acequia riddles

In his article "Water--New Mexico's Delicate Balance" (New Mexico Magazine, May 1983), G. Emlen Hall recounts a riddle that is posed annually in some of the aceuqias in northen New Mexico. (Professor Hall will be teaching my Water Law class at UNM this semester, by the way).

"En que es suspendido este mundo?"
"De voluntad de Dios."
"Y en que es suspendido nuestro pueblo?"
"Del rio."

"What does the world hang from?"
"It hangs (by a string) from the will of God."
"And what does our village hang from?"
"The river."

Would that we all took part in this annual ritual. Perhaps we New Mexicans would thereby cultivate a better appreciation of the importance of water to our existence.