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Show II CAUTIONARY TALES 13 _ COYOTE AND MOUNTAIN LION Coyote lived alone. He had no wife, but five children. He spoke to them, "Stay here. I will go to see my friend Mountain-Sheep." He went there. Mountain- Sheep was lying down, holding a bow and five arrows. Coyote entered and sat down. Then Mountain- Sheep got up and went out. He took the arrows and shot up five times very quickly. Then he shot himself in the rear five times and ran away. Coyote sat watching. Mountain-Sheep came back with fat meat. He had intestine fat and good meat. He cooked some of it for Coyote. Coyote was hungry and ate it all. Then Mountain-Sheep gave him the rest of the meat. Coyote tied it up and put it on his back. He said to Mountain-Sheep: "Come to visit me tomorrow." Mountain-Sheep said, "Yes." The next day he went there, following Coyote's tracks. He found Coyote's tent. He entered. Coyote was lying down just as the Mountain-Sheep had lain. He had Mountain- Sheep horns on his head, and he held five arrows and a bow. His children were not in the tent. He had sent them away. Then Coyote got up and went out. Just like Mountain-Sheep, he took five arrows and shot them up, and then shot them into his rear. Only two entered; three times he missed, and the arrows stuck in his rump. Then he ran off. He came back carrying meat, with only one small piece of fat. He gave it to the Mountain-Sheep, "Here, my friend, eat this." Mountain-Sheep said, "No, my friend, I do not like your meat. Eat it yourself. I will go back." He went away. "Yes," said Coyote. He was a little angry. Coyote slept in his tent one night. The next day he said to his children, "Stay here. I will visit the Snowbird." Then he went. Snowbird was lying down. He did not speak. Coyote thought he was angry. Then the Snowbird went out. He came back carrying wood on his shoulder and dropped it on the ground. "What does that mean?" thought Coyote. Snowbird had a small door. He put the wood into this and took out nuts. Coyote was very hungry. He ate some and took the rest home for his children. He said, "Come to visit me." "Yes," said Snowbird. The next day the Snowbird came. Coyote lay there. He did not look like Coyote, but like a Snowbird. He appeared angry. Snowbird sat down, and Coyote went out. He came back again, carrying wood on his shoulder and dropped it. He put the wood away and covered it from sight. When he took it out, it was nuts, but they were small and hard or hollow. He said, "Here, my friend, eat this." Snowbird said, "No, I do not want it. Eat it yourself." "Yes," said Coyote. Then he ate the nuts himself. Then Coyote said to his children, "Stay here, I will visit my friends." He went to the Magpie. Mag- 59 pie sat making a basket. Coyote sat down and watched him. Magpie reached behind himself and took a little basket. He pushed a stick into his nostrils and made the blood run. Soon he had a basketful. He cooked the blood. He cut slices of fat and put them into the boiling blood. Then he gave it to Coyote. He ate it. It tasted good to him. He said, "My friend, you cook well. This is very good. I like this kind of food. What do you think? Come to my house to visit me." "Yes," said Magpie. The next day Magpie came. He sat down. Coyote was working, just as the Magpie had done. He used the same kind of awl. Slowly he reached backward and took a basket. He punched into his nostrils. Sometimes he hurt himself; then he sobbed or groaned. Magpie looked at him and laughed. Coyote did not make much blood; the basket was only half full. Then he cooked the blood and put grease into it. He gave it to the Magpie. Magpie said to him, "I do not like that. Eat it yourself." "Yes," said Coyote. Then he ate it himself. Then Coyote said to his children, "Stay here, I will visit my friends." He went away. It was winter, and there was a little snow. He saw deer tracks, which were followed by other tracks. Coyote followed them both. He saw that some one had killed a deer, skinned it, butchered it, and carried the meat home. Coyote followed him. He saw a teepee and a family. The woman said to Coyote, "Are you hungry? Do you wish to eat?" Coyote said to her, "Yes, I am hungry." Then she cooked for him and gave him food. She said to him, "Stop! Wait! Sing while you eat. Do both together." Coyote said, "How shall I sing?" She said, "Wait. Listen. I will sing for you." Then she gave food to her children and sang. Then the children sang and ate, and Coyote sang and ate, until they had eaten all. Then she asked him, "Do you wish to go or to remain?" Coyote said, "I live far away. I think I will stay one night. I will go home tomorrow." At sunset Mountain Lion came back. He had killed three deer. He carried one and dragged the two others, one in each hand. He laid them down and entered the tent. He said to his wife, "I am hungry. Cook quickly. Coyote, my friend, is also hungry. Cook! I think Coyote does not eat meat." "Yes, I eat meat. I am hungry," said Coyote. Then she cooked meat for them and set it down for them. Mountain Lion said, "Now wait. Hear me. I will sing." Then he sang, and his children and Coyote too all sang, and then they ate, singing. They finished eating. Then they slept. Next morning Mountain Lion told his wife to cook. Then she cooked and set out the food. They ate it just the same way, singing. Then Mountain Lion said, "I am going to hunt now." Coyote said: "I will go back." Then the woman gave him two large bags of meat, and one small one. They were packed full. Coyote started. On the way he opened a sack. He ate while singing. He went on again. He stumbled and fell down. When he got up again, he had forgotten how 60 to sing. He tried to sing, but forgot. He lost the song more and more. Then he went back to the Mountain Lion's teepee. He said, "I lost that song. I came back after it. Please give it to me again." "Yes," said Mountain Lion's wife. She sang it for him. Coyote went away, singing the song all day. At sunset, he arrived at his tent with his sacks. His children said, "Oh! Our father has meat." He said, "Wait! Cook it; then we will sing and eat." Then they sang and ate just as he had done before. After that he lost the song again, and again he obtained it from Mountain Lion's wife. Mountain Lion said to him, "If you lose the song, you will see no game and kill none, and you will have nothing to eat. Go back. Do not lose the song. Then hunt singing. You will find deer. If you do not sing, you will see nothing." Coyote sang all the way home. One night he stayed there. Then he told his children, "Stay here, I will hunt." He went hunting, singing; then he saw deer tracks. He found the deer; singing, he went on. He came near them and killed five. He skinned them, no longer singing. He carried the meat home. Some of it he left, after having covered it. He got back. He entered his tent. He said to his daughters, "Do not eat of it. Cook for all together. Do not taste it. Do not let the children touch it. Then we will all sing and eat together." They cooked it and set it out. They all sat down. Coyote sang. Then all sang and ate. The next day Coyote said, "Stay here; I will go hunting." He went on the hills, but he saw nothing. Then he found many deer tracks. He sang. He killed all the deer; they were twenty. He looked at them. He saw a buck with eyes and a mouth, but witiiout nostrils. Coyote said, "What kind of a deer is that? It is not good. It is bad. Where are its nostrils?" He looked at them all: they were all without nostrils. He took a stick and pushed it into the nose of one; then he pushed it in on the other side; thus, he made nostrils for it. Then he did the same to the rest. Then the deer jumped, and ran away, and all the others ran away. Coyote seized his bow and shot one of them. He said, "What is the matter? It is not good to shoot deer by singing and then have them escape. It is good to pursue them and shoot them. I do not like the singing. I want to throw it away. I do not wish to sing any more." He skinned the deer and carried the meat home. He said to his children, "Quick! Cook it." They cooked it and set it out. Coyote said, "Now we will eat. We will talk no more. I threw it way. We will not sing any more. We will only eat." They said to him, "Is that right? Will we eat without singing?" Coyote said to them, "Yes. It is right. We will sing no more. I threw it away." Now the Mountain Lion went hunting. He found deer tracks. He saw ten bucks. He went toward them, singing. The sun was low. The Mountain Lion came to the windward of the deer. Then they smelled him, and ran away. He went home; he was angry. He thought Coyote had made this hap- 61 pen. He said to his wife, "I saw ten bucks. I sang, but I did not kill them. I went around them; then they smelled me and ran away. I think Coyote made nostrils for diem and caused them to smell. I am angry. I will hunt again. I want to find out about Coyote. I wish to find out if he did it." Mountain Lion went off; he found tracks and saw deer. He came near them. He was going around them; suddenly they ran away. Then he was angry. He thought Coyote was the cause. He went home empty-handed and angry. At sunset he started to go to Coyote. When he came near, he said, "Let Coyote sleep