CHAPTER VII

 Teni and his new friend took Mavo by the hand and climbed out on the rocky shelf, which was the only yard these children had.

 

They walked toward a place where some women were making jars from clay.

 

One woman was mixing the clay with water, while another shaped the jars with her hand.

 

Near-by, on the ground, were many jars of different shapes which were being dried by the sun.

 

 

The cliff-dwellers used these jars for holding water.

 

The children watched the women for a while, then went to another part of the cliff where other women were weaving baskets from cedar¹ fibers².

 

The baskets were closely woven, so that they could be used to carry water.

 

As the children stood there, Demino came down the ladder with a water jar on his head, and behind him came his wife with the baby on her back.

 

“Let us have a race,” said Teni. Mavo wanted to run too, but Teni said she was too little.

 

The boys climbed down to a lower shelf where more cliff people were gathered.

 

 

Here were other boys, and they wanted to race too.

 

They were soon on the sandy ground below the cliff and ready for the start.

 

One of the boys had a large dog. He wanted him in the race too, because he could run so fast.

 

They started off toward a hill. The boys were to race to the hill and back. The boy who won was to ride a pony³ belonging to one of the men.

 

On and on they ran, while the cliff people strained their eyes watching them.

 

Teni seemed in the lead, but just as they were nearing home the large dog dashed ahead and won the race.

 

Teni came next.

 

The dog wagged his tail as the boys ran up to him.

 

He looked at Teni, as much as to say, “You may have the ride.”

 

Now the pony was led up, and Teni was lifted to its back.

 

Teni could ride a pony, because all Indian boys are taught to ride when they are very young.

 

So he started off, sitting very straight and looking proudly before him.

 

Mavo clapped her hands and said, “Hurry back, Teni.”

 

“I will,” answered Teni, as the pony galloped⁴ away.

 

The boy and the pony were soon hidden by the thick dust.

 

In a short time Teni was back.

 

He jumped down quickly and patted the pony’s head, happy because he had had so fine a ride.

 

Just then some men came up.

 

They had been hunting, and now all the people crowded round to see the fine game they had brought.

 

The hunters were very hungry, so they all turned back to the cliff village to cook the deer and rabbits which they had killed.

 

There was great haste to prepare the food for the hungry men.

1 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

2 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

3 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

4 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。