The Myths of the North American IndiansSpence, Lewis
History
The Myths of the North American Indians
Spence, Lewis
Indian mythology -- North America; Indians of North America -- Folklore
When he arrived at the spot he discovered that he had caught the
intruder, who was, indeed, no less a personage than the Sun. He ran
home at the top of his speed to acquaint his grandmother with the news.
He did not know what he had caught, so his grandmother bade him seek
the forest once more and find out. On returning he saw that the Sun
was in a violent passion.
"How dare you snare me!" he cried angrily. "Come hither and untie me
at once!"
The Rabbit advanced cautiously, and circled round him in abject terror.
At last he clucked his head and, running in, cut the bowstring which
secured the Sun with his knife. The Sun immediately soared upward, and
was quickly lost to sight. And the reason why the hair between the
Rabbit's shoulders is yellow is that he was scorched there by the great
heat which came from the Sun-god when he loosed him.
How the Rabbit Slew the Devouring Hill
In the long ago there existed a hill of ogre-like propensities which
drew people into its mouth and devoured them. The Rabbit's grandmother
warned him not to approach it upon any account.
But the Rabbit was rash, and the very fact that he had been warned
against the vicinity made him all the more anxious to visit it. So he
went to the hill, and cried mockingly: "Pahe-Wathahuni, draw me into
your mouth! Come, devour me!"
But Pahe-Wathahuni knew the Rabbit, so he took no notice of him.
Shortly afterward a hunting-party came that way, and Pahe-Wathahuni
opened his mouth, so that they took it to be a great cavern, and
entered. The Rabbit, waiting his chance, pressed in behind them. But
when {303} he reached Pahe-Wathahuni's stomach the monster felt that
something disagreed with him, and he vomited the Rabbit up.
[Illustration: "Once more the Rabbit entered, disguised as a man"]
Later in the day another hunting-party appeared, and Pahe-Wathahuni
again opened his capacious gullet. The hunters entered unwittingly,
and were devoured. And once more the Rabbit entered, disguised as a
man by magic art. This time the cannibal hill did not eject him.
Imprisoned in the monster's entrails, he saw in the distance the
whitened bones of folk who had been devoured, the still undigested
bodies of others, and some who were yet alive.
Mocking Pahe-Wathahuni, the Rabbit said: "Why do you not eat? You
should have eaten that very fat heart." And, seizing his knife, he
made as if to devour it. At this Pahe-Wathahuni set up a dismal
howling; but the Rabbit merely mocked him, and slit the heart in twain.
At this the hill split asunder, and all the folk who had been
imprisoned within it went out again, stretched their arms to the blue
sky, and hailed the Rabbit as their deliverer; for it was
Pahe-Wathahuni's heart that had been sundered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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