6. Coyote and Wood-Tick.2
(cont.)When Wood-Tick saw that he had done everything right, he made up his mind to send him for meat every day. On the fourth day, when Coyote was up on the rock, he made up his mind to strike it often and see what effect it would have: so he struck the rock with the staff until his arm was tired, and a dead deer fell at his feet each time. Then he said to himself, "I have now so much meat that I shall never starve;" and, returning to Wood-Tick's house, he struck him on the head with a stone. After a time Wood-Tick revived, and cried out, "Get up and go!" Then all the deer became alive and ran away. Wood-Tick jumped on a buck's ear and made off with the rest. Coyote got excited and ran to save some fat, but it got up and ran away. The robes in his bed, and the buckskin clothes he was wearing, ran away; and every piece of deer's bone, hair, and skin around the place got up and followed the rest: so Coyote was left without food, and with only his robe, as before.
7. Coyote juggles with his Eyes.1
Continuing his travels, he came to a place where he saw Blue-Grouse throwing his eyes up in the air and catching them. Coyote said to himself, "I can also perform that feat," so he pulled out his eyes and threw them up in the air; but Raven caught them and flew away with them, so Coyote was left without eyes and unable to see. He went groping about, and, coming to a patch of kinnikinnik, or bearberries, he selected two of the berries, and put them in his eye-sockets as substitutes for eyes. He was then able to see a little, but only very dimly. Continuing his journey, he came to the out-skirts of a village where some boys were playing. One boy who was near him called him "red-eyes" and other sarcastic names. Coyote said, "Although my eyes are red, I can see as well as you can. I can see the Pleiades (nxa'us)." The boy laughed and said, "How can you see the Pleiades? It is just noon. I know now for a certainty that you cannot see with your red eyes." Then Coyote seized the boy, and, taking out his eyes, put them in his own head, and, putting his bearberry eyes in the boy's head, he turned him into a bird called tcela'uin.
8. Coyote and the Women.
Some time after this, Coyote came within sight of some lodges the inhabitants of which seemed to be taking down the coverings and making preparations to depart. He changed his appearance so as to resemble an old woman, and, approaching, accosted the inhabitants, who consisted of four young women.
1 See Shuswap, p. 632.