well. Let him not awaken. Let it be the same with all his children." He went into Coyote's tent. Coyote was sleeping. Mountain Lion pulled his nose and his tail and his legs. He made his legs long and thin, so that they had no flesh on them. Then he pulled his ears straight up. In the morning, Coyote got up. He saw his nose; he saw his long legs and his tail. He awoke his children, being frightened. "Is that you, my father?" they said. "Yes," said Coyote. "You do not look like him. I think you are a bad man," said they. Coyote said, "No, I am your father; perhaps the Mountain Lion did this to me. He made me sleep. Perhaps he was angry that I did not sing. I also am angry; I will do it to him also." At night he went to the Mountain Lion. When he was close, he said, "Let him be sleepy. Let him not awake." He entered the tent. He pushed the Mountain Lion's nose in. He crushed his legs and his claws, so that they were compressed. He pulled his tail long. He made short little ears for him. Then Coyote went home. Then Mountain Lion awoke in the morning. He said to his wife, "Give me water." She gave it to him. He was washing. In rubbing down over his face his hand slipped. He said, "What is the matter with my face?" His daughter said to him, "You are not my father. You are a bad man. I am afraid of you." Mountain Lion said, "Yes, I am he. What is the matter with my face?" She said, "It is not good." Then Mountain Lion said, "I think Coyote did it. I did the same to him last night." 1 4- COYOTE HUNTS WITH BOW AND ARROW Coyote stood on die shore of a lake. He wanted to cross, but was afraid of a beaver-dam at the oudet. Many beaver were in the lake, but he did not see them. He wondered what kind of animals built die dam and became frightened. He was so frightened that he ran away, but at night he returned and lay down by the lake. He tried to sleep, but the beaver kept him awake all night by slapping the water with their tails. Coyote wondered what it was. Early in the morning he saw the beaver swimming around. He had never seen such animals before, so he named them Beaver. 62 Then he went back home, and met an Indian friend, and told him about the big fat beaver. He thought they would be good eating; so he said to his friend who made arrows, "You are a good shot, come with me!" So they went to the lake, and the Indian shot a beaver. But it sank. Then he shot two or three swimming close to shore. Coyote asked him what he called them, and the Indian answered, "Paweech." "Is that so?" remarked Coyote. The Indian told him to bring in the beaver and skin and tan them. "Tan them well." said the Indian, "they make blankets as good as buckskin." Then Coyote went away to hunt. He looked for horns in the hills and on the flats, and at last he saw some. He looked close and saw they were fine, big, black horns. He ran towards them and the buffalo fled. Coyote caught up to them and bit one in die leg. Then the buffalo turned and chased him. Coyote ran till he was tired out and then jumped on a rock. The buffalo ran around the rock and hit it with his horns, but could not get at him. "You can't get on this rock," said Coyote, but the buffalo did not answer. For a day and a night he kept him on the rock, and then Coyote became thirsty and began to cry. So while the buffalo was beating the rock with his horns, Coyote jumped off the rock and ran. The buffalo looked up, saw he was gone and started to chase him. After a long chase they came to a big lake. Coyote swam straight across, but when he looked around he saw the buffalo right behind him. He wondered how the buffalo learned to swim so well. He ran around to the other side of the lake, swam across again and then ran up a rocky mountain and jumped on a big rock. The buffalo was tired and went back. Then Coyote went to his Indian friend and asked him for an arrow. He wanted to kill the buffalo for the blanket; so he said to the Indian, "I saw a big black horn, called Buffalo." The Indian said, "We will go and kill him." So they hunted for the buffalo, and at last they found him lying down. He was tired. The Indian crawled up close along the big rocks and shot him, but the buffalo jumped up angrily and chased him. The Indian jumped on a big rock and shot all his arrows into the buffalo, who was hurt and lay down. Then the Indian called to Coyote to bring more arrows from his house. He was afraid to jump down because of the buffalo. So Coyote brought a bundle of arrows and threw them up to the Indian. He shot some more arrows into the buffalo who walked away, badly wounded. Then the Indian came down and they went after him. Coyote asked the Indian how to shoot, and learned how to use the bow and arrow. So he killed the buffalo, skinned him, tanned the hide, and dried and packed the meat, and took it all home. He let nothing spoil. Now Coyote took a bow and arrow and went hunting Bear. He found some tracks under a cherry-tree, and followed them until he found the Bear asleep in the hollow tree. "Why do you sleep in that tree?" said Coyote. Then the Bear got up and chased 63 him, but Coyote jumped up on a rock. He was not afraid, because he had his bow and arrows. He decided to kill the Bear; so he said, "I think I'll kill you." "I thought you were my friend." So he shot the Bear, who ran away. Coyote ran after him and shot him many times. The Bear ran in the willows, and thought, "Coyote never had arrows! Who gave them to him? Why did he shoot me?" He felt very angry, and he was nearly dead. Coyote ran back and met his Indian friend. He told him "I shot Bear," but the Indian said, "Maybe he isn't dead, and will come after you." But when they came to the Bear he was dead. One day Coyote said to himself, "I'll go hunt something." He walked among the rocks and met a Wildcat. "Let's do something." said he to the Wildcat. "All right," said the Wildcat, "let's scratch each other's back." "Let me do it first," said Coyote. Then they showed each other their claws. Coyote's claws were big and long, while the Wildcat's were short and small. Coyote scratched the Wildcat's back and tore off all the flesh down to the sinew. The blood spurted out, and the Wildcat was badly hurt. "Now it is my turn," said the Wildcat. He scratched and tore all the sinew off of Coyote's back, so that the flesh dragged on the ground. "Oh! you hurt me!" Cried Coyote. "No," said the Wildcat, "look at my little claws!" "You fooled me," said Coyote. "Let's go home." "No not now," said the Wildcat, and then he ran away. Coyote tried to follow, but soon lost die tracks and felt very angry. Then he looked behind him and saw all of his sinew dragging on the ground. He ran home and met his Indian friend. "Look at my back," he said, "the Wildcat did that. He hurt me." "That's a bad hurt," said the Indian, "the sinew is all gone." Then he put the flesh back in place again and fixed it and said, "In a short while it will be all right." Then he said to Coyote, "Wildcat fooled you. He has long, sharp claws. He showed you only the ends of them." 15 - SKUNK (PURNEE) AND CHIPMUNK (AHKWEESEECH) Skunk and Chipmunk were close friends and always hunted together. Chipmunk told Skunk that the thinner the deer the sooner he would die when shot, and believing this Skunk always chose the tiiin deer. One day they were hunting on the mountain. Since they were tired, they sat down under a tree to rest; when Skunk said, "Chipmunk, why is it we kill such poor deer? You give me the best, and yet my children have notiiing but lean meat to eat." "Maybe the deer on this mountain are not good," said Chipmunk. "I have heard that the deer on other mountains are better; some day we must go to another country and hunt." 64 Going on their way, they soon came to a herd of deer and Chipmunk killed two, taking great care to shoot the poorest. He then told Skunk to choose the best for himself. This he did to deceive Skunk, for he feared that his friend would suspect that what he had told him about the thin deer dying easily was not true. They hunted togedier for many moons, and still Skunk's children always had lean meat. At last he suspected that Chipmunk was taking advantage of him and charged him with lying, and they quarreled. After a great deal of arguing, Chipmunk proposed that their children should be told to fight by throwing pieces of flesh at each other, and thus they would exchange meat, and Skunk could see for himself which was the best food. To this Skunk agreed. Then Chipmunk instructed his children to throw back only pieces like those hurled at them. The battle was commenced by the little skunks, and the little chipmunks returned the fight by throwing back what was thrown at them, and so the fight continued for some time, but Chipmunk's children were struck many times, and they got angry, and they ran to their own pile of meat and threw some at the little skunks. When the skunks saw the pieces of fat meat, they were very surprised for they had never seen such before and did not know what it was, and so they took some to their father and they said, "What is this white stuff, Father, that those chipmunks were throwing? Maybe it is some bad medicine." Then Skunk saw that he had been deceived, and he went to Chipmunk and scolded him. Chipmunk tried to calm him and offered him twenty sacks of tobacco which was refused. He then filled his pipe and suggested that they should smoke and talk over the matter, and perhaps they could come to some settlement in a peaceable way, but Skunk would not smoke, and he would not speak except to shout angry words. When the people knew that Chipmunk and Skunk had quarrelled, they called a council to talk over the matter, but Skunk refused to attend and demanded that Chipmunk should be killed. Every day his anger became greater and at last he began to stink, and the stench grew worse until it killed his own children, and his wife could no longer live with him. Seeing her great sorrow, he brought the children back to life by wonderful incantations he knew. But still his anger grew more and more, and still he would not speak to Chipmunk, nor smoke in the council. Then all the people hated Skunk, and told Chipmunk that he could kill him. So Chipmunk sent his children to gather pitch from the pine trees, and they asked him what he was going to do with it. "No matter my children," he said. "I will show you in good time." They brought him many basketsful, and at night when Skunk slept, Chipmunk went to his home and filled die mouths and noses and eyes and ears of all the members of the Skunk family with pitch. Then he covered their houses all over witii the same substance. When die dawn came into the 65 sky the skunks could not get out nor could they speak, but only cry um-m-m-m-m, and all the chipmunks gathered around and laughed at them, singing and dancing in great glee until the skunks were dead. "An angry man kills his best friends." "An angry man stinks." "All men should be willing to settle a dispute in council lest they become so offensive as to stink." 16 -THE TWO BROTHERS A man lived on a rock with his two grandsons. He told the boys, "You had better go hunting and bring something to eat. I am hungry. Go to the hills, sit on the top, and watch in all directions; then you may find sometiiing." Then the boys went off and watched in the brush. An elk came straight towards them. One of them said, "I see an elk. Let us kill it." The other said, "My older brother, let us run away. I am afraid." The older said, "No. Sit still. It is an elk. I shall shoot it, as our grandfather directed." The other one said, "No. I am afraid." When the older was nearly ready to shoot, his younger brother fled, crying, "Let us run away. I am frightened." Then the elk started back. The older one said, "What is it? Are you crazy? I was nearly ready to shoot that elk." The younger said, "I was frightened, but I know now that it is an elk. Let us go after it; it cannot have gone far." When they got near the elk again, the younger brother wanted to shoot at it. The older brother wanted him to stay behind, but did not persuade him. When they were ready to shoot, the younger again ran off shouting, and the elk stopped. The older brother scolded him; he nearly struck him. The younger said, "I was afraid that it would jump on me. I became frightened." Again he persuaded the older to take him with him. When they approached the elk anodier time, he again persuaded his older brother to allow him to shoot, saying, that if one of them missed, the other could still try to hit it. But the same thing happened as before. Then the older brother again became angry and scolded the younger. It was now sunset, but once again the younger persuaded the older to go after the elk, so they went around ahead of it. Then the older tied the arms and legs of the younger, and tied up his mouth. The elk came close. The younger one began to scream. Then the older brother hurriedly shot. He killed the elk. The younger was tossing about, trying to scream and to flee. "Are you crazy? I have killed the elk," said die older. "Have you really killed it?" asked the younger. Then he loosened his younger brother and showed him the elk. The younger said, "What kind of a deer is that?" The older said, "It is an elk. Hurry! Get some brush for a fire. Let us skin it and go home quickly. There may be bad persons about here." The younger said, "I will get some presently." Then the older said, "What is the matter with you? Get some brush so 66 that we can go home." "I will get some presently," said the younger. Again the older said to him, "Make a fire quickly. I will roast some meat and eat it, then I will go home. Be quick!" "No. Presently. I want to rest now," said the younger. He would not help his older brother. So that one alone skinned the game and cooked some of the meat. Then he said, "Let us go home now. There may be bad things about. I am frightened." The younger said, "No. I am afraid to go. I cannot go home. Let us stay here for the night; there is nothing bad about here." Then the older urged him no more. He said, "Let us sleep in a cedar. Make a bed." The younger one agreed and made a bed in the top of the cedar, after they had buried the meat. Then they slept. In the middle of the night the younger one said, "I am hungry. I will go down to eat." The older said to him, "What is the matter with you? Eat tomorrow, sleep now." But the younger one insisted on going down to eat. Finally his older brother said "Very well." Then the younger brother went down, made a large fire, and cooked a whole shoulder of the elk. He began to eat. Then there were cries from far off from all directions. The boy said, What is it? Is anyone approaching? Come here! we will eat." The older brother remained in the cedar. Then some one came to the opposite side of the fire. He was a large, long man. The younger brother said, "Come, my friend, eat; I have good food; sit down there." There was no answer. "Here is something to eat," said the boy, holding it out to him. The person did not take it. He did not answer even when he was repeatedly spoken to. Then the boy hit him on the head and knocked him down. Coming close, he then stood by his head, and the man reached out and caught him with a violent grip. "Oh! Oh! Let me go!" cried the boy. The man continued to hold him. "Do not hold me. Oh! Oh! You hurt me. Let me go. My older brother, come to help me. This man is holding me." But his older brother was angry and did not come down. The man squeezed him harder, while the boy groaned. Then he walked off with him. The older brother heard his cries growing faint; then he stopped hearing them on account of the distance. In the morning he came down from the tree. Crying, he followed the tracks. He saw that they led to a lake and right down into it. He could go no farther. Going back and taking the elk-meat, he went home and told his grandfather. His grandfather said to him, "We will go to-morrow to see that place." Then they went to the lake and watched it. Then the old man said, "Wait here while I go down, following the tracks." He was away until noon. Then he came up, bringing a dead man, and laid him down. He said, "This is the man who killed your brother. I entered his house and killed him. Now open his mouth and look at his teeth." The boy saw a little meat between the teeth. His grandfather said to him, "Take a stick and pick out the meat from his teeth." The boy did so and made a little pile of it. 67 Then the old man told him to cut open the dead man. When he had done so, he asked him, "Do you see any bones or other parts? Pick them out." The boy did as he was told and picked out the pieces of bone. They put die meat and bones into a hollow stone and carried it home. They left it standing outside, a short distance from the tent. Then they slept. Early in the morning his grandfather said, "He is shouting, Wuwuwuwu! Do you hear him?" "Yes," said the older brother. They answered with a shout. Then the younger brother came. "Well, my elder brother," he said. He had arisen from the meat. 17 -THE SON OF COYOTE IS PUNISHED FOR DISOBEDIENCE In the war between Senawahv and Coyote, it is told that the people who were with Senawahv were always quarreling with one another as well as making war on the companions of Coyote, but the followers of Coyote were peaceful and happy. A long range of mountains separated the land occupied by the two groups, and Coyote warned his son never to cross the dividing line of these two countries for fear he would be killed. But the boy often climbed the mountain and stood on his own side of the ridge to peer over where he could get a glimpse of the forbidden people. One day he saw them engaged in a great fight, and he became very interested in the outcome. Now the boy in climbing up the mountain had gone up by a hollow in the side of the ridge on his father's land. Another hollow went up the opposite side on the enemy's land. The top of this hollow overlapped the one which he had come up. In his eagerness to discover the result of the battle, he forgot his father's instructions and went over the boundary line and stood on the overhang of the hollow that ran down into the enemy's camp. Barely had he taken this position when a stone hurled by one of the fighters below struck him on the head and killed him. This story is told to enforce strict obedience to the very letter of instructions. 18 -THE SON OF SENAWAHV AND THE WIFE OF BEAR (KWEEYAHGU:T) Long time ago, Bear had a beautiful wife, and Senawahv's son met her in the grove where she was gathering pine-nuts, and he loved her. When Bear found out diat his wife was loved by the boy, he was very angry and refused to give her up. Then the boy went to his father and asked his advice. Senawahv told him to grind up an obsidian arrowhead and bring him the powder. When this had been done, Senawahv mixed it with a basket of 68 raspberries and placed diem on the side of the mountain where Bear lived, and told his son to stay near by and watch, and when Bear would come out and eat the berries to follow him, for he would surely die. Then, having found the Bear, he was to skin him and bring the hide and all die flesh to Senawahv's home. In obedience to the father, the boy hid himself behind some rocks and waited three days and tiiree nights for Bear to come. Early in the morning of the fourth day, he saw his rival creeping along the side of the mountain sniffing the air and looking around as if to find an enemy. After finding no one, he ate the raspberries quickly and ran away, but the boy followed. Soon die poison began to work, and Bear cried loudly and rolled around on the ground, dug up the earth so that there was a big cloud of dust in the air, and tore up the bushes, and at last died in great pain. Then the boy did as he had been told: quickly he took off the skin and cut the flesh into strips, tied it up in the skin and carried it all to his father. Now the spleen of the bear is not thought to be good food by the Indians, and the boy did not put it with die rest of the meat but left it behind on the ground. When he got to Senawahv's home, the boy threw the bear meat down at his father's feet. Senawahv looked at it carefully and found that the spleen had been left behind, and he said, "My son, you have not done as I told you," and he fell on the ground in deep sorrow. At the same time, Bear came to life and stood up growling his vengeance. The boy stood fixed with terror until Bear seized him and tore him to pieces. This story is told to enforce the necessity for strict obedience to the orders of the elders. 19 -BEAR LOVES MOUNTAIN LION'S WIFE Mountain Lion had a wife and son. He went out hunting with his son. Bear came to his teepee. He saw Mountain Lion's wife and fell in love with her. "I wish to have her," he thought. Then he went to where she was sitting. He proposed to run away with her. She consented and they went off together. Then Mountain Lion came back. He could not find his wife. He thought, "Perhaps she has eloped with Bear." He saw no tracks. He looked all around; then he found their tracks. He was very angry and followed them. Then a high wind came and he lost the tracks. Next day he found the tracks again and went on. "Perhaps they are in that cedar wood," he thought. Approaching it, he heard voices. He knew them as his wife's and the Bear's. Then he sent his son to make a circle, so as to come upon them from the other side, in order that the Bear might run towards him. The woman was saying, "Mountain Lion is very strong." "No, I am very strong," said Bear. "No, he is strong," said the woman. So Bear 69 grabbed a cedar and tugged at it, lifted it, arid threw it on the ground; but she said, "He is stronger diari you." Bear had his moccasins off. Then the young Mountain Lion came. Quickly Bear put on his moccasins, but he put them on the wrong feet; he mixed up the moccasins in his haste. Then he ran. Mountain Lion was waiting for him. He rose up and grabbed Bear; he threw him to the ground. Bear got up and came on again. Mountain Lion seized him again. Now he threw the Bear to the ground and broke his back. Then he went to his wife and threw her down. Again he threw her down, and broke her back. Then he went away with his son. 20 - MOUNTAIN-LION WRESTLES WITH BEAR Mountain-Lion went out to hunt and left his wife at home. Soon Bear came along to the camp, and said to Mountain-Lion's wife, "Let's go!" "No," said she, "he may kill you." But Bear said, "No, I will beat him." Then he tore up trees and threw them down. They were old trees. "Look here!" he said, "I am strong." So he took her away, and they camped out. Mountain-Lion came back home and found his wife gone. He looked around and found their tracks, and then he followed them and soon reached the camp. He hid himself, and when his wife and Bear sat down, he began to crawl closer. His wife looked. "Now," she said, "he's coming. Throw him down." Then Mountain-Lion and Bear began to wrestle. Bear threw him once, but Mountain-Lion was only fooling him. After a while he threw Bear down on a big rock and broke his back. Then he took his wife home. Bear was dead. 21 - COYOTE AND DUCK (CHEEGUCH) Coyote had a sick daughter. He thought the Duck had done something against his children in order to make them sick. He determined to injure Duck. Going to him, he persuaded him to run to a certain place with his eyes shut. Duck did so. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a bad place. He was in a hole in the rock, a little cave high on die face of a cliff. There was no way out. Coyote went and took the Duck's wife and children. He mistreated the children. Soon he had children of his own from the woman, and these he took good care of. For a long time the Duck could not get out of the bad place. At last the Bat camped near this place, and every day when he went to hunt rabbits, his children heard someone crying. They told him, and he went up to look. On die way he killed rabbits and hung them by their heads on his belt. At last he found the Duck, who was very weak. "Who is there?" he asked him. "It is I," said the Duck. "Who 70 are you?" asked the Bat. "I am the Duck." "How did you come up here?" the Bat said to him. The Duck said, "Coyote caused me to come here with closed eyes. He brought me here in order to get my wife." Then the Bat told him, "Throw yourself down." The Duck was afraid that he would be killed by the fall. So the Bat told him, "Throw down a small rock." The Duck direw down a rock, and the Bat caught it on his back. He said, "That is what I will do to you. You will not be hurt." The Duck feared that the Bat would not do so to him. The Bat continued to urge him. Several times the Duck almost let himself fall and tiien drew back. At last he thought, "Suppose I am killed; I shall die here too; I am as good as dead now." So he shut his eyes as the Bat commanded and let himself fall. The Bat caught him gently without any shock and deposited him on the ground. Then he took him to his home. He said to him, "Do not use the fire sticks that are near the fireplace, but use those that are stuck behind the tent-poles, at the side of the tent." Then they entered. The Duck saw the sticks at the sides of the tent, but thought them fine canes, that were much too handsome for stirring the fire. Around the fireplace lay a number of sticks that were charred on die end. He took one of diese and stirred die embers. The stick began to cry, and all the other sticks called out, "The Duck has burned our younger brother." These sticks were the Bat's children, and they all ran out now. Then the Duck became frightened at what he had done and went out and hid in the brush. The Bat came out and called to him, "Come back! You have done no harm." For a long time the Duck was afraid that the Bat would punish him, but at last he thought, "I have already been as good as dead, so there is nothing to fear even if they should kill me." So he went back into the tent. The Bat did not harm him, but gave him plenty of rabbits to eat, so that soon he was strong again. Then the Duck said, "Coyote took my wife and children; I think I shall look for them." Knowing that he was strong again, die Bat allowed him to go. The Duck went to his old camp, which he found deserted. He followed the tracks leading from it, and after a while he found also tracks of children other than his own. "From my wife," he diought, and he became very angry. Then he came up to his wife. She was carrying a very large basket. Inside of this were Coyote's children, well kept, but the Duck's children sat on the edge of the basket, nearly falling off. They were dirty and miserable. The Duck caught the basket with his finger and pulled back. "What are you doing there, children?" the woman said. "Do not do that. You must not seize something and hold me back." The Duck continued to pull, and at last she turned to look at the children: so she saw him. He said to her, "Why do you take care of Coyote's children, while mine are dirty and uncared for? Why do you not treat mine properly?" The woman was ashamed and did not answer. Then he asked her, 71 "Where will you camp now?" When she told him, he said, "Go to the place where Coyote told you to camp, but when you put up the shelter, make the grass very thin on one side, and very thick and heavy on the side on which you are, so that I can reach Coyote." The woman came to the place and Coyote arrived there also. He said, "To whom have you been talking now?" She said, "I have not met any one nor talked to any one. Why do you always ask me that?" Then she put up the shelter as the Duck had directed her. Then the Duck began to blow. He blew softly, but again and again; thus he made it freezing cold. Coyote could not sleep. He took his spear and thrust it dirough the sides of die shelter in all directions. He nearly speared the Duck. He said, "I knew that you met someone. It must have been the Duck, who is now making it so cold." The Duck continued to blow and blow. At last Coyote dug down into the fireplace, hoping to become warm there. But it was no use. He froze to death. Thus the Duck got his wife and children again. Taking Coyote's children, he threw them away here and there in the brush, and said, "Why do you take care of these? I do not want them." Then he went back to where he had lived before. 22 - COYOTE MARRIES HIS DAUGHTER Coyote had a wife, several pretty daughters, and a young son. He went away out of sight. Then he scratched himself and put gum on the wounds to make them look worse. Going home, he said that he had been shot by enemies. He pretended to become very sick. Soon he pretended to be about to die. His family placed him in a brush shelter. He said, "When I die, go to such and such a camp. There will be a man with a white horse. He is better than others. Marry your daughter to him." Now he seemed to be nearly dead. He kept his eyes nearly closed, but under his shelter he looked at his daughters. Then he said, "When I die, heap up a large pile of brush and burn me. Go away at once, widiout looking back. If you look back at me, I shall do you injury." Then he seemed to be at the very point of death. His family made a heap of brush and began to carry him there. Then they laid him on the pile of brush and set fire to it on all sides. Then they went away. The boy looked back and said, "My mother, my father is rolling off the fire. Now he is crawling away." She said to him, "Do not look back! Do you not know what he said to us? He will do you some injury if you look back!" "But he is crawling away," said the boy. Coyote went to die camp to which they were going. He rode a fine white horse. He wore a mountain lion skin, witii die long tail hanging from it. He looked different. His family came diere and camped. Then he rode up, as if to look at them. His wife said, "There is the man on a white horse, the one that your father told me to have as son-in-law. Bring your brother-in-law!" she said to her son. The boy went 72 to get him, but looked at him sharply. He was suspicious. Then Coyote married one of his daughters. Next morning the woman said to the boy, "Take your brother-in-law to hunt rock-squirrels." Coyote used to hunt these squirrels along a rocky ridge and used to take his son with him. Now the boy showed him the hunting places. The boy stuck a stick into the holes, and when he shook it the squirrels came out. Coyote did not shoot diem; he seized them with his mouth, like a dog. This made die boy suspicious. Then Coyote went to some of the holes without having been shown where they were. This made the boy more suspicious. He thought, "I will leam whether he is my father." Coyote had marks or holes on his teeth: one from his wife, one from his son, and one from each of his daughters. The boy took him to a hole that extended through the rock, so that he could look through it. When he looked, Coyote was standing at the other end with his mouth open, ready to seize the squirrel. The boy saw the marks on his teeth. "There is my mother's mark, there is my own, there is my eldest sister's," he said, and so on. The number was complete. Then he put his stick into the hole, and shook it so that it rattled. He ran home, while the stick continued to rattle in the hole. He told his mother, "Father has fooled us. He is not dead and he has married his daughter." They talked about how to flee. They went underground a little distance. Then they rose to the sky and became stars. Meanwhile Coyote, standing before the hole, said, "Shake harder!" He was talking to nobody. At last he discovered this. "You cannot escape from me," he said, and he followed the tracks of his family. At last the tracks stopped. He was at a loss. Then the boy thought, "I wish my father would look at me!" Coyote looked up. He saw them above. He said, "You are in the sky. You are stars. You will be called Coyote's family." The woman answered him, "You will be below there. People on the earth will call you Coyote. Early in the morning, or when there is a fire in the grass, you will stand and watch for mice and seize them. At night you will howl. You will be Coyote." 23 -WOLF (SUENUVF) AND PORCUPINE (YOOPOOCH) One day Wolf's wife told him to sharpen his knife and go out and cut willows for she wished to make a basket. While he was cutting twigs down by the river bank, he heard a noise and discovered diat Porcupine was down by the river calling to Buffalo to take him across, because he didn't know how to swim himself. On the other side of the river there was a great herd of buffalo, and after much pleading, one of them swam across to Porcupine's side and told him to get on his back. But Porcupine refused saying that he did not know how to ride. Then Buffalo opened his 73 moutii and told him to get in diere. This Porcupine did. Now the river was very wide, and the way seemed long to Porcupine. He asked from time to time, "How far is it to the other side? How far is it now? Are we almost there?" Buffalo would answer telling him to be patient. When diey got to the land, Porcupine scratched Buffalo's tongue with his quills and set him to complaining. At last spitting Porcupine out, Buffalo fell down dead. Then all the herd who were watching on die shore ran away. Porcupine said to himself, "How will I cut up Buffalo?" and he searched around for some time for a stone knife. Then Wolf crossed die river and came up to where Porcupine stood and asked, "What are you doing?" Are you about to cut up the Buffalo that I killed with my arrow? Porcupine did not answer, but stood around and looked. "I have a knife," said Wolf, "let's cut him up." As they walked towards Buffalo, Wolf said, "Whoever can jump over that buffalo can wear his skin." Porcupine replied, "I can't jump, my legs are too short. I can only climb," but he made the attempt. Wolf laughed to see him waddle. Wolf jumped over and shouted his victory. Then diey skinned Buffalo and hung the meat in a tree, and when they had finished, Wolf killed Porcupine so that he would get no share of the prize. He put the body on top of the meat and returned home. On his arrival his children were happy about his success, and licked die blood from his hands as a delicacy. Early die next morning, Wolf and his family went out to bring in the meat. As they came near the tree where it had hung, they were surprised to find that die tree had grown so high that its top was in the clouds and that Porcupine had been carried with the tallest branches. They all looked up at the tree for a long time until, at last, the son of Wolf saw something on the top of the tree. "Father, the meat is still up on the tree." Looking up once more, they all could see the meat and Porcupine with it. They all shouted to Porcupine to drop them a piece of the meat, but he answered that he was hungry and needed it himself. Wolf told his family to stay and watch, since Porcupine would have to come down sometime, and dien they could kill him again. But they were all tired, and they lay down under the tree and slept. Then Porcupine sharpened the larger bones of the buffalo with his teeth, sticking the meat on the other end. Then he dropped it on Wolf who was lying below and pinned him to the ground. Then Porcupine climbed down from the tree while Wolf's family ran away. 24 - PORCUPINE HUNTS THE BUFFALO (KOOCH) Porcupine was tracking buffalo. He saw many buffalo chips and asked diem how long they had been 74 diere. "Long time," diey told him. He kept asking them until he found one that said, "I have been here only a short time." From diere the Porcupine started again. The tracks soon became fresh, and he followed them until, just as he got to a river, he saw a herd that had crossed die ford, coming out on the other side. "What shall I do?" thought the Porcupine, as he sat down. Then he called out, "Carry me across!" "Do you mean me?" said one of the buffalo. "No, I want another than you," said Porcupine. Thus he rejected the herd one after another. When he had refused all, the best one in die herd said, "Do you want me?" "Yes," said Porcupine. Then this buffalo crossed the water and asked him, "Will you be carried riding me?" "No, I will fall into the water," said Porcupine. "Then ride between my horns." But Porcupine said, "No, I will fall into the water if I do that." When die Buffalo had suggested all other ways of carrying him, he said, "Perhaps you would rather go inside of me?" Then Porcupine said, "Yes." So he entered the Buffalo, who went into the river. "Where are we now?" asked Porcupine. "In the middle of the river," said the Buffalo. After a while the Porcupine asked again. "We have nearly crossed," said die Buffalo. Then he said, "We have emerged from the water; now come out of me!" "No, go a little farther," said the Porcupine. Soon the Buffalo said to him, "We have gone farther now; so come out!" Then Porcupine hit his heart with his tail. The Buffalo started to run, but fell down right there. Thus Porcupine killed him. Then all the rest of the herd tried to hook the Porcupine with dieir horns, but he sat under the ribs and they could not reach him. Then the