American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends) (10 page)

“I am not singing,” said Water Turtle, “I am crying.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Coyote. “You will teach me some turtle songs and then I will make a fire and cook and eat you.”

“You are very ignorant,” said Water Turtle. “Otherwise you would know that turtles are fireproof. Flames cannot hurt us. We cannot be cooked.”

“Then I will put you on your back in the sun and when you get tired and relax, and your shell opens, I will dig out your meat and eat it.”

“You are really stupid,” Water Turtle told him, “or you would know that we never get tired and our shells open only when we want.”

“Then I will climb to the top of a cliff,” said Coyote, “and drop you on the hard stones below. Then your shell will crack into pieces and I’ll make a dinner of you.”

“You are the greatest fool I ever came across,” said Water Turtle.

“Don’t you know that our shells are harder than flint, harder than anything else in the world? Our shells never crack.”

“Then I’ll drop you into the nearest stream and the water will dissolve your shell and you’ll drown and then I’ll eat you!”

“Ow, ow, ow, please, please, please don’t do that!” cried Water Turtle. “It would kill me. I’d drown. My shell would melt. Water would be the death of me. Please, dear, dear Coyote, don’t put me in the stream.”

“Who is stupid now?” Coyote laughed. “You dumb Water Turtle, you’ve given yourself away!”

Coyote grabbed Water Turtle between his jaws and ran as fast as he could to the nearest stream. He dropped Water Turtle into the stream. Water Turtle stuck his head out above the surface. He was grinning. He shouted: “Thank you, thank you, dear Coyote, you’ve brought me home. You’ve saved my life!”

Coyote went off, shaking his head, growling: “Water Turtle had more brains than I thought. He has outsmarted me. Better luck next time.”

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Pueblo
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Coyote was walking along, looking for what he could get. On the road he overtook a donkey on the way to market with a big load of fine round cheeses. Right away his mouth began to water. “Good morning, Long Ears, may I walk along with you?”

“With pleasure,” said the donkey. “I always love to have company.” They went along. They came to a river. They had to cross it, but there was no bridge.

“Señor Long Ears, I hear that you are a wonderful swimmer,” said Coyote. “I’m told you can outswim everybody. Would you take me across?”

“Gladly,” said the donkey. “Hop on my back, but be careful that none of the cheeses falls off.”

“I’ll be very careful,” said Coyote. While donkey was swimming across, Coyote ate up all the cheeses. When they reached the other shore, Coyote told the donkey: “Señor Long Ears, here our ways part. Thank you so much for ferrying me across. I hope you get a good price for your cheeses.”

“Adiós,
Señor Coyote,” said the donkey. He was unaware that Coyote had eaten up all his cheeses. He arrived at the market and found a buyer for his wares. They agreed on a price, but when the buyer looked inside the bags the donkey was carrying, there were no cheeses there. “What are you trying to pull on me?” said the buyer, and went off cursing. The donkey was very disappointed. “How could Coyote repay my kindness by stealing my goods?” he exclaimed. “How could he be so evil?”

The donkey returned to his master, who cried, “You stupid beast, you’ve ruined me!” The master got a big, heavy stick and beat the donkey unmercifully. “Go, catch this thieving Coyote and bring him to me. If you don‘t, I’ll beat you some more. I’ll break every bone in your body!”

The donkey ran off in a panic. He had no idea where to find Coyote. He searched far and wide without any luck. Then he heard someone laughing, guffawing. The laughter was very loud, the side-splitting kind. The donkey followed the sound. It led him to Coyote’s cave. Inside, Coyote was bragging to his wife and his little ones: “That foolish Señor Long Ears. Hah, hah, he must have been very surprised when he got to market with an empty load. I just love to play tricks on such fools. No wonder they call a stupid person a dumb ass!”

The donkey heard it. He lay down in front of the cave’s entrance. Then he waited. After a while Coyote’s wife came out to get water. The donkey played dead. Coyote’s wife ran back to the cave. “Quick, quick,” she called, “there’s a dead donkey lying at the door. The body is still warm, the meat fresh. We’ll have a big feast.”

They all ran out—Coyote, his wife, and the little coyotes. One of them cried: “Dear father, I want the heart, bring me the heart.”

