Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 28, 2007 21:11:18 GMT -5
Coyote's Adventures - Maidu
Coyote-Man was married. He had two wives, they say, and his mother-in-law lived with him also. Coyote went off hunting, and, returning from his hunt, he remained at home. After a while he spoke. "The pis-ant orphans are going to hunt deer, they say." "Yes," said his mother-in-law. "They asked me to go too," said he. "If you want to go there also, we will go in the morning." Then they slept.
In the morning (Coyote) said, "Well! They may have gone. Let us go!" Then that old woman fixed up her things, and they went. They went off, kept going until they came to a river. "You will have to wade across," said he. "They call this the slippery river." She stepped in. "Lift your skirt up high," said he. He went across behind her. He touched her anus with his boy thingy, pushing it in a little between her legs. "Hn, hn! The fish are touching us," she said. "It is that way in the slippery river." And doing thus as they crossed, when they had almost reached the other side, he stopped poking her.
They came out of the water; and when they had gotten out, they went on, kept travelling until they camped. "You stay here," he said. "I am going to see where the pis-ant orphans are camped." Then he went off. Having gone a little ways, he said, "Let rain come in this place, let rain come to-night!" Then he went off hunting, and, as he went along, he saw something that the mountain-lion had killed. So, cutting off a piece, he carried it with him, and returned before dark.
Meanwhile it grew cloudy. "I think it is going to rain," he said; so they fixed up a bark shelter. On one side he fixed it nicely, but his own sleeping-place he made poorly. Then they roasted some venison, and ate supper. The meat stunk a little, indeed. "What the pis-ant orphans kill always stinks," said (Coyote). "They eat anything that way."
Just as they went to sleep, it began to rain. Then they went to sleep. After sleeping a little while, he got very wet. So he woke up, and, having waked up, he said, "I am very wet. I'll sleep over here," he said, crawling across towards his mother-in-law's feet. "If I sleep here, I might touch you," he said; so he set up a piece of bark, on edge between them.
Then he went to sleep, and the woman went to sleep. He got up, and lay upon the woman, and had connection with her all night, until, when it was nearly daylight, he went off. Then the woman awoke. She bore a child. By and by, after she had washed it, she went away, carrying it. She kept travelling; and when she had reached the river, she waded across. She went on, kept going until she arrived at home.
Standing at the smoke-hole, she spoke. "Is Coyote here?" she said. Then Coyote said (to his wives), "Tell her no." Then one of them replied, "Yes, he is here." Then (the mother-in-law) said, "Coyote! Here is your child. Take it!" Then (Coyote) jumped out and ran away. She threw his child at him as he went. He ran away. She, having crawled in, stayed there. "'Bad Coyote! He made his mother-in-law bear a child.' That is what mortal men will say of me," said (Coyote).
Then he went away. He kept travelling, came toward this country here. He sat down, sitting on a log, below a place where there was a house. Some one spoke.
"You sitting on that log, look like a doctor. Come I you must doctor some one for me," said (a woman). Then (Coyote) said, "I guess she is calling me. Why don't I get up and hop along this log?" So he stood up and hopped along the log.
"That's the one! You who are hopping along that log, you look like a doctor. I am calling you," she said. "Yes, I guess she is speaking to me," (he said), and jumped off. "You that are jumping, I am calling you," she said. "Yes, she has been calling me," (Coyote) said. So he walked up there.
Going up there, he arrived and sat down. Then (the woman) spoke: "There is some one ill. I called you to doctor them."--"Whatever it may be like, (I can do it)," he said. "I have come thus far, going about doctoring people nicely. I am coming back from going about among the Mussel-eaters (Modocs); and I have got this far, halfway to my house," he said. "There is nothing that I have been doctoring that I cannot cure" (?) he said. Then, crawling over, and having sat down beside (the woman who was ill), he sang. He kept singing. "'I said that when told that way, I did not wish to conquer he said to me,' [1] said Coyote. "That spirit told me, 'I will not speak in this kind of a place. I am a spirit. Shut up the house; and when it is shut tight, I will speak.' So if you crawl out, and stay outside by the door, to me alone the spirit will speak, he told me," said he.
