Page:Kutenai Tales.djvu/86

Rh "Let us go and play with them!" They started. || Coyote was their chief. Woodpecker, Flicker, Hawk, | Chicken Hawk, Duck, and Bluejay, seven of them, went. | They reached the town. They were told: "What do you want?" | (Coyote) said: "We come to play." He was told they would play | at diving. Coyote was told: "Who || will play?" He said: "Duck shall be the one." The | people of the town said: "Our (player) shall be Beaver." | Some one said: "Ready!" Then they went to the shore. | Coyote went there. There on shore was a canoe. | He pulled out the calking, and he said to the little Duck: "I have taken the calking out of this canoe. || When you dive, come up here! You shall | stick your nose up through the hole." Then the two dived, | and many people watched. Whoever | should float dead on the water, he was to lose. Beaver | never lost. Therefore he was selected when any one came to play with them. || He was never beaten. Then they were watched. | The sun was going down. Coyote had said to the little Duck: | "When (you hear) shouting, then Beaver comes up out of the water. | Then you may come up, too." It was almost | sunset. Then at the place where Beaver had dived || bubbles came up; and not long after the bubbles had come up, | he floated on top of the water. Then there was a noise. They were glad | because he had won. Then the little Duck dived back. | He knew that he would win. Then he came up. | Chief Coyote said: "Now we will go on. || We have won over you." They came to another town, | and they were told: "What do you want?" (Coyote) said: "We will play." | He was told: "What will you play?" He said: "Whatever you | like." He was told: "We will play boxing." | He was told: "Whoever is knocked down, he will lose." || Coyote said to his children: "Who will play?" | Flicker said: "I'll be it." He was told: "No; you will be knocked down." | He said he wanted to be the one. There was | an expert boxer. He could not speak. | Flicker was the younger brother. || The most expert one in the town was Kneecap. Then they met. | They went against each other, those who were to fight. Flicker was struck a hard blow, and at once he was thrown upward. He was always rolling about, and lost his senses. He was thrown back, | and he was struck again from below. He was knocked back still farther. Hawk was sitting there, || and saw that his younger brother had almost been killed. | Then he went out of his own body. He went up to Kneecap | and struck him hard. He gave him a hard knock | when he struck him. He went up to him and struck him again. Then he | knocked a piece