American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends) (6 page)

Eagle and Coyote knew some of the spirits as their former friends, but no one paid any attention to the two strangers. No one saw the basket that Coyote had brought with him. In the basket he planned to carry the spirits back to the land of the living.

Early in the morning, the spirits left the lodge for their day of sleep. Then Coyote killed Frog, took his clothes, and put them on himself. At twilight the spirits returned and began again a night of singing and dancing. They did not know that Coyote, in Frog’s clothing, stood beside the moon.

When the dancing and singing were at their gayest, Coyote swallowed the moon. In the darkness, Eagle caught the spirit people, put them into Coyote’s basket, and closed the lid tight. Then the two started back to the land of the living, Coyote carrying the basket.

After traveling a great distance, they heard noises in the basket and stopped to listen.

“The people are coming to life,” said Coyote.

After they had gone a little farther, they heard voices talking in the basket. The spirits were complaining. “We are being banged around,” groaned some. “My leg is being hurt,” groaned one spirit. “My legs and arms are cramped,” groaned another. “Open the lid and let us out!” called several spirits together.

Coyote was tired, for the basket was getting heavier and heavier. The spirits were turning back into people.

“Let’s let them out,” said Coyote.

“No, no,” answered Eagle quickly.

A little later Coyote set the basket down. It was too heavy for him.

“Let’s let them out,” repeated Coyote. “We are so far from the spirit land now that they won’t return.”

So he opened the basket. The people took their spirit forms and, moving like the wind, went back to the island of the dead.

Eagle scolded at first, but soon he remembered Coyote’s earlier thought. “It’s now autumn. The leaves are falling, just as people die. Let us wait until spring. When the buds open and the flowers bloom, let us return to the land of the dead and try again.”

“No,” replied Coyote, “I am tired. Let the dead stay in the land of the dead forever.”.

So Coyote made the law that after people have died they shall never come to life again. If he had not opened the basket and let the spirits out, the dead would have come to life every spring as the grass and flowers and trees do.

{
Klamath
}

There was a time when people had no fire. In winter they could not warm themselves. They had to eat their food raw. Fire was kept inside a huge white rock that belonged to Thunder, who was its caretaker. Thunder was a fearful being. Everybody was afraid of him. Even Bear and Mountain Lion trembled when they heard Thunder’s rumbling voice.

Coyote was not afraid of Thunder. He was afraid of nothing. One day, Thunder was in an angry mood and roared and rumbled his loudest, so that the earth trembled and all animals went into hiding. Coyote decided that this was the time to get the fire away from Thunder. Coyote climbed the highest mountain on which Thunder lived. Thunder was at home. “Uncle,” said Coyote, “let us play a game of dice. If you win, you can kill me. If I win, you have to give me fire.”

“Let us play,” said Thunder.

They played with dice made from the gnawing teeth of beavers and woodchucks. The beaver teeth were male dice. The woodchuck teeth were female dice. A design was carved on one side of these teeth. The teeth were thrown on a flat rock. If the male teeth came up with the carved sides, they counted two points. If the female teeth came up with the carved sides, they counted one. If the dice came up uneven, they did not count. There was a bundle of sticks for counting, for keeping track of the points scored.

Now, Coyote is the trickiest fellow alive. He is the master at cheating at all kinds of games. He continuously distracted Thunder so that he could not watch what Coyote was up to. Thunder was no match for Coyote when it came to gambling. Whenever Thunder took his eyes off Coyote’s hands, even for just the tiniest part of a moment, Coyote turned his dice up so that they showed the carved sides. He turned Thunder’s dice up so that they showed the blank sides. He distracted Thunder and made him blink. Then, quick as a flash, he took a counting stick away from Thunder’s pile and added it to his own. In the end, Thunder was completely confused. Coyote had all the counting sticks, Thunder had none. “Uncle, I won,” said Coyote. “Hand over the fire.” Thunder knew that Coyote had cheated but could not prove it.

Coyote called upon all the animals to come up to the mountaintop to help him carry the big rock that contained the fire. That rock was huge and looked solid, but it was very fragile, as fragile as a seashell. So all the animals prepared to carry the rock away. “Not so fast,” growled Thunder. “Coyote won the game and so I give him the fire. But he cheated, and for that I shall take his life. Where is he so that I can kill him?”

Now, Coyote had read Thunder’s mind. He had anticipated what Thunder was up to. Coyote could pull the outer part of his body off, as if it were a blanket, so he put his skin, his pelt, his tail, his ears—all of his outside—close by Thunder, and with the inside of his body, his vitals, moved a distance away. Then he changed his voice so that it sounded as if it were coming not from a distance, but like from just a few feet away. “Here I am, Uncle,” he cried. “Kill me if you can.” Thunder picked up the huge rock containing fire and hurled it at what he thought was Coyote. But he hit only the skin and fur. The rock splintered into numberless pieces. Every animal took a little piece of the fire and put it under its armpit or under its wing, and they hurried all over the world, bringing fire to every tribe on earth. Coyote calmly put on his outer skin and fur again. “Good-bye, Uncle,” he said to Thunder. “Don’t gamble. It is not what you do best.” Then he ran off.

