March, 1905. The Traditions of the Hopi — Voth. 131 



the ladder and thus kill himself. When they came to the village 

 they at once became the laughing stock of the people. 



The wife of one of the men of the village had also been among the 

 sorcerers, and she had had one of her legs substituted by the old, 

 wrinkled leg of an old man. She was ashamed and would not show 

 this to her husband and so kept it carefully covered up. When her 

 husband asked her what was the matter, she said that she had a 

 sore leg. Other similar instances occurred. 



The old leader of the sorcerers soon went to the Wfkolapi kiva, and 

 when he was about to descend the ladder his foot slipped and he fell 

 down the ladder. The shaft of the spindle which he held in his hand 

 pierced his throat and thus he died. After that nearly every day one 

 of these poor victims met with some accident and after a compara- 

 tively short time they were all dead. When the last one had died 

 the maiden again descended from the sky to the village where she 

 lived for quite a while. When she finally died she went to the sky 

 where she lived with the war chiefs again. 



36. WATERMELON-RIND WOMAN (HOLOKOP WUHTI).> 



Haliksai! The people were living in Orafbi. At the place where 

 now old Qom^hoiniva lives, lived a very pretty maiden, who refused 

 all offers of marriage. At the place where Sikdmoniwa at present 

 lives, lived a young man by the name of Piwftamni. He lived there 

 with his grandmother. He had derived his name from the fact that 

 he always patched his grandmother's wrappers and blankets. 



Many young men in the village asked for the hand of the pretty 

 maiden when she would shell com in the evening, and they would 

 come and woo her, but she refused all offers. Piwitamni's grand- 

 mother once told him to visit the maiden too, and ask for her hand 

 in marriage, but he said that she would certainly refuse him because 

 he was poor and his blanket was very much patched. One time she 

 gave him two little fawns and said to him: "When the maiden goes 

 south of the village to a certain rock, you go and meet her there and 

 take these two little fawns with you." So in the evening he did as 

 she had told him to do and went up to the maiden where she was 

 pulverizing some rock with a hard stone. "What are you doing?" 

 he asked her. "I am doing this way," she said, whereupon she 

 looked around and saw the two little fawns. ' ' What have you there ? ' ' 

 she asked. "They are my two little animals," he answered. She 

 was glad and said, "Give me these and I shall own them." So he 



• Told by Wikvaya (Oraibi). 



