NO-TONGUE AND THE SUN AND THE MOON. OI 
16. NO-TONGUE AND THE SUN AND THE MOON.* 
There was a young man in a village who wanted to be great. In 
olden times the chief thing among the people was to be a great warrior. 
The young men in those times used to go out among the hills, and 
then find a place to stand and mourn. They used to stay away from 
home four or five days without drinking or eating. 
Now this particular young man went out alone, upon a high hill, 
to mourn. In the afternoon a little bird came to him, and said: “This 
is not the place where you should stand. I will show you where you 
must stand.” So the little bird flew and the boy followed. The bird 
stopped at a certain place, and the boy stood there. Late in the even- 
ing a man came to the boy. The man was all painted red, and he said 
to him: “I am glad to see you. You are going to be my son, and I 
am going to take you with me now. All I want from you is your 
tongue.” So the young man pulled his tongue out, cut it off and handed 
it to the man. As he handed his tongue to the man the fell down and 
died. It was now dark, and as the young man fell the Moon rose and 
saw this young man fall down, and the Moon said to himself: ‘That 
man who has killed this young man is always trying to do something 
that is not right. I know who that man is; it is the Sun. I know that 
he has taken this young man’s tongue.” So the Moon went to the 
young man and touched his feet, and the young man waked and sat up. 
When No-Tongue saw the strange man he did not know what 
to do. He was not the same man who had taken his tongue. This 
man looked white, because he was the Moon. The Moon asked No- 
- Tongue why he had given away his tongue and to whom he had given 
it. No-Tongue answered, “How can I talk without a tongue?” The 
Moon said, “Speak, and tell me.” So the boy spoke, and he found 
that he was able to talk. So he began to tell what the man looked 
like. The Moon said he was sure that the man was the Sun. Then 
the Moon spoke to No-Tongue, and said: “The Sun was trying to 
kill you. No-Tongue, hereafter you shall be my son; but let your 
other father, the Sun, come after you first. I must tell you what to 
say. You will not be killed by the Sun. The Sun is coming for you 
to-morrow morning, and when you go up to our dwelling place (the 
heavens) he is going to show you some things that he has. You must 
now be careful not to take the new things that he has, but you shall 
take the old things. Take the old weapons. The Sun thinks a great 
deal of these old weapons.” This is all that the Moon said. The Moon 
then disappeared. 
*Told by Standing-Bull, 
