[Nos. 48-50. Told by Mission Joe and Felix Andrew]
48. The Animals and the Sun
There was a town. A chief gave his commands. He said: "Who will be the Sun?" Then they began to talk about it. One of them was | told: "You shall be the Sun." After this one had been told | that he was to be the Sun, all heard about what || was to be done. 5 Those who were told to be the Sun went. | The name (of this one) was Raven. Then he started. | It became dark. On the following morning they watched for him to come up. | He came up. It was not bright enough when | he came up. The day was always blackish. || It was always like evening. The Sun came back. | They said: "This 10 way is bad. It is always | blackish." They said that he could not be it. I Another one was looked for. Chicken Hawk was sent. | It grew dark. Then Chicken Hawk started. On the following morning he went || up. When he went up higher, the world looked yellow. | 15 It was always like that. He went down. | In the evening the Sun came back. They said: "You can not be it. | It looks like bad weather."[1] They assembled and talked it over again. Coyote said: | "I will be it." They said: "Well." Coyote was about || to start. 20 Coyote started. At night | they slept. On the following morning Coyote went up. | When he went up, it began to be hot. It was fairly warm, and | then it was noon and the people cooked food. The Sun spoke, and | said: "Will there be any left for me?" It was heard || what he said, and they left food for him. Even when they 25 went into | the shade, it was warm. The children began to cry, | for the Sun burned them. They went to the water, and they thought | it would be good, but the water was hot. It was the same | when the Sun went down. It became warmer and warmer until || sunset. 30 When it was dark, they felt well. They had almost | been burned to death. Coyote came back. He was told: "You can not be it; | you are bad. You were too hot." | There was one woman with two children. They said: "We will | go there where they are playing Sun." || The two went. They ar- 36 rived there, and they were told: "Why do you come?" | They said: "We heard that they play Sun." | They were told: "It is good. You shall go." Then he, | the elder one, started. They slept. The next morning | he went up. In the morning it was coolish. || He went high 40
up, and they always felt comfortable. | At noon it became warm, and when they were in the shade | it felt comfortable. They went swimming, and they felt well. | They felt cool. Then he came down. Then
- ↑ The narrator said that many others were tried, but he did not remember their names. See pp. 48, 116.