So the old woman crawled out, and shut the door, and remained by the door outside. Then (Coyote) sang. He made a great deal of noise. "Now he is doctoring," (the old woman) said. (Those outside) heard the patient groaning. "May he be dead! Why did I bring him here to doctor?" said (the old woman). Then she peeked through a hole. (Coyote) was cohabiting with the girl, making her groan. The old woman, having picked up a large stick, jumped in. just as she was going to strike, (Coyote), breaking off his boy thingy, jumped out through the smoke-hole and ran away. He kept going until he reached the place where Badger lived, and there he staid.
The woman was very ill, and (the old woman) came to Badger to get him to doctor. On arriving, she said, "I hired Coyote as a doctor; and when he was about to begin, he sent me out, and I remained outside by the door while he was singing; and while he sang, the girl groaned, and, peeping in, I found he was cohabiting with her. Then, intending to strike him, I jumped in; and he, jumping out, broke off his boy thingy. With that in addition to her illness, she will die. So I ask you to come and doctor her."
Then Coyote spoke. "Coyote-Man did that way a long time ago to me myself," (?) he said. "When some one hires you to doctor, go," said he. "You yourself shall doctor, working over the sick person (?).[2] So do the best you can; and when the spirit-man talks with you, he will be strong. I will go with you," he said. Then she went. And he (Badger[3]) went, after having painted his forehead in stripes. He kept travelling until he arrived. Then he sang, kept singing, and after a while he said, "What will you do with it, with what I suck out as the cause of pain? What will you do with it?"
The (old woman) said, "I will cover it up with ashes in the fire." Then Coyote said, "Formerly when they burned up sickness in the fire, in burning, it burned along everywhere, as it were," said he; "but when it was put into water, it was all right." Then the old woman said, "I'll cover it up in the fire."
Then the Badger-Man, after he had sung, cured the girl, and passed the Coyote's boy thingy to the (old woman). She opened the fire, to cover it up in the ashes. Meanwhile, not letting the woman see him, Coyote blew gently. "Let a layer of ice come up from under the ground!" he said. The old woman, when she had finished opening a place in the fire, put (the thing that he had sucked out) in. As she was putting it in, as she was putting it down toward the fire, (Coyote) seized it, and, snatching it away, ran off with it, ran away.
"I was right thinking that you were not a different person, after all; I did not recognize you," said (the woman). Then that doctor, after he had staid quiet for a while, went off; and they say that he is still striped with paint, as he was striped for doctoring.
So Coyote went away. He kept going until he saw a place where many women were living. Then, having returned on his tracks a short distance, he said, "Let any kind of a worn-out pack-basket come, a platter-basket also, and a worn-out cradle frame also!" Then he saw there all that he had wished for. Then he picked a large root, and pounded it, mashed it fine, prepared it carefully, and, when it was very finely ground, he made it into a representation of a woman's genitals. Then attaching it to himself, he fixed it carefully, and finished making it. He made a woman's apron, worn out, fall of tears, so that when it was put on, it should not wholly cover him up.
And thus he went on. Picking up his boy thingy, he washed and fixed it up as a baby, and placed it in the cradle-frame. Then, making a cane from a piece of wood, he went on, walking bent far over, like a very old woman.
Meanwhile the women remained there, and just about dark he arrived. Then they said, "Well, this is indeed an old woman to be going about thus!" and they played with the child. It does not look just like a child," (said they.) "I am very weak," (said Coyote.) "In picking it up, it slipped out of my hands, and fell, striking on its head. That is why it looks all swollen. Its father is dead. It makes me feel very sad to speak of its father," said she. Then the child said, "Lbl-lbl-lbl!"--"It says that always, and makes me feel sad," said (Coyote).
