BCSSBLL] NURSERY TALES 247 



THE TIIIUSTY QUAILS 



A quail had more than 20 chililren and witli tht'm she wandered 

 over the wliole country in search of water and could not find it. It 

 was very hot and they were all crying, " Wliere can we get some water? 

 Wliere can we get some water?" but for a long time they could find 

 none. At last, away in the north, under a mesquite tree, they saw 

 a pond of water, but it was very muddy and not fit to drink. But 

 they had been wandering so many days and were so tired that they 

 st()|)pe(I in tlie shade, and by and by they went down one by one 

 and drank the water, although it was so bad. But when they had 

 all had enough it made them sick and they died. 



THE NAUGHTY fJRANDCHILDREN 



An old woman liad two bright grandchildren. wShe ground wheat 

 and corn every morning to make porridge for them. One day as 

 she put the olla on the fire outside the house, she told the children 

 not to fight for fear they would upset the water. But they soon 

 began quarreling, for they did not mind as well as they should, 

 and so spilled the water, and the grandmother had to whip them. 

 They became angry antl said they were going away. She tried to 

 make them imderstand wiiy she had to whip them, but they would 

 not listen and ran away. She ran after them, but could not catch up. 

 She heanl them whistling and followed the sound from place to j)lace, 

 until finally the oldest boy said, "I will turn into a saguaro, so I 

 shall last forever, and bear fruit every sunmier." And the younger 

 said, "Well, I will turn into a palo verde and stand there forever. 

 These mountains are so bare and have nothing on them but rocks, 

 so I will make them green." The old woman heartl the cactus wliis- 

 tling and recognized the voice of her granilson; so she went up to it 

 and tried to take it into her arms, and the thorns kilknl lier. 



And that is how the saguaro and palo verde came to be. 



Abstracts of Myths 



the creation myth 



Out of primeval darkness spirit of Earth Doctor developed. He 

 first created creosote bush from dust. Next created black ants and 

 termites; these caused the world to develop and Earth Doctor cre- 

 ated the sk}'. Then made gray spider and commanded it to spin 

 web connecting edges of earth and sky. Threw blocks of ice into 

 the sky for sun and moon and s])ray of water for stars; large stars 

 made from magic crystal, and milky way by walking stick dipped in 

 ashes. All living things then created and human beings from images 

 of clay. Earth became overpopulated, as there was no death yet, 