buffalo stopped and ran off. Porcupine came out. "I wish I had something with which to butcher it," he kept saying. Now Coyote was sleeping there. Waking, he heard him. "What does he mean saying, T wish I had something with which to butcher it?' " Coyote thought. He went to him. "Here is my knife for butchering," he said. They they went together to where the buffalo lay. "Let him butcher it who jumps over it," said Coyote. Then Porcupine ran over a rib, but Coyote jumped clear over it. Thus Coyote beat him in jumping, and began to cut up the buffalo. After a time he gave Porcupine the paunch, saying to him, "Go wash it, but do not eat of it!" So Porcupine took it to die river. After washing it he bit off a piece to eat. After a while Coyote himself came after him. He said, "I did not tell you to eat this. I forbid you to eat it." Then he killed Porcupine with a club. Placing him beside the buffalo, he left both there and went home. When he arrived he said to his family, "I have killed a buffalo. I have killed Porcupine. Let us carry them home." Now Porcupine said, "Let a red pine grow fast." Then a red pine grew up under all die meat. It grew very tall. Porcupine climbed up it and sat in the top. All the meat was in the top. The Coyote family 75 came there. All the meat was gone and Porcupine too. They began to look for it. "I wish diey would look up," Porcupine said. Then one of them, a child, looked up. He said, "Oh!" Then the rest looked up. There sat Porcupine widi all the meat. They said to him, "Throw down a piece of die neck." "Yes," said Porcupine to diem. "Place that youngest one a litde farther off." "Yes," they said, and placed him to the side. "Now all hold up your hands," said Porcupine. So they held up their hands. Then he threw down the buffalo neck, which, striking, killed all of them. Then Porcupine went down and took the youngest Coyote. He brought him up into the tree and gave him much meat to eat. After a time the young Coyote needed to defecate. Porcupine said to him, "Go out on the limb." "Here?" asked the Coyote. "No, farther out," said Porcupine. Again he asked, "Here?" and Porcupine said to him, "No farther out." At last the young Coyote was at the end of the limb, where it was flexible. Then Porcupine kicked the limb hard and shook him off. The young Coyote fell down and broke to pieces. 25 -PORCUPINE KILLS THE COYOTES Once Porcupine went out hunting buffalo and killed a fine one. Then he hunted among die rocks for a stone knife to skin it. Coyote came along and saw Porcupine. "I have a knife," he said. Porcupine said, "I killed the buffalo, but now there are two of us here." Coyote skinned the buffalo and took out plenty of fat. Then he killed Porcupine. He took some of die meat far off to his wickiup, and told his family, "I have killed a buffalo and I killed Porcupine. In the morning we will go over there." Now, Porcupine was a good man, a very good man. He was dead, but he woke up and became alive. He said to the timber on die mountain, "Timber, grow up!" Then he stood on the buffalo, and a big tree grew up under them and lifted them into the air. Coyote came and stood under the tree, but did not see Porcupine till he spoke. Then Coyote said, "O Porcupine dear! my dear uncle! give me some meat. I am hungry." Now Coyote had his little boy with him. Porcupine said, "Take that litde boy off a little ways, and then I'll give you the head arid neck." Coyote did so and then stood close to catch the big bone. Porcupine threw it so that it killed them. Then he came down. He took the little Coyote boy up in the tree and gave him plenty to eat. When he was full, the Coyote boy said, "I must go and defecate." "Go over there on the limb." said Porcupine, and the Coyote boy crawled out on the limb. Then Porcupine stamped on it, and he tumbled off and was broken open. So Porcupine killed all of them. Now he had all the meat, so he went home to his wickiup. He was a very good man and could not die. 76 26 -COYOTE STEALS THE ROLLING ROCK'S BLANKET Coyote went from his village down a narrow canyon. The canyon widened into an open place in which there stood one tent. Hummingbird lived there with his wife and two children. "Where are you going?" he asked Coyote, after he had stayed overnight with him. Coyote said, "I will continue to go along diis canyon. I do not know how far it extends, but I am going along it." Hummingbird said, "Where you mean to go there is no water. There is nothing in this canyon. Only after you travel a long way will you come to water. You can follow the ridge of this mountain; from the top you can see far, almost over the whole world; that is the nearest way to reach water." Coyote said, "No. I am going through this canyon; when night comes I shall sleep without drinking. Next day I will go on. At night I will sleep again." Hummingbird answered, "The way that I told you of is the best; you had better take the way I tell you. You cannot do without water. You will die before half a day. You must not try to be superior to me, but follow what I tell you." Hummingbird's wife said to him, "Do not talk to him any longer. He will not do what you tell him. You have talked to him enough." Hummingbird said, "Yes, let him go where he wishes." Then he said to Coyote, "Yes, go where you wish." Before Coyote started, the Hummingbird said to him, "After a distance you will find a red blanket lying on a large rock to your side; there will be anodier blanket on the other side, and your path will go right between them. There will also be blankets of green, blue, and other colors lying on both sides of the road. Do not take any of them." Coyote started and travelled quickly. He reached the place of the blankets. It was near a rock; a trail ran by there. He saw a good, new, red blanket; he stopped and thought about it. He wondered whose it was. "Someone must live here," he thought, and he wondered where. Then he went near the blanket; he touched its edge and felt that it was a fine heavy blanket. "Someone must live near this place. I will search for his tracks about here," he said. He made a circle around the blanket at a distance but found no tracks. Then he thought again, "I will look for tracks farther away." Again he made a circle around it but saw nodiing. Then he came back and stood by the blanket, and he thought, "Whose is it? I might get one of these blankets for myself. Which is the best one to have?" He thought especially of the red blankets and took one of these. He put it about himself and considered it just right. Then he rolled it up and threw it over his shoulder and walked off among die rocks. He went a little way; then he looked back to see if anyone was coming after him; he saw no one. He came out of the canyon and went over a plain where there were no mountains visible. At first he 77 had walked watching, looking behind, but when he was in the open plain, he no longer thought about watching. At last he looked back and saw much dust coming from the canyon, as if diere were a whirlwind. He went to a small hill and looked. He saw a large Rock. It was immense. It was the one on which the blanket had been, and it was rolling along. Coyote did not know what to do. He saw the rock going up a slope. It slowed. It nearly stopped. He thought that it would not continue to go on and would not reach him, but it came very near him. Now Coyote was very frightened. He put the blanket over his shoulder and ran along a little ridge, as hard as he could. After some distance he saw that the Rock had reached the top of the hill on which he had been, and that it was coming with a fresh start, as fast as when he first saw it, rolling its hardest. He was afraid to continue running in the plain, and seeing a mountain, he ran towards it in hope to reach it. He remained in the lead, and the Rock stopped gaining on him. Coyote continued to run as hard as he could. Now he was near the mountain. At its foot he had nearly given out. He looked back and the rock was close. The hill was steep; going up, he sat on the summit and watched the Rock. His body was shaking with panting; he was nearly dead. He thought that the Rock could not roll up the hill but would fall back. It kept coming on slowly; then it went up the hill sideways. It would stop and sit still, then go on again, then turn and go up in another direction. It came nearer, hardly moving. It lay still. Then it rolled over once. Coyote sat on the summit and thought, "I think I can push it down again; I think I can make it roll back." So he ran towards it. But when he got close to it, the Rock began to roll towards him; when it nearly touched him, he dodged aside. The Rock just touched his leg. Coyote gave a war-whoop and dodged about. The rock started to roll faster in pursuit. Then Coyote went off straight, running his hardest. At the foot of the hill he looked back and saw the Rock coming fast. Now he no longer had a mountain to go to; everything was flat. He went to a small canyon and jumped across it; he diought that the Rock would fall in. He stopped and looked back, but he could not see the rock. He only saw much dust coming from die canyon below him. Then he went on slowly. Looking again, he saw nothing but dust. Then he saw a small, pointed, rocky hill, and thought that