The Girl Who Hunted Rabbits- Zuñi Legend
Setting: There are several places presented throughout the legend. In general, the story happens in a Gateway of the Zuñi river, where the maiden lives in a black stone wall house on the top of lava cliffs. Also, the maiden spent time on the valley and inside a cave. It happened at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. The story happened for around two days.
Characters: The main character in the story is the maiden girl. The secondary characters are the Cannibal Demon (antagonist) and the two war-gods. Other minor characters are the maiden’s parents and the young men.
Plot summary :
Exposition: The setting of the story is presented, as well as the situation of a family. In one house (at Little Gateway of Zuñi river) lived a maiden with his parents, after the death of her brothers. They had barely in off to live and the maiden provided almost all the products for the family.
Rising action: The maiden saw a group of young men with axes and rabbit sticks; She thought that if she hunted rabbits, it would provide to her family. So, when the men came back, she went up to them. However, they didn’t give her any of their rabbits. The maiden decided that she was going to hunt for herself. Even though her parents refused at first. In the end, they helped her to prepare. After an hour of preparation, the next morning with all necessary supplements, tools and clothes the maiden went to the valley. When she was near the cliffs, there were rabbits running. Despite the incoming snowstorm, she followed the rabbit’s trails; she captured and killed many rabbits. The girl kept hunting, until there were no more trails but didn’t notice that it was getting darker. She decided to head back, unfortunately she took the wrong path and went southward instead of eastward. The girl found a cave that had a bed of coals. So, she collected dried pine trees to rebuild the fire. While she was eating, the girl heard the voice of what seemed a lost hunter.
Climax: The apparent hunter cried in distress, and the maiden girl went near the entrance of the cavern and responded “ Li-i-thlaia-a” which meant here. The shouts continued, short after, the clatter of an enormous rattle was heard. The girl hid in fear, since she knew that one of the Cannibal demons had seen the light coming from the cage. On came the demon, asking to let him in, asking to give him food. The girl had no other choice than giving her all her rabbits, one by one. Given that, she had nothing else to give, she had to give her clothes and the demon devoured it. The girl remained with nothing. On the other hand, the old Demon tried to squeeze in the cave; Without succeeding, the demon started to enlarge the hole with his great ax, to eat the poor girl (who had passed out, after seeing the Demon’s face). In the distance, two war gods who knew her story and went to help her. With two wonderful weapons, each one hit him, before he could devour. They hauled him to open space.
Falling action: The gods opened the demon’s paunch, took all the garments and cleansed them with soap weed plants. The girl woke up to beautiful words and the handsome youth of the gods. At first, she was worried about her garments, nevertheless they were brought to her. The gods showed her and told her many things to console her.
Resolution: In the morning, the god’s told her to start her way, while they guarded her and picked up more rabbits that had died from the snowstorm. When the sun was clearer, they got out of the cave and while the gods carried the rabbits, they all arrived at the high black mess. Whilst, they told her their names, after she bowed they disappeared. The maiden girl went back home with his worried parents. Into the town, no one dared to compare with the Maiden Hunter of Zuñi River.
Conflict:
Man vs Nature: The maiden decided to go hunting, since it was almost winter a snowstorm was coming. After a whole day of hunting, the climatic conditions caused her to get lost and ended up in a cave. Where she almost got eaten by a demon. That is to say, the conflict happens between the snowstorm and the maiden.
Man vs superpower: It can be considered as the main conflict of the story. Usually, Demons are identified as supernatural entities related to evil. The Cannibal Demon was no exception, in addition to his enormous proportions and strength, he had an insatiable appetite and no fear of eating the maiden girl. She was thankfully rescued by war gods with exceptional powers.
Man vs man: The girl has really few interactions with other “normal” people other than her parents, but one of the encounters in the story happened with a group of young men. Who didn’t give her money, yet they did ask for her hand in marriage. The girl vs the young men (with stereotypical thoughts on women).
Man vs society: At the time, the Zuñi Native American females were usually not considered hunters. If they were, it could be considered as courageous and a strong behavior. This can be evidenced when all the young men asked her to marry her, instead of helping her out. Women were/are usually seen as weak in the society that we live in. The maiden broke those standards for her family, decided not to marry in fear or because she thought it could’ve been her only option as a woman. Instead, she did it herself and won recognition for it.
Man vs self: Having the strength and will power to hunt in a turbulent weather is done by the desperate and brave people. The maiden was selfless in off to risk herself for her parent’s sake. That behavior progresses throughout the story, at first we could say that she’s being stubborn. However, we also may notice that she was really kindhearted and considerate; since she was trying to help a lost hunter. Nonetheless, as usual, it ended up affecting her. While she was hunting, she got carried away and too excited, that made her commit mistakes like getting lost. In other words, the kindness and strength of the girl made her learn a lot and helped her family, yet it also made her too excited and make mistakes, which led her to experience the fear of almost being eaten by a demon. Also, she gave up too easily, she got scared, and passed away. That could have cost her own life.
Theme: The importance of perseverance, hard work and family. As well as, of being selfless and fearless.
Mood: The beginning and the end of the story are really heartwarming, hopeful, and empowering. The climax is more tense, shocking, and threatening. Since, the main character passes out and decides not to fight back.
Tone: I consider, it has a neutral formal tone, with hints of poetry expressions and sentence structure. Still, it uses a candid, dignified, docile, and joyful tone to tell the folk tale.
Voice: Third person limited (Not omniscient or all-knowing, however the narrator wasn’t a character in the story).
Alternate resolution
The demon didn’t escape from the gods, in fact, after dying his body disappeared, just as it stopped functioning. Everything the demon had devoured was now gone. The two war gods helped the girl with new clothes and told her to try again, the next morning. So, she did. The gods went to her house to tell her parents that she was hunting and also to take care of them. Some hours passed, the girl finally returned not only with rabbits and firewood, but also with two other men that were injured because of the snowstorm. She provided her family with food and was now known as the Heroine of the Zuñi River. The two war gods left, yet they were constantly looking after her, since she was a new semi-god in waiting.
Questions
Why did the maiden get lost after hunting?
How was the maiden found by the demon?
What did the maiden parents think about her decision of hunting rabbits?
What’s the maiden’s family situation?
Where did the maiden hide from the snowstorm, and what did she find ? Why did she end up there?
How did the idea of hunting rabbits come to the girl’s mind?
Where did the story develop?
Was the maiden’s behavior common in that period?
Analysis by Natalia Pérez
Step 8 Yellow