He spoke just like a woman. "Because it cries a great deal, it makes me feel sad, for I was weak and let it fall," said he. Then they saw his genitals through the holes, although they were covered. All the women saw them. Two of the youngest women said, "It does not look just like a child;" but the others said, "No, it is indeed a child. This swelling is due to its fall."--"That is the head of a boy thingy" said (the two women,) "that swelled when it fell."
But the other women all believed, and only the two were careful. "Look at her! She is an old woman; can't you see her genitals are of that kind?" the others said. Then these two said, "Very well!" So they gave her some supper; and when it grew dark, they were afraid (?). So they said, "You had better sleep right here. You might be cold." So she went to sleep, lying in the middle between two of them.
Meanwhile all the rest slept close by, in one place. But the two who had doubted went off to sleep elsewhere; they were careful. Then in the night (Coyote) untied his sleeping-powder, and, scattering it about, made all sleep soundly. Then, having thrown away his disguise, he cohabited with the women. He kept working until it was nearly dawn, and then went off. Then those women all bore children in the morning; and the children were crying, and made a great noise. Meanwhile he went off.
He kept going, travelling along beside a river, until he saw some women. They were there bathing. He watched these water-bug women. He watched them as they crawled out of the water to the bank, and kept jumping in. "Whee! Her anus!" said he. "That's the one. Whee! There's another one!" He kept talking, and then jumped to seize the very biggest one. Just as she was jumping, just starting to jump, jumping right behind her, he seized her. By and by, after working for some time, he crawled out, and went away.
He kept going; and when he was some ways from the middle of the world, his boy thingy pained him. He walked along scratching. Then he cut off the end of it, and, having thrown it away, went on. A little ways farther on, it pained very badly. Again, having cut it off and thrown it away, he went on. And having gone a little farther, it pained him again: so he cut another piece off. And still again he cut it off, even at the very base. Then as he went along, just as he started to go, he died.
He lay there dead. As he lay there, the Crow brothers flew up, and pecked out an eye. They kept pecking it out, then began on the other eye. When they had pulled just a little, (Coyote) came to consciousness again. He stood up. "I have been having a council with the Alturas people, and was sleepy. Do not say anything about it, or you will die." (?) Then, picking up a stick, he threw it at them. Then, having risen, he went off.
As he went along, Humming-Bird Man, after hovering about close to the top of a tree, came darting down, and, when almost to the ground, swooped upwards again, singing "Piuno!" all the time. (Coyote) stood there and watched him. "Yes, you have learned how to do that very well, my cousin. I think that if I learned that, the women everywhere would love me. Why don't you teach me how you learned to do it so well?" said he.
Then (the Humming-Bird) said, "All right! If you wish to learn, I will show you. I was not afraid, and so I learned. When I began to learn, I climbed up a tree, kept climbing until I reached the top, and having reached the top of the tree, standing on a large limb, I used to jump off head-first," said he.
"All right!" said Coyote, "I will do that. Thus I shall be loved in very many countries; for, knowing many pretty things to do, women will talk about me," said he. Then he climbed up, kept climbing, and when he had climbed to the top, he stood up. Then he jumped down. Darting down toward the earth crying "Pi!" just as he neared the ground he raised his head. just then he struck on his head. So he died.
As he lay there, (the Humming-Bird) went away. By and by the Crow brothers flew up, and pecked out his eye. They kept pecking; and as they were about to pull it out, when they pulled gently, he awoke. He stood up. "I have been talking with chiefs, and fell asleep. Do not say anything about it, or you will die." (?)
Then, having departed, he went off, and kept going until he reached the place where a man lived with his wives. Then he stopped there. By and by Coyote said, "Where can one marry such fine-looking women?" said he. "Where do such fine-looking women live?"--"It was a very old woman that I married. After staying with me for a little while, she turned into a fine-looking one," said (the other). "Is that so!" said (Coyote). "Do you know where such sort of old women live? Tell me," said Coyote.
Then the other said, "The camps are over there, there are many camps. By going, thither you will reach them," said he. "There is a house opposite the last one; when you get there, there will be an ugly old woman living
there. Marry her; and then, if she is too weak to walk, carry her, and bring her back. I did that way with my wife here. After getting back, and staying a few days, one morning, she woke up very fine-looking. That is the way it will be. Thus you will marry a good woman," said he.
"Very well!" said Coyote, and the next morning he went off. He kept going until he arrived there. Reaching the last house, he crossed over and got to the house opposite. He went in, and there was an ugly old woman sitting there. Having gone in, he sat down, and remained there. Meanwhile night came on, and, crawling across, he slept with that old woman.
In the morning, when they had risen, they came back; and after they had come a little ways, she became tired. So carrying her, he returned, and kept coming back until he reached the place he had set out from. It came night; and after sleeping, he staid there in the morning. Meanwhile the other man went hunting, and at evening he came back bringing a bear.
Then Coyote said, "I wonder how you killed him. You had better tell me, I also went hunting. Where did you kill him?" Then the other said, "All right! I went around behind this mountain, a large trail runs there, and I sat down close by it."--"Good!" said Coyote, "I will do that way." The other man said, "I carried a big, heavy stick. Hitting the bear with that, I killed him. From where I stood, close to the trail, I struck him."--"All right!" said Coyote, "I will do the same."
Then the next morning he went hunting. He kept travelling, and finally reached the place that had been pointed out to him. A large bear-trail led along there,--a trail up which they went to feed. When he reached it, he stood there, kept standing close beside the trail. Then the bears came, kept coming, walking fast. Meanwhile Coyote said, "I am not looking for you, I am looking for another, a big one." They kept going along, until, in the middle of the lot, there came a large one. As he was walking by, (Coyote) struck him. When he struck, the stick bounced back, for he did not strike him just on the head. Then from all sides they seized Coyote, and threw him down and killed him.
Coyote-Man was married. He had two wives, they say, and his mother-in-law lived with him also. Coyote went off hunting, and, returning from his hunt, he remained at home. After a while he spoke. "The pis-ant orphans are going to hunt deer, they say." "Yes," said his mother-in-law. "They asked me to go too," said he. "If you want to go there also, we will go in the morning." Then they slept.
In the morning (Coyote) said, "Well! They may have gone. Let us go!" Then that old woman fixed up her things, and they went. They went off, kept going until they came to a river. "You will have to wade across," said he. "They call this the slippery river." She stepped in. "Lift your skirt up high," said he. He went across behind her. He touched her anus with his boy thingy, pushing it in a little between her legs. "Hn, hn! The fish are touching us," she said. "It is that way in the slippery river." And doing thus as they crossed, when they had almost reached the other side, he stopped poking her.
They came out of the water; and when they had gotten out, they went on, kept travelling until they camped. "You stay here," he said. "I am going to see where the pis-ant orphans are camped." Then he went off. Having gone a little ways, he said, "Let rain come in this place, let rain come to-night!" Then he went off hunting, and, as he went along, he saw something that the mountain-lion had killed. So, cutting off a piece, he carried it with him, and returned before dark.
Meanwhile it grew cloudy. "I think it is going to rain," he said; so they fixed up a bark shelter. On one side he fixed it nicely, but his own sleeping-place he made poorly. Then they roasted some venison, and ate supper. The meat stunk a little, indeed. "What the pis-ant orphans kill always stinks," said (Coyote). "They eat anything that way."
Just as they went to sleep, it began to rain. Then they went to sleep. After sleeping a little while, he got very wet. So he woke up, and, having waked up, he said, "I am very wet. I'll sleep over here," he said, crawling across towards his mother-in-law's feet. "If I sleep here, I might touch you," he said; so he set up a piece of bark, on edge between them.
