by Alan Nafzger & Lilly Tabbytite (Comanche)
Coyote was walking along the river's edge when he came across some ripe plums. He noticed a lodge further down the shore with a little smoke coming out of the top. He went over there after picking a few red plums. Inside were four women and their children.
"What brings you over here to see us, Coyote?"
"Oh, my sisters and nieces, I've brought you some delicious ripe plums." I discovered them up the river, not far from here. I'm surprised you missed them. They taste delicious. He gave them plums, and the ladies thanked him. Coyote established himself.
All of the women were nursing their children. "Sisters," Coyote said, "put these kids to bed and I'll watch them while you go up and get some more of these plums."
As a result, the women created hammocks inside the lodge for the children to sleep in and placed their babies in them.
As soon as they were gone, Coyote went down to the river, filled the big kettle with water, and hung it on a tripod over the fire to boil. He crept over while the babies were sleeping and severed their heads. He placed the bodies in the kettle and the heads in the hammocks, just peeking out from under the blankets.
"Sisters, while you were gone, I went out a little way from here and found a den of gray wolves," the woman returned, carrying many plums in large rawhide bags. I took them all out and killed them. They are delicious to eat. "I've got them boiling, and they'll be ready in a minute." The women thanked him for providing them with so much meat.
"Well, this has been a lot of work," he admitted. All of this cooking is making me sweat. I'm going to go outside and get some fresh air. You can help yourself once the wolves have finished. "
Coyote stepped out and sat down. He pushed the corner of his blanket back into the door, letting them know he was still there.
The women spooned the meat out when it was done. They exchanged strange looks before beginning to eat.
"Sisters," one woman exclaimed, "this meat tastes like our children."
"Oh! Don't ever say anything like that. "Talking like that is a terrible idea," another woman said. "This meat tastes odd because it came from gray wolves."
"Surely, sisters," a second woman said after a while, "this meat tastes like our children."
The coyote cut the corner of his blanket and ran away, leaving it stuck in the lodge door.
"I have fooled you," he said to the women after getting a good distance away. You've been consuming your own children. You ate them after I boiled them! "
The women dashed to the hammocks, but all they found were the heads of their children. They started crying and cutting their flesh with grief. But these new women were also bears, and they pursued Coyote.
Coyote was fleeing, but they were close behind him. He used his power to create a tunnel into which he could run. Just then, a tunnel opened up, and he dashed through it, emerging on the other side, turning around and closing the end with rocks and brush. Then he put mud over one of his eyes, changed his clothes, and went around to the front of the tunnel just as the Bear Women appeared.
"Hey, Sisters, what's the matter?" "What exactly is going on here?" He introduced himself as One-eyed Sioux.
"Coyote has duped us." While we were picking plums, he severed our children's heads and cooked their bodies in a kettle for us. We're looking for him. He entered this tunnel. "
The women were furious, but they were also crying and short of breath.
"You appear tired. Allow me to follow him through the tunnel while you rest here. I'll go get him right away. He had no business doing this.
He went in but quickly exited, telling the women that Coyote was inside and looking very strong. The woman warned him not to go in, but he insisted, saying he would fight him anyway. He returned to the tunnel. Inside, the women could hear a lot of yelling and howling. Finally, he emerged, his hands and face scratched and his clothing torn.
"Women, he is a terrible man, but I will try again for you." But the ladies said no, that they should go by themselves.
"All right," One-Eyed Sioux said. "I'll stand right here and watch."
The ladies entered the tunnel. One-eyed Sioux gathered a large number of sticks and lit a fire at the tunnel's entrance. Then he overheard one of the women say, "I believe there's a fire outside."
"No," one-eyed Sioux replied, "that's just the crackling birds flying by."
He then added more sticks to the fire, making the tunnel smokey.
"I guess there's a fire outside because it's getting smoky in here," the women speculated.
"No," one-eyed Sioux said, "the smoking birds have just gone by."
He continued to pile wood on the fire. Inside the tunnel, the smoke became so dense that the Bear Women suffocated to death. He went in after hearing no more noises and discovered the four women dead. He gathered them all and prepared them for himself.
"I was very fortunate to find these bears," he thought to himself. "I enjoy eating bear meat." This type of food is not commonly available. It's a job. "