Killer-of-Enemies went up to the pueblo of Picuris. When he came they said, “He is worthless. He is no good.” They decided to use him in evil ways.
They took him to a place where an eagle had a nest. The eagle had a nest on a ledge at the side of a cliff some distance down from the top. They took Killer-of-Enemies to the top and put ropes around him, and they told him, “We will lower you, and you must take those two little eagles from the nest.”
“All right,” replied Killer-of-Enemies.
They lowered him to the nest. When he got there he threw off the rope and stayed there.
The Pueblo men called to him, “Why do you take that rope off? Keep it on and bring those little eagles up with you.”
But Killer-of-Enemies didn’t listen to them. He paid no attention to what they said. They all cursed him and called him names.
The two little eagles spoke to each other, “Shall we ask him what he wants?” one asked the other.
“Yes, let’s ask him.”
So they did. One of them asked him.
“I’ve just come to see you. I have come to stay with you because you are children all by yourselves. Perhaps you might become frightened sometime if you are left alone. Where are your mother and father?”
“Our mother and father went up in the sky.”
“When will they come back?”
“In about four days.” Then the two little ones asked, “Are you hungry? If you are, we will feed you.”
So they brought a little piece of bread for him on a small plate. Killer-of-Enemies thought, “That’s not enough for me. I’ll finish it at one swallow.”
The two little eagles said, “That is enough for you.”
He began to eat. He couldn’t eat it all. When he was satisfied some was still left.
He asked for water now. The young eagles brought a little hailstone.
He thought, “That won’t be enough for me.”
But he started to drink the water from it and couldn’t finish it all. Some was still left and he gave it back. The young eagles put it away.
Four days passed. On the fourth day he looked up in the sky. Something was coming. The father and mother eagle came to that nest.
The male eagle spoke to him and said, “Something-Hanging-Down [this is the name by which the eagle addresses Killer-of-Enemies throughout this episode], what are you doing here?”
“Oh, I just came to visit with you because I would like to see how it is up in the heavens.”
“It’s a good thing you came here,” the eagle said, “We are going to take you up in the heavens.”
The cliff looked solid, but the big eagle went to it and opened a door in that rock wall. Then he called Killer-of-Enemies to it. Killer-of-Enemies went in. He looked around. It was one large room, and hanging from the roof were suits like those the eagles wear. There were many of them, of all sizes. They told him to pick out one that fitted him, and he did so and put it on.
Then the parents said to the eaglets, “You must teach him to fly. But go only a little way at first.”
So the eaglets began to play with Killer-of-Enemies. They flew a short distance with him at first. Every time when they went out to play and fly, they went a little farther. After a while the parents told them to fly all day with Killer-of-Enemies, and to come back in the evening. They taught him how to do many things, how to fly high and swoop down.
For four days they took long trips, trips that took all day. They would get back in the evening. Then they took longer trips and were gone all day and would come back the next day. Now Killer-of-Enemies was getting strong.
The father continually asked the children whether Killer-of-Enemies was learning. “Is he strong?” he asked now.
And the children answered, “Yes, he can fly ahead of us.”
So the big eagle said, “Then tomorrow we will start upward. You go,” he told Killer-of-Enemies, “and change your suit. Hang up the one you have been using and take a new one.”
The next day they started to travel. They left early in the morning, just after sun-up. They stopped at sunset and found a place to sleep. The next day, early in the morning, they started out again. They found a place at nightfall and slept. The third day it was the same.
They asked Killer-of-Enemies, “Are you tired?”
“No, I’m not tired. I’m still all right.”
So the next day they went on. Killer-of-Enemies had no trouble until the afternoon. In the middle of the afternoon they were getting near to the heavens but Killer-of-Enemies was getting tired.
Both the big eagles got under him and tried to hold him up until he was rested. But he grew so tired that he began to fall. He couldn’t help it. Both the big eagles were becoming tired now too. The male eagle sent a message up to the heavens. He went up himself and got help. More eagles came down. Though there were many of them, they could not lift Killer-of-Enemies. He was too heavy.
