IKTOMI AND THE COYOTE

 

 

 

AFAR off upon a large level land, a summer sun was shining

bright. Here and there over the rolling green were tall bunches of

coarse gray weeds. Iktomi in his fringed buckskins walked alone

across the prairie with a black bare head glossy in the sunlight.

He walked through the grass without following any well-worn

footpath.

From one large bunch of coarse weeds to another he wound his

way about the great plain. He lifted his foot lightly and placed

it gently forward like a wildcat prowling noiselessly through the

thick grass. He stopped a few steps away from a very large bunch

of wild sage. From shoulder to shoulder he tilted his head. Still

farther he bent from side to side, first low over one hip and then

over the other. Far forward he stooped, stretching his long thin

neck like a duck, to see what lay under a fur coat beyond the bunch

of coarse grass.

A sleek gray-faced prairie wolf! his pointed black nose tucked

in between his four feet drawn snugly together; his handsome bushy

tail wound over his nose and feet; a coyote fast asleep in the

shadow of a bunch of grass!--this is what Iktomi spied. Carefully

he raised one foot and cautiously reached out with his toes.

Gently, gently he lifted the foot behind and placed it before the

other. Thus he came nearer and nearer to the round fur ball lying

motionless under the sage grass.

Now Iktomi stood beside it, looking at the closed eyelids that

did not quiver the least bit. Pressing his lips into straight

lines and nodding his head slowly, he bent over the wolf. He held

his ear close to the coyote's nose, but not a breath of air stirred

from it.

"Dead!" said he at last. "Dead, but not long since he ran

over these plains! See! there in his paw is caught a fresh

feather. He is nice fat meat!" Taking hold of the paw with the

bird feather fast on it, he exclaimed, "Why, he is still warm!

I'll carry him to my dwelling and have a roast for my evening meal.

Ah-ha!" he laughed, as he seized the coyote by its two fore paws

and its two hind feet and swung him over head across his shoulders.

The wolf was large and the teepee was far across the prairie.

Iktomi trudged along with his burden, smacking his hungry lips

together. He blinked his eyes hard to keep out the salty

perspiration streaming down his face.

All the while the coyote on his back lay gazing into the sky

with wide open eyes. His long white teeth fairly gleamed as he

smiled and smiled.

"To ride on one's own feet is tiresome, but to be carried like

a warrior from a brave fight is great fun!" said the coyote in his

heart. He had never been borne on any one's back before and the

new experience delighted him. He lay there lazily on Iktomi's

shoulders, now and then blinking blue winks. Did you never see a

birdie blink a blue wink? This is how it first became a saying

among the plains people. When a bird stands aloof watching your

strange ways, a thin bluish white tissue slips quickly over his

eyes and as quickly off again; so quick that you think it was only

a mysterious blue wink. Sometimes when children grow drowsy they

blink blue winks, while others who are too proud to look with

friendly eyes upon people blink in this cold bird-manner.

The coyote was affected by both sleepiness and pride. His

winks were almost as blue as the sky. In the midst of his new

pleasure the swaying motion ceased. Iktomi had reached his

dwelling place. The coyote felt drowsy no longer, for in the next

instant he was slipping out of Iktomi's hands. He was falling,

falling through space, and then he struck the ground with such a

bump he did not wish to breathe for a while. He wondered what

Iktomi would do, thus he lay still where he fell. Humming a

dance-song, one from his bundle of mystery songs, Iktomi hopped and

darted about at an imaginary dance and feast. He gathered dry

willow sticks and broke them in two against his knee. He built a

large fire out of doors. The flames leaped up high in red and

yellow streaks. Now Iktomi returned to the coyote who had been

looking on through his eyelashes.

Taking him again by his paws and hind feet, he swung him to

and fro. Then as the wolf swung toward the red flames, Iktomi let

him go. Once again the coyote fell through space. Hot air smote

his nostrils. He saw red dancing fire, and now he struck a bed of

cracking embers. With a quick turn he leaped out of the flames.

From his heels were scattered a shower of red coals upon Iktomi's

bare arms and shoulders. Dumbfounded, Iktomi thought he saw a

spirit walk out of his fire. His jaws fell apart. He thrust a

palm to his face, hard over his mouth! He could scarce keep from

shrieking.

Rolling over and over on the grass and rubbing the sides of

his head against the ground, the coyote soon put out the fire on

his fur. Iktomi's eyes were almost ready to jump out of his head

as he stood cooling a burn on his brown arm with his breath.

Sitting on his haunches, on the opposite side of the fire from

where Iktomi stood, the coyote began to laugh at him.

"Another day, my friend, do not take too much for granted.

Make sure the enemy is stone dead before you make a fire!"

Then off he ran so swiftly that his long bushy tail hung out

in a straight line with his back.