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Show IV ENTERTAINMENT TALES 38 -THE SLX-HEADED MONSTER (NASSAENTOOTSITCH) A long time ago there was a big wickiup where a man lived alone. One day a bad Indian came along and cut his throat and ate him. He had six heads, and he killed and ate so many Indians, that die skulls covered the ground like rocks. One day he came to a big wickiup. A little Indian with a little dog lived here. He had a very sharp sword and cut off the heads of the big Indian. Then he laughed. 39 -THE ABANDONED BOY A man had many children. One boy was a great eater, and at meals he would eat everything there was. His parents said, "Let's go and leave him over in the brush!" The boy heard this and went to an old woman who had a camp close to his. "My parents say they will leave me out in the brush," he said to her. She told him to put some ashes in a sack and to drop little pieces every thirty steps, so that he would not get lost when his father left him in the brush. Soon his father took him out. There was much brush, and he could not see anything. His father left him far off in the brush. "Stay here," he said, "while I go and urinate." Then he ran away, and the boy could not see him anymore. Now he was lost. Then he followed the ashes and kept on till he got back to camp again. His modier said, "How did you get back? We will take him out again." The boy went to the old woman's camp again. He said, "My fadier and motiier say they are going to take me out in the brush again." The old woman said, "Get some corn and drop it on the way." His father left him again, saying, "I must go and urinate." The boy started back again by the trail of the corn, but the birds had eaten the com up. Now he was lost. He wandered around until he heard something, and when he went towards it, he heard some chickens cackling. It was noon, and he had been in the brush two nights. It was a white man's house and the white man asked him, "Where did you come from? Do you want to work for me?" "Yes," said the boy, and he stayed there all the time. Now, die boy had become a man. He said, "I will go and visit my home." One day he found the key to the man's money-trunk in die barn, where the man had lost it. He tried the key in the trunk and opened it. There was plenty of money there, and he took the money, some clothes, and a horse, and rode off. 93 40 - A WITCH STEALS PIGEON-BOY An Indian Pigeon (Morning Dove) Girl was playing with her baby brother when a Witch came by. It wanted to steel the boy. "Who is this?" It asked her. "That is my brother," she replied. Then the Witch carried him away. Soon Pigeon-Woman came and asked for her baby, for she wanted to nurse him. Pigeon-Girl said, "He is gone. A Witch carried him away." The Pigeon-Woman killed her daughter for letting the baby go. She cried all day, "Wuu, wuu, wuu!" like a pigeon, and she searched for the Witch all the time. The Witch took Pigeon-Boy to Its home; It lived near Pigeon-Woman's house. Soon Pigeon-Boy grew up. One day he went out hunting and heard someone crying. He did not know it was his mother, but wondered who it was, and when he went back he told the Witch about the noise. It told the boy he must not go near the place or some one would kill him. "It was no relation of yours," It said. But the boy wanted to find out what the noise was. He went hunting a long ways off and killed some deer. Then he skinned them and packed the meat on a tree-branch, and when he came home, he told the Witch to go after the meat. The Witch went, but could not reach the meat, because it was too high up. When It had gone, die boy went to find the noise. The Witch pushed the meat off the branch with a pole. Then It wrapped it up and started home, but the packcord broke. It tied the meat on its back and began to run. Again the cord broke, but It fixed it and at last reached home. Pigeon-Boy searched for the noise he had heard, and at last he came upon his mother, who was lying upon die ground and crying. "Why are you lying here?" he asked her. "What are you crying for?" "Halloo, my son!" she cried when she saw him. Then she hugged him. "Let's run away!" she said. "All right," answered the boy and they ran away. Soon Pigeon-Boy saw an Antelope. His mother cried, "O Antelope! help us! A Witch is coming after us." "All right," said Antelope, and he picked them up and held them in his cleft hoofs. Soon the Witch came up to them. "Have you seen the Pigeons?" It asked. "No," said Antelope. Then the Witch went away. But It came and asked again, and then went back to look at the tracks. Then Antelope threw the Pigeons as far as he could, and they ran north till they came to Mountain-Sheep. "Hurry up!" said Pigeon-Woman. "There's your grandfadier there." Now the Witch was very close behind them. "Mountain-Sheep, help us!" diey cried. "All right," he answered and put them in his nose. The Witch came up and asked, "Have you seen the Pigeons?" "No," answered Mountain-Sheep. His nose was very sore, but die Witch did not notice it. The Pigeons ran on again till diey met Wild-Snake. "Help us!" they cried. "A Witch is trying to kill us." Wild-Snake put them in a smoke-sack. Then the Witch came up and 94 hunted around for them. Wild-Snake had a rock house with much grease in it, and when the Witch went in to hunt for die Pigeons, he threw some fire inside and closed the door. Then he opened die sack and let the Pigeons out. "I have killed It," he said. Then he told them they might go home and not be afraid of anything else. So they both went home. They stroked the dead Pigeon-Girl there, and she woke up. She got better, but cried all the time. 41 -THE SEE-ATCH AND THE HORNY TOAD In die olden times, the old people warned the children not to stay out late at night and to behave or the See-atch would get them. One little boy got mad at his parents and ran away from home. The See-atch caught him and put him in a buckskin bag and started to carry him to his den. The See-atch was tired and whenever the See-atch stopped to rest, the little boy would put a rock in the bag with him. He soon got very heavy to carry, and the See-atch asked the little boy why he was getting so heavy. The little boy got scared and started to cry, and Horny Toad heard him, and when the See-atch wasn't looking, he told the little boy to jump out and run as soon as he threw his cap at the See-atch. He threw his cap and hit the See-atch right in the throat, and the litde boy jumped out and ran home as fast as he could. 42 -THE WEASEL (PAHVEECHEECH) AND THE SKUNK Weasel married Skunk's daughter, and the families lived together. Weasel was a great hunter and brought home much game, and when he did so, Skunk would foul it causing it to stink, and the two children of Weasel could not eat it and they got sick with hunger. At this, Weasel became much enraged, and he thought for a long time trying to think of some way to kill Skunk. So one day he went out hunting with his father-in- law who had never had any success in hunting game, had in fact never killed an animal in his life. Weasel promised that he would show him how to hunt. At last they saw game in the distance, and Weasel stole one of Skunk's arrows, and then told the Skunk to stand by a tree near by while he went around and drove the game that way. So he crawled near to where the game was feeding and killed one widi Skunk's arrow, and die rest ran by where Skunk stood who shot all his arrows but succeeded in killing none. Then Weasel came up saying, "Did you kill a sheep?" and the old man answered that he did not. 95 Then they looked around and saw the sheep Weasel had killed with Skunk's arrow, in it, and the old man claimed that he had killed one, but when Weasel explained to him how he had killed it, the old man was very embarrassed. They hunted all day and Weasel killed much game but Skunk none, until the Weasel in anger exclaimed, "You are not a good hunter; you never killed any game in your life and you never will, because you stink. You can be a good hunter, for you see your arrows are not at fault, because I have killed all this game with them. The fault is with you. Let me cure mis stink and you will be as good a hunter as others." Wanting to be a good hunter, Skunk agreed to this proposition. So Weasel took from his sack a little round stone which he had previously gotten for this purpose and put it in the fire and heated it to redness, wrapped it in a piece of the flesh of one of the sheep and handed it to Skunk. When Skunk had swallowed it, he screamed in anguish, "It is burning my heart," and Weasel replied, "That is good; it will do you good; it will do you good." Still Skunk cried, "It is burning up my heart," and, as he cried more, Weasel was happy and repeated, "That is good; it will cure you of your stink." At last Skunk said, "I am dying; tell my brother to come here." Weasel started off but went only a short distance and hid behind a rock where he could see Skunk writhing in pain. After a time he returned to where the old man was lying nearly dead and said to him, "Your brother will not come; he says you stink too much." Skunk replied, "No, now the stink is all burned and gone; carry me to my friends." So Weasel took him on his back and carried him to the top of a high cliff, and as he was walking near its brink, he said, "Jump higher on my shoulders; I can carry you easier that way," and as Skunk tried to do so, Weasel made a motion as if to help him, but instead of doing so, he threw him over his head, and he fell down over the edge of die cliff and was killed. Then Weasel returned home taking his game with him. Skunk's brother knew he was killed and went to the home of Weasel. He asked, "Where is my brother? He had beeri gone a long time; can you tell me anything about him?" Weasel pretended ignorance and replied, "I don't know; he has gone hunting, I suppose." With this answer the brother pretended to be satisfied, but said to himself, "I will yet kill Weasel for slaying my brodier." One day the brother of Skunk, knowing that Weasel was going hunting, got himself the skin of a mountain sheep which he placed on the edge of a cliff so that it looked like one alive, and then laid himself down behind