252 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [eth.ann.19 



coustantly more pleased as the name of eaeh disease was called oti', until 

 at last they reached the end of the list, when some one proposed to 

 niak(> menstruation sometimes fatal to women. On tills he rose up in 

 his place and cried: " Wadan'.' [Thanks!] I'm glad some more of them 

 will die, for they are getting so thick that they tread on me." The 

 thought fairly made him shake with joy, so that lie fell over backward 

 and could not get on his feet again, but had to wriggle off on his back, 

 as the Grubworm has done ever since. 



When the Plants, who were friendly to Man, lieard what had been 

 done by the animals, they determined to defeat the latters' evil designs. 

 Each Tree, Shrub, and Herb, down even to the Grasses and Mosses, 

 agreed to furnish a cure for some one of the diseases named, and each 

 .said: ''I shall appear to help Man when he calls upon me in his need." 

 Thus came medicine; and the plants, every one of which has its use if 

 we only knew it, furnish the remedy to counteract the evil wrought 

 by the revengeful animals. Even weeds were made for some good 

 purpose, which we must find out for ourselves. When the doctor 

 does not know what medicine to use for a sick man the spirit of the 

 plant tells him. 



5. THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN 



The Sun lived on the other side of the sky vault, but ht.r daughter 

 lived iu the middle of the sk,y, directly above the earth, and every day 

 as the Sun was climbing along the sky arch to the west she used to 

 stop at her daughter's house for dinner. 



Now, the Sun hated the people on the earth, because they could 

 never look straight at her without screwing up their faces. She said 

 to her brother, the Moon, '"My grandchildren are ugly; they grin all 

 over their faces when they look at me." But the Moon said, "I like 

 my younger brothers; I think they are very handsome" — because 

 they always smiled pleasantly when they saw him in the sky at night, 

 for his rays were milder. 



The Sun was jealous and planned to kill all the people, so every day 

 when she got near her daughter's house she sent down such sultry 

 rays that there was a great fever and the people died by hundreds, 

 until eveiyone had lost some friend and there was fear that no one 

 w^)uld be left. They went for help to the Little Men, who .said the 

 only way to save themselves was to kill the Sun. 



The Little Men made medicine and changed two men to snakes, the 

 Spreading-adder and the Copperhead, and sent them to watch near the 

 door of the daughter of the Sun to bite the old Sun when she came 

 next day. They went together and hid near the house until the Sun 

 came, but when tlie Spreading-adder was about to spring, thi? bright 

 light blinded him and he coidd only spit out yellow slime, as he does 

 to this day when he tries to bite. She called him a nastv thing and 



