FOOTNOTES:
[54] Told by Cut-Arm.
54. THE COYOTE AND THE BUFFALO RUN A RACE.[55]
Once when a Coyote was sauntering along he looked up and saw a Buffalo a long distance off. The Coyote ran, and nearly caught up with the Buffalo. The Coyote saw the Buffalo drop chips. He went and ate some of them. The Buffalo looked around and saw the Coyote eating the chips. The Buffalo turned back and asked the Coyote what he was doing. The Coyote said: “O, you shaggy-looking thing; why do you not go on your way and not bother a poor fellow like me? I am eating some pemmican that some fellow must have dropped.” After a while, the Coyote said, “Say, grandfather, can you run?” “Yes,” said the Buffalo, “I can run fast.” “But,” said the Coyote, “I do not see how you can run with such big feet. Then there is danger of your breaking your legs. Ah, grandfather,” said the Coyote, “I think I can beat you. I am a man who has fought in battles, and have killed many people on account of my swiftness. If you are willing to run with me, do not stand there and laugh at me. I can beat you.” So the Buffalo said, “If you want to run a race, I will run with you, and I will show you that my legs can carry me a long way and beat you.” “All right,” said the Coyote, “I will go and measure the ground, and we will run.” So the Coyote went away and selected a place. The place selected was a tableland, and there was a steep bank at the other end. The Coyote set landmarks near the steep bank and winked to himself, and said, “Now I will have a whole buffalo to eat,” for at the bottom of this steep place there was a rock. The Coyote went where the Buffalo stood, and said: “Now we will run. As soon as we get to the two landmarks I have made we will run fast. At this place we will close our eyes. When we have gone a short distance we will open our eyes and see who is in the lead.” The Buffalo agreed. They began the race, and as they came to the landmarks, the Coyote said, “Now run your best and close your eyes.” The Coyote, being on the right side of the Buffalo, closed his left eye. The Buffalo ran with his eyes closed and jumped over the steep bank. The Coyote stopped, looked, and saw the Buffalo lying dead at the bottom of the steep bank.
The Coyote went down and skinned the Buffalo and cut him up. He then took the meat to a place where there was a creek, and there he put up a small lodge for himself. He made a fire and roasted some meat. Then he went out to see if he could see any one. He saw a Fox coming along. He waited for the Fox. When the Fox came up, the Coyote said, “My friend, I want you to come to my lodge and pack water for me.” The Fox said, “I will go with you and pack water for you.” So they went together and entered the lodge. The Coyote fixed the buffalo pouch for a bucket, and said, “Fox, you go after water with this pouch.” The Fox obeyed. Before he got to the creek he had eaten up the pouch. Four times the Coyote gave the Fox a pouch to bring water, and every time the Fox would say, “Coyote, as I dipped water, something came and took away my pouch.” The Coyote was mad, and he took some coals and threw them into the Fox’s face, so that the Fox cried and ran off. The Fox told his story to every animal he met. All the living animals got together, and when the Coyote was fast asleep they went in and ate all he had in his lodge. When he woke up he found all his meat gone, and he went away crying.
When you have plenty, do not trust your friends, or they will get all you have.