# Zuni Introduction explained — Zuni Folktales

> Chapter companion for Zuni Folktales by Frank Hamilton Cushing.

## What happens

The introduction describes the Zuni belief in an Underworld where unfinished, ghost-like beings existed before the emergence of daylight people. These beings were soft, pliable, and lacked solid bodies, subsisting only on the steam and savor of food rather than solid sustenance.

## Themes in this chapter

### Folklore vs. Science

The description of underworld beings and their ethereal nature contrasts with empirical understanding of life and death.

### Transformation and Identity

The beings are in a state of becoming, neither fully alive nor dead, highlighting themes of unfinished identity and transformation.

## Key lines

> It seems—so the words of the grandfathers say—that in the Underworld were many strange things and beings, even villages of men, long ago.

According to ancestral tradition, the Underworld once contained strange beings and entire villages.

_Establishes the mythical setting of the Zuni origin story._

> When, therefore, they would eat, they dreaded most the food itself, taking thought not to touch it, and merely absorbing the mist thereof.

These beings feared solid food and only consumed the steam and aroma of cooked meals.

_Illustrates the ethereal nature of the underworld inhabitants._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/zuni-introduction
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters