The Art of Tetman Callis

“May the corn-stalks grow as long as my stretches, and may the will of the Holder of the Roads of Life shelter me from dangers as he sheltered his children in the days of the ancients.” – “The Maiden the Sun Made Love to, and Her Boys,” Zuñi Folk Tales, Frank Cushing

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“Perhaps had men been more grateful and wiser, the Sun-father had smiled and dropped everywhere the treasures we long for, and not hidden them deep in the earth and buried them in the shores of the sea.  And perhaps, moreover, all men would have smiled upon one another and never enlarged their voices nor strengthened [...]

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“Doing right keeps right; doing wrong makes wrong, which, to make right, one must even pay.” –  “The Cock and the Mouse,” Zuñi Folk Tales, Frank Cushing

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“Is it not well that even for a little time the light of life shine—though it shine through fear and sadness—than be cut off altogether?  For who knows where the trails tend that lead through the darkness of the night of death?” – “Atahsaia, the Cannibal Demon,” Zuñi Folk Tales, Frank Cushing

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“Pretty girls care very little how their husbands look, being pretty enough themselves for both.  But they like to have them able to think and guess at a way of getting along occasionally.” – “How the Corn-Pests Were Ensnared,” Zuñi Folk Tales, Frank Cushing

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“There are two kinds of laugh with women.  One of them is a very good sort of thing, and makes young men feel happy and conceited.  The other kind is somewhat heartier, and makes young men feel depressed and very humble.” – “How the Corn-Pests Were Ensnared,” Zuñi Folk Tales, Frank Cushing

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“Once—as was the case with many, if not all, of the animals—the Rattlesnakes were a people, and a splendid people too.  Therefore we kill them not needlessly, nor waste the lives even of the other animals without cause.” – “How the Rattlesnakes Came To Be What They Are,” Zuñi Folk Tales, Frank Cushing

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