A giant lived at Gashpĕta (Cave Place). The Twins were at Tsiĕpĕ. He went to get them, to cook them for his dinner. He had a basket on his back, and he dropped them in and started back to his house. They picked piñon gum and spread it over his head. They came along by Hainayasta (Old Cochiti, across the river). They struck a fire and the piñon gum blazed up. He felt the fire and ran to the river. The boys were thrown out. He was angry, and he said, "Whenever I see those boys I'll eat them."
He set out to find them again. When he discovered them, he put them in his basket and said, "You got away from me, but I caught you again." He started for his house. He brought them through Hainayasta to Fissure Place, where he lived. He told his daughter to make the fire. He chopped them all up and put the pot over to boil. He said, "Now I shall have a good feast in the morning." That night they broke open the door of the oven and got out. The giant's family were happy because in the morning they were going to have a feast. When they went to get them, they found that the boys were gone. The giant was very angry. He said, "I shall eat you yet!"
When he got to Tsiĕpĕ, they were playing with bows and arrows. The giant said to them, "You think you can get away from me." They laughed and tried to hit him with their arrows. He put them in his basket and took them home. His daughter made a fire, and he chopped them up fine, and put them in the pot. He was sure that he was going to have a nice feast. In the night the Twins opened the door and went home. In the morning he was so happy about the feast he was going to have, but the Twins were gone. "I shall eat you yet!" he exclaimed.
He went again to Tsiĕpĕ. He found them there playing with their bows and arrows. He was mad. He said, "This is the last time that I am coming. You will see what you will get. I will eat you now." He put them in his basket and took them home with him. He said, "We'll see which is the man!" The Twins took their stone knives and hit him in the heart and killed him. They shut him up with stones in his cave 2 and went back to Tsiĕpĕ.
Long ago a giant lived in Peralta Canyon. As soon as the little children in Cochiti were big enough to eat, he would come and throw them into the carrying basket on his back and take them home to eat. He boiled them in the Boiling Place of the Giant, and when they were done, he called his children to the feast. He always knew just when the little children were big enough and juicy enough to be best for eating. Soon there were no children left in the pueblo.
The Twin Heroes heard of this. They said, "There should be many children in Cochiti, and there is not one." They started off from Tsiĕpĕ to overcome the giant. The giant was just starting to the pueblo on his round. They came face to face. The giant said, "Who are you, children?" "We are looking for you." He reached down and thrust them into his basket and started for his Boiling Place. He said, "Now I can make a meal off you two." The boys paid no attention; they were playing in his basket. When they were halfway to his home the boys laid their plans. Masewa jumped out and picked up big rocks and handed them up to his brother. The giant did not notice. When the basket was full, the boys dropped off and took the road home.
After four days the giant was coming again. The boys came out to meet him. Again they were face to face. The giant said, "There you are, children." "We were looking for you." He reached down and thrust them into his basket and started for his Boiling Place. He said, "Now I can make a meal off you." The Twins paid no attention; they were playing in his basket. When they were halfway to his home the boys laid their plans. Masewa climbed down and collected gum and handed it up to the other who put it over the giant's hair and neck. When they got near his place, and he was all covered with pitch, the Twins set fire to him. He ran to the river to put it out, and they went off laughing. The giant was very angry. "I will boil those boys yet for my soup!" he said.
Again in four days they saw the giant coming to the pueblo. The Twins came from Tsiĕpĕ. They met him near the pueblo. The giant said, "There you are, children." "We were looking for you." He reached down and thrust them into his basket and started for his Boiling Place. He said, "Now I can make a meal off you." The boys paid no attention; they were playing in his basket. When they were halfway to his place the boys laid their plans. They let the giant take them all the way to his house. He was very angry. On the way the boys pinched the giant. They hung over the sides of the basket and pinched him. He scolded at them, but they paid
no attention to him. Finally he came to the Boiling Place. The little giants had a big fire ready to cook their food, and the big giant put them right in. They were plastered with mud and as soon as they touched the water, it cooled and they were not hurt at all.
They stayed quiet until the middle of the night. Then they got out. They picked off the plaster until they opened the oven door. They gathered manure (sheep's and horses') and put it in their place. In the night the giant got up and sniffed. He said, "Ha! children, we'll have fine soup out of those two boys!" In the morning the Twins were back at Tsiĕpĕ. At daylight the old giant woke his children so that they would be ready for breakfast. They began breaking off the plaster. The boys had replaced it just as it was. They found the manure. The old giant cried, "Well! Well! What can we do? I don't see how the little boys got away from me." In this way the Twins kept the giant from killing the children. They said, "This is what you did to children of Cochiti; this is what will happen to you."
19:1 Informant 3. See Dumarest, 224. Notes, p. 212.
19:2 Schkoio schkaka haush.
20:3 Informant 1.