“Come, let us go,” said Big Turtle. So Ictinike departed with him. As he accompanied him, Ictinike sought for a dry bone. Having found one that would be good as a club, Ictinike said, “Friend, go on. Mingam.”
When he was alone, Ictinike seized the bone, and before long overtook Big Turtle, walking along beside him.
“Friend,” said he, “when a person walks, he stretches his neck often.”
So Big Turtle began to stretch his neck very far, and he was walking with his legs bent very much. As he was going thus, Ictinike gave him a hard blow on the neck, knocking him senseless, and he did not stop beating him until he had killed him.
“Ha, ha!” said Ictinike, as he carried Big Turtle away. “There are some days when I act thus for myself.”
He kindled a fire and began to roast Big Turtle. Then he became very sleepy, and said, “Ho! I will sleep, but you, O, Ijaxe, must keep awake. Big Turtle, when you are cooked, you must say, ‘Puff!’”
So he went to sleep. Now Coyote came along, very cautiously. He seized Big Turtle, pulled one of the legs out of the fire, and sat there, biting off the meat. When he had eaten all the meat on all the legs, he pushed the bones back just as they had been before, arranged the fire over them, and left after putting everything just as he had found it.
At length Ictinike awoke. He pushed into the ashes to find Big Turtle, took hold of a leg, and pulled it out. Only that leg came out. “Pshaw!” said he. Then he tried another leg, with a like result, and still another, but only the bones appeared. When he had pulled out the fourth leg, he was astonished. All at once he exclaimed, “Surprising! I had already eaten the Turtle, but I had forgotten it.”