Page 191 - TheHopiIndians

MESA FOLK OP HOPILAND 183
the four cardinal points, and the monster saw that he
had lost.
But Man-Eagle tried a second time with the hero.
He brought two deer-antlers, saying, "We will each
choose one, and he who fails to break the one he
chooses loses. ' ' The antler which he laid down on the
northwest side was a real antler, but that on the
southeast was an imitation made of brittle wood.
Spider Woman prompted the Youth to demand the
first choice, but Man-Eagle refused him that right.
After the youth had insisted four times, Man-Eagle
yielded, and the hero chose the brittle antler and tore
its prongs asunder, but Man-Eagle could not break
the real antler, and thus lost a second time.
Man-Eagle had two fine, large pine trees growing
near his house, and said to the hero, ; ' You choose one
of these trees and I will take the other, and whoever
plucks one up by the roots shall win." Now Mole
had burrowed under one of them and had gnawed
through all its roots, cutting them off: and had run
through his tunnel and was sitting at its mouth, peer
ing through the grass, anxious to see the Youth win.
The hero, with the help of his grandmother, chose the
tree that Mole had prepared and plucked it up, and
threw it over the cliff, but Man-Eagle struggled with
the other tree and could not move it, so he was un
happy in his third defeat.
Then Man-Eagle spread a great supply of food on
the floor and said to the Youth that he must eat all