Zuni Folktales · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Zuni Folktales by Frank Hamilton Cushing.

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Chapter 1
Zuni Folktales
A collection of Zuni folktales featuring various characters and moral lessons, including stories of courtship, trickery, and supernatural events.
Chapter 2
The Trial of Lovers
A young man from Hálonawan seeks the hand of the Maiden of Mátsaki, who tests her suitors by releasing insects into her chamber. The poor youth succeeds where others fail, wins the maiden, but later tragically kills her by mistake.
Chapter 3
Told the First Night
The beautiful maiden of Mátsaki, after testing her suitor with insects, finally believes in his love and prepares to meet him. However, her jealous witch sister impersonates her, leading to a fatal confrontation where the young man accidentally kills his beloved. The maiden is buried before the House of the Sun, and the young man mourns her loss.
Chapter 4
Told the Second Night
The young man pursues his wife's spirit westward, guided by a red plume, enduring great hardship. He reaches the Lake of the Dead where she enters the spirit world. An Owl offers counsel and uses medicine of sleep to reunite them, but warns him not to touch her until they reach home. The young man fails, kisses her, and she vanishes again, leading to his eternal wandering.
Chapter 5
The Youth and His Eagle
The youth, unable to bear separation from his Eagle, insists on following her into the sky despite warnings. They journey together, but his faithlessness and fascination with Death lead to tragedy: his Eagle wife strips him of his worn Eagle dress, causing him to fall to his death. The story also recounts his earlier rescue by the Badgers from the ghosts of the dead, and his failed attempts to regain his wife's love.

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Zuni Folktales

The Trial of Lovers

Told the First Night

Told the Second Night

The Youth and His Eagle