The Girl Who Hunted Rabbits.
A Zuñi Legend
Setting: A long time ago at ‘’Little Gateway of Zuñi River’’, where is located her house, a black stone house on the tops cliffs of lava, and also another important place is the Taiuma’s Cave.
Characters: The maiden girl, her parents, the demon and the two war gods.
Plot:
Exposition: The story begins with the narrator giving a short introduction to the story, giving the details of the place, the characters, etc. Here the maiden girl looks at hunter men with their prey already hunted and tells her parents that she wants to do that too since she lost her brothers and there is no one who is going to get their food.
Rising Action: This is when the girl decides to go rabbit hunting and gets lost, so she decides to stay in a cave until the next day.
Climax: The maiden girl is calm in order to eat the rabbit she hunted and suddenly she hears a noise, like a call, so she decides to go see what it is. In that she finds out that it is a demon and he begins to ask her to give him her rabbits, her belt, her blanket, to which she accepts out of fear.
Falling Action: Suddenly two war gods arrive and save her from the old and evil demon. She was still too scared but she followed them because she was still in kind of shock and was scared.
Resolution: The two gods rescue her and take her home. There she meets her parents, who are happy for her return, and the story ends.
Conflict: In this story, the internal conflict (man vs.self) is the feeling that she has of being the only daughter in the family and having to get food and other basic and necessary resources to live even knowing how dangerous it is to do so. The conflict of man vs.man happens between the girl and the demon, since he takes advantage of her fear to steal her food and things. The conflict of man vs. nature is reflected in the hunting of rabbits and the climate that she has to face to survive. Also the conflict of man vs.society is seen when her own parents tell her that the work she wants to do is very heavy, implying a macho point because women can also support a family and hunt animals, why not? Another conflict would be man vs.superpower that is reflected in the story when it mentions the supposed demon and his evil acts against the girl and the two war gods who helped her and rescued her.
Theme: ''There is no magic to get things done. It's just about hard work, deciding, and persistence.’’ / ''Family is the first guide in your life''
Voice: 3rd person limited.
Mood: Interested, curious, amazed and a little confused.
Tone: Formal, serious, encouraging and optimistic.
Ending Changed
When the girl was in the cave, she regretted not having listened to her parents and missed them too much. Then, when the two peace gods rescued her, they took her out for a drink first and then took her to her house. But when she arrived, there was no one. Her parents had come out to look for her and her neighbors didn’t open the door for her. She was waiting at her house and when no one came, she went to seek help. It was then when a neighbor gave her the news that her parents had died trying to find her. Years later the girl already had a family, and this time she knew how to value it because that day, 10 years ago, she had learned that the most important thing in this world is family.
Questionnaire
What is the setting of the story and how is the maiden girl’s house described?
Who made up the girl's family and what happened to her brothers?
What do you think is the internal conflict (man vs. self) and why?
Why do you think the two war gods helped the girl?
For you, what is the theme of the story?