So they sent up for more aid. They brought back some sandhill cranes. They all helped lift Killer-of-Enemies. But they, too, tired after a while.
They sent word up once more. This time a flock of geese came to their aid. They got under and lifted Killer-of-Enemies. After a while they also became tired. So they sent up word once more.
This time the grebes came to help. They were very strong, these birds. They got under Killer-of-Enemies and, without the help of the eagles or the others, lifted him up. At the top there was a hole and they brought Killer-of-Enemies through it. [In a different version it is told that Killer-of-Enemies, when he tried to reach the home of the eagles and was falling, had Mountain-Lion put down his tail. Killer-of-Enemies clung to it and was drawn up. (Inf.).] On top there was a place just like this world.
When he stood up there Killer-of-Enemies asked the eagles, “Where is your chief?”
“Over here,” and they showed him where the chief lived.
“What is his name?”
“Possessor-of-Authority.”
Killer-of-Enemies went to that man.
The chief asked, “What are you doing up here?”
“I just wanted to see this place.”
“When did you come?”
“Just now.”
“When are you going back?”
“In about eight days.”
The chief had a plentiful supply of meat, for he killed deer every day. So Killer-of-Enemies stayed there eight days.
The eagles came around and began to talk. They said, “We have our enemies nearby. They kill us every time we fight them.”
Killer-of-Enemies looked around. “Where is the encampment of your enemies? Where do they live?”
The chief replied, “Right over there where the bushes are thick. They are bees. Three kinds of bees are living there. [The three kinds of bees are described as black, grey, and yellow ones.] They always try to fight us.”
Some of the eagles went over there and started to fight them. Killer-of-Enemies watched the battle. The bees were darting in among the feathers of the eagles and stinging them. The eagles could not protect themselves. Some were swelling up and dying.
Killer-of-Enemies went back to the chief. He said, “Give me a thick suit of buffalo hide.”
The fighting was still going on. The chief gave Killer-of-Enemies presents of beads. Then Killer-of-Enemies broke some brush. He took the brush with him and went into the fight.
With the brush he hit at the bees and killed every one of them. Then he went to the brush and destroyed all the hives. Then the eagles were all happy.
But he left two of the bees alive, a male and a female. He gave them sweet things, flowers and fruit. He told them, “You must not kill any more.”
But they said, “When people tease us we will give them a shock.” That is why bees sting today.
The meadow-lark had been sitting there during the battle. He had made fun while some of those poor eagles were dying.
One of the eagles came to Killer-of-Enemies and said, “He is a sorcerer.”
Killer-of-Enemies turned to that meadow-lark and told him, “You must go down to earth. I’m taking your power away and you will have no power there. You will just make fun of the people as they pass by.
The meadow-lark did not want to go, but he had to go when Killer-of-Enemies told him to. He came down to this earth.
Then Killer-of-Enemies went back to the chief.
The chief said, “It is a good thing that you came up. You have brought us peace.”
The next day Killer-of-Enemies started to descend. The chief gave him a horse before he left.
“How can I take this down?” Killer-of-Enemies asked.
“Well, if you can’t take it down, I’ll choose something else.” So the chief picked out a bundle of white eagle feathers, the tail feathers of a male eagle. He also picked out spotted tail feathers of the female eagle. He handed them to Killer-of-Enemies as a present. And the chief gave him a war-bonnet of eagle feathers in addition.
So the next day Killer-of-Enemies started down. He was accompanied by the same two eagles who had ascended with him. In four days they were back. Killer-of-Enemies landed on top of the same cliff from which he had started. He removed his suit of eagle feathers and returned it to the eagles.
Then he started to walk to the pueblo of Picuris. When he arrived there, he gave the headdress and the feathers to these people. He distributed the feathers to the people of Picuris. That is why they use them now. And other peoples learned to use them from the people of Picuris.