3. COYOTE AND THE GEESE.
(Continued)The brothers considered Coyote a fine man. They were greatly pleased with the presents he had given to them. Coyote staid at home one day. The following day he wanted to accompany the brothers when they went hunting. His wife told him that the brothers were accustomed to hunt on the other side of the river, and they did not want him to go along because they were going so far that he could not follow them. The youngest, brother, however, said, "Oh, let him come along!" They came to the river, where they took off their clothes and started to fly across. They told Coyote to utter no sound. Then they flew up into the air, while he clung to two of them. They uttered the goose-cry, and thus they crossed the river. It did not take long before Coyote began to scream. As soon as he did so, they all fell down. They rebuked him, and told him to keep quiet. They went on for a short distance, hunting for mountain-sheep and other big game. Soon a fawn appeared, and Coyote shot it. He skinned it and went down to the river, thinking that he had done enough. He took the guts and all with him. After having walked down along the bank a little way, he went in swimming. The Goose brothers came up to him to see what he had caught. They took the fawn and threw it into the river. The guts caught Coyote around the body. He was ashamed. Then the oldest brother suggested that they cross back. So they made ready their packs and prepared to cross. They put Coyote on top of them. They flew up and uttered their cry. In the middle of the stream Coyote began to shout, and they fell down fast. They told him to keep still, but he refused to do so. The youngest brother then said, "Let us drop him! It is Coyote."1 They did so. When he was just above the surface of the water, he said to himself, "Be feathers," and he floated through the air gently. When he rose to a great height, he said, "Be a limb," and he fell again rapidly. He kept this up until he finally made a mistake, saying, when he was close to the water, "Be a limb." He fell, struck the bottom of the river, and killed himself.
The girl at home kept on sewing until she broke her needle. Then she knew that her brothers had killed her husband. She broke five needles before she laid down her work. Then she took the bows and arrows, put her heart into her little finger, and made ready to kill her brothers. When they came near, she began to shoot. They shouted, "Don't be angry, your husband was Coyote!" She, however, killed three of her brothers, and spared only the two youngest ones. The younger one then said to the elder, "Shoot the end of her little finger." He did so, and so killed his sister.2 Then they decided to leave the place.
They went on, taking along only their bows and arrows. They took no food with them, and had nothing to eat for fifteen days. The younger brother almost starved. His brother took his bowstring and the backing of the bow, both of which were made of sinew, and gave them to him to eat. Finally they came in sight of a large house. They went in. An old gray-haired giant was living there who had four grown daughters and a little one. The youngest girl's name was Winter (xa'lpxa'lp3). The house was full of ice and without even a little fire. The old man was stark naked. The privates of the girls were not covered. The four older girls had an underground house to themselves. They were working on beautiful clothing outside the house. Roots and other property were there too. The giant sent Winter to call her sisters. They were to cook for him. As she threw the door open, they shouted, "You dirty thing! why do you come here?" She delivered her message, and the sisters promised to come soon. They cooked a large dishful of food, which they gave to their father.4 While they were leaving, the little girl brought two spoons and ate the food with her father. Between them they ate it all. Then the old man sent Winter to her elder sisters to tell them to paint their faces. When the young men saw all this, they left.
Soon they came to another tent, which belonged to Summer. They entered, and saw an old man and a small girl in a fine dress. The house was very warm. The old man sent the girl to ask her sisters to cook a meal. They came and prepared five dishes of meat, -- a very tiny one and four large ones. The brothers asked the old man and the little girl for some food.5 They were given spoons, and the younger one began to eat. He could not finish what was given to him. The elder one then ate, and was hardly able to finish what his brother had left. Thereupon the old man told the girl to put away the rest of the food for them.
The hair of the brothers was very much entangled. Therefore the old man sent the girl to call her sisters, who were to comb the hair of the brothers. She told them that the men had not been able to eat all the food. Then the oldest two girls combed the hair of the elder brother, while the younger girls combed the hair of the younger one. So they had two wives.
1 Coyote tries to imitate the motions and the cries of the geese, who then drop him.
2 See p. 151, note 2.
3 Said to be old language.
4 The sisters prepared mush, which the old man and the girl ate. Afterwards the old man sent the girl for the older girls, who beat her when they heard that the visitors had not been given any food.
5 They were given a small dish, which proved inexhaustible. In this version there is no mention of summer and winter.
