“From behind the wood she could still see the bear coming and hear his great voice.  Soon he reached the rock and tore the wood away with his great paws.  Then he reached in and pulled the woman out and ripped her open with his terrible claws and tore her heart out and ate it up.

“By this time the sun was nearly down; it was soon dark and the poor children were still waiting for their mother just where she had left them, but she never returned.  Some one came to them and asked, ’What are you doing here?’

“’We are watching for our mother, who went for wood, and we are waiting for her,’ they said.

“‘But why does she not come when it is so late?’ they said.  Then they said, ‘Let’s all go home; something must have happened.’  So they took the children home with them and sent some others to look for the mother.

“They followed her tracks and found the place, the mother dead, and her heart gone.  So they came back home in the dark night.

“Next day, they returned to the place and followed the bear tracks to the woods where his home was, but never found the bear.  So they went home.

“The poor little children were very lonely and not treated very well by the neighbors, and both children died, first the younger, and then the older; and this is a true story.” (Note:  One could well imagine from the faces of the young listeners that something like a resolution to stay pretty close around home was passing unanimously.  H.G.L.)

* * * * *

Don Talayesva of Upper Oraibi was the only one of my story-tellers who spoke without the aid of an interpreter.  He is a tall, good-looking man of less than forty, with an expressive face and a pair of merry dark eyes that hold a prophesy of the rich sense of humor one soon discovers in both his conversation and his stories.

This particular tale rather gives away some state secrets as to how Hopi children are persuaded to be good, and Don chuckled and paused to lower his voice and see that his own small son was out of hearing, when explaining certain parts of the story.

=The Giant and the Twin War Gods,= as told by Don Talayesva

“Well, once upon a time more people lived here in Old Oraibi—­many people, many, many children, and the children getting pretty bad.  People tried every way to punish and correct them and at last the head governor got tired of this business, and so he thought of best way to fix them.  They were all time throwing stones at the old people and pinning rags on the back of somebody and don’t mind their parents very good.

“Now this head governor is very powerful and very wise.  He went out to where there is many pinon and cedar trees and he gathered much pinon gum.  Next day he called an old lady, a Spider Woman, to come and help him out.

“She asked what she can do.  He explained about the naughty children and their disrespect for the old people and their parents.