Then they turned to watch the sand paintings. Brilliantly hued, they told the legends of the Navaho brought down from the Far North--Dsilyi in the house of the Snakes, who taught him the prayer-stick mysteries; Dsilyi in the Rainbow Hogan of the Butterfly Woman, who gave him command of the Rain Lightnings; Dsilyi in the cave of the Sacred Mountain, where the Four Panthers taught him the secrets of the cultivated plants. It all became intelligible to Sid as he studied out the symbolical figures, while one of the medicine men explained him the legends. Later came the young men of the tribe, to look in and study the paintings. It was as good as the Iliad was to the Greeks, thought Sid,--an easily read symbolism of Navaho heroes and gods that was being passed down to the younger generation in this way. Then every one trooped out to the inclosure around the brush pile. Just at dusk the qcali (medicine chanter) stationed himself to one side and began the chant of the legend of Dsilyi. Immediately torches were set to the wood, and great roaring flames forty feet high swept up into the night. The heat was so intense that the boys had to shield their faces with their buckskin gloves, but into the narrow ring between them and the fire dashed a band of twenty young men headed by Niltci. They were daubed all over with white clay, but it seemed beyond the power of human endurance for anyone to remain there a moment. Each youth bore in his hand a wand tipped with eagle down, representing snowflakes. Writhing and twisting, they advanced to the flames, their object being to burn the down to balls of red cinders, while the qcali chanted the story of how the gods changed the snowflakes to mud balls and pelted the Utes with them when Dsilyi was surrounded and nearly overpowered by his enemies. The performers lashed their way toward the fire, their long hair singed and smoking, their eyelids scorched and their faces streaming sweat. Niltci wriggled along the ground like a lizard, his prayer stick advanced toward the fire, his back tortured by the blistering heat. So eager was he to do his part well that he overdid it, for, when the others arose, whirling their wands with red-hot cinders at the ends, his was burned off and showed only a tiny point of fire. At this a grunt of disapproval ran around the spectators and accusing fingers pointed at him. Then, at a certain measure in the chant all the wands blossomed into snowballs again, a clever trick done by a string through a hole near the end and a second ball of down concealed in the hand. All but Niltci’s! His wand end was burned off, string and all. A shout of rage greeted him as he stood irresolute, the others dancing about, waving their prayer sticks. Then the performers ran out of the inclosure, and the first of the legend plays was finished.