Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/515

 Cheyenne Tales. 167

to keep their eyes closed until he stopped singing. He sang : tse mu n makuyets (your eyes will be red) ; therefore they were afraid of getting sore eyes, and did not look at him. He took his stick and hit them with it. As they danced, one duck did not feel its neigh- bors any longer, and at last opened its eyes, and saw the man hitting away, and a pile of dead ducks. So he cried out to the rest to escape, and all that were left flew away. Then the man rejoiced. He went to the shade of some trees, made a fire, and spitted and roasted his ducks. He also made a sausage of them, and this he laid in the ashes. Then he sang and danced for joy. A hungry coyote heard him and smelled the meat, and drew near. Overhead two trees were rubbing together, and making noise. The man said to them : " Stop fighting ! Don't disturb me, for I am going to have a good dinner." The screeching continued. He went to the foot of the trees and again told them to stop. Finally he climbed up. The wind rose, and again the trees screeched. The man put his hand between them to hold them apart. Suddenly the wind fell, and his wrist was held fast. The coyote came nearer, wonder- ing. The man ordered him to go away, and tried to conceal his hand that was caught. The coyote at last understood the situation and took a duck. " Yes, you may take one duck ; that one at the end there," said the man. As the coyote took a second, the man called to him, " You may take another." Thus it went on, until all the ducks were eaten. The wind began to come again, the trees rubbed together, and the man's wrist hurt so much that he no longer thought of the coyote. The coyote meanwhile found the sausage and ate it. Then he filled it with ashes, put it back, and went away. At last the wind rose, and the man became free. "This is bad," he thought, "but it is lucky that he did not find the sausage." He took it out, bit info it, and the ashes flew into his eyes. He stumbled about, until he fell into the river. Then he washed his eyes out. Now he was angry. He followed the coyote's trail, and found him asleep, with distended belly. He determined to eat both ducks and coyote, but he thought : " If I choke him, I may bruise his meat ; if I hit him on the head I may bruise and spoil his meat." While he was deliberating, the coyote jumped up and ran away. Again he followed him and found him asleep. He made a great fire, having decided to seize the coyote by his ears and tail, throw him into the fire, and roast him whole. He seized him, but as he threw him, the coyote jumped forward through the flames, and ran off, singed but safe. The man could not see him through the flames and thought he was in the fire. He waited until it burnt down ; then he looked for the coyote and could not find him.

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