Coyote and the Skunk - Navajo

One day a coyote was trotting along in the hot sun. It was near a
place
called Crystal Mountain [Dzil nilts' ili], which is not far from
Cuba, New
Mexico. The coyote was suffering from the heat. He looked up at the
sky;
there was not a speck of cloud in it.

"I'm being suffocated," the coyote complained. "I wish a little
cloud would
appear to shade me as I trot along."

Instantly, a little cloud appeared. However, it was not large enough
to do
much good.

"I wish a much larger cloud would appear," the coyote said, "I wish
there
would be a little breeze to cool me."

The larger cloud appeared, and a breeze cooled the coyote; but he
still was
too warm.

"I wish it would cloud up everywhere," he said, "so there'd be no
sunshine
at all. And I wish a cool breeze would sweep across the whole earth."

When that wish was granted, the coyote was pleased. He decided to try
another wish. This time he wished for a few drops of rain, and these
fell
immediately. He asked for more, enough to moisten his hair, and this
also
came to pass.

"Now, I wish a gentle shower would come and wet the earth," the
coyote said,
"so that the soles of my feet would be cooled."

Again his wish was granted.

His feet felt better, but he wanted the wet sand to ooze up between
his
toes; so this desire was granted also.

His next wish was that the rain would cause water to come up to his
ankles,
and this happened quickly.

"Now," he said, "let the water rise up to my knees."

The rain came down even harder and soon water was up to his knees as
he
trotted along.

Then the coyote decided he wanted even more water.

"I wish it would rain so hard that the water would come up to my
belly," he
said. And, after that happened, he wished for the water to rise
until only
his backbone was visible.

By that time it had become a real flood. Water was running very
rapidly down
all the washes.

The coyote said, "I wish to float down the stream in the flood
waters to a
place near some animal homes, like prairie dog towns, or to some
other place
where there are many small animals I can catch for food."

Then the water rose beneath him and he was carried very swiftly
downstream.
Suddenly the water swirled him, with some sticks and brush, onto a
sandbar
and left him there.

He lay there, resting, while the storm passed over, and suddenly he
heard a
strange noise. He thought it sounded like a ladle [dipper] rattling
in a
water jug. Looking around, he saw a skunk coming down to the water
carrying
a jug and a ladle with which t fill the jug.

"Hey, cousin," he called.

The skunk looked all around but did not see the coyote. Four times
the
coyote called before the skunk saw him drying his hair among the
sticks and
brush on the sandbar.

"Cousin," said the coyote, "will you get four clubs? Cut some sticks
from
the brush, then bury them beneath me. There are plenty of small
animals
around here. We can have a fine feast if you do as I tell you. After
you
get the clubs, go shake the grasses and get some seeds. Bring them
here and
sprinkle them around my mouth and nose around my mouth and nose, and
other
body openings, to make it seem that I am dead. Then call the animals
to come
and celebrate my death, and we'll kill a lot of them and roast them."

The skunk went to work and did as the coyote had told him.

"Now go home and spread the news," said the coyote. "Tell all your
friends
and neighbors that the hated one is dead. Tell them you have seen
him; then
get them to dance around me. When they begin dancing we'll take
advantage of
them."

The skunk hurried home and began telling everyone the coyote was
dead. Some
of the rabbits, prairie dogs, rats and mice would not believe it.

"It's a trick," They said. "Coyote can't be killed."

"Come, I'll show you. I have seen him," the skunk said. "He's lying
in the
arroyo. See for yourselves."

Jackrabbit was the first to investigate. But he was afraid, and he
ran past
the spot so swiftly that he didn't see coyote at all.

Cottontail went next, but he saw some weeds to nibble and forgot
what he
started out to do. He returned, saying that there was no dead coyote
around.

The other animals told the prairie dog to go next. When he got to
the edge
of the wash he saw the water and wouldn't try to cross it; so he
reported
there was no dead coyote around there.

"Well, let's all go together," the skunk said. "I know where he is.
We'll
put on a big dance around him and rejoice that he is dead."

