Arizona - Raggio di luna
Nella tribù Navajo nacque una bambina talmente bella che fu chiamata Raggio di Sole, ad una delicata pelle olivastra si contrapponevano occhi e capelli nerissimi i denti poi erano una fila regolare di perle bianche. Raggio di Sole era figlia unica del capo tribù, il quale volendo che sposasse bene cominciò a cercarle un marito degno del suo rango. Ma Raggio di Sole era talmente vanitosa che nessuno le andava bene. Finalmente trova un giovane navajo molto bello Castoro Bianco, che però era vanitoso quanto lei e passava il tempo a guardarsi e vestirsi di morbide pelli e mocassini.
Orso Bruno si accorse che la figlia aveva scelto un buono a nulla ma niente potè fare quando la ragazza scelse di maritarselo poiché tra i navajo le donne han sempre l’ultima parola.
Il matrimonio però durò poco poiché Raggio di Sole non ammetteva vanità in famiglia che non la sua per cui Castoro Bianco, senza poi tanto dispiacersene una notte sparì per sempre, portandosi via anche un grosso carico di morbide pelli di daino.
Raggio di Sole non si rattristò tanto e poco dopo si trovò un altro sposo Corvo Nero della tribù del Sioux che aveva un’altra caratteristica: era un guerriero nato! Se non era in guerra contro qualcuno era a caccia; per cui con Raggio di Sole stava pochissimo e per di più rischiava spesso di portare in guerra la - in quel momento - pacifica tribù dei Navajo.
Ma un giorno finì sotto gli zoccoli di una mandria di bisonti mentre cercava di cavalcarne uno! ...e la sua anima andò al cospetto del grande Spirito Manitù.
Raggio di Sole smise presto i segni del lutto e per terzo marito si scelse un vecchio capo, Bisonte che Cammina, della tribù dei Nasi Forati; indiani noti per aver molti cavalli.
E infatti il capo Bisonte che Cammina ne aveva tantissimi, che portò in dote; ma tanti ne aveva tanto era avaro e tutta la tribù Navajo per molto tempo li potè usare ben poco pur avendo i recinti pieni di cavalli; solo a Raggio di Sole ne fu concesso uno per poter portare in giro la propria bellezza ma, il cavallo donatole era talmente vecchio e malridotto e con le orecchie basse basse e quasi senza coda che, quando passava tra il villaggio tutti le ridevano dietro e così, dalla vergogna, usciva dal suo tapee (la tenda a cono) solo di notte; da quel momento le donne Navajo cominciarono a chiamarla Raggio di Luna.
Arizona - Moonray
Once upon a time, in the Navajo tribe a baby girl was born. She was so beutiful that they called her Sunray. Her delicate skin was olive, her eyes and hair were pitch black and her teeth were a regular row of white pearls. Sunray was the chief's only child. He wanted a good husband for her so he began to look for one who was up to her standing. However, Sunray was so vain that nobody was good enough for her. At last she found a very handsome young Navajo, White Beaver, who was as vain as her though. He spent all his time looking at himself and wearing soft skins and moccasins.
Brown Bear realized his daughter had picked up a good-for-nothing but he could not do anything when his daughter chose to marry him because amongst Navajos women always have the last word. Their marriage lasted very little because Sunray accepted no other vainness except hers. Therefore one night White Beaver disappeared for good without even feeling very sorry for that after all and he even took a big load of soft deer skins with himself. Sunray did not feel very sorry either and a short time afterwards she found another husband, Black Raven from the Sioux tribe. He possessed a different trait: he was a born warrior. If he was not fighting against someone he was hunting. Consequently he spent very little time with Sunray and on top of that he often risked to involve the Navajo tribe, who at the time were peaceful, into a war. But one day he ended up trampled over by a herd of bisons while he was attenpting to ride one of them. And his soul rose up to the great spirit Manitu. Sunray soon stopped wearing mourning and she chose an old chief as her third husband, Walking Bison, from the Pierced-Nose tribe, Indians known for having many horses. And chief Walking Bison had an awful lot of them, that he brought as a dowry. But he was as stingy as the huge number of horses he had and the whole Navajo tribe could use them very little though their fences teemed with horses. Only Sunray was granted one so that she could carry her beauty around but the horse he had given her was so old and shaggy and its ears were so low and it hardly had a tail so when it walked through the village everybody laughed after her and so out of shame she came out of her tapee (the cone tent) only at night. From then on the Navajo women began to call her Moonray.