Page:Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society V.djvu/147

Rh where do the Tse‘nă′hale135 dwell?" "They dwell at Tsé‘bĭtaĭ (Winged Rock),"136 she answered, "but do not venture near them; they are fierce and strong."

336. Next morning early he stole away, taking with him the piece of bowel filled with blood. He climbed the range of mountains where the hill of Tsúskai rises, and travelled on till he came to a place where two great snakes lay. Since that day these snakes have been changed into stone. He walked along the back of one of the snakes, and then he stepped from one snake to the other and went out on the plain that stretched to the east of the mountains, until he came close to Tsé‘bĭtaĭ, which is a great black rock that looks like a bird. While he was walking along he heard a tremendous rushing sound overhead, like the sound of a whirlwind, and, looking up, he saw a creature of great size, something like an eagle in form, flying toward him from the east. It was the male Tse‘nă′hale. The warrior had barely time to cast himself prone on the ground when Tse‘nă′hale swooped over him. Thus four times did the monster swoop at him, coming each time from a different direction. Three times Nayénĕzgani escaped; but the fourth time, flying from the north, the monster seized him in his talons and bore him off to Tsé‘bĭtaĭ.

337. There is a broad, level ledge on one side of Tsé‘bĭtaĭ, where the monster reared his young; he let the hero drop on this ledge, as was his custom to do with his victims, and perched on a pinnacle above. This fall had killed all others who had dropped there; but Nayénĕzgani was preserved by the life-feather, the gift of Spider Woman, which he still kept. When the warrior fell he cut open the bag of bowel that he carried and allowed the blood of Téelgĕt to flow out over the rock so that the anáye might think he was killed. The two young approached to devour the body of the warrior, but he said "Sh!" at them. They stopped and cried up to their father: "This thing is not dead; it says 'Sh!' at us." "That is only air escaping from the body," said the father; "Never mind, but eat it." Then he flew away in search of other prey. When the old bird was gone, Nayénĕzgani hid himself behind the young ones and asked them, "When will your father come back, and where will he sit when he comes?" They answered: "He will return when we have a he-rain,137 and he will perch on yonder point" (indicating a rock close by on the right). Then he inquired: "When will your mother return, and where will she sit?" "She will come when we have a she-rain,137 and will sit on yonder point" (indicating a crag on the left. He had not waited long when drops of rain began to fall, the thunder rolled, lightning flashed, the male Tse‘nă′hale returned and perched on the rock which the young had pointed out. Then