Page:Kutenai Tales.djvu/301

286 has fallen into the water, he heats stones, intending to boil it. Ya.uk'Vjka'm miases Coyote, and finds that the fat is gone. He follows down to the water, and sees Coyote engaged in heating stones. Ya.iik^e^ikam makes a spear and spears the fat, which breaks up and floats. — ^They go on, and Ya.uk'*e^ikani tells Coyote not to pay any attention if he should hear a child crying. After they pass the child, Coyote turns back and puts his finger into the child's mouth. The child sucks the finger and pulls in Coyote 's arm. WTien Ya.uk^^jka' m notices that the child is silent, he turns back and kills the child with his knife. All the flesh on Coyote's arm has been sucked off. The child was a giant. — ^They go on, and Ya.uk'Vjka'm tells Coyote not to listen if he should hear birds crying. Coyote disobeys, and finds himself in the nest of the thunderbirds together with Ya.uk^e^ikam. Ya.uk^e^ikam asks the young thunder- birds when the old birds come back. They reply that they come back in the even in the form of a thundercloud. Ya.uk°e^ika*m tells Coyote that the thunderbird will ask whether he is tired, and that he is to reply that his younger brother Ya.uk^ika'm is tired. When this happens, Ya.uk'Vikamis told by the old thunderbird to stretch out his leg, because the bird wants to suck out the marrow. At this moment Ya.uk"e''ikam kills the thunderbird with his spear. The same is repeated when the old male thunderbird comes back. When the old birds are dead, Ya.uk'Vjkam sits on the back of one of the young thunderbirds, which flies^up, and then carries him down, while Coyote is shouting. Th^ Coyote sits on the back of the other thunder- bird; and when he shouts, the bird takes him down. Ya.uk'Vtkam ordains that thunderbirds may only scare people who lie about them. Ya.uk'Vjkam and Coyote reach the place where the Sun is being made. Ya.uk°e'ika*m is tried; but the day is red because his clothing is painted with ochre. Coyote is tried, but when he acts as the Sun, it is too hot; and he tells what the people are doing, and asks them to leave some food for him. The two sons of the Lynx arrive. They have been brought up by their mother, who had been deserted by Lynx. He had gone to catch salmon for making soup for his wife. The young Lynxes meet him, and he tells them that he is unable to catch salmon. The boys show him how to catch salmon. When the Lynx children arrive at the place where the animals try to make the Sun, one of them goes up and is found a satisfactory sun. Then they send the other one up as the Moon. Coyote is envious and shoots at the rising sun, which sets his arrow on fire. The fire pursues him. He lies down on a trail and covers himself with a blanket. The fire passes over him without hurting him. Therefore trails do not burn.