March, 1905. The Traditions of the Hopi — Voth. 109 



com together all day again as they had done formerly. In the evening 

 they went after water again to the same spring where they had gotten 

 water before. While they were filling their jugs the Yellow Corn- 

 Ear maiden noticed that her friend was dipping her water with a 

 peculiar little vessel (which Spider Woman had given to her) and that 

 the water, as it was running into the jug, looked very beautiful, show- 

 ing the different colors of the rainbow. She said to her friend : "What 

 have you there? Let me see that little cup." "Yes," her friend 

 said, "that is a very good cup, and the water tastes well from it, too." 

 Hereupon she drank from it and handed it to her friend. She ad- 

 mired it very much and also drank from it. Immediately she fell 

 down and was turned into a bull snake. "There! You remain that 

 way now too," the Blue Corn-Ear maiden said; "you tried to destroy 

 me, but you will now have to remain that way because no one will 

 help you and restore you." She then laughed, picked up her jug and 

 returned to the village. 



The bull snake left the place and wandered about. It often gets 

 hungry, but as it cannot run very fast it has difficulty in getting its 

 prey, hence it captures its prey by charming and drawing it towards 

 it by its powerful inhalations, which is still frequently observed by 

 the Hopi. It lives on little rabbits, mice, birds, squirrels, etc., which 

 it charms by its inhalations and then kills them. 



This maiden in the form of a bull snake later on went to the village 

 once and there was killed by her own parents, who of course did not 

 know that they had killed their own daughter. Hereupon the maiden, 

 or rather her soul, was liberated and could then go to the Skeleton 

 House. Ever since some of the sorcerers (P6pwaktu) will occasion- 

 ally leave their graves in the form of bull snakes. Bull snakes are 

 often seen coming out of certain graves still wound in the yucca leaves 

 with which the corpse was tied up when laid away. If such a bull 

 snake in which a sorcerer is supposed to have entered happens to be 

 killed, the soul of the sorcerer living in it is set free and then goes to 

 the Skeleton House (Mdski). 



28. A JOURNEY TO THE SKELETON HOUSE.' 



In Orafbi the people were living, and over there at H6nletsn6ma's 

 house there lived a youth. He was always sitting at the edge of the 

 mesa early in the morning. He was always thinking about that 

 graveyard there. "Is it true that some one is really living there?" 

 he thought. "Is it true that if some one dies he goes somewhere?" 



• Told by Qfiydwaima (Oraibi) . 