a rock near by. 96 Weasel saw this decoy sheep and thought it was alive. He came up behind a tree near by and shot it with an arrow and, as he did so, Skunk's brother pulled it over as though it had been killed. Weasel ran up to get his game, and as he stood on the brink of the cliff, Skunk's brother stepped from his hiding place and hurled him over, and he was killed. Taking off Weasel's skin he put it on himself and started for Weasel's home. As he came near, the children of the dead man ran out as usual to greet their father thinking it was he, but soon seeing he had a strange walk, they ran back into the teepee calling to their mother, "Mother, who is coming? It looks like father, but he has the walk of Skunk's brother." She said to her children, "It is indeed Skunk's brother, but when he comes in, treat him as if he really was your father." And they did so, and he sat within the teepee and ate, and when he was full, he went to sleep thinking they didn't know who he was. As he was sleeping, the mother and children stole quietly out of the teepee and set fire to it and he was burned. And thus died Skunk, Weasel, and Skunk's brother. 43 - INSECTS AND THE OWL-HAWKS Insects had killed a white-tailed deer among the willows. There were ten of them. Two Owl-Hawks lived among the wire grass and willows. While hiding there, they saw the ten Insects kill the deer. They said to each other, "We will deceive them; before they cut up the meat we will tell them, 'Why did you kill our brother?' As soon as we reach them, we will begin to cry loudly, and will tell them to go away from that place. We will say, 'We will drag him away and bury him.' " So the Owl Hawks went to them and said, "Go away. You killed our brother. We had the same mother and father. Go away. We want to bury him." Then one of the Insects said, "He does not look like you. You have wide eyes, and wings, and feet diat are different. You are altogether different. You do not belong to him." The Owl-Hawks said, "He has been away from us since he was a boy, living in the willows; that is why he looks different." The same man said to them, "You He to us. You have nothing to eat, therefore you want this deer to eat. You wish to deceive us." The Owl-Hawks said, "We tell you the truth; he was our relative. If you continue to talk to us, we shall shoot at you." "What will you do with him? Where will you bury him?" diey asked. "We shall not bury him, we shall burn him," said the Owl-Hawks. The Insects said, "Very well, we will go. We did not know that he was your brother. We thought he was a deer; that is why we killed him. We made a mistake." They went away. Then the Owl-Hawks, who were hungry, and had deceived the others, dragged the deer a little distance off and made a fire near the deer. The ten Insects 97 looked back and saw the fire. They believed that diey were burning the deer. The Owl-Hawks cut up the deer and carried it home. When they arrived at home, they ate it. They laughed about those others. They said, "We tricked diem. White-tailed deer always tastes good. That is why we eat it." 4 4- COYOTE KILLS THE BEARS Coyote did all kinds of things long ago. Once Bear had two boys. He was an Indian dien and worked hard. He had a wickiup opposite the Coyote's house, and about noon Coyote went over to Bear's house. Bear had gone to work, but the boys were at home. Coyote killed the boys and put a blanket over diem. When Bear came home in the afternoon, he asked, "What's the matter?" "The boys are asleep," said Coyote. Then he put some poison in some food and gave it to Bear. So Coyote killed all the Bears. 45 - COYOTE LEARNS TO SWIM Coyote stood by the Big Water (the Missouri River). Many men were swimming in the river on logs, and some of them swam across. Coyote wanted to swim too, but some one said, "O Coyote! you can't swim." "Oh, I'm a pretty good swimmer," answered Coyote. Then he got on a log and started to swim across. All the way across he kept crying. "Maybe we will all be drowned, killed!" At last he got across. Then he jumped out and yelled while all the other men laughed. Then one of them said, "Well, we'd better go back again." They started across again, and again Coyote cried all the way back. "Maybe we'll all be drowned this time," he cried. But an Indian said, "Oh, we are all right! We won't drown." At last they reached the shore again. Then Coyote leaped ashore. He laughed and yelled for he was very glad. 46 -BLIND COYOTE AND HIS WIFE Coyote would never believe what people told him. He said, "No, no," to everydiing. But anything that he said was all right. Coyote had only one eye, but his wife had two eyes. He went out with his bow and arrows one day to hunt buffalo and sat down in a little hollow by a spring. Then his wife said, "There are plenty of buffalo diere. Shoot them!" Coyote shot many times and killed one, but his wife hid it so that he could not see it. Then he said, "I killed one," but his wife answered, "No, you missed it." The rest of the buffalo ran off. His wife went far off and left Coyote to starve while she dried the meat. He lay down and slept in