American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends) (41 page)

The old woman soon came back to life, slung the sticks on her back, and trudged homeward with her wood. Arriving at her house, she banged on the ladder several times in rapid succession. Once more the girl quickly emerged and shouted: “Thanks! You have come back?”

“Yes, I’ve come home,” said the grandmother.

“All right, come on up.” With that the young girl pulled up the fuel wood. Then the old woman climbed up, untied the sticks, and stacked them in a pile. As before, the girl had already prepared a meal ahead of time, so the two ate supper. When they were done with their meal, the old woman showed no sign of sleepiness. She was not the least tired, so grandmother and granddaughter sat around until night fell. When the two were ready to go to bed, the girl once more spread their bedrolls out. But as they lay down together, the old woman showed no intention to touch the girl.

The girl was restless. Finally she turned to her grandmother and asked: “Why did you copulate with me last night, grandmother?”

“Oh dear, that can’t be so, for I have no penis,” the old woman exclaimed.

“But you certainly did make love to me last night,” the girl retorted.

“According to you, a woman grows a penis when she reaches old age.”

“Never in my life did I have intercourse with you,” the old woman replied, vehemently denying the accusation.

The young girl just lay there.

“Oh, my poor grandchild, it must have been that evil old man who had the gall to do that to you. He came up to me, knocked me out, and then carried my bundle of wood here.” The old woman was referring to Masaaw. “It could only have been him. He’s such a nasty one that he made up this story as an excuse to make love to you. I certainly don’t have a penis,” the grandmother insisted. “But Masaaw is a man and thus surely possesses one. That’s why he copulated with you. Oh, my poor, poor grandchild!” the old woman kept muttering out of sympathy for her granddaughter.

This was how Masaaw came to sleep with another female, and here the short story ends.

{
Hopi
}

Aliksa‘i.
People were living at Orayvi. Not far from the village, at Matsupatsa, was Masaaw’s home, where he lived with his grandmother. Every night when the villagers went to bed, he inspected the area around Orayvi. In this way he guarded the Orayvis.

One day when he was returning from his inspection tour around the village, he heard something just as he reached his house. It sounded as if someone were having a good time, and the shouting and laughing seemed to be coming from Orayvi. So he went a little distance toward Orayvi and listened once more. Evidently some people were making a great deal of noise in Orayvi. As soon as he realized this, he returned to his house. He entered and blurted out to his grandmother, “Some people at Orayvi really seem to be very happy.”

“That’s for sure, and I am aware of it. Boys, girls, men, and women play
sosotukpi
there in the kiva every night. It’s getting so bad that they go to bed late. At first they used to go to bed right away, but now it’s usually very late. So I am well aware of what is going on.”

Thereupon Masaaw replied: “I’d very much like to be there together with the others one of these days. I have no idea how to play
sosotukpi.”

“That’s out of the question,” his grandmother replied. “You can’t do that. They are afraid of you, so don’t count on anything like that!” Her words made it clear that she would not give him permission to go under any circumstances.

From that day on Masaaw kept mulling it over as he made his nightly rounds in Orayvi. One day when he returned home, he said to his grandmother, “It’s always on my mind to visit Orayvi when I’m inspecting the area there. So tomorrow, after I make the rounds, I will go there.”

“Well, if you recall, I forbade you to do that. On the other hand, I have a hunch that you don’t intend to obey me. So why don’t you go. But if you do go, be sure to cover yourself tightly with your blanket and don’t let it slip off, for the people are very much afraid of you. For once, listen to me and don’t reveal your face!”

Now at last he had her consent. Masaaw started looking forward to the following evening. And once more he made his inspection rounds. But as soon as he got home, he grabbed his blanket and headed toward Orayvi. Once again his grandmother warned him, “You must not show your face under any circumstances. Take just a quick look at them and then come back.”

He arrived at Orayvi and, sure enough, in one kiva they were playing
sosotukpi.
Since there were a lot of boys and girls on the kiva roof, he did not climb up on the roof but stood at the corner of a house and watched. The people were in a happy mood. There was shouting and laughter in the kiva.

After he had stood there for a long time, the people watching from the roof one by one got tired and departed. Eventually only one person remained on the top of the kiva. Thereupon Masaaw thought: “I’ll go up there and peek in. Then I can see for myself what the game is like. I have no idea why they are carrying on so happily.”

Saying this, he climbed up to the kiva. He lay flat on the top of the roof alongside the one remaining person. He kept his head tightly covered and let only his eyes show a little bit. Then he started watching the players below. They were enjoying themselves tremendously.

After a while his neighbor took a look at him. Now, Masaaw had been having such a good time watching the players that he stopped paying much attention to his blanket. He had uncovered his head and when the person lying next to him saw his face, the poor soul passed outright away. Masaaw was by now just as excited as the others down in the kiva. He was completely unaware that he had dropped his blanket. In the end he got so worked up that he didn’t even notice that he had entered the kiva.

But someone had apparently heard him come in and announced to the others: “A stranger has come in.” However, the players paid no attention to him. Again and again the man tried to point it out to them. Finally they heard him. Their game stopped immediately and then all of them started running toward the northern wall base of the kiva.

Masaaw, too, ran there with them. He had hardly reached them when they started running back to the southern base. And again he ran with them. Thus they kept running back and forth. They headed for the northern part, but he ran there, too. They tried to run away from him, but he kept running along beside them.

According to him it was awfully spooky. Because he, too, had become scared, he kept fleeing back and forth with the others. After a while all the players had fainted and he stood there all by himself. Next to him people lay scattered on the floor.

He ran out, snatched up his blanket, and ran all the way home. He entered the house so fast that he more or less tumbled in. Excited and nearly out of his mind, he gasped: “How horrible! How dreadful!”

“What is it?” his grandmother asked.

“Well, I was in Orayvi, and I entered the kiva where they were playing and competing with each other. All of a sudden something happened and all the players started dashing back and forth in the kiva. It was dreadful for me! Let me tell you, I will never go back there. Something white hovered over the men’s heads. It frightened me out of my wits. I really was scared stiff of that white thing, whatever it was. It was awful!”

Thereupon his grandmother spoke: “So you entered the kiva?”

“Yes, the people were having such a good time that I went in. And then, when I had been in there only for a few minutes, they all went crazy and started running from it, wherever it was.”

“It was quite the contrary,” his grandmother interjected. “They were afraid of you because you look like a skeleton—and so they took to their heels when you scared them. That’s why you must never go there again. What you said scared you were only the white eagle feathers they wear in their hair. They can’t do you any harm.” With these explanations his grandmother chided him.

In the kiva, meanwhile, as soon as somebody gained consciousness, he just got up and ran away home. Thus those boys and girls and men and women who tempted Masaaw to Orayvi got frightened to death. Again did they gamble in the kiva at night.

From that day on Masaaw guarded Orayvi again. I suppose he is still making his inspection tour there somewhere. And there the story ends.

{
Hoh and Quileute
}