18. "What must I do, I wonder? Must I go and sleep beside the Serpent?" After having said this and after having seen the Serpent, he dies. In the middle of the night he comes to life. Big ants have eaten away his mouth, he has been bleeding. 19. In the middle of the night he has gone home. He has taken that Rattlesnake with him as he went. But he does not see the Rattlesnake anywhere. He kneels down, he sings, he does not see the Rattlesnake anywhere. 20. As he sings, the Rattlesnake appears, standing on end. As he sings, it coils as it comes close to his knees while he is kneeling there. That [Rattlesnake] that he caught [measured] an ell, one single rattle [of it]!

21. When he died, Lizards filled him up. The people went north, they built a ceremonial house high up in the hills. Two of them found a rattlesnake in the hills, they took it a little way and laid it on a big rock. 22. The rattlesnake had become cold. One man tells the other: "This rattlesnake has grown cold," he says.

23. The chief hears about it at once. The northerners make a request at once on the very same day, and the chief speaks to the man. "The northerners wish to look into your story," he says. So he leaves, goes out to get it. He has gone at once. 24. He does the same thing that was done before, he kneels down beside the rock, and from there, he calls the rattlesnake. It does the same thing, it comes raised up on its tail, and coils as it comes, close to his knees. Bringing it under his arm, he arrives at the house.

25. In the midst of the brush dance-house they have made the ground smooth and swept it. He has come, that man, and has gone out into the middle, into the place that has been swept. After the people

Next: Shamans continued (Page 63) • Contents • Previous: Coyote & Rattlesnake Shamans (Page 61)

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