CHILDREN'S STORIES 



Magpietail Boy and His Wife 



Ngkuth? ngkuth^ke tcexgmQn' wa tatha Piwweltha 'i?aith3. 

 Thapa Kwiatciaxw^'autco" han 'gliuphil 'Itsolekwin' 'gntho. 

 'Ifiolekwin TcahanQ^ 'gn 'gngwia. Hele yin phanna Yawatcake'ai * 

 'ingtataki. M^ntcoho 'Itsolekwin nOwcii tcihokwil Tcahon? 

 'i?utce?am§nipiu m^hu. Rwiatciaxvv^'autco wingtcifsa'epa men 

 thoian? tcipiu'aihQn tcokwil 'glium^'e wi tcuta wewe thatha 

 'gwan'e 'gnakatcatiam^. 'lEsolekwin tholan'aih^n ngngpupuh^n wa 

 tiupha'cii Tcahan^ 'intatakin'au Tcahan^ 'gn ?utcem§hu. 

 Hepux^nnQn ngpikkial^n thattha wanhu, han hepux§nn?n hiaulon 

 hattg 'op^ygm^n wanhu. How^n 'gsantha'e Rwiatciaxw^'autco 

 ngthia'ai tcilsa'epa tcuta 'ghutsamni^nng 'gnakatcatiam^. Wi 

 tcokwil 'gm^m^'e nowai 'gnakatca. 



M^ntcoho wepa Kwiatciaxw^'autco wetgn tijhu: "Xgmmg tcannoj 

 tiyaitclpiupo, xgmmg tcokwil'a 'gnhulan^ nowai 'osowalehu. Tcanngi 

 tihotci, kwipaingtha takui'aihQn ■ taitclpiawetci. Yon thanate 

 'owalek^nng kewatta he taim^tci wa tcoho m^n'aux^n. 



M^ntcoho tci^ai nQwian? tholkemm^n 'gliulan^ pa m^kiah^n 

 'gmmiahu. "'Qnlolen?, tcukwe 'gkuhan hattg 'gkuE^nng ngwan." 

 Kwiatciaxw^'autco m^n mgtcl'gpiawehu, han tohu: "Hoxui, 'gntiu- 

 lan§, hattg ngthia'aiyo tatcrgmai,hokeyo hattg takuh§." Ho tgm^n 

 mgkui. KwipQmotha kui mgtcipiawem^n. Ngtcihglg'gmhu. 



'(jlliulan?, 'Ifsolekwin, mallan mgp^xia'gnhu. L?vit?n ngngn 

 pgtcutai ngkankupupu'gn, 'Itsolekwin 'ikankwelpan. M^ntcoho 

 Rwiatciaxw^'autco 'ghulan^ 'o'gmmiam^n tgtalia: "Malla, hattg 

 'eh^ng 'gpanhu." Rwiatoiaxw^'autco tcuJai ket'a 'gngpgpu'e t^pQ. 



' It is customary to begin a Picuris myth with the words: Ngkuth^ 

 ngkuth^ke (t^n) tcexgm^n (or with the emphatic repetition of 

 ngkuthQ omitted), "long ago, long ago therefore accordingly," 

 which may be freely rendered as "Long ago then" or "Once upon a 

 time." 



- One of the Com Maidens of the cardinal colors; cp. White Corn 

 Woman, wife of S^ijgerepove'eng, pp. 313, 323. 



' One of the secret societies of Picuris. 



* For the Picuris place names the writer has in preparation a 

 separate treatise. 

 296 



