on top of the rock
there lived a hawk
the great enemy of the people
day after day he killed
more and more chickens
and in a little while
there would be no more chickens at all"¦
people were troubled
they smoked and talked and prayed
they knew what had to be done
the hawk had to be killed
everyone knew that
and the men and the women
and the children
all knew it
but no one knew how
but a little field mouse
Tusan Homichi
had heard about all the trouble
that people were having
and he felt sorry for them
so he decided to kill the hawk
so he came to the village
chanting
hawk kills chickens
hawk kills rabbits
but the hawk won't kill Tusan Homichi!
monster hawk will surely die!
some of the people laughed
they said that dirty little mouse was crazy
to even try
but others began to wonder if that mouse
has some great power
that night
when everyone went to sleep
little mouse stayed up all night long
three times he went out
and looked at the stars
with white clay he painted his cheeks
and the right side of his forehead
he put the white on his arms,
chest and legs
he painted the black mark across his eyes
he tied shells from the ocean
around his right wrist
then he sat down,
and thought about his songs
the next day would be the great day!
hawk kills chickens
hawk kills rabbits
but the hawk won't kill Tusan Homichi
monster hawk will surely die"¦