his wickiup all die time. Then he made some medicine from something he picked up on the rocks. He rubbed this in his eye 98 and lay down again, and when he awoke, his eyes were all right. He looked around and saw smoke and fire far off. When he went over diere and saw all the meat, he was very angry, and got his bow and arrows. Soon his wife came up, but she did not see him. Coyote shot her and ate all the meat. 4 7- COYOTE JUGGLES HIS EYES AND BECOMES BLIND One day while out walking, Coyote came to a lake where there were many ducks and geese swimming around. He went close to the water and sat down. "They look good to eat," thought he; "I wonder how I can catch diem!" At last he decided to try walking on the bottom of the lake. He walked a long way out until he saw the birds' feet, and then he seized them and walked ashore. He did this until he had three or four big ones. Then he packed them home, and met his Indian friend. "What do you call them?" he asked him. The Indian called the ducks, "Chee-gUch," and the geese, "Eevennook." "What are they good for?" asked Coyote. "They are good to eat," replied the Indian; "we use the small feathers for pillows to rest our heads and the long feathers to feather our arrows." So Coyote cooked the birds and ate them and made arrows with the long feathers. Then they went hunting fish. The Indian shot one and took it home. He showed Coyote how to use the bow and arrow, and Coyote went hunting alone. He stood on the bank of a creek, and a big game fish came swimming along. Coyote Shot at him, but die big fish broke the arrow. Coyote was so frightened that he ran home and told the Indian. "Go again," said the Indian, "and kill the fish; he is good to eat, and you can dry and keep his flesh also." Then Coyote walked until he came to a big white-pine tree. He heard some laughing and talking, and saw some Bears there, so he ran home and asked his Indian friends for some arrows. Then he returned and crawled up close to the Bears. He heard the Bear's wife say, "Hold on! Coyote may come and see what you are doing." But the Bear laughed and said, "Oh, no! Coyote is a coward. He is afraid of everything. If he saw me a long ways off then he would run." Then Coyote came up close, shot him many times and then chased him. The Bear wondered, "How did Coyote learn to shoot and hurt me? I'll kill him some time." He was very angry, but Coyote only laughed. Another time Coyote was wandering around to see what he could find. He heard birds laughing and talking. So he crawled up close in the willows and brush by the lake and saw many little birds in a tall tree. The little birds pulled their eyes out and threw them up in the willow branches. Then they shook the branches, and die eyes fell down in their places again. Then they laughed. Coyote asked them what they were doing with their eyes, and they said they .99 were just having some fun. Then Coyote said, "Let me try it!" "No," said they, "you will lose your eyes; you can't do it." But Coyote went and sat down by die lake. He felt crazy. He pulled his eyes out and threw them up in die willows. Then he shook the willows, but the eyes only fell on the ground. Now he was blind. He thought now he was certainly crazy. He heard water rushing far away and followed it and sat down by the brook. Soon two little girls came along. They did not see him, but he called to them, "Halloo! Where do you come from? What tribe do you belong to?" "Ute," they replied. "What tribe are you?" "Just the same as you Ute," he said. "I'll go along with you." "All right," said diey, so he covered his eyes and went along. Soon they came to a buffalo, and the girls told him to kill it. "Yes," said Coyote, "but I left my arrows at home." "Never mind," said the girls, "we'll make one quickly;" so they made one out of bone. "You'd better kill one," they said, and so Coyote walked till he got the wind from the Buffalo. Then he crawled up along the wind and shot several times. He hit and killed it, but he did not know it. He thought he had missed. Soon the girls came up. "Why don't you skin it?" they asked. "Well," he replied, "I was waiting for you." Then he followed them up to the buffalo. "Why don't you begin?" asked the girls. "I haven't any knife," he said. Then one of die girls handed him hers. He grasped blindly at it. "What's the matter?" she said. Haven't you any eyes?" Then Coyote took the knife and tried to skin the buffalo, but he cut it all to pieces. "What's the matter?" they said. "You've cut the skin to pieces." "Oh!" he said, "I tried to skin it quickly." "We'll throw it away and kill some more buffalo." Then the girls cooked the meat, and told him to come and eat. He walked past far below the fire. "Where are you going?" they cried. "Oh," he said, "I was just doing that for fun." Then he came up and sat down in the meat. "Why do you sit down in the meat?" they said. Then the girls made a wickiup, and Coyote went to sleep while diey stayed up and packed the meat. Then they thought, "What's the reason he can't see? Maybe he has no eyes!" So they crept up to him lifted the covering and