396 ISLETA, NEW MEXICO [eth, axx. 47 



mother, we are not hungry"; but the younger boy said, "Yes, I am 

 hungiy. I want something to eat." So grandmother Spider old 

 woman went to her fireplace. It was a Httle fireplace, with a little 

 pot, with the bone of an ant boiling in it. Older brother said to her, 

 "Well, grandmother, there is nothing there for me." The old woman 

 said, "No, grandchild, you eat and you will get full." So they 

 started to eat, and the pot kept filling up. They had plenty, and 

 there was some left for her. They thanked her. And she gave them 

 something for their father. She told them they would find a lake 

 there, and on Sunrise Lake they would find three doves swimming, 

 and to try hard to catch the youngest one, and she would tell them 

 what to do. The elder put the younger into the arrow again and 

 shot the arrow toward the simrise. The arrow fell near the lake. 

 Then he ran fast himself and got there before the younger one choked. 

 He let him rest a httle. They walked nearer to the lake. They got 

 to the edge of the lake, watching over night for the doves to come. 



Early, early in the morning those doves would come and swim. 

 They woidd take ofl' their clothes — i. e., their skins — and become 

 girls and go into the water. The boys ran and got the clothes of the 

 youngest girl, and she stayed in the lake. The other two girls came 

 out and put on their clothes and flew away to the mountain near by. 

 The girl said to the twins to please give the clothes back; her sisters 

 were waiting for her, and her father and mother would be worrying 

 about her. So they said to the girl, "If you promise to tell us where 

 our father Uves, and how to get to his place, we will give them back." 

 So she promised to tell, and the twins gave back her clothes to the 

 dove girl. She told them, "Your father is my grandfather. He 

 lives across the pond. He is mean. If he sees you coming, he will 

 try to kill you. But do not worry, I will help you myself." She 

 told the boys to go to the mountain where she lived. So they went, 

 and the older sisters came out to meet them, and they said to the 

 yoimgest girl, "Where did you find our two httle brothers?" The 

 youngest girl went into the house and told her father and mother 

 they were going to have two little brothers to live with them. The 

 old man and old woman were glad and told her to bring them in and 

 give them breakfast. After breakfast the little boys looked around. 

 This man had sheep, and the yoimgest girl used to herd the sheep. 

 So the boys asked the old man if they could go and herd the sheep and 

 let their Httle sister stay home. "No," said the old man, "she can 

 herd them; you stay home." "No, we are men; we can herd them." 

 So the old woman made some lunch for them. The old man told the 

 boys not to go around the pond to water their sheep; there was a 

 serpiente (serpent) living there on the east side of the mountain. 

 "If he saw you and the sheep, he would eat you up." So the little 