Coyote said: “All right!” It was his favorite child who had asked for it. Coyote opened the donkey’s jaws wide and stuck his head way down its throat to tear the donkey’s heart out. The donkey promptly clamped his teeth down hard upon Coyote’s neck. Coyote was caught.

In the meantime, Coyote’s wife and children had gone back inside the cave to make a fire and get pots and pans ready for a big feast. They had not seen that Coyote’s head was stuck fast between the donkey’s jaws. While they were inside, the donkey dragged Coyote off. When Coyote’s wife came out again with her great big butcher knife, she could find no trace of her husband or the donkey. She didn’t know what to make of it. “What could have happened?” she said to the little coyotes. “It must be witchcraft.”

The donkey dragged Coyote all the way back to his master. “You no-good thieving trickster!” cried the master. “Now you must pay for my cheeses!” Then he tore Coyote’s pelt and skin from his back, saying: “This will make a nice rug before my bed.”

Coyote ran back to his cave, all naked, without his fur. His wife did not recognize him. “Stranger,” she said, “you are surely the ugliest creature I’ve ever met. You have a coyote’s shape, but you are pink and hairless like a pig. You are truly ugly.”

“Stupid woman,” said Coyote, “it is me. Don’t you recognize your own husband?”

Coyote was ashamed. He went deep inside to the farthest corner of the cave. He wanted nobody to see him until his fur had grown back.

 

 

Once, when Old Man Coyote saw some buffalo, he wanted to eat them and tried to think of a scheme to do this.

He approached the buffalo and said to them: “You buffalo are the most awkward of all animals—your heads are heavy, your hairy legs are chopped off short, and your bellies stick our like a big pot.”

The buffalo said to him: “We were made this way.”

Old Man Coyote said to them: “I’ll tell you what let’s do—we will run a race.” And all went to a level place with a steep cut bank at the end.

Old Man Coyote said to himself: “I will go and put my robe over the edge of the bank,” and turning to the buffalo, he said: “Just as we get to the place where my robe is, we will all shut our eyes and see how far we can go with our eyes closed.”

The race was started, and just before getting to the robe, all of the buffalo shut their eyes and jumped over the steep cut bank and were killed; and Old Man Coyote feasted off the dead buffalo.

At the beginning of time, Bobcat had a long nose and tail. One day he was sleeping in front of his den when Coyote happened to be passing by. “Ah, Bobcat is sound asleep,” Coyote said to himself. “Here is my chance to play a trick on him.” Coyote pushed Bobcat’s face in and cut off most of his tail.

When Bobcat woke up, he felt different. He felt behind him for his long, bushy tail and there was nothing, just a little stump. Bobcat felt his face, and where his long nose used to be, there was nothing. “How could this have happened?” Bobcat lamented. He had been so proud of his long, bushy tail and he did not at all like his new, stubby nose. “It must have been that evil prankster, Coyote, who has done this to me,” he thought. “But I’ll get even with him.”

Now, in those long-gone days, Coyote had a short nose and just a little stump of a tail. One day he was sleeping in front of his lodge. He was dead to the world. A thunderclap could not have awakened him. Bobcat happened to be passing by. He saw Coyote sleeping, smiling in his dreams. “Here is my chance,” said Bobcat. He pulled hard at Coyote’s nose and tail. He made them long.

When Coyote woke up, he noticed that something was not right. He said: “What is there dragging behind me?” he felt around and discovered that his tail had grown long. He said: “What is this strange thing sticking out in front of my face?” He felt it and found that it was his nose. He did not like it. “Could it be that flat-faced fellow, Bobcat?” he wondered. He went home, his long tail dragging behind him. When his wife saw Coyote’s long nose, she had a good laugh.

Long ago, it is said, there somewhere, a big pounded meatball went loping. As it went loping along the road, one (Coyote) was lying there beside the road. That loping one said: “That’s Coyote. Are you lying there?” That Coyote said: “Yes, I am lying here. I am about to die from hunger.” That big meatball said to him: “You must take one big bite of me.” That one Coyote took a big bite of it. Then Coyote said: “I am going.” Coyote ran along the road, again stopped and lay down over there in front of the meatball.