March, 1905. The Traditions of the Hopi — Voth. 169 



around a number of times, showing himself to the Navaho, who were 

 very much astonished, and then flew on to the village of Orafbi 

 returning the child to his home, where he lived forever afterwards. 



51. MUYINGWA, TWO CHILDREN, AND THE HUMMING-BIRD.' 



A long time ago the Orafbi had nothing to eat as it did not rain 

 for about four or five years. The first year the com became large 

 enough so that some com -ears just began to ripen, then the frost 

 came and killed it. The next year the ears were just forming when 

 the frost again killed the com. The third y^ar the ears did not even 

 begin to form when the stalks were killed by frost. The fourth year 

 it remained very small. The people by this time had eaten all the 

 com they had saved from previous years and some began to move 

 away. Some of them, however, still planted some the fifth year, but 

 the drought was so great that the com withered soon after it had 

 come out of the ground. 



They all left then, trying to find something to eat with other 

 people. Only a little boy and his sister were left in the village. One 

 time the little brother made a little bird for his sister from the pith 

 of the sunflower stalk and gave it to her to play with. While he 

 went away to hunt something else for her she played with the little 

 bird, throwing it upwards several times, and all at once it became a 

 living Humming-bird and flew away. When the boy returned he 

 asked her what she had done with her little bird. She told him that 

 it had flown away, at r/hich he was very much surprised. The chil- 

 dren had hardly anything to eat. The next morning the little bird 

 came back, flew into the house where the children stayed and entered 

 an opening in one of the walls. "My little bird has come back!" 

 the little girl said. "Where is it?" the boy asked. "Why, it went 

 into that opening there." The boy put his hand into tihe opening 

 and found that it seemed to be very large. The bird he could not 

 find, but he found a little com -ear which the bird had apparently 

 placed there. At this the children were very glad. They broke it 

 in two, roasted it, and ate it. Soon the bird came out of the opening 

 and flew away again. The next day it returned with a larger corn- 

 ear which the children ate, and so it returned for four days, always 

 bringing a larger corn-ear for the children. On the fifth day it came 

 back but did not bring any com with it. When the boy reached 

 into the opening he drew forth the little bird, but in the form in 

 which he had made it. He held it in his hand and said: "You are 



' Told by Qoydwaima (Oraibi). 