{
Salish
}

Coyote was wandering about, enjoying himself, singing a merry tune. On the branch of a tree sat Tomtit. As Coyote walked beneath it, the little bird chirped: “Grandfather, I am hungry. Do you have something for me to eat?”

Always, when wandering about, Coyote carried with him a bag of pemmican—dried meat pounded together with kidney fat and berries. A handful of this could keep him going for a whole day. He took the pemmican and broke off a few small pieces, which he fed to the little bird. Tomtit said: “Thank you, grandfather. You have been kind to me. In return I will do something for you. I will give you good advice. Toward the north, where you are going, lives Terrible Monster. He swallows up whoever goes there.”

“How does Terrible Monster look?” asked Coyote. “How do I recognize him?”

“Grandfather,” Tomtit answered, “Terrible Monster is so big, eyes cannot encompass him. His body is so large, it stretches from horizon to horizon. You might imagine you are entering a valley and find out that the valley is Terrible Monster’s mouth. He eats up everybody who enters this valley.” “I guess I can distinguish a valley from Terrible Monster’s mouth,” said Coyote.

“Don’t be so sure,” said the little bird.

Coyote wandered on. He came to a pine tree. It was the tallest one in the world. Coyote had an idea. He uprooted the tree and laid it across his shoulders. He carried it that way. “Now Terrible Monster cannot swallow me. This tree trunk is too long. It would stick out of Terrible Monster’s mouth on both sides. So he could never gulp me down.”

Coyote came to a broad, mile-wide canyon. Immensely tall reddish cliffs rose on either side. “This is neither a valley nor a monster’s mouth,” Coyote said to himself. “This is safe to enter.”

Coyote wandered on. Then he noticed that the canyon floor was entirely covered with dry bones. They made a crackling noise under Coyote’s feet. “This is most peculiar,” Coyote said to himself. “I am walking through a desert of bones.” He saw a man sitting on a heap of human skulls. The man was as thin as a reed. He was horribly emaciated—almost a skeleton himself.

“Friend, have you something to eat?” said the man in a very weak voice. “I am dying of hunger.” Coyote gave him a few handfuls of pemmican from his possible bag. “Thank you,” said the living skeleton. “You have saved my life—for a little while, at least. But tell me, why are you carrying this enormous pine tree across your shoulders? It must be heavy.”

“I carry it,” said Coyote, “so that Terrible Monster cannot swallow me.”

“My poor friend,” said the thin man, “it is already too late. You are already inside Terrible Monster. We are in Terrible Monster’s belly.”

“Then let us hurry back to where we came in.”

“It’s too late. Look, way back. There is no light at the canyon entrance. The mouth is already closed. Terrible Monster will wait now until we are dead. Then he will open his mouth again for the next batch of victims. There is nothing to eat here, not the tiniest bit. We won’t last long, friend. You’ll just live a little longer than I, because you were swallowed up later.”

“What are these strange things dangling high above us?” Coyote asked.

“These are Terrible Monster’s entrails,” said the thin man. “They might be nourishing if only we could reach them.”

“That is no problem,” said Coyote. “How smart of me to bring this pine tree.” He leaned the tall pine tree against a wall that was part of the inside of Terrible Monster’s belly. Coyote climbed up the trunk until he could reach Terrible Monster’s intestines. He took his sharp flint knife and cut off lengths of Terrible Monster’s guts. He munched on them, saying: “Ah, this is good, this is tasty.” He threw some of the entrails down for the thin man to eat. The thin man wolfed them down.

Coyote climbed higher and higher. He came to a strange, huge dark red lump, as big as a mountain. This thing contracted and expanded, making a noise like rushing water. It pounded rhythmically, sounding like a gigantic drum. It was so loud it almost busted Coyote’s eardrums. “This must be Terrible Monster’s heart,” it occured to Coyote. With his flint knife he cut the heart to bits. Terrible Monster’s body shook violently. It was like a strong earthquake. Then all was still. Terrible Monster was dead. At once there was light shining through nine gigantic body openings. Bones formed themselves up into skeletons. Skulls joined up with spines. The bones covered themselves with flesh, then with skin. All the dead people Terrible Monster had swallowed came to life again. They all shouted, “War honors to Coyote! He has saved us.” Then they streamed out into the sunlight through Terrible Monster’s nine body openings. They left in huge crowds. Coyote recognized Thin Man waving to him. He was no longer thin. He had put on weight. He looked plump and strong. He laughed. Coyote said: “Let’s get out of here!” They left through the opening underneath Terrible Monster’s tail.