131. Té-el-gĕt, Tê-el-gĕ′-ti and Dĕl-gét are various pronunciations of the name of this monster. In the songs he is sometimes called Bĭ-té-ĕl-gĕ-ti, which is merely prefixing the personal pronoun “his” to the name. The exact etymology has not been determined. The name has some reference to his horns; tê, or te, meaning horns, and bité, his horns, in Navaho. All descriptions of this anáye are much alike. His father, it is said, was an antelope horn.
132. Arabis holböllii (Hornemann), a-ze-la-dĭl-té-he, “scattered” or “lone medicine.” The plants grow single and at a distance from one another, not in beds or clusters. (See “Navajo Names for Plants,”[312] p. 770.)
133. Version A relates that they sang, while at work on these kethawns, six songs, which, under the name of Atsós Bigĭ′n, or Feather Songs, are sung now in the rite of hozóni hatál.
134. Version A says that the horns of Téelgĕt were like those of an antelope, and that Nayénĕzgạni cut off the short branch of one as an additional trophy.
135. Tseʻnă′-ha-le. These mythic creatures, which in a previous paper, “A Part of the Navajos’ Mythology,”[306] the author calls harpies, from their analogy to the harpies of Greek mythology, are believed in by many tribes of the Southwest. According to Hatáli Nĕz they were the offspring of a bunch of eagle plumes.
136. Tséʻ-bĭ-ta-i, or Winged Rock, is a high, sharp pinnacle of dark volcanic rock, rising from a wide plain in the northwestern part of New Mexico, about 12 miles from the western boundary of the Territory, and about 20 miles from the northern boundary. The Navahoes liken it to a bird, and hence the name of Winged Rock, or more literally Rock, Its Wings. The whites think it resembles a ship with sails set, and call it Ship Rock. Its bird-like appearance has probably suggested to the Navahoes the idea of making it the mythic home of the bird-like Tseʻnă′hale.
137. There are many instances in Navaho language and legend where, when two things somewhat resemble each other, but one is the coarser, the stronger, or the more violent, it is spoken of as male, or associated with the male; while the finer, weaker, or more gentle is spoken of as female, or associated with the female. Thus the turbulent San Juan River is called, by the Navaho, Toʻbaká, or Male Water; while the placid Rio Grande is known as Toʻbaád, or Female Water. A shower accompanied by thunder and lightning is called nĭltsabaká, or male rain; a shower without electrical display is called nĭltsabaád, or female rain. In the myth of Natĭ′nĕsthani the mountain mahogany is said to be used for the male sacrificial cigarette, and the cliff rose for the female. These two shrubs are much alike, particularly when in fruit and decked with long plumose styles, but the former (the “male”) is the larger and coarser shrub. In the myth of Dsĭlyiʻ Neyáni another instance may be found where mountain mahogany is associated with the male, and the cliff rose with the female. Again, in the myth of Natĭ′nĕsthani a male cigarette is described as made of the coarse sunflower, while its associated female is said to be made of the allied but more slender Verbesina. Instances of this character might be multiplied indefinitely. On this principle the north is associated with the male, and the south with the female, for two reasons: 1st, cold, violent winds blow from the north, while gentle, warm breezes blow from the south; 2d, the land north of the Navaho country is more rough and mountainous than the land in the south. In the former rise the great peaks of Colorado, while in the latter the hills are not steep and none rise to the limit of eternal snow. A symbolism probably antecedent to this has assigned black as the color of the north and blue as the color of the south; so, in turn, black symbolizes the male and blue the female among the Navaho. (From “A Vigil of the Gods.”)[328]
138. Version A.—The young birds were the color of a blue heron, but had bills like eagles. Their eyes were as big as a circle made by the thumbs and middle fingers of both hands. Nayénĕzgạni threw the birds first to the bottom of the cliff and there metamorphosed them.
139. The etymology of the word Tsĕ′-dă-ni (Englished, chedany) has not been determined. It is an expression denoting impatience and contempt.
140. On being asked for the cause of this sound, the narrator gave an explanation which indicated that the “Hottentot apron” exists among American Indians. The author has had previous evidence corroborative of this.