saw that his eyes were gone. So they ran away and left him still sleeping. They found some old timber full of red ants and brought it back to the camp. They put it under his head and then ran away. The ants ran all over his head and into the eye-sockets and bit him. Then he woke up and cried, "Come here! the ants are biting me all over." But diere was no answer. Then he jumped up and smelled around till he found the girls' trail and ran after diem. The girls were now on a high hill, and saw him coming. "What's the matter?" they cried. "All right," he said, "I'll catch you." "All right," they replied. One of the girls had a purse with jingles on it. These made a great noise, and Coyote followed the 100 sound. Now he was catching up to them. On the other side of the hill was a high cliff. The girls shook the purse, direw it over the cliff, and then ran to either side. Coyote ran over the cliff and broke his leg. The girls came to the cliff and looked over. Coyote was far below on the rocks, eating the marrow out of the broken bone. The girls cried, "Coyote, what are you doing? Eating your own leg-grease? Shame!" But Coyote said, "No! I killed a mountain-sheep, and I am eating his bones. Better come down." "No," said they, "you are eating your own leg grease. Shame!" 48 -COYOTE LEARNS TO RIDE Coyote wanted to ride a horse, but someone said to him, "O Coyote you can't ride a horse. You will fall off." "No," said Coyote, "I won't fall off," and he got on a good, white horse. "Make him trot," said one of his friends. "I want to see you." Coyote made the horse trot and run. Then he fell off and yelled loudly. "I want to try again," he said, and he got on and fell off again. All his friends laughed, but he tried again. "Pretty soon I'll know how to ride," he said. Then his friends said, "Coyote, we will tie you on. Then maybe you won't fall off." "Tie me on well," said Coyote. The horse ran again, but Coyote did not fall off; he held the bit tight and all his friends yelled. Then he said, "111 go back again," and he ran back. His friends cried, "Come back again!" Coyote started back, but the rope across his legs broke and he fell off. All his friends laughed, but he walked back to try it again. Coyote believed he was now a good rider and would not fall off again. 49 -COYOTE AND HIS REFLECTION IN THE WATER Coyote went up a hill. He walked around, and looked around and then sat down on a rock. Far away he saw a lake. "Maybe there are fish in the lake," he thought; "I will go and see." Coyote liked fish, so he went down to the lake but found the sand hard. In the lake there were many little fishes swimming around and jumping after flies, and Coyote looked over the lake at diem. Then he saw his reflection. He was so frightened that he ran a long ways off, but soon he returned. He thought possibly it was a fish that had scared him. Again he looked in die water and again ran away frightened. Then he saw Antelope come down to drink, and he watched him. Antelope drank quietly, then turned and walked away. Coyote wondered why. He went down to where Antelope had drank and looked closely in the water. At die bottom was Frog, and he thought it was Frog that had frightened him. "Why did you frighten me, my friend?" said Coyote. Then he closed his eyes tight and leaned over and drank the 101 water. Then he looked around again. He was not frightened any longer, but got up and went home. Some Utes came by, hunting deer. Coyote was afraid of them and hid himself in a hole in a rock. 50 -COYOTE HUNTS BEAR Coyote feared the Utes, for he was afraid they would shoot him. He went up to a hill and saw some tracks, and thinking they were bear tracks, he followed them. They led around the hills to a big cherry-tree, for bears like berries and cherries. Coyote walked around the tree, but he did not see the Bear who was asleep inside the hollow cherry-tree. But the Bear smelled Coyote, woke up and chased him. They ran a long way, and at last Coyote ran up a hill and jumped up on a high rock. The Bear ran around the rock and tried to climb up on it, but could not, so he went away. Coyote sat down on the rock. He was angry, and he wondered why the Bear had chased him. Then he jumped down and ran after the Bear. The Bear was tired after the hard run, and his breath came hard, "wuf, wuf!" but he was walking slowly away and not looking behind. Coyote came up and hit him in the leg. "Wow, wow!" cried the Bear, and he was frightened. Then he saw that it was Coyote, and was very angry. Again he ran after him, but Coyote ran and jumped on anodier big rock. The Bear could not climb up, but he ran around the rock and scratched it widi his claws on the shady side of the rock and lay down there. Then Coyote jumped off the rock in the opposite direction. He jumped from rock to rock so as to leave no track. Soon the Bear looked up on the rock and found Coyote gone. He looked and smelled around but could not find the trail. Coyote ran a long ways till he came to a stream. Then he walked in the streams to a lake, but he did not know how to swim. He walked along the bottom of the lake till the water covered his head. Then he drew back. He tried to swim in several ways, and at last he found the right way. Then he swam across. 51 -COYOTE AND DOCTOR DUCK Coyote came one day to a big river. He wanted to be clean and not dirty any more, so he jumped in and took a swim and washed himself. Then he ate some Indian kamferis and went to sleep in the brush and willows. He dreamed of birds - eagles, hawks, geese, and ducks - and when he awoke, he saw a number of Geese on the lake. He went down to the shore of the lake and asked the Geese how they flew, how their f eadiers moved, and how they flew so easily without falling down. "Yes," said the Geese, "it is just as easy as walking." Then said Coyote, "Give me some feathers, so I too can fly." "No," said the Geese, "maybe you will fall in, and maybe you will make a noise all the time. You will go off somewhere and get lost. Geese keep together all the time and never stray away." "But I will go along with you," said 103 Coyote; "dien the people will say, 'How nice that looks!' I will go ahead; I know the way best." Then the Geese said, "All right." Each Goose gave him some of its feadiers. They stuck the feadiers over him, until he was completely covered, and then they said, "Now try them!" Coyote tried and flew easily over the lake without falling in. He flew easily and lightly. "That is all right," said the Geese; "now we will go." They all started up, crying as diey went. The Geese cried only as they rose and descended, but Coyote cried all the time. He imitated the cry of the Geese, "Ai-i, ai-i, ai-i!" They flew high in the air and then descended on the banks of a big river. When they had all alighted, the Geese said, "Why do you cry all the time?" And Coyote answered, "I am practicing die cry. Otherwise I might forget it, so I keep trying it." But the Geese only answered, "Well, we want no more crying. Now we are going again, and if you continue crying, we will pull all your feathers out again." "All right," said Coyote, so they started again. They all cried as they rose, but Coyote kept on crying. Then they gathered around him and pulled all his feathers out. Down he fell, a great distance to the ground and was badly hurt. But he got up and said, "Well, my friends, I'll go along the ground. I see something away over there." The Geese said, "We are going to see the Utes." Then they left Coyote behind. When they arrived, the Utes were engaged in a great fight with the Sioux. Coyote said, "I'll go on the ground; I like it better." He slept and dreamt a little while, and when he came up, the fight was over. The Geese had stayed until the end and gave Coyote, when he came up, an Indian girl they had rescued. Coyote took the girl to his house. Coyote carelessly left a pointed stick upright in the ground. The girl came in and sat down on the stick, which penetrated her rear. Then she began to cry, and Coyote said, "Something has hurt my girl. I will hunt for a doctor." He soon found Doctor Duck and said to him, "My girl is hurt, and I am looking for a doctor." The Duck said, "Go look for another doctor also." So Coyote went. Meanwhile die Duck went to Coyote's home and said to the girl. "Where are you sick?" She answered, "A stick has entered my rear." Then the Duck pulled the stick out and poked it into the bottom of the fire. Soon Coyote returned alone. The Duck did not tell him what the trouble was but said, "You must go and get water. Get it from the bottom of die lake at the middle." But Coyote diought, "What's die reason he wants me to get water way out there? There is too much water diere. I'll get it closer to shore." So he got a bowl and waded into die water up to his knees. Then he reached out and filled the bowl with water and took it to the Duck, who asked, "Where did you get diis water?" "Oh," said Coyote, "I stood so deep in the water. I got it right here." "I told you in die middle," said the Duck, and he 104 poured the water out. "All right," said Coyote, and he went again. This time he waded in up to his hips and got the water, but when he brought it home, the Duck looked at it and said, "This water was too near shore. I told you way out in the middle, in deep water." So Coyote went again. He walked till the water reached his breast, and brought water from there. But die Duck only said, "No. That is not deep water. I told you way down in the middle." Coyote answered, "All right, I'll do it," and he went again. He went in up to his nose and got the bowl full of water. But the Duck looked at it and said, "No, go far down in deep water. This water was too close to shore. It is not good." "All right," said Coyote, "I'll do it." This time he walked till the water covered his head and then kept on much farther. He filled his bowl with water and waded out again. But he slipped in the mud on the way out and spilled all die water. Then he went in again, a long distance after the water had covered his head. He got a fresh bowl of water and carried it safely home. He entered the house and said, "I got you water now way down deep in the middle." Then he looked around; both