l",lll MYTHS OK TlIK CIIKKOKEK [KTii. ann. Ill 



llir iimttiT. The Wdlf tolil his story ;uid said. ■"If yoii will ^■(•l my 

 eyes open. I will show you where to tiiid some nice icd imiiil (i> paint 

 yourself." ■'All rioht," said the brown hii-d; so lie i)ecked at the 

 "Wolf's eyes until he g-ot oft' all the plaster. Then the Wolf took him 

 to a rock that had streaks of hriji-ht red paint running through it. and 

 the little liird painted himself with it. and has ever since heen a Hed- 

 l)ird. 



42. THE PHEASANT BEATING CORN; ORIGIN OF THE PHEASANT 



DANCE 



The Pheasant once s:iw' a woman beating corn in a wooden mortar in 

 front of the house. "'I can do that, too," said he, hut the woman 

 would not believe it. so the Pheasant went into the woods and got upon 

 a hollow log and "'drunHued" with his wings as a plunisant does, until 

 the people in the house heard him and thought he was r(>ally beating 

 corn. 



* * * * « * * 



In the Pheasant dance, a [)art of the Green-corn dance, the instru- 

 ment used is the drum, and the dancers beat tlu> ground with their feet 

 in imitation of the drumming sound made by the pheasant. They 

 form tW'O concentric circles, the men being on the inside, facing th(> 

 "women in the outer circle, each in turn advancing and retreating at the 

 signal of the drummer, who sits at one side and sings the Pheasant 

 songs. According to the story, there was once a winter famine among 

 the birds and animals. No mast (fallen nuts) could be found in the 

 woods, and they were near starvation when a Pheasant discoven^d a 

 holly tree, loaded with red berries, of which the Pheasant is said to 

 be particularly fond, lie called his companion birds, and they formed 

 a circle about the tree, singing, dancing, and drumming with their 

 wings in tc)ken of their joy. and thus originated the Pheasant dance. 



43. THE RACE BETWEEN THE CRANE AND THE HUMMINGBIRD 



The Ilunuuingbird and the Crane were both in lov'c with a pretty 

 woman. She preferred the Hununingbird, who was as handsome as 

 the Crane was awkward. Tint the Crane was so persistent that in order 

 to get rid of him she finally told him he must challenge the other to 

 a race and she would marry the winner. The Hummingbird was so 

 swift — almost like ii ftash of lightning — and the Crane so slow and 

 heavy, that she felt sure the Hununingbird would win. She did not 

 know the Crane could fly all night. 



They agreed to start from her house and fly around the circle of 

 the world to the beginning, and the one who came in first would marry 

 the woman. At the word the Hummingbird darted oft' like an arrow 

 and was out of sight in a moment, leaving his rival to follow heaxily 

 behind. He flew all day, and when evening came and h(> stopped to 



