FOLK TALES 



Folk tales (pa'ishie') ^' are told only in winter, from October on, 

 because they say snakes will bite you in punishment if you tell stories 

 in summer. If you tell stories to strangers your life will be shortened. 



People waU tell stories at night until cockcrow. Then if a long 

 stoiy is underway, some one may say, "This far we are going to see 

 who remembers tomorrow night.' 



Yunyaa hinawinihi tomda gimminakin. 



This far stop we are going to-raorrow in the night. 



Nato'ai (houses), which will be translated into English as "long 

 ago," or natoyai, "in the house," is the introductory word or phrase 

 for any tale. The listeners respond Ha! as they do also whenever the 

 narrator pauses in his tale. Kaw'fe'kyem, you have a long tail now, 

 or, the tail is on you, is the closing nominee, of which the conclusion 

 is implicit: You have now to see if you can take it off, by telling a 

 tale in your turn.""* 



Although the tales recorded are from but a few informants and are 

 probably not an exhaustive list, the collection is unusually interesting 

 as expressing both daily and ritual habits and points of view. It 

 shows, too, a composite character, of varied provenience — Spanish, 

 Keresan, and Tanoan. 



EMERGENCE AND OTHEE ORIGIN TALES 



1. The Emergence 



The emergence myth proper or as a whole appeared to be imknown 

 to Juan Abeita, who said it was known only to the Fathers; but he was 

 able to give a tale fragment, also a prayer-text fragment, and to recite 

 the names of certain stopping places and, of course, the names in 

 Isletan of the towns where the peoples have since remained after 

 coming out from the springs shipapy and kaihrebe'ai. As for Lucinda, 

 she said it was a "wonderfid story, how they came up and traveled, 

 but I am not allowed to tell it. If I did, I might be dead before I 

 got home." 



3* Pal, from the beginning, i. e., from when the people came up; shie', talk. Compare the Zufii expres- 

 sion "From the beginning talk," for the emergence tale. See p. 220, where paye is given as a term for grand- 

 father, connoting age. Compare Jemez, Parsons, 16: 136, for the terra for folk tale meaning old person's 

 talk. See also p. 209, n. 36 for pa'i in the term for the house of the medicine society, and p. 269, n. 69, 

 where pSi is translated everlasting. Na'pobai' is another word for tale. 



« The same nominee is in use at Taos. 



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