So they all started out. The skunk led the way. The jackrabbits and
the
cottontails, the prairie dogs and the rats and the little mice
followed."

"Now form four circles around him," the skunk told them, when they
had
looked at the seemingly dead coyote. "The little animals will be on
the
inside, then the next biggest and the next, with the jackrabbits in
the
outer circle."

The skunk was following the coyote's instructions. When all the
animals
began dancing and celebrating excitedly, the skunk was to spray his
smell
into the air. When it fell, the spray would blind the little animals
and he
and the coyote would kill them with the four hidden clubs.

The small animals began dancing with joy around the coyote, and ,
when they
were all excited, skunk shouted, "Oh, look up into the sky. What a
beautiful
bird is flying above us."

They all looked up. Then the falling spray dropped into their eyes
and
blinded them.

While they were crying in pain, Coyote jumped up. He quickly took a
hidden
club and handed another to the skunk. Between them they soon killed
most of
the little animals.

When that was finished the coyote said, "Now Cousin, you go build a
fire
over there near the shade, and I'll bring the animals. We'll roast
them in a
pit."

The skunk went out to gather wood for a fire, and soon he had a good
blaze
going. Then he dug a pit, and he and the Coyote put the animals into
it and
covered them with the hot coals.

With that finished, Coyote began to figure a way to trick the skunk
out of
his portion of the meat.

"While we're waiting for the meat to roast, why don't we have a foot
race?"
he asked.

"Oh, no," the skunk objected. "I can't run fast. I have short legs."

"Yes, that's true," said the coyote. "So I'll make you a
proposition. I'll
stay and watch the fire while to get a good head start. We'll run a
long
race around Crystal Mountain.

The skunk knew the coyote was trying to trick him. He never could
run around
that big mountain. But he pretended to believe the coyote, and
meanwhile he
was thinking up a good scheme.

"I'll do it," he said, and he started out.

He decided to take his time, go over the nearest ridge, out of sight
of the
coyote, and then find a hiding place.

"When coyote comes along," he told himself, "Ill just let him go by.
Then
I'll come back, and I'll dig up the meat and eat my share and his
too."

When he got on the other side of the ridge he found an abandoned
badger
hole. Crawling into it, he hid the entrance with a tumbleweed. Then
he
waited for Coyote.

In a little while along came Coyote. He had tied a cedarbark torch
to his
tail and was setting everything afire as he ran. The flame touched
the
tumbleweed over the badger hole and burned it in a flash, but Coyote
did not
see Skunk peering out at him.

As soon as Coyote ran by, the skunk climbed out and trotted back to
the
roasting pit. Quickly, he dug up the nicely roasted meat and carried
it up
among the rocks. Then he took the tails from four of the prairie
dogs and
buried them in the ashes, so that Coyote would see them and think
the meat
was still in the pit.

After that, he returned to the rocks and began feasting.

Coyote came dashing back, ran around the fire four times, then lay
down in
the moist earth in the shade and began rubbing wet sand on his
chest. And
all the while he was mumbling to himself.

"I wonder where that silly skunk is. I wonder if he really tried to
run
around the mountain. I wonder if he got lost and never will find his
way
back."

All this amused him. He was still a little out of breath from his
run, and
he was overheated because of the torch, but he smelled roasted meat;
so he
got up and began digging in the ashes.

He pulled out one prairie dog tail and threw it away, saying, "This
is no
good."

Then, one after the other, he pulled the other three tails out of
the ashes.
Then he began to suspect something, and he made the ashes fly right
and left
as he dug for the meat.

When he discovered there was no meat left in the pit, he began
looking for
skunk tracks. They led him to the rocks. He looked up and saw the
skunk
sitting there, gorging on roasted meat.

"Cousin," he begged, "please throw me some meat. I'm starving and
very
tired."

At first the skunk paid no attention to him, but after Coyote asked
four
times for meat, the skunk threw him a bone. This happened four times
before
Coyote finally gave up and went slinking away.

Taken from Coyote Stories of the Navajo People, Navajo Curriculum
Center
Press, 1974 School Board, Inc. Rough Rock Arizona.

From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories.