Half Rooster

HALF ROOSTER ²

Long ago when the people of Cochiti came down from the mesa, there was a half rooster with them. He came to a house where a woman lived. She gave him food to eat. After he had gone on a little way Half Rooster came back and said, "I have lost my spoon. I have come to look for it." For Half Rooster had great supernatural power. The woman in the house said, "There was no spoon left here." Half Rooster said, "If you don't return it, I shall go southwest where the king lives and bring suit against you." "All right, you may bring suit." Half Rooster went southwest to the king. On the way he met a lion who said to him, "Rooster, where are you going?" "I am going southwest to the king to tell him that they stole my spoon." "I shall go too." "All right, come into my arse." "How do I get in?" "Don't say that." So the lion went into Half Rooster's arse.

When he had gone half of the way he met a bear who asked, "Where are you going?" "I am going southwest to the king to tell him that they stole my spoon." "I shall go too." "All right, come into my arse." "How do I do that?" "Don't say that." So he went into Half Rooster's arse. When they were almost there, he met a wolf who asked, "Where are you going?" "I am going southwest to the king to tell him that they stole my spoon." "I shall go too." "All right, come into my arse." "How do I go in?" "Don't say that." So he went into Half Rooster's arse.

He started again and met a grinding stone. He said, "Where are you going?" "I am going southwest to the king to tell him that they stole my spoon." "I shall go too." "All right, come into my arse." "How do I go in?" "Don't say that." So he went into Half Rooster's arse. He started again and he, met fire. Fire said, "Where are you going?" "I am going southwest to the king to tell him that they stole my spoon." "I shall go too." "All right, come into my arse." "How do I get in?" "Don't say that." So he went into Half Rooster's arse. Then he came to a pond. Water asked, "Where are you going?" "I am going southwest to the king to tell him they stole my spoon." "I shall go too." "All right,

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come into my arse." "How do I go in?" "Don't say that." Water started to go in, and at last all the pond went into Half Rooster's arse.

He went on, and as he was getting near, some soldiers saw him coming. He came to where they were standing outside of the king's palace. He asked for the king. They told him, "He is inside." "Call him out, for I came to put it before the king that my spoon is stolen." The king came out; he was frightened. "Heavens!" he said, "I never saw such a man as this! Maybe he is a great devil. Put him in a big fire and burn him up. Catch him, catch him! Or else take him to the barn where the wild horses are. They will kick him to death." The soldiers caught him and brought him to the barn. They shut him up there all night. When they had left him, he said to Lion, "Great Lion, come out and kill these wild horses."

The next morning the king told the soldiers to go and get Rooster. "He will be killed," he said. They went to the barn and opened the door and all the horses and mules were lying dead and Rooster was sitting up proudly. They ran to tell the king that Rooster was sitting up and that all the horses and mules were dead. "A wonderful Rooster he is!" said the king, "Or else he's a devil! Bring him out of the barn and shut him up with the great bulls. They, will trample him." The soldiers took him where the bulls were. They watched a while. When they had gone, Rooster called out Bear, "Great Bear, come out and kill these bulls."

In the morning the king told the soldiers to get Rooster for he would be killed. They came to the barn where the bulls were. Rooster was sitting up proudly. They ran off to tell the king that all his bulls were dead. The king said, "He is a great devil. Take him to the two dangerous mules that nobody has ever touched. They will kill him." That night they shut him up with the two dangerous mules. They watched him for a while. When they went off, Rooster called Wolf, "Great Wolf, come out and kill these two dangerous mules." He came out and struck them down. When the soldiers came to the place where the two dangerous mules were they found them dead and Rooster sitting up proudly. They ran to tell the king. He told the soldiers to take Rooster to the church for it was winter. "He will freeze," he said. They took him straight to the church and shut him up. When night came he called to Grinding Stone, "Grinding Stone, come out and break all the santus and pictures in this church." Grinding Stone broke them and threw them into the middle of the floor. In the morning the soldiers came to get him. They found him sitting up with all the santus and pictures broken and piled in a circle around him.

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When they told the king he said, "Put him in an icy place and press ice on him." The soldiers took him to an icy place. They put him under the ice and they pulled slabs of ice on top of him and pressed him down. They told the king, "We did as you told us." "All right. He'll freeze this time." That night when everything was quiet Half Rooster said to Fire, "Great Fire, come out and melt all this ice." The Great Fire came out and melted all the ice. He called Fire back to his arse again and it went, and the ground dried up. Nobody could see how Rooster had melted the ice. The king said, "Go and get Rooster. He'll be frozen to death." They went and opened the door. There he was sitting up proudly. The king, said, "Leave him where he is and go and get four wagons of wood." They all went to get the wood. One was to get a great log. The king said, "When you all get back, set the log upright and pile the four wagons of wood around it. Tie Rooster to the log (stake) and set fire to the wood, but wait until the morning to light it so that all the people can see him burn."

They tied him to the log and started the fire. "He is sure to die. He is sure to die," all the people said. Some people were sorry for him; some wanted him to burn to death. As soon as the fire was burning hard, he said, "Great Water, come out and pour over this fire and put it out." Water came out of his arse and put out the fire. It covered the ground. That is how he was saved. So the king said, "Take him down, for he must have great power. I could not do anything to overcome him." So the king took him to his house and he lived with him forever.

Footnotes

182:2 Informant 1. Notes, p. 248.