# Told the Second Night explained — Zuni Folktales

> Chapter companion for Zuni Folktales by Frank Hamilton Cushing.

## What happens

The young man pursues his wife's spirit westward, guided by a red plume, enduring great hardship. He reaches the Lake of the Dead where she enters the spirit world. An Owl offers counsel and uses medicine of sleep to reunite them, but warns him not to touch her until they reach home. The young man fails, kisses her, and she vanishes again, leading to his eternal wandering.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Trial

The young man's love is tested through a grueling journey and a final prohibition; his failure leads to permanent separation.

### Death and Mourning

The chapter explores the grief of losing a loved one and the attempt to cross the boundary between life and death.

### Folklore vs. Science

The narrative uses supernatural elements—spirit plumes, medicine of sleep, and owl-beings—to explain death and the afterlife.

## Character check-ins

### The Young Man

Grieving husband who pursues his wife's spirit, receives counsel from the Owl, but fails to obey and loses her again.

### The Maiden

The spirit of the young man's wife, who leads him westward and enters the Land of Spirits beneath the lake.

### The Owl

A wise being who counsels the young man, gives him medicine of sleep, and orchestrates a temporary reunion.

## Key lines

> If men and women had never died, then the world long ago had overflown with children, starvation, and warring.

Death is necessary to prevent overpopulation and conflict.

_The narrator reflects on the necessity of mortality._

> I go to the Council of Dead Ones, and how can the living there enter?

The maiden tells her husband he cannot follow her into the spirit world.

_Highlights the boundary between the living and the dead._

> Be not foolish, but journey preciously with her, and not until ye reach the home of thy fathers shalt thou approach her or kiss her; for if thou doest this, all will be as nothing again.

The Owl warns the young man not to touch his wife until they arrive home, or he will lose her forever.

_The central prohibition that the young man fails to keep._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/told-the-second-night
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters