Post by Okwes on Jun 29, 2007 18:50:10 GMT -5
Coyote Imitates Crow - Cochiti
Once there was a high bank of paper bread of all colors. At the bottom it
was blue, then white, red, gray, and white. On the top of this high bank
there was a crow, and at the bottom there was a little pond of sweet-corn
milk. The crow sang,
High bank of paper bread, high bank of paper bread;
Pond of sweet-corn milk, pond of sweet-corn milk.
Every time, he bit a piece, of paper bread off the bank he flew down to the
sweet-corn pond to take a drink. Coyote came along and said, "How nicely you
jump. Sing the song to me for I want to eat paper bread and drink the
sweet-corn milk. I will do just as you do." "All right." He sang his song,
High bank of paper bread, high bank of paper bread;
Pond of sweet-corn milk, pond of sweet-corn milk.
Coyote listened and learned the song. He said, "All right, now I'll start."
"All right, you sing first." Coyote stood on top of the high bank and sang
and ate. He said, "Now I'll take a drink." He was singing and getting ready
to jump at the end of his song. He jumped down and he fell straight into the
pond and right there he died. Crow began to caw (for joy). She wanted his
eyes. She took them out and shook them. They sounded like bells. She called,
"Animals, whoever uses fur for nests, come and take it from Coyote who has
done mischief." Wood rats and mice and chipmunks and squirrels came and took
the fur from Coyote for nests. Crow said, "All the kinds of birds that eat
meat, come and eat Coyote, for he has done mischief." The eagle and the
vulture and the chicken hawk and hawk came, and they all ate him up. There
was nothing left but his bones. Along came an old, old man with a carrying
basket. He walked with a cane and he could hardly get along. He came to the
place where Coyote's bones were and said, "These will make a nice soup for
grandmother." He put them in the basket, put it on his back, and took the
bones home to his wife.
Tales of the Cochiti Indians, by Ruth Benedict; U.S. Bureau of American
Ethnology, Bulletin no. 98; US Government Printing Office; [1931] and is now
in the public domain.
Once there was a high bank of paper bread of all colors. At the bottom it
was blue, then white, red, gray, and white. On the top of this high bank
there was a crow, and at the bottom there was a little pond of sweet-corn
milk. The crow sang,
High bank of paper bread, high bank of paper bread;
Pond of sweet-corn milk, pond of sweet-corn milk.
Every time, he bit a piece, of paper bread off the bank he flew down to the
sweet-corn pond to take a drink. Coyote came along and said, "How nicely you
jump. Sing the song to me for I want to eat paper bread and drink the
sweet-corn milk. I will do just as you do." "All right." He sang his song,
High bank of paper bread, high bank of paper bread;
Pond of sweet-corn milk, pond of sweet-corn milk.
Coyote listened and learned the song. He said, "All right, now I'll start."
"All right, you sing first." Coyote stood on top of the high bank and sang
and ate. He said, "Now I'll take a drink." He was singing and getting ready
to jump at the end of his song. He jumped down and he fell straight into the
pond and right there he died. Crow began to caw (for joy). She wanted his
eyes. She took them out and shook them. They sounded like bells. She called,
"Animals, whoever uses fur for nests, come and take it from Coyote who has
done mischief." Wood rats and mice and chipmunks and squirrels came and took
the fur from Coyote for nests. Crow said, "All the kinds of birds that eat
meat, come and eat Coyote, for he has done mischief." The eagle and the
vulture and the chicken hawk and hawk came, and they all ate him up. There
was nothing left but his bones. Along came an old, old man with a carrying
basket. He walked with a cane and he could hardly get along. He came to the
place where Coyote's bones were and said, "These will make a nice soup for
grandmother." He put them in the basket, put it on his back, and took the
bones home to his wife.
Tales of the Cochiti Indians, by Ruth Benedict; U.S. Bureau of American
Ethnology, Bulletin no. 98; US Government Printing Office; [1931] and is now
in the public domain.