Duck and girl were gone. Then Coyote knew that Duck had stolen his girl. "What's the reason," he thought, "that he stole my girl?" He sat down and thought about it. "Which way did he go?" he thought. Then far down in the fire he heard a noise - "psst!" It was the stick. He thought, "What's the cause of that noise in there?" Then he poked the fire and pulled the stick out. "What kind of stuff is that?" he thought. Maybe it is good to eat." So he cooled it in the water. "That's my dinner," said Coyote. Then he began to eat it, but at the first bite he began to cry, "Wu, wu, wu!" But he kept on till he had eaten it all. Then he knew all the trouble and the cause of the girl's sickness. Coyote lay down and slept one night. Next morning he arose and started out to hunt his girl. He found the track and followed it, and soon he saw a camp. He saw a little child's bow and arrow on the ground, and he thought possibly it belonged to his girl's and the Duck's child. So he guessed on his fingers and decided it did belong to his step-child. So he took the bow and arrow along. Then he saw the smoke of die camp fire and by it a little boy. Then he saw his girl too. He went up to the child, handed him the bow and said, "My step-child, here is your bow and arrow." He stayed at the camp several days, and then said to the Duck, "I saw two little eagles on a rock. Let us go and get diem." So they went after the eagles. The Duck climbed up on the rock and tied the legs of the little eagles together. Then he looked around and found that he was on top of a high rock and could not go anywhere. Coyote had taken away all the earth from around the rock. So the Duck sat down. Soon the eagle came and fed the eaglets with rabbits. After she had gone, the Duck stole some bits and ate them, but after a little while the eaglets became grown and flew away. Then the Duck had no 105 more to eat, and he became thin through hunger and thirst. Coyote went back to the camp and took his girl again. Soon there were many little Coyotes there. Then they moved away. Coyote thought he had killed the Duck by hunger and thirst, so he said to his wife, "Take good care of my boys, but don't care for that Duck child. "Poor boy! He has no father." The girl thought, "What did Coyote do with that Duck? Kill him? What?" Meanwhile the Duck sat down on the rock and cried. Now he was all bones. But there was a camp of Utes a litde distance away. They had seen the eaglets and wondered, "Where did they come from?" One of the Indians came and heard the cries of the Duck, so he went home and told his boy, "I saw an Indian on the rock, who cries all the time." So they went to the rock, killing jack-rabbits on the way. They stood at the bottom of the rock and cried, "What kind of a man are you?" The Duck answered, "I am a Duck. Coyote did this; he treated me very badly. I have nothing to eat." Then the Utes said, "Jump over and we'll catch you." But the Duck was afraid. "Maybe I'll get hurt, my bones broken," he said. "Then," said the Indian, "throw down a rock, and I'll try to catch that." The Duck did so, and the Indian caught the rock." Now do the same way," he said. So the Duck fearfully closed his eyes and rolled off the rock. The Indian caught him easily, took him home, and fed him on jack rabbits, fat ones. Then they greased him all over. Soon he was fat and all right again and ready to start out again. Then the Indian said, "Now go and hunt your boy. Kill Coyote. He is bad; he will steal anything. Kill him as he tried to kill you. Make a great storm, a great cold. Blow on him; make him freeze." So the Duck set out. He followed Coyote's track and finally saw a camp-fire. Soon he met the girl with the little boys. Then he took a pack-basket and put all the little Coyote boys in it, where the twigs pricked and hurt them. But his own Duck boy he left outside. Then he spoke to die girl. "Where is Coyote?" he asked. "He is hunting rabbits," she said. "Where have you moved to?" die Duck then said. "Just over to the spring, a little ways," she answered. "When will Coyote return?" was the next question. "He will come at sundown," she said. Then the Duck went over to the wickiup at the camp. He changed all the brush and cedar-sticks in the wickiup and made the walls thick on one side and thin on the other. Then he said to the girl, "Don't tell Coyote what I say. Make a little fire. Take good care of my boy, but never mind those Coyote boys." Then he lay down outside of the thin side of the wickiup and covered himself up well. He had a big stick beside him. At sundown Coyote came home and brought some rabbits to cook. Now it was rather cool, so Coyote said, "Why haven't you got plenty of wood and made a big fire? Who told you not to make a big fire? Duck? Has he come back? And why don't 106 you take care of my boys? You care for that Duck boy. What's the reason for that? Did Duck tell you to? I believe he did. What makes it so cool? I believe Duck has come back, and that's the reason." Then he sat down by the fire. At midnight the Duck got up and began to blow. Coyote got very cold, and the Coyote boys