| OCR Text |
Show CHANGING WOMAN'S PEOPLE 55 thing happened once during a famine, when a woman fed corn to Corn. She became a cannibal. Her name is Asdza, the Ugly Woman, the Woman Who Dries People Up. As time passed in the beautiful valley, Younger Brother grew lonely. One night he sighted a fire. After packing his whole harvest into four small bundles, he made his way to the distant camp. There the father of the family greeted him as "son-in-law." He offered the father some corn, but when the old man ate it, he immediately collapsed. He fell ill because he had never eaten corn before, only meat. The mother and daughter begged Younger Brother to restore him, which he did. In return the old man told Younger Brother that he would share his "game farm" with him. As they were about to settle down for the night, the daughter told him that her father was called Deer Raiser or Game Owner. The next day Deer Raiser prepared Younger Brother for the trip to the game farm by dressing him in buckskins. Then he uncovered a hole in the ground. This led beneath the earth to a room with a rock-crystal door on each side. Behind each door, Younger Brother found a beautiful new land. Each door hid a country filled with flowers, birds, deer, antelope, mountain sheep, and elk. The old man showed him how to make the right offerings to each of these animals. In this way, Younger Brother could be sure that he would always have meat. But the old man grew jealous of his daughter's affection for Younger Brother. He began to plot to destroy the guest who had brought the corn. One day the old man suggested that Younger Brother go hunting. Then he laid a false trail of deer tracks into a box canyon. There he had left his four pet bears with instructions to attack the Earth-Surface person. Younger Brother entered the canyon, but he killed all four of the bears. When he returned home, he saw the old man's shock at his safe return and his sorrow for the bears' death. Then he was sure that the evil father-in-law was a witch. The father-in-law confessed it but pleaded that he was a victim of an inner sickness. He asked Younger Brother to cure him. So Younger Brother did, using the songs, painting, and medicine he had received on his journey in the hollow log. Then Younger Brother decided he could stay with these people no longer. He set out for home with his faithful Turkey trailing behind him. In this way, both farming and power over animals were brought to the People. |
