the ancient red mountain.
Out through the eastern gap rushed the ó-ho-li, herded and driven by the Wolf and the white Sá-la-mo-pi-a, toward where "they say" is the eastern ocean, the "Ocean of day", wherein stands the ancient white mountain.
Forth rushed in all directions the Jack Rabbit, the Cotton Tail, the Bats, and the Mice, and the Eagle, the Falcon, and the Ground Owl circled high above, toward the great "Sky ocean," above which stands the ancient mountain of many colors, and they drove them over all the earth, that from their homes in the air they could watch them in all places; and the Sá-la-mo-pi-a of many colors rose and assisted them.
Into the earth burrowed the Rabbits, the Bats, and the Mice, from the sight of the Eagle, the Falcon, and the Ground Owl, but the Prey Mole and the black Sá-la-mo-pi-a thither followed them toward the four caverns (wombs) of earth, beneath which stands the ancient black mountain.
Then the earth and winds were filled with rumbling from the feet of the departing animals, and the Snail People saw that their game was escaping; hence the world was filled with the wars of the Ka[']-ka, the Snail People, and the children of men.
Thus were let loose the game animals of the world. Hence the Buffalo, the Great Elk, and the largest Deer are found mostly in the north, where they are ever pursued by the great Mountain Lion; but with them escaped other animals, and so not alone in the north are the Buffalo, the Great Elk, and the Deer found.
Among the mountains and the ca?ons of the west are found the Mountain Sheep, pursued by the Coyote; but with them escaped many other