from diere he might look back and see the Rock. He ran to the hill, but the canyon stretched toward the hill, and before Coyote reached it he saw die Rock ahead of him in die canyon. Then he started back again. He was all tired out. He could hardly lope. As he ran along he diought, "Where is my friend Deer?" Then he saw Deer standing at the place where he lived, and he said to Deer, "Come! Hurry! This Rock chases me. You can do something for me." "Yes, come this way," said Deer, and they loped along together as if they were racing. "This 78 Rock is after me. It will kill me," said Coyote. "Yes," said Deer. "I think you will hold it, you will push it back," said Coyote. Deer said, "Yes, very well, my friend; watch me; look at me." Deer turned and ran towards the Rock; with full power he struck it at its bottom. The Rock went straight over him, crushing him to pieces. "My poor friend," thought Coyote. "Now he is killed by that rock. What shall I do?" He continued to go on, still carrying the blanket on his shoulder. He thought of Mountain-Sheep as his friend. As he ran on he saw a fresh Mountain- Sheep track. He followed it as if he were hunting. Then he saw Mountain-Sheep lying down. "Well, my friend, hurry! This Rock chases me," he said. "Very well, come with me," said Mountain-Sheep. Then they loped along together as if they were racing, just as he had done with Deer. As they ran, Coyote told Mountain-Sheep of his plight: "My friend, I wish you stop this Rock. I am exhausted. I think it will kill me. I want you to strike it with your horn and break it." The Sheep did not answer. "Thrust your horn against it and break it," said Coyote. Mountain- Sheep asked, "What caused the Rock to come after you? You must have done something to it; it would not pursue you for nodiing. Where did you get that blanket?" Coyote did not speak. "The Rock is never going to stop; it will kill you. You took that blanket from it," said Mountain-Sheep. Coyote said to him, "If you stop the Rock you can have the blanket." Mountain-Sheep said, "Only throw the blanket away and the Rock will stop there, lying upon it." Coyote would not give it up, and he said "I like this red blanket very much. I like to have it; that is why the Rock pursues me. I know you are strong. You can do almost anything. I want you to stop this Rock." They ran up a hill. "Now I will attack it. My friend, watch me," said the Sheep. The Rock had come close again. Mountain-Sheep prepared. Then he ran back, stood up on his hind legs, and butted the rock squarely. The Rock came on now and tore die Sheep all to pieces. Coyote thought, "My poor friend! What will I do now? What friend will I find again?" He went down a wide valley and found Whip- Poor-Will; he told him his trouble. Whip-Poor-Will said: "I can do nothing, go to Bull-Bat." Coyote ran to Bull-Bat. Hurry, my friend!" he said. He told Bull-Bat what he had told the Deer. Coyote was very nearly exhausted, and the Rock was near. Bull-Bat flew back and forth between Coyote and the rock. Bull-Bat said, "You have a blanket belonging to this Rock. Why are you carrying that? My friend, you have no place to save yourself; the Rock will kill you. It will go all over the world, night and day, without stopping. Why do you carry this blanket? You cannot escape with it. You cannot escape from this Rock if you cross a river. The Rock will jump over. You cannot hide from this Rock. Throw the blanket away, and die Rock will stop right upon it." "No, I like it," said Coyote, "I like its color, and I will go all over the world using it. How can I stop die rock, my friend? 79 What can I do?" "Throw the blanket away," said Bull-Bat. Coyote said to him, "No, I will wear it. I will travel all over the world with it, after you have stopped the Rock." Bull-Bat said, "No, I cannot stop it; the rock will kill me. Then what will you do after it has killed me? It will kill us both; throw the blanket away. Do you think this Rock is merely a rock without thought? It has diought, eyes, a mouth, it can talk, and it has a heart; it rolls like a person; a Rock does not roll by itself." During this time they were running. "Stop it! I want this blanket," Coyote said at last. "Very well, my friend. I think the Rock will kill me," said Bull-Bat. Bull-Bat flew ahead of Coyote; then he flew towards the Rock, swerving in front of it. He just did not touch it. The rock slowed somewhat; then it began to roll faster again. Again the Bull-Bat made it slow down. The third time he flew straight at it, and with the whir of his wings he struck the spirit of the Rock. The Rock stopped altogether. It groaned, shook the earth, and quivered like a dying animal; dien it died. Coyote, altogedier worn out, watched it. When he saw it die, he fell over from exhaustion. Bull-Bat was near the Rock, while Coyote lay some distance away. Bull-Bat said, "Now you will be a rock forever. You will pursue no one." Then he went to Coyote to see how he was. Coyote said, "I am very sick. I shall die soon. My thighs are altogether stiff. I also feel bad in my throat. I shall die." The Bull- Bat said to him, "No, that only means that you have been running too much. When you go on again you will get over that." Coyote said, "Yes." Then Coyote told Bull-Bat what had happened. He told him how Deer had been killed, and, the second time, Mountain- Sheep also. Bull-Bat said to him, "Have you no sense? You killed them. If you had thrown away the blanket, diey would not have died. Every one knows who owned the blanket. Only you, I think, did not know it. Now I am going to where I five. You can go where you please. I hope you have a home." "Yes." said Coyote, "I will go where I please." 27 -COYOTE STEALS THE ROLLING ROCK'S BLANKET As Coyote was walking around one day, he saw a rock with a blanket on it. He liked the blanket, so he carried it off with him. After going a short distance, he looked behind him, for he feared the owner of the blanket would come after him. And he did see something coming along. It was coming fast and leaving a cloud of dust behind it. Then Coyote ran up on a high hill. He thought the blanket's owner was coming after him, for he diought it belonged to a Ute. Down the other side of the hill he ran, where he saw a man standing in die road. He told the man that an Indian was coming after him. Then he ran on till he met a Bear. Coyote said to the Bear, "Some one is coming after me, because I took 80 a blanket." Then he ran off, and the Bear said, "I'll catch him." Then the Bear stood out in the middle of the road. He was angry. The Indian came along fast; but when he got close, the Bear saw that it was the Rock. It knocked the Bear down and went on after the Coyote. Coyote ran on up a high hill, the Rock coming easily after him. Here he met another Indian, who asked him, "Why are you running, Coyote?" Coyote answered, "Because I took this blanket." The Indian said, "That blanket belongs to some one." But Coyote kept on running and did not stop. He ran over a mountain and down to the bottom, but the Rock came swiftly after him. At the bottom he met a number of Utes, and he said to them, "Someone is coming after me. I don't know what tribe he belongs to. I took a blanket and he keeps coming after me, keeps coming, keeps coming." The Indians laughed and said, "All right. We don't care who it is. We'll hold him." But when the Rock came, it crashed through the Indians and killed two of diem. Now Coyote saw it was a Rock and no Indian, and he ran away fast. Soon he came to a river where lived some Water Indians, little men with long hair. He said to one, "A Rock is coming after me." The Water Indian said, "You stole that blanket! That's not right. That blanket belongs to the Rock, and diat's the reason he comes after you. You stole it. That's not right, and you did wrong to steal it." But Coyote only ran away. Then the Water Indian stood still, and when the Rock came along, he caught it. He held it firmly, threw it back and made it stop. Then he laughed. But Coyote turned into a Ute. He became a good Indian and never stole any more. 28 -THE CANNIBAL There was a very large man. He had a big head, a fat belly, and long feet. He had two wives. They had nothing to eat but ground grass-seed. They lived alone, where they saw no one. There was not even game to hunt. The man said to his wives, "Let us go eastward again. I am tired of eating this grass-seed. I am tired of seeing no tracks and of seeing no game; therefore I wish to go east." The next day they moved away. Seeing a mountain, they went up it, then down the odier side. They saw a spring and camped there, staying the next day. The man said, "Stay here. I will go on and hunt." He found the tracks of a man, a woman, and two children. Coming back he said, "I saw the tracks of four persons. I shall go and look for them; perhaps we shall see them living somewhere." Then he went with his wives to where he had seen the tracks. There they saw two antelopes. "Kill them. I am hungry." said one of the women to him. "No, they belong to him," said die man. They followed the tracks and again camped at a spring. Then the man left the two 81 women after saying to them, "I will go after that man and kill him. I want to eat him. I shall bring him back, and you also will like