When the Hero Twins went to see their father the Sun to ask for help in slaying the monsters that plagued mankind he at first showed them horses, "Here they are, those with which in time to come (people) will live,"
Father sun said ..........
He opened a door toward the east, they say. The place was so large that it extended as far as one could see .......... At the entrance, white shell was prancing about, they say, white shell in the likeness of a horse .......... Gracefully doing like this, lifting its foot continually, it was prancing about, they say. All of different kinds, white shell horses extended off in great numbers ..........
A great amount of mist-like rain falling on them continuously, they extended off in great numbers .......... Blue birds fluttered over their heads, they say. The myth tells us that after showing Turquoise Boy these holy white horses in the first enclosure, Mirage Man continued his tour with a visit to another wing of the place, built just like the eastern one, but facing the south this time. In this place, a great turquoise horse tied with a handsome turquoise-blue rope was prancing about at the entrance, and from him had sprung the many blue horses which stood behind as far as the culture hero could see.
The youth could also see that rainbows formed an arch over the sky around the blue horses while blue swallows fluttered over them, doubtless empowering the horses with the speed and endurance they contained in their blue feathers.
The birds also symbolized the happiness and the immortality surrounding Sun's herd. Again, the horses were enveloped by a mist, which only intensified their beauty.
Now, there remained only two other enclosures a western one and a northern one, and as before, Mirage Man showed the youth these places too. Basically, they resembled the other two, except that the horses, roped, and birds inside each one differed entirely in coloration.
The western horses and the things surrounding them were yellow, while the northern horses and the things surrounding them were spotted.
But the Hero Twins turned down the horses instead taking with them lightning in which to slay the monsters indicating that horses would come to the Navajo at a later time.
Navajo Horse Legend
quoted and inspired by Where the Two Came to their Father . A Navaho War Ceremonial given by Jeff King by Maud Oakes
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