Then he told them he would gamble with them—
their clothes, their beads for his.
Most people wore their old clothes
when they went hunting in the mountains;
so they figured they didn’t have much to lose.
Anyway, they might win all his fine things.
Not many could pass up his offer.
But the people didn’t know.
They ate the blue cornmeal
he offered them.
They didn’t know
he mixed human blood with it.
Visitors who ate it
didn’t have a chance.
He got power over them that way,
and when they started gambling with him
they did not stop until they lost
everything they owned.
And when they were naked
and he had everything
he’d say
“I tell you what
since I’m so good and generous
I’ll give you one last chance.
See that rawhide bag hanging
on the north wall over there?
If you can guess what is in that bag
I’ll give you back all your clothes and beads
and everything I have here too—
these feather blankets
all these strings of coral beads
these fine white buckskin moccasins.
But if you don’t guess right
you lose your life.”
They were in his power.
They had lost everything.
It was their last chance.
So they usually said “okay”
but they never guessed
what was in the bag.
He hung them upside down in his storeroom,
side by side with the other victims.
He cut out their hearts
and let their blood run down
into the bins of blue cornmeal.
That is what the ck’o’yo Kaup’a’ta, Gambler did,
up there
in the Zuni mountains.
And one time
he even captured the stormclouds.
He won everything from them
but since they can’t be killed,
all he could do
was lock them up
in four rooms of his house—
the clouds of the east in the east room
the clouds of the south in the south room
the clouds of the west in the west room
the clouds of the north in the north room.
The Sun is their father.
Every morning he wakes them up.
But one morning he went
first to the north top of the west mountain
then to the west top of the south mountain
and then to the south top of the east mountain;
and finally, it was on the east top of the north mountain
he realized they were gone.
For three years the stormclouds disappeared
while the Gambler held them prisoners.
The land was drying up
the people and animals were starving.
They are his children
so he went looking for them.
He took blue pollen and yellow pollen
he took tobacco and coral beads;
and he walked into the open country
below the mesas.
There, in a sandy place by a blue flower vine,
Spiderwoman was waiting for him.
“Grandson,” she said.
“I hear your voice,” he answered
“but where are you?”
“Down here, by your feet.”
He looked down at the ground and saw a little hole.
“I brought you something, Grandma.”
“Why thank you, Grandson,
I can always use these things,” she said.
“The stormclouds are missing.”
“That Ck’o’yo Kaup’a’ta the Gambler has them locked up,”
she told him.
“How will I get them back?”
“It won’t be easy, Grandson,
but here,
take this medicine.
Blow it on the Gambler’s black ducks
who guard his place.
Take him by surprise.
The next thing is:
don’t eat anything he offers you.
Go ahead
gamble with him.
Let him think he has you too.
Then he will make you his offer—
your life for a chance to win everything:
even his life.
He will say
“What do I have hanging in that leather bag
on my east wall?”
You say “Maybe some shiny pebbles,”
then you pause a while and say “Let me think.”
Then guess again,
say “Maybe some mosquitoes.”
He’ll begin to rub his flint blade and say
“This is your last chance.”
But this time you will guess
“The Pleiades!”
He’ll jump up and say “Heheya’! You are the first to guess.”
Next he will point to a woven cotton bag
hanging on the south wall.
He will say
“What is it I have in there?”
You’ll say
“Could it be some bumblebees?”
He’ll laugh and say “No!”
“Maybe some butterflies, the small yellow kind.”
“Maybe some tiny black ants,” you’ll say.
“No!” Kaup’a’ta will be smiling then.
“This is it,” he’ll say.
But this is the last time, Grandson,
you say “Maybe you have Orion in there.”
And then
everything—
his clothing, his beads, his heart
and the rainclouds
will be yours.”
“Okay, Grandma, I’ll go.”
He took the medicine into the Zuni mountains.
He left the trail and walked high on one of the peaks.