The Story of Split Rock RenaThe Tale of Split Rock RenaDeep in ground,and all around,with spiders everywhere,is a shimmering blackthat'll stab your back,and retreat to the cavesa'fore dawn.There was a farmer named Taldain, once a thick, sinewy man whipped by the ravages of time into a sun-stained husk of his former self, his once plump wife Merra growing wrinkled and even thicker, and their boys getting old enough to start farms on their own. The time came at last when his fields no longer produced grain, so he packed up his donkey and his things, and he and his wife set off to the mountains where they would bother nothing and no one.One evening, as th
The Hopper and UtchusuThe Hopper and UtchusuOnce all the spirits did not know where the animals should be. It was right after the animals had got made that the spirits thought they would get fed up very quickly with all kinds of chaos, so they went to the first hunter, Utchusu, who was out looking for food to bring to his wife, for she could get very irate if she had nothing to cook.They said, "man, you will need to make us a spear shaft for every animal, and each one must be a different size" and Utchusu agreed, not wanting to offend the spirits. They went to his wife Hetchea, and they said "woman, you will need to make us a spear head for every animal, and e
The Shield Lizard's BetThe Shield Lizard's BetMany years had passed since the hopper had given up half his cunning to be with man and woman in their home, and he had prospered above all the other animals. Shield lizard looked in on them often from where he was in the world, and wanted to prosper so well himself. He wandered off into the jungle, seeking out the other half of hopper's cunning, which was also a hopper, and found her chasing dragonflies by a waterfall."Hopper," he said, and she turned to see him."What do you want?" she asked, "to play fivestones? I will win.""I want to live with man, too," shield lizard said, "I want to prosper like the other h
The Repentant FarmerThe Repentant FarmerThere was once a farmer who lived at the edge of the Kingdom of Grasses on the plain of Serna, and he was also a woodsman of great skill. His carvings were the envy of his village and his wife was young and beautiful as she was wise in the ways of money and upkeep. One day, however, a priestess passed through and stayed the evening with him.She told him that she feared for his safety, that he never prayed or burned incense or made cocoa cakes for the spirits of the forest. He replied that if she had a husband and as many children as he had, she would not have time to do those things, either. She replied to him that he
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