the middle of the sky, directly above the earth, and every day
as the Sun was climbing along the sky arch to the west she used to
stop at her daughter's house for dinner.
Now, the Sun hated the people on the earth, because they could
never look straight at her without screwing up their faces. She said
to her brother, the Moon, "My grandchildren are ugly; they grin all
over their faces when they look at me." But the Moon said, "I like
my younger brothers; I think they are very handsome" — because
they always smiled pleasantly when they saw him in the sky at night,
for his rays were milder.
The Sun was jealous and planned to kill all the people, so every day
when she got near her daughter's house she sent down such sultry
raysthat there was a great fever and the people died by hundreds,
until everyone had lost some friend and there was fear that no one
would lie left. They went for help to the Little Men, who said the
only way to save themselves was to kill the Sun.
The Little Men made medicine and changed two men to snakes, the
Spreading-adder and the Copperhead, and sent them to watch near the
(l(Kir of the daughter of the Sun to bite the old Sun when she came
next day. They went together and hid near the house until the Sun
came, but when the Spreading-adder was about to spring, the bright
light blinded him and he could only spit out yellow slime, as he does
to this day when he tries to bite. She called him a nasty