Then he went to sleep, and the woman went to sleep. He got up, and lay upon the woman, and had connection with her all night, until, when it was nearly daylight, he went off. Then the woman awoke. She bore a child. By and by, after she had washed it, she went away, carrying it. She kept travelling; and when she had reached the river, she waded across. She went on, kept going until she arrived at home.
Standing at the smoke-hole, she spoke. "Is Coyote here?" she said. Then Coyote said (to his wives), "Tell her no." Then one of them replied, "Yes, he is here." Then (the mother-in-law) said, "Coyote! Here is your child. Take it!" Then (Coyote) jumped out and ran away. She threw his child at him as he went. He ran away. She, having crawled in, stayed there. "'Bad Coyote! He made his mother-in-law bear a child.' That is what mortal men will say of me," said (Coyote).
Then he went away. He kept travelling, came toward this country here. He sat down, sitting on a log, below a place where there was a house. Some one spoke.
"You sitting on that log, look like a doctor. Come I you must doctor some one for me," said (a woman). Then (Coyote) said, "I guess she is calling me. Why don't I get up and hop along this log?" So he stood up and hopped along the log.
"That's the one! You who are hopping along that log, you look like a doctor. I am calling you," she said. "Yes, I guess she is speaking to me," (he said), and jumped off. "You that are jumping, I am calling you," she said. "Yes, she has been calling me," (Coyote) said. So he walked up there.
Going up there, he arrived and sat down. Then (the woman) spoke: "There is some one ill. I called you to doctor them."--"Whatever it may be like, (I can do it)," he said. "I have come thus far, going about doctoring people nicely. I am coming back from going about among the Mussel-eaters (Modocs); and I have got this far, halfway to my house," he said. "There is nothing that I have been doctoring that I cannot cure" (?) he said. Then, crawling over, and having sat down beside (the woman who was ill), he sang. He kept singing. "'I said that when told that way, I did not wish to conquer he said to me,' [1] said Coyote. "That spirit told me, 'I will not speak in this kind of a place. I am a spirit. Shut up the house; and when it is shut tight, I will speak.' So if you crawl out, and stay outside by the door, to me alone the spirit will speak, he told me," said he.
So the old woman crawled out, and shut the door, and remained by the door outside. Then (Coyote) sang. He made a great deal of noise. "Now he is doctoring," (the old woman) said. (Those outside) heard the patient groaning. "May he be dead! Why did I bring him here to doctor?" said (the old woman). Then she peeked through a hole. (Coyote) was cohabiting with the girl, making her groan. The old woman, having picked up a large stick, jumped in. just as she was going to strike, (Coyote), breaking off his boy thingy, jumped out through the smoke-hole and ran away. He kept going until he reached the place where Badger lived, and there he staid.
The woman was very ill, and (the old woman) came to Badger to get him to doctor. On arriving, she said, "I hired Coyote as a doctor; and when he was about to begin, he sent me out, and I remained outside by the door while he was singing; and while he sang, the girl groaned, and, peeping in, I found he was cohabiting with her. Then, intending to strike him, I jumped in; and he, jumping out, broke off his boy thingy. With that in addition to her illness, she will die. So I ask you to come and doctor her."
Then Coyote spoke. "Coyote-Man did that way a long time ago to me myself," (?) he said. "When some one hires you to doctor, go," said he. "You yourself shall doctor, working over the sick person (?).[2] So do the best you can; and when the spirit-man talks with you, he will be strong. I will go with you," he said. Then she went. And he (Badger[3]) went, after having painted his forehead in stripes. He kept travelling until he arrived. Then he sang, kept singing, and after a while he said, "What will you do with it, with what I suck out as the cause of pain? What will you do with it?"
The (old woman) said, "I will cover it up with ashes in the fire." Then Coyote said, "Formerly when they burned up sickness in the fire, in burning, it burned along everywhere, as it were," said he; "but when it was put into water, it was all right." Then the old woman said, "I'll cover it up in the fire."
