# The Tale explained — Zuni Folktales > Chapter companion for Zuni Folktales by Frank Hamilton Cushing. ## What happens In the ancient village of K'iákime, the priest-chief's daughter, obsessed with cleanliness, defiles a sacred spring belonging to Kólowissi, the Serpent of the Sea. Kólowissi appears as a child, is taken in by the maiden, and transforms into a giant serpent that coils around her room. The priest negotiates her release, but she must be sacrificed to the serpent. During the ritual procession, the serpent transforms into a handsome youth and gently addresses her. ## Themes in this chapter ### Nature and the Supernatural The sacred spring is a boundary between the natural and supernatural, where Kólowissi manifests as a child, serpent, and youth, blending the mundane with the divine. ### Sacrifice and Consequence The maiden's defilement of the spring leads to her required sacrifice, illustrating the theme of atonement and the inevitable consequences of transgressing sacred boundaries. ### Gender Roles and Agency The maiden's actions are driven by her domestic obsession with cleanliness, and her fate is decided by male priests, reflecting limited female agency in a patriarchal society. ## Character check-ins ### The Priest-Chief The father of the maiden, a priest and sage who recognizes the danger of the serpent child and orchestrates the sacrificial atonement. ### The Priest-Chief's Daughter The maiden with a passion for cleanliness who defiles the sacred spring, takes in the serpent child, and is ultimately sacrificed to Kólowissi. ### Kólowissi The Serpent of the Sea who appears as a child, then as a giant serpent, and finally transforms into a handsome youth during the procession. ## Key lines > There was a sacred spring of water at the foot of the terrace whereon stood the town. We now call it the Pool of the Apaches; but then it was sacred to Kólowissi (the Serpent of the Sea). At the base of the village terrace lay a holy spring, known today as the Pool of the Apaches, once dedicated to Kólowissi, the Sea Serpent. _Establishes the sacred geography and the central supernatural entity._ > When the maiden came again to the spring, what should she behold but a beautiful little child seated amidst the waters, splashing them, cooing and smiling. It was the Sea Serpent, wearing the semblance of a child. Upon returning to the spring, the maiden saw a lovely infant playing in the water—actually the Sea Serpent in disguise. _Key moment of deception and the maiden's unwitting acceptance of the supernatural._ > The child became elongated by degrees, as it were, fulfilling some horrible dream, and soon appeared as an enormous Serpent that coiled itself round and round the room until it was full of scaly, gleaming circles. The child gradually stretched into a massive serpent, coiling around the room until it was filled with shiny, scaly rings. _Climactic transformation revealing the true nature of the child._ > He placed the scales of his serpent form, now small, under his flowing mantle, and called out to the maiden in a hoarse, hissing voice: 'Let us speak one to the other. Are you tired, girl?' He tucked the diminished serpent scales beneath his cloak and addressed the maiden in a rough, hissing tone, asking if she was weary. _Transition from serpent to human form, with a lingering otherworldly quality._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-tale - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters