The Lazy Boys Who Became The Pleiades

The following data is extracted from Traditions of the Caddo.

    Long, long ago, in the beginning of this world, there lived an old woman with seven children, who were all boys. The boys were full of life and fun and they would go away from the others and play all the day long, and would not work, nor take time to eat but twice a day-morning and evening. When they came home in the evening their mother would scold them, and one evening when they came home late for their supper their mother would not let them have anything to eat. The boys were very angry and went back to their play and determined on the morrow to go away where they would never trouble her any more. The next morning early they went down to their playground before breakfast and began to go round and round the house, praying to the spirits to help them. At last their mother noticed and heard what they were saying, and as she watched them she noticed that their feet were off the earth, and then she knew that something was wrong, and she ran out trying to get her children, but it was too late. With every round they rose higher and higher in the air, and were soon above the roof of the house. They circled higher and higher until they went up to the sky, where we can see them now as the Seven Stars. These seven boys who were taken to the sky were very indolent, and when the work time came they would always slip off and play. That is the reason that during the winter months the Seven Stars can be seen; but at the beginning of the spring months, at the work time, the Seven Stars are gone.

Source: Traditions of the Caddo

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