were frozen to death. The fire went out, so Coyote went and lay down in the embers. When daylight came die Duck got up and hit Coyote widi the club. "What's the reason," he said, "that you nearly killed me on the rock hill?" Then he knocked Coyote down and went back to the camp. The Duck boy was alive, as he had been covered up well. Then the Duck took him and the girl away. She was pregnant with Coyote boys, so he forced them all out. Then he took her and the Duck boy to his home. up again and walked off." When the Indian heard this he crept away. The Bears did not see him. Then the head Bear said, "You fellows, when you kill Indians or horses, tear them all to pieces." Then they sang and danced again. The Indian crept up again with some long willow-twigs. He crawled up close, and began to poke the twigs in the Bear's rear. The Bear broke the sticks several times, but he did not notice the Indian. The man crept back again, got on this horse, and rode into camp. He said to the other Indians, "The Bears are holding a council over there. They are going to tear us all to pieces." The Indians said, "Let's go and kill them all! They talk evil." So they got horses and went after them. The Bears were dancing again. The Indians surrounded them and shot them all. 52 -THE COUNCIL OF THE BEARS A man went hunting in the timber. He saw something and heard someone singing, so he went toward it. He saw some Bears sitting in a circle, singing and smoking; and he said to himself, "What are they smoking? Where did they get die pipes and tobacco? Let's have some!" He crawled up close to them. One Bear stood up and asked, "What do you do when you kill people?" The Bear sitting in front of the Indian said, "I killed a man, an Indian, and then I covered him over with dirt and buried him, but when I went away, he got 53 -THE GREAT EAGLE A long time ago there was a big eagle who carried off Indians and ate them. Its nest was on some great flat rocks in the sea. A man went to the mountains, and the eagle carried him away to its nest. He had been held only by the skin and was not hurt. He saw Indian bones all around and an old woman who was still alive. The eagle flew off again, and they talked. "The eagle will kill us both," they cried. But the man found a big club on the nest, and when the eagle came with a dead Indian, the man took the club, knocked the 107 eagle twice on the head and killed it. He killed the young eaglets too. Then he cut their wings off and fitted them together to make a boat. In the morning they got into the boat and sailed all day across the water. Then they went home. This was a long time ago. 54 -COYOTE'S HORSES Coyote made fine horses out of trees. He rode one to town and met a White Man, who said, "Let's have a horse race!" "My horse can't run," said Coyote, "but all right! How far shall we run?" "Oh, way down diere; I can't tell how far," replied the White Man. Then Coyote made greenbacks from the long leaves of rabbit-plantain. He put up a big pile of the money, and they started to race. Coyote's horse was behind at first. Then he came close and passed the other horse and beat him. Coyote put the good money in his pocket, but the leaf greenbacks he threw away. Then the White Man went around the horse and looked at him. "What do you want for your race-horse?" Coyote said, "I don't want to sell him." "But I'll give you so much money," said the White Man. "All right," said Coyote, and he took the money. The man took the horse home and put him in the stable, and in the morning he went to see him. He saw something like a twig; it was only a tree standing in the stable with a halter hanging on one end. He said, "That man fooled me! I will hunt for him." Coyote had changed his face. He had changed himself all over, so that the man could not find him. The White Man met him, and said, "Have you seen that Coyote?" "I haven't seen him. I just came from way back there." "All right." Coyote changed himself again and went to town. He met a rabbit and made a race-horse out of him and led him to town. He made twelve sacks full of greenbacks out of plaintain-leaves and put these behind his saddle. A White Man came along on a horse and looked at Coyote's horse. "How much do you want for that horse," asked he. "Oh, this horse can't run," replied Coyote. "Let's have a race!" said the White Man. "All right," said Coyote. "How far shall we run?" "Way off here." "All right," said Coyote. "Let us put up our money!" They put up their money and started to race. Coyote's horse started to run behind, but soon caught up and won. Then the White Man said, "How much do you want for your horse; I'll give you money." "All right," said Coyote. The White Man took the horse and put him in the stable, and visited him every hour to brush him and care for him. He could not sleep that night, but thought of the horse all the time. He got up early in the morning and went to the stable. Then he saw that the horse was gone, but the door was locked. "Which way did he go?" he thought. Then he saw a little hole down in the comer. There were rabbit-tracks into the hole. 109 |