to eat him." Then he went, watching closely. He saw the man and shot him. Then he shot the woman and choked the children. He returned to his women and said, "Let us go there. I have killed them all. We will go to butcher them." So they skinned the man and woman. Then he told one of his wives to skin the boy neatly and carefully. The meat they dried, hanging it up. They stayed diere two days. The man ate all the meat. Then he said, "Stay here; I will travel about to see if I can find anything. I will take the skin of that boy with me." He climbed a mountain; he looked over the top but saw nothing. Then he raised his head higher and saw a teepee with two women and a man near it. He took the stuffed skin of the boy, held it up and moved it about. The second time he did so, the man saw it and said to the women, "A boy is up there. Did you see him? I will go up to him." The cannibal laid the stuffed skin down and hid in the bushes. The man came up and said to the boy, "Who are you? Get up. Can you not sit up?" The cannibal drew his bow and shot the man. He ran a short way, fell, and died. Then the cannibal went on another hill and did the same mere. He held the boy in front of a cedar and made him wave his hand. "Did you see that boy? He is over there," said a young man, who was with the women. He went up the hill. The cannibal laid the boy down and shot this one, as he had shot the other. Thus he had killed two men. Then he showed the boy in another place, but the women did not come to him. "We will both stay here and wait until the men come," they said. Then the cannibal made a circle to the other side of die teepee. He approached it and again showed the skin. One of the women saw the boy and called to him, "Who are you? What tribe are you?" But the man only lowered the boy out of sight and then made him appear to look again. But the women did not come to him; therefore he left die hide lying and approached the teepee from another side. He came up to the women. "Where is your husband?" he asked. They said to him, "He went there after a boy. A young man also went away after that one and has not come back; perhaps the boy was only playing." Then he shot both of the women, one after the other. Taking die stuffed hide, he went back to his teepee. He told his wives, "I have killed four pieces of game." Then they went there and lived in that teepee. The cannibal ate one of die men. "Gadier die bones and get the marrow," he said. Soon die women were fat from eating grease and marrow. After the man had slept diree times, he said, "I will kill another one for you now. You stay here and I will go hunting." Then he went away, taking the boy's skin. He saw an old man, a woman, and a girl. On die top of the hill, he showed them the boy. The old man said, "I see a boy there. I will go to see what 82 kind of a boy is diere." So he went up and was shot. Again the man showed the boy in another place. The old woman said, "Let us go to see who the boy is. Perhaps someone is living on die other side of the hill now." Then diey both went there. The man put down the stuffed skin and hid behind some cedars. He shot both of the women. Then he went to their teepee, but he found no one else there; he had killed all. He went home and told his women. They all went diere. He said to them, "Stay here. I will hunt again." Again he went, carrying the boy's skin. He went far and found no one. In die middle of the day he became tired. He went to a spring and drank lay down with the stuffed hide beside him. He slept. Two men came to drink. They found him with the stuffed skin of the boy. They spoke to each other and knew that he was a bad man. They fled. Then he shot at them and killed one. The other one escaped. The cannibal went home and said, "I killed one at the spring; let us go there. One of them escaped." The women cried. "Why do you cry?" he asked. They said, "Because you let him escape. I want him." "Oh!" he said. "I will get him later." The other man who fled, said to the people,"I saw a bad person. He has a big belly, a big head, and big feet. I saw that he had the skin of a boy. He is bad." Then they went to another camp and told tiiose persons diere. These also were afraid and went to another place. Thus all went away, being very afraid. Only in one camp there remained a young man and his modier. All the others fled. His mother said to him, "Let us flee, my son. He is a bad person; he will kill us." He said to her, "No, we will stay here. I want to talk to that one; I think he is my friend." His mother was very frightened and continued to tell him to go away. After a while he said to her, "Now Mother, get water in a large basket." They lived on a slate hill. On the rock he made a small lake witii die water that she brought. Ten times she brought him water, and he poured it in. Then he told his mother to grind a basketful of seeds and to cook them. She did this. She was very frightened. "I am afraid," she said. "I will run away." He said to her, "No, my mother, do not fear him. Let him come. He will not hurt you. Go and set fire to that cedar, so that he will see the smoke and come to visit us." The man saw it and told his wives. "Some one is over there. I saw smoke." They said to him, "Good, you will kill him." He said to them, "I will go there now; perhaps there are many people. I will stay there one night; perhaps I will kill ten. If I do not come back after one night, you must come after me." Then he travelled fast. He went on a hill and looked over. The young man was looking for him and saw him. "Look, Mother, there is that man," he said. "Oh, my son, I will run away," said she. Then the cannibal raised the stuffed skin. The young man cried out, "Why do you do that? Come here, you." So that one left the skin and went there. The mother 83 said, "He is coming now. Let us run." "No," said the young man. She ran a short distance. He called to her, "Come back, my mother. Let him come. Give him this food." Then she came back to him, shaking. Now the cannibal arrived there. The young man went to him quickly and said, "Well, my friend," and took his hand. "Sit down there," he said to him, and the man with the large belly sat down there. "Are you hungry?" he asked him. "Yes," he said. "What do you wish? Do you want meat or something else?" he said to him. "Anything," said die man. "Very well. Do you like this food? It is already cooked," said the young man. Then he gave him a basketfull. That one drank it all. "Have you finished?" he asked the man. He said, "No." Then he gave him anodier basketfull. Again the man drank tiiis off. The young man said to him, "Where do you live? Where is your teepee? Why did you come here?" The man said to him, "I live far away. I came here with no purpose." The young man said to him, "Stay here one night. We will talk together." But that one wished to go back home. The young man said, "I have a pretty eagle here on this cliff. Do you wish to see it?" Then the large-bellied one lay down and looked over the jutting cliff to see the eagle. The young man threw him down into the lake. He swam around and around. All about him the rock was steep. He could not get out. The young man watched him. Soon he began to be tired. He went down. Then he came up again; he was nearly dead. At last he drowned. The next day the young man stayed at home. He said to his mother, "Where is your rope? What did you do with it? I wish to pull that man out." "No. He is a bad man," she said to him. But he said, "Give me the rope. I will do what is good." She gave him the rope. He went down to the water and tied the legs and the hands of the man. Then he pulled him up. He butchered him, skinned him, and told his mother to dry the meat. "Why do you do diis?" she said. He said to her, "I think his women will come. We will give them his meat to eat and go outside. We will watch what they do." He laid down two large fat pieces ready cooked. Then he went away behind a rock and watched. He saw two women come. They saw the meat hanging to dry and saw the cooked meat lying there. They sat down and ate it. One of them said to the other, "Perhaps my husband went to kill the others. He has already killed a fat one." Soon they had finished. One said, "My husband cooks well." Then one said, "I am sleepy." The odier one said she was sleepy, so they went to sleep. The young man watched them. One began to sleep. Then she awoke. She said, "Get up, my sister! My heart is bad; it hits me hard. I think I ate the flesh of my husband." The odier one said, "Yes, I also feel bad. I do not know what is the trouble. I think the same as you think." Now they both cried. The young man had been watching them. Now he came and they saw him. He said, "What is the matter with you? Why do you not eat this meat hanging here? Your 84 husband has gone away hunting." They said to each he shot them. He killed them both. He said, "That other, "Perhaps he killed our husband." Then he one has killed many persons, but now he is gone. He said to them, "Yes, I killed your husband. He is a is killed. People will not do diis any more. They will bad man. I will kill you also." "No, do not kill me," be friends and will not eat each other. That one was diey said. Again he said, "Yes, I will kill you." Then insane." 85 |