Then the Badger-Man, after he had sung, cured the girl, and passed the Coyote's boy thingy to the (old woman). She opened the fire, to cover it up in the ashes. Meanwhile, not letting the woman see him, Coyote blew gently. "Let a layer of ice come up from under the ground!" he said. The old woman, when she had finished opening a place in the fire, put (the thing that he had sucked out) in. As she was putting it in, as she was putting it down toward the fire, (Coyote) seized it, and, snatching it away, ran off with it, ran away.
"I was right thinking that you were not a different person, after all; I did not recognize you," said (the woman). Then that doctor, after he had staid quiet for a while, went off; and they say that he is still striped with paint, as he was striped for doctoring.
So Coyote went away. He kept going until he saw a place where many women were living. Then, having returned on his tracks a short distance, he said, "Let any kind of a worn-out pack-basket come, a platter-basket also, and a worn-out cradle frame also!" Then he saw there all that he had wished for. Then he picked a large root, and pounded it, mashed it fine, prepared it carefully, and, when it was very finely ground, he made it into a representation of a woman's genitals. Then attaching it to himself, he fixed it carefully, and finished making it. He made a woman's apron, worn out, fall of tears, so that when it was put on, it should not wholly cover him up.
And thus he went on. Picking up his boy thingy, he washed and fixed it up as a baby, and placed it in the cradle-frame. Then, making a cane from a piece of wood, he went on, walking bent far over, like a very old woman.
Meanwhile the women remained there, and just about dark he arrived. Then they said, "Well, this is indeed an old woman to be going about thus!" and they played with the child. It does not look just like a child," (said they.) "I am very weak," (said Coyote.) "In picking it up, it slipped out of my hands, and fell, striking on its head. That is why it looks all swollen. Its father is dead. It makes me feel very sad to speak of its father," said she. Then the child said, "Lbl-lbl-lbl!"--"It says that always, and makes me feel sad," said (Coyote).
He spoke just like a woman. "Because it cries a great deal, it makes me feel sad, for I was weak and let it fall," said he. Then they saw his genitals through the holes, although they were covered. All the women saw them. Two of the youngest women said, "It does not look just like a child;" but the others said, "No, it is indeed a child. This swelling is due to its fall."--"That is the head of a boy thingy" said (the two women,) "that swelled when it fell."
But the other women all believed, and only the two were careful. "Look at her! She is an old woman; can't you see her genitals are of that kind?" the others said. Then these two said, "Very well!" So they gave her some supper; and when it grew dark, they were afraid (?). So they said, "You had better sleep right here. You might be cold." So she went to sleep, lying in the middle between two of them.
Meanwhile all the rest slept close by, in one place. But the two who had doubted went off to sleep elsewhere; they were careful. Then in the night (Coyote) untied his sleeping-powder, and, scattering it about, made all sleep soundly. Then, having thrown away his disguise, he cohabited with the women. He kept working until it was nearly dawn, and then went off. Then those women all bore children in the morning; and the children were crying, and made a great noise. Meanwhile he went off.
He kept going, travelling along beside a river, until he saw some women. They were there bathing. He watched these water-bug women. He watched them as they crawled out of the water to the bank, and kept jumping in. "Whee! Her anus!" said he. "That's the one. Whee! There's another one!" He kept talking, and then jumped to seize the very biggest one. Just as she was jumping, just starting to jump, jumping right behind her, he seized her. By and by, after working for some time, he crawled out, and went away.
He kept going; and when he was some ways from the middle of the world, his boy thingy pained him. He walked along scratching. Then he cut off the end of it, and, having thrown it away, went on. A little ways farther on, it pained very badly. Again, having cut it off and thrown it away, he went on. And having gone a little farther, it pained him again: so he cut another piece off. And still again he cut it off, even at the very base. Then as he went along, just as he started to go, he died.
He lay there dead. As he lay there, the Crow brothers flew up, and pecked out an eye. They kept pecking it out, then began on the other eye. When they had pulled just a little, (Coyote) came to consciousness again. He stood up. "I have been having a council with the Alturas people, and was sleepy. Do not say anything about it, or you will die." (?) Then, picking up a stick, he threw it at them. Then, having risen, he went off.
As he went along, Humming-Bird Man, after hovering about close to the top of a tree, came darting down, and, when almost to the ground, swooped upwards again, singing "Piuno!" all the time. (Coyote) stood there and watched him. "Yes, you have learned how to do that very well, my cousin. I think that if I learned that, the women everywhere would love me. Why don't you teach me how you learned to do it so well?" said he.
Then (the Humming-Bird) said, "All right! If you wish to learn, I will show you. I was not afraid, and so I learned. When I began to learn, I climbed up a tree, kept climbing until I reached the top, and having reached the top of the tree, standing on a large limb, I used to jump off head-first," said he.
"All right!" said Coyote, "I will do that. Thus I shall be loved in very many countries; for, knowing many pretty things to do, women will talk about me," said he. Then he climbed up, kept climbing, and when he had climbed to the top, he stood up. Then he jumped down. Darting down toward the earth crying "Pi!" just as he neared the ground he raised his head. just then he struck on his head. So he died.
As he lay there, (the Humming-Bird) went away. By and by the Crow brothers flew up, and pecked out his eye. They kept pecking; and as they were about to pull it out, when they pulled gently, he awoke. He stood up. "I have been talking with chiefs, and fell asleep. Do not say anything about it, or you will die." (?)
Then, having departed, he went off, and kept going until he reached the place where a man lived with his wives. Then he stopped there. By and by Coyote said, "Where can one marry such fine-looking women?" said he. "Where do such fine-looking women live?"--"It was a very old woman that I married. After staying with me for a little while, she turned into a fine-looking one," said (the other). "Is that so!" said (Coyote). "Do you know where such sort of old women live? Tell me," said Coyote.
Then the other said, "The camps are over there, there are many camps. By going, thither you will reach them," said he. "There is a house opposite the last one; when you get there, there will be an ugly old woman living
there. Marry her; and then, if she is too weak to walk, carry her, and bring her back. I did that way with my wife here. After getting back, and staying a few days, one morning, she woke up very fine-looking. That is the way it will be. Thus you will marry a good woman," said he.
"Very well!" said Coyote, and the next morning he went off. He kept going until he arrived there. Reaching the last house, he crossed over and got to the house opposite. He went in, and there was an ugly old woman sitting there. Having gone in, he sat down, and remained there. Meanwhile night came on, and, crawling across, he slept with that old woman.
In the morning, when they had risen, they came back; and after they had come a little ways, she became tired. So carrying her, he returned, and kept coming back until he reached the place he had set out from. It came night; and after sleeping, he staid there in the morning. Meanwhile the other man went hunting, and at evening he came back bringing a bear.
Then Coyote said, "I wonder how you killed him. You had better tell me, I also went hunting. Where did you kill him?" Then the other said, "All right! I went around behind this mountain, a large trail runs there, and I sat down close by it."--"Good!" said Coyote, "I will do that way." The other man said, "I carried a big, heavy stick. Hitting the bear with that, I killed him. From where I stood, close to the trail, I struck him."--"All right!" said Coyote, "I will do the same."
Then the next morning he went hunting. He kept travelling, and finally reached the place that had been pointed out to him. A large bear-trail led along there,--a trail up which they went to feed. When he reached it, he stood there, kept standing close beside the trail. Then the bears came, kept coming, walking fast. Meanwhile Coyote said, "I am not looking for you, I am looking for another, a big one." They kept going along, until, in the middle of the lot, there came a large one. As he was walking by, (Coyote) struck him. When he struck, the stick bounced back, for he did not strike him just on the head. Then from all sides they seized Coyote, and threw him down and killed him.