The Boy Who Made Dragonfly by Tony Hillerman

Author:Tony Hillerman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Country & Ethnic, Juvenile Fiction, Fairy Tales & Folklore, General
ISBN: 9780826309105
Publisher: University Press
Published: 1972-05-15T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

Now as day followed day in that time just before spring, it happened that the little girl began to grow sick. She mourned often for her mother and her father, and her uncle, and nothing her brother could say made her feel better.

“You should not mourn for the old ones who left us to die from hunger and cold,” he said, but still she would not be comforted.

When the fire had died away, and night had filled the room, and the little girl had finally cried herself to sleep, the Cornstalk Being slipped out of his cage and flew away through the smoke hole.

In the morning both the children were saddened, for the corn was almost gone from the storeroom, and worse than that, the cornstalk cage hung empty and very, very still.

The Cornstalk Being flew south over many mountains and across many plains. He flew as straight as a strained bow cord to the Land of Everlasting Summer. Everywhere there were birds and butterflies, and flowers of every color filled the air with their fragrance, and fruits hung ripe and heavy on all the trees.

In this valley the Corn Maidens lived. As the Cornstalk Being neared their home he rested, for his flight had stretched over many mountains and across many plains, and he was very tired.

Wherever a corn plant grew he rested on its tassels for a moment before flying on to the next one. In this way he flew and rested until he reached the home of the Corn Maidens.

The two sister maidens, who had dwelt for a time in the Cave of the White Cliffs, were strolling through the great fields of corn when they heard the insect. He made a sound like dry cornstalks in a summer wind.

“Hurry, sister,” said the elder one. “Didn’t you hear our child who comes from the Northland?”

“Where are you, oh child who art flesh of the corn plant?”

she said.

“_Tsi-ni-thla,” buzzed the Cornstalk Being. “Here I am.”

So the Corn Maidens looked and there he was perched on a corn tassel, telling them of the children and their plight.

“We will hurry to them,” said the elder sister, “for did they not once offer us food, thinking we were but poor beggars?”

“It is so,” said the other sister. “We will not forget their goodness.”

“Go before and tell our little son to prepare the corn rooms for us,” said the elder sister. “For we will come to visit, and with us will come warm rains which will drive the cold snows away and bring the springtime.”

Long before daylight the Cornstalk Being buzzed into the house of the children. He flew round and round the room, and then he flew round the boy’s head until the boy awoke.

The room was still dark, for the fire had died away in the night, and Sun-Father had not yet crept up behind the mountains to the east. The boy sat up and listened to the buzzing of the Cornstalk Being, and rubbed his eyes, for he was